Strike that, it's still at Cabbagetown Park, til 6pm.

Well sadly it's looking like it might rain Sunday. If it does, Mondo Day Camp is moving inside to Eyedrum. Think of the 4-square possibilities!

What’s FREE! at MondoHomo?

Well, besides the Workshops (see below, with free catered brunch, first come, first served), there’s the Mondo Day Camp!

Every year when we ask people what their favorite MondoHomo event was, the Day Camp is always the hands-down winner! Why? Because it’s outside, in gorgeous weather, family friendly, great BBQ, FREE!, fun sporty games, and just hanging with our queer peeps!!

So come on out Sunday May 22nd, noon-6pm, at Cabbagetown Park

(intersection of Kirkwood & Tye St., just a couple blocks over from the Red Fish sign on Memorial Drive, just east of Boulevard).

HomoCon!
This year MondoHomo presents HomoCon! an afternoon of creative and political workshops to bolster our spirits! It’s one of several FREE! all ages events at MondoHomo, and comes with a free catered brunch from Sun in my Belly, a tres delish eatery in Decatur. There are 2 sessions, Session A from noon-1:30pm, and Session B from 2pm-3:30pm. Then at 4pm we’re excited to present a Community Roundup Rodeo, with prizes and games encouraging community interaction!

Session A - noon-1:30pm

D.I.Y. Screen Printin' Workshop with Lady Jane
Basic steps to screen printing from your house or garage.
Basic steps to screen printing from your house or garage.  Bring your shirts or material to print on.

Struggle for dignity: My experiences with the Zapatistas (EZLN), with Gerardo Tristan
This is an hour informal talk where I will be sharing my experience with the insurgent indigenous group EZLN who has developed into a larger national movement seeking autonomy and promoting sustainable way of surviving in this global economy and within the context of a TLC (North American free trade). After sharing my experience people are welcomed to ask or share their thoughts on the Zapatismo and their struggle!

Queer Southern Identity and Making Art/
The business of political queer art, with Gina Mamonejoin Gina Mamone President  & CEO of the worlds largest LGBTQ record label, Riot Grrrl Ink as she talks about embracing her inner gender queer hillbilly and the importance of how  owning your roots through your art is fundamental in shattering southern stereotypes.  Also discussed: Queer Marketing & Branding on a national level to create community.

Boylesque, with Smokin' McQueen

PR and Marketing, with Ms. Bea Haven

Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence in the Queer/Trans Community, with Sarah Meng & Tommy Theollyn
This workshop intends to speak to the reality of sexual assault and domestic violence within the queer and/or trans communities. We will look at the resources available to us and examine the ways that multiple isms contribute to violence and limit access to resources.  We will strategize ways to confront, prevent, and heal from this violence, as well as begin to build a larger framework for action within a transformative justice context. Open to all.

Strategies for Community Safety and Better Policing, not More Police!, with Moki of BLOCS

Patent Fever, with Michael Anne Jello
How we challenge Big Pharma (in the UK, US), and how the intellectual property system seems to entrench racial, class and North/South inequalities


Session B - 2pm -3:30pm

Burlesque Basics, with Vagina Jenkins
WANT TO TEASE YOUR LOVER?!?! Learn the timeless art of the striptease from the infamous V.A.G. Named Atlanta's Best Burlesque Dancer; The Lady Ms. Vagina Jenkins is just the grrrl to show you the basics of the bump n grind!

Social Justice, anti-racism, WOC, anti-violence, with Tru Bloo

Queer Visibility, with Gina Mamone
The importance of queer visibility, telling queer
stories and making our voices heard with an organic Q& A

The Trans-Health Initiative
Feminist Women’s Health Center and South Comfort Conference 
Moderator:  Kathy King, FWHC
Panel:  Jac Camp, Director of Trans Health Initiative, FWHC, Lola Cola, SCC Board Member, FWHC Board Member, another SCC representative
We will show short film clips, introducing the FWHC and Robert Eads. The panel will address the importance of trans-health issues, specifically for FtM, share info & resources, talk about the Southern Comfort Conference, and discuss advocating for equality in the workplace and the doctor’s office

The True Cost of Coal, with The Beehive Collective
Your light switch is connected to a human and ecological drama playing out in the Appalachians and beyond. The Beehive Design Collective presents "The True Cost of Coal," a giant poster-in-progress with an all-animal cast! The Beehive is an all-volunteer, art-activist collective dedicated to "cross-pollinating the grassroots" by creating collaborative, anti-copyright images for use as educational and organizing tools.

