I got this through one of my writing groups and I thought it was too important not to pass on.
Visit the Varnish Fine Art website for more information.
The Big Love Show: A Benefit for Paul Willis
November 13, 8:00 pm - 12:00 am
Varnish Fine Art
77 Natoma Street at 2nd Street, San Francisco, CA
Website: www.varnishfineart.com
Admission: $5 - $20
If you will be in the San Francisco bay area on November 13, I'd like to invite you to a very special - and very humanitarian - event. Our friend Paul Willis is a well-known queer writer and editor from New Orleans. He is also a longtime supporter of queer writers in his roles as Executive Director of the Tennessee Williams Literary Festival and founder of the Saints & Sinners Literary Festival, an alternative literary festival for the LGBTIQ community. This year, Saints and Sinners raised over $10,000 for the AIDS Task Force of New Orleans.
This past May, after a night out with friends, Paul walked another home. As he made his way back, he stood on a corner in front of a convenience store smoking a cigarette. A van pulled up and four teenagers jumped out and attacked him for being a gay man outside the French Quarter after dark.
In a matter of minutes, they had beaten him so badly surgeons were convinced he would lose his right eye. Despite the heroic efforts of several young women in the convenience store who rushed out to help Paul and get his attackers' license plate number, they disappeared with his wallet-and have yet to be found. Despite the efforts of a slowly reforming New Orleans Police Department to treat this as a hate crime. Despite a reward offered by Anne Rice on local television.
As for Paul, he has undergone hours of surgeries to restore his eye and his eyesight. He can now distinguish light from dark, but doctors are hopeful they can further improve his vision. The surgeries and medical bills continue.
To thank Paul and his partner, author Greg Herren, for their constant championing of queer artists, Michelle Tea, Greg Wharton, and Ian Philips are hosting THE BIG LOVE SHOW to raise money to help with his medical bills, and to raise awareness that hate crimes happen every day to people whose only crime is to exist.
Emcees: Michelle Tea and Ian Philips DJing by DanielA slide show by Sux and Elissa Performers scheduled to appear: Dodie Bellamy, Susie Bright, Patrick Califia, The Chainsaw Chubettes, Justin Chin, M. Christian, Tina D'Elia, Juba Kalamka, Kelly Kegger, Kevin Killian, Martin Pousson, Kirk Read, Simon Sheppard, Chelsea Starr, Sage Vivant, and Greg Wharton
If you wish to donate funds directly to Paul Willis, please contact Ian Philips at ian@suspectthoughts.com, or send a check or money order made out to "Paul Willis" to:
Suspect Thoughts Press
2215-R Market Street, PMB #544
San Francisco, CA 94114-1612
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