It was the most perfect day: clear skies, sunshine, and a warm breeze. The rhythmic, passionate acoustic strum of Grace Jones’ rendition of “La Vie En Rose” soared out of the sound system as Drag Queen extraordinaire, Rahni NothingMore, strutted and flourished her way to the stage. She passed by tables full of the joyful attendees of Queer LifeSpace’s 10-Year Anniversary Gala, held at 620 Jones in San Francisco on May 7th, 2022…

It is difficult to sit down and reflect on Queer LifeSpace’s journey as we reflect on the past decade without taking into consideration the context of the past two years and the difficult experiences it created for us. We were confronted with the visceral reality of hatred, racism, and transphobia while recognizing the time for discussion and action was painfully long overdue.

We are living in extraordinary times.

I often think of a line from Tony Kushner’s play Angels in America—a magical realism drama set in the 1980’s during the AIDS crisis, in which Prior Walter utters: “I can handle pressure, I am a gay man and I am used to pressure, to trouble, I am tough and strong….”

We are tough, we are strong, stronger than we realize.