DIY production of beats, homophobia in hip hop or self producing, with breakout homohop artists KIN4LIFE

If you haven’t noticed, MondoHomo is all about community and politics this year, in addition to some damn fine queer performance!

Beginning this year, we now have an Activist Partner (or two) for each MondoHomo event. What’s an Activist Partner? It’s a local group doing radical and/or queer work that aligns with MondoHomo's politics (see the Manifesto). They will be featured at the event, introduce their group to our audience, and staff a table with more information during the event.

Here’s our Activist Partners for 2009:

Thursday/HomoSpoken  - Atlanta Queer Literary Festival, an annual festival of queer literature and writers
and Charis Books, a feminist bookstore that hosts many social justice events

Friday/HomoHop - Southern Comfort Conference, an annual nationwide transgender conference held in Atlanta

Saturday/HomoCon & Mondo Mondo - Southerners on New Ground, a radical queer community-building group

Sunday/Mondo Day Camp - YouthPride, a community center for LGBTQ youth.

Monday/Mondo Finalé - Zami, Atlanta’s premiere organization for Lesbians of African Descent

and besides Activist Partners, we’ve also got a Community Roundup from noon-5pm on Saturday, at the FREE! HomoCon. A number of community groups are participating, including:
Youth Pride
Wonderroot
Kennesaw Pride Alliance
WRFG Radio Station
Southern Comfort Conference
The TransHealth Initiative
Feminist Women’s Health Center
GA Equality
Touching up our Roots
AID Atlanta
International Action Center

We’ll have fabulous workshops in 2 sessions, from noon-1:30pm, and 2pm-3:30pm... with FREE LUNCH from Sun in my Belly!!    but more on that later! Afterwards, at 4pm, we’re having a rousing game of Community Roundup Rodeo Bingo, with games and prizes!

So come join us, and help us build our radical queer communities stronger!

Hey y'all, in hard times and not, we want to be accessible to folks of various economic and class status, so check it out - we now have a

Application for Low-Income Admission

Simply fill out the form, and we'll get your low-cost admission rolling! Please pass this on to other folks you know in need.

the consumate Master of Ceremonies Dickie van Dyke

to host Burlesque Brunch!

Memorial Day is Monday May 25th so why not celebrate with Atlanta's most handsome host Dickie van Dyke from Blastoff Burlesque and his lovely assistant Dianna Cage. Eyedrum Gallery is hosting this delicious affair with a little magic from MondoHomo's Vagina Jenkins crafting up a cabaret that will make your toes curl! Ria's Bluebird is serving up the vittles and DJ Lil' Ray of Radiotron is spinning right round, baby, like a record, baby!!

$15 bucks get's you a show AND yummy food, cash bar and Johhny Drago's play "Billy Bud" a portrait in Seamen ;)
don't miss MondoHomo III's Grande Finalé

PLEASE RE-POST WIDELY

MondoHomo Rocks Memorial Day Weekend

http://www.mondohomo.com for more info!

Eyedrum Gallery is located in Grant Park at 290 MLK Jr. Drive SE, Atlanta, GA 30312

The MondoHomo alternative queer cultural festival is back for the third year this Memorial Day Weekend, packing Eyedrum Gallery with five back-to-back days of the the hottest LGBTQ performers, politicos, poets, and personalities from across the country. Hot for queer hiphop? Finicky about film? Worked up about workshops? MondoHomo '09 offers something for every girly boy, boyish girl, and gender-bending DIY diva right here in the Dirty South.

This year's MondoHomo plans to have its cake and eat it too by focusing on the four things on every queer's agenda: sex, art, music, and politics. With such nationally and internationally acclaimed acts as Justin Bond, star of John Cameron Mitchell’s Shortbus and cabaret act Kiki & Herb, and KIN4LIFE, fresh from their recent collaboration with Pharrell, not to mention the homegrown glamour of local legend and songstress Diamond Lil, and a rumored, impromptu appearance by Margaret Cho, MondoHomo '09 is ready to knock your lavender socks off!


Thursday, May 21

Mondo Politico, $7 at Eyedrum Gallery, co-presented by Atlanta Queer Literary Festival & Charis Books

7pm, MondoPolitico Art Show Grand Opening, co-curated by Donnie Reider and Kathy King.

8-9:30pm, HomoSpoken: Love and Politics, curated by Erotically Speaking's Ché Johnson - Spoken word from some of the sexiest and hardest-hitting poets around, including Kathleen Delaney, Theresa Davis, Jed Drummond, Royce Hall, Collin Kelley, Stacie Boschma, Antron Reshaud, Finnegan, and Sincere. Hosted by Seria Mills, with DJ E on the ones and twos.

9:30-10:30pm, Daddy Jane hosts witty pop dykon Gretchen Phillips (Austin) and electro trans-phenom Athens Boys Choir. Performances followed by a screening of Kyle Keyser's Stories from the Road - A Film about Following PJ Harvey.



Friday, May 22

MondoHomoHop, $10, Eyedrum Gallery, co-presented by Southern Comfort Conference

7:30-9pm, NYC bad girl and Nan Goldin protegé Katrina Del Mar screens Tuff Chicks, a collection of short films including her Girl Gang Trilogy.

9pm-1am, Mondo HomoHop, hosted by DJ Baker (NYC) and Jeremy Gloff (Tampa), featuring KIN4LIFE (NYC/ATL), Deadlee and Down Low (LA), Fiona Simone (ATL), Pretty Thugz (LA), Tori Fixx (MN), Benni E (Philly), Last Offence (LA), Tru Bloo (Oakland), and DaLyrical (OH), then 1am – Jumpin’ Jumpin’ Dance Party with DJ Double Dutch


Saturday, May 23

HomoCon, $FREE, ALL AGES! at Eyedrum Gallery

noon-5pm, featuring Workshops by CEO of Riot Grrrl, Ink. Gina Mamone, Lady Jane, Ms. Bea Haven, Smokin' McQueen, Vagina Jenkins and more, then at 4pm, Community Roundup Rodeo, a speed-dating BINGO event where you get to know your local activist groups!

Mondo Mondo, $15, at Eyedrum Gallery, co-presented by Southerners on New Ground

7-8:30pm, Andy Ditzler screens BODIES: the sexual revolution on screen, featuring the films of Barbara Hammer, Curt McDowell, Constance Beeson, and Michael Wallin. 18+ only.

8:30-11:30pm, all ages, Star of stage, screen, and cabaret Justin Bond (Shortbus, Kiki & Herb) performs Rites of Spring, with special performances by Dave End (Philly), Gently (ATL), Shitty Candy (ATH), and Sarah Greenwood of GSX (NYC). then11:30-the break of dawn, The Return of Log Jam makeout dance party with DJ Hawg-Tied!



Sunday, May 24

Mondo Day Camp, at Cabbagetown Park, $FREE, all ages Family Event, co-presented by Youth Pride

Noon-5pm, Everybody Wins at the Gay Games! Playground sports & outdoor crusing! Performances by Atlanta Sedition Orchestra, Dances in Air, Eggplant Faerie Players, and Humble Tripe featuring Melissa York (ex-Butchies).

7-9:30pm, Mondo Cockettes, $10, at Eyedrum Gallery
Documentary footage of SF's legendary drag troupe in action, The Cockettes: Midnight at the Palace. Featuring the Cockette's campy & controversial re-enactment of Richard Nixon's daughter's 1971 White House nuptials in Tricia's Wedding.

9:30-10:30pm, Special performance by the incomparable Diamond Lil & the Naked Hearts, singing heartfelt standards to make you weak in the knees and tight in the pants!

Monday, May 25th

Mondo Finalé, a burlesque brunch, $15 includes brunch from Ria's Bluebird! at Eyedrum Gallery
11am-1pm, Chicken & Waffles from Ria's Bluebird smothered in jams by Radiotron's DJ Lil Ray.
1:30-3pm, Top Shelf Burlesque hosted by Dickie Van Dyke (Blast-Off Burlesque) & Diana Cage (NYC), featuring performances by Ms. Bea Haven (CHI), Smokin' McQueen (NC), Bambi Galore (DC), Cherry Bomb (NYC), Devin Liquor (ATL), Cocoa Storm (KY), Cherry Bomb (NYC), Boydonna (ATL), Noah Redd (CO) and our own hometown favorite, the lady Vagina Jenkins (ATL).
3:15-3:45pm, New American Junk Theatre premieres Billy Budd: A Portrait in Seamen, adapted from Herman Melville by John Drago.
3:45pm-6pm, Balls to the wall dance party led by DJ Lil Ray!

With such a diverse lineup of performances, events, and workshops, MondoHomo '09 is sure to have something to tickle everyone's fancy. Prices per event range from free to $15, and 5-day, all-access passes cost $50 and guarantee priority seating. All Eyedrum events are 18 and up. For volunteer info, 5-day passes and schedule updates, check out www.mondohomo.com!

Who's playing this year anyway??? MondoHomo is tickled pink to present the Southern premier of art star Justin Bond. Bond is most popularly known as the gracious hostess of John Cameron Mitchell’s (Hedwig & the Angry Inch) unrated film Shortbus, and the creator and star of the cabaret hit Kiki & Herb, an aging cocktail-fueled diva and her faithful pianist.
A prolific and astonishing performance artist of world reknown, Bond has headlined at Carnegie Hall, The Sydney Opera House, London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, and both on and Off- Broadway, was nominated for a Tony award, and has won Obie, Bessie and Ethyl Eichelberger Awards. On a more personal level, Bond is a fearless radical who maintains strong ties to creatively,  politically and spiritually adventurous communities of queers and outsiders. In anticipation of his performance, MondoHomo has gained permission from Eyedrum Gallery to remove a back wall of the theater to accommodate expected crowds.

It's one BADASS Culture-Fest full of Queer Rock, Homo HipHop, Visual Art, Radical Politics, Queer Actions, Workshops, Community Fair, Film Fests, Burlesque, Drag Kings+Queens, Carnival SideShows, Fag Football, Big Gay Dance Parties, and a whole b*ttload more!

collage art by R. Land

Join our Yahoo group (it's low-traffic):

Yahoo for

and Be our MySpace friend!  http://www.myspace.com/mondohomosouth

MondoHomo had a great time at the SONG (Southerners on New Ground) Field day, and together with the Glossy Posse, Amnesty team, Olivia Cruisers and others, WON the Kickball tournament!

Check us out:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
"Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards. We, average Americans, simply do not talk enough with each other about things racial."                        -- Attorney General Eric Holder

MondoHomo opposes Atlantans Together Against Crime (ATAC)
 As organizers for MondoHomo, it has come to our attention that supporters and fellow organizers in the queer radical community have questioned our choice to include a film by Kyle Keyser because of his involvement with the pro-police group ATAC. This statement is meant to clarify our stance on ATAC and Keyser's participation in Mondohomo.

Why we oppose ATAC
MondoHomo would like to make it very clear that we also are upset and disheartened by the policies promoted by ATAC. We do not support organizations that promote racist and classist policies, and we do not support ATAC. We recognize the devastating racist and classist effects of increased policing in a country and state which already jails more of our population, and specifically more people of color, than any other nation. We also know that addressing the true causes of violence – poverty, lack of access to resources, destabilized communities, inadequate healthcare, education and housing, among others – is far more effective at reducing actual violence.

Additionally we realize that ATAC is mediagenic precisely because of its mainstream, politically palatable message -- pitting citizens against the City, which has supposedly neglected crime by furloughing police -- and because the solutions ATAC proposes – more police – make popular news stories, good publicity for police, and attractive backgrounds for grandstanding politicians in an election year. We know that if ATAC chose to pursue a social justice approach to reducing violence – as many organizations in Atlanta already do – they would quickly lose the media’s and politicians’ ears. We believe that any group proposing to combat violence and crime has a solemn responsibility to educate itself and its members about the deep and complex issues this presents, including systemic classism, racism, transphobia, state oppression and the “prison-industrial complex.”

We also know that many in our alternative queer communities have been victims of violence, victims of crime, as well as victims of state-sponsored violence – and are motivated to take action against further victimization. Many community members aren’t well informed about social justice, or alternative responses to violence. In foregrounding this discussion, we hope to inform, educate and provoke change on a community level.

MondoHomo is a welcoming community
However we do not feel that screening Keyser’s film is an endorsement of ATAC or its values. The film deals with the subject matter of a road trip and PJ Harvey - not with law & order, crime or ATAC. We believe that works of art can be judged on their own merits, not merely on the specific politics of their creators. And this film was accepted for screening at MondoHomo well before ATAC was formed.

We wish to send a very clear message to our attendees and volunteers: MondoHomo aims to create community among queers and allies of varying political beliefs, cultures and backgrounds. We want MondoHomo to be an inclusive and welcoming point of entry, encouraging individual participants to join and feel connected and learn.

While we do ask volunteers and performers to read the MondoHomo Manifesto and agree to it, people interpret that in varying ways. We don’t have a political litmus test for every volunteer or participant. No single member of MondoHomo determines, or represents, the group’s political positions -- that’s the purpose of our Manifesto.

This approach gives MondoHomo the opportunity to educate, encourage dialogue, and embody the diversity and tolerance we believe in. It also presents an opportunity for radicalizing, and for potentially making real change on personal levels -- not just preaching to the choir of people who already understand the politics of social justice.

We have seen friends and community members -- who are interested in participating and learning -- afraid to come to spaces where they feel politically inadequate, when it seems the message is one of political one-up-manship rather than sharing. Even the most radical of us have more to learn about social justice, and we feel this requires us to approach others in hope for the best motives and outcomes, rather than assumption of the worst. At the same time, we acknowledge that we do, both as individuals and as organizations, have a responsibility to continually learn, listen and change in positive radical ways.

Open discussion is the answer
MondoHomo and its core organizers also feel it is extremely important not to avoid sensitive and difficult issues within our community. It is our policy to listen, digest, attempt to understand, and respond to issues and criticisms in a thoughtful and responsible way – and we expect the same of our members, and our community.

But taking it one step further, we encourage everyone concerned -- just as we have -- to communicate openly with Keyser, with ATAC, with the media (including gay media), and with the members of our communities who support ATAC uncritically. While we acknowledge that it is each person’s responsibility to educate themselves, we also view conflicts as opportunities to educate others and share our varied experiences and areas of knowledge… and potentially incite transformation and radicalization.

We feel that ousting Keyser and his film from the festival would be the easy way out and a dangerous one, one that closes down discussion and education, rather than continuing it. We believe that open discussion is a way for ATAC and community members to see the many connections among issues facing the queer community, including racism, police brutality and violence. We encourage the community to open a direct dialogue with Kyle and ATAC: kyle@atlantanstogether.org

Specifically, MondoHomo challenges Keyser,  ATAC and supporters of “tough on crime” approaches to public safety to 1) educate themselves about America’s “prison-industrial complex,” and the reasons why pro-police and increased criminalization policies support racist, classist, transphobic and oppressive practices, 2) consider effective alternatives to criminal justice, such as Transformative Justice, as proposed by Generation 5 (formed to end child sexual violence in 5 generations) and others, 3) understand how decades of de-funding so-called “entitlement” programs has actually increased crime, violence and poverty, and 4) discover how unscientific and regressive theories of public safety, like the “broken window” theory, and “zero tolerance,” are ineffective, classist and repressive.

MondoHomo hopes to be a bright spot for this community, and bring marginalized artists together in a festival that both enlightens and entertains. We strive to bring together many of our communities, including people of color, trans folk, radical queers, alternative queers and those simply interested in learning and participating more. By forging a public queer festival, we hope to lay claim to a space that all of us "own" while recognizing, accepting, and celebrating the fact that our interests will not always align, that we always have more to learn and understand. Through music, film, and art we can learn about ourselves and our communities, and bring about positive radical queer change.
 
We thank all our supporters and hope to see you for this year's festival,
MondoHomos 2009