Best LGBTQ Events in Atlanta for November 9-22

The made-in-Atlanta gay film “Boy Erased” with Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman, and Russell Crowe opens in
the ATL today.

Join MAAP the second Friday of each month for its It’s Friday – Mix, Mingle and Network session. This is your chance to leave the work week behind and connect with other like-minded professionals over drinks, laughter, and good professional conversation.

Mostly Mutts Animal Rescue is hosting “You’ve Got a Friend,” a musical cabaret written and directed by Chuck Richards. The star of the show is New York jazz and blues singer Lynn Loosier, originally from Georgia. Loosier has been a featured soloist at both Lincoln Center & Jazz at Lincoln Center and has also performed at the Apollo Theater. Along with him, the show will also feature the Robert Strickland Combo and special guests Robert Ray, Shawn Megorden, and Matt Booker. There will also be a silent auction and a wine pull.

This year, both the National Women’s Studies Association Conference and the American Studies Association are taking place in Atlanta this weekend. Come join the Feminist Author and Activist Roundtable and Meet and Greet tonight. Featured authors are Julia “Jules” Balen, Shanya Cordis, Kimberly Dark, Aimi Hamraie, monica teresa ortiz, and more.

Out Front Theatre Company’s version of “The View Upstairs,” a Southeastern premiere, follows the story of Wes, a young fashion designer from 2018, who buys an abandoned building in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Upon entering the space, he finds himself transported to the UpStairs Lounge, a vibrant ’70s gay bar that would later be the subject of foul play.

One of the biggest productions of its kind ever in Atlanta, Red Bull Music Presents: ATL is Burning Ball will bring Atlanta’s ballroom underground into the spotlight. Half dance party, half ball, the event will see icons and beginners alike walking in over 10 categories, while musicians such as Leikeli47, MikeQ, Cakes da Killa, Byrell the Great, and Leonce keep the crowd moving. Brought to life in partnership with Atlanta collectives Morph and Southern Fried Queer Pride, Red Bull Music Presents: ATL is Burning Ball will be hosted by Precious Ebony and will feature performances by Leiomy Maldonado, Dashaun Wesley, and Koppi Mizrahi.

Join Angels Rescue for a special holiday performance featuring world-renowned Tenor Gianluca Sciarpelletti who is touted as the next Pavarotti. Following the concert will be an after party performance at Taiyo restaurant where each concert attendee will receive a complimentary drink.

Don’t miss the The Work My Soul Was Called to Do: Black Lesbian Activism in the New South roundtable discussion and book launch of “Black. Southern. Women. An Oral History” by E. Patrick Johnson tonight, sponsored by American Studies Association, National Women’s Studies Association and Northwestern University, with a reception to follow.

The world premiere “Reykjavik” continues at Actor’s Express today. In this tour-de-force collision of sex and danger, playwright Steve Yockey propels us on a journey in which the supernatural is closer than we think.

ICON is a celebration of Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj starring Yuhua Hamasaki of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Season 10. A dance party featuring drag, aerial, dance, burlesque, + more, the night features performances Molly Rimswell, Trevor Blake, Chingonas, Colana Bleu, Thin Mint, JayBella Banks, and Yuhua Hamasaki.

The Atlanta Opera opens the 2018-19 mainstage season with a production of Leonard Bernstein’s classic Broadway musical, “West Side Story.” Featuring Vanessa Becerra as Maria and Andrew Bidlack as Tony, this production will show that many of the same divisions that separated us in the 1950s remain with us today. Choreographer Julio Monge has resurrected Jerome Robbins’ original choreography for this production, allowing audiences to experience “West Side Story” as it was originally meant to be seen, on a grand scale with classically trained singers and dancers.

Christina Aguilera brings The Liberation Tour to the Fox Theatre tonight with special guest Big Boi of Outkast.

T-Time Atlanta Trans Youth holds their weekly meeting tonight.

Tuesday, Nov. 13

The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival, in partnership with the LGBTQ resource organization SOJOURN, is pleased to present a special 35th anniversary screening of the musical drama “Yentl,” directed by and starring Barbra Streisand. Challenging the traditional norms of the time, the eponymous “Yentl” represents a fascinating character through which to explore contemporary issues of human sexuality and gender identity. The event will feature light bites and a discussion of the themes afterwards.

Ina Garten, the country’s most beloved culinary icon, author of ten New York Times bestselling cookbooks and host of the popular Emmy and James Beard Award-winning “Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics” show on Food Network, comes to Atlanta in celebration of her newest cookbook, “Cook Like a Pro.” Joined by a moderator, Ina will share stories that bring you behind the scenes of life in the Hamptons, filming her television show, writing bestselling cookbooks, and enjoying food with friends and family. An audience Q&A will directly follow the interview.

B-12! PALS Atlanta hosts Way Way Off Broadway Drag Queen Bingo.

TEN Atlanta will once again transform from a crowded dance club into a cozy NYC Cabaret for consecutive Wednesday nights tonight with Boys Night “OUT” on Broadway, a one-hour musical and comedy revue written by Broadway veteran performer Robert Ray.

The Atlanta Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (AGLCC) hosts its Business Builder Luncheon today. Hosted by Chip Ivie on the Third Thursday of each month, $20 (cash only please) lets you indulge in a preset menu. Open floor seating limited to 14 respondents. Please email Chip Ivie to RSVP at
chipivie@kw.com.

Lambda Legal has led a fight for justice, bringing our community closer to equality than ever before. Today, its progress is threatened as our opponents argue cases all the way to the Supreme Court in their attempt to establish exemptions from our laws or use our constitution as a weapon against LGBTQ equality. Lambda Legal’s Power of the Party event is tonight.

Point Foundation invites you to join us at
A Night On Point. Come and learn about how Point empowers the next generation of LGBTQ leaders through scholarship, community service, leadership training and development. The evening will also include food, drinks, and a silent auction with fun, enticing prizes.

Every Friday night at Mary’s Atlanta, come enjoy Queer Bait, featuring videos with DJ Headmaster.

Every Friday at midnight, it’s time to slip on those fishnets and make-up for the greatest live troupe in the city, Lips Down on Dixie, Inc., for a righteous party in front of the big screen for “The Rocky Horror Show.”

The Atlanta Queer Literary Festival is now a year-round series of events taking place around metro Atlanta. Join the AQLF today in a discussion of Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple.”

It’s time to dust off your gear and get your daddy complex on for The ManShaft Levi-Leather Edition. Expect to see bulging Levi’s, leather, rubber, chaps, harnesses, hot daddies & their boys, bears & their cubs, furry chests & faces, vintage men’s films, anything fetish goes, and hanky codes. DJ Eric kicks off the night at 9pm, Diablo Rojo picks up at 11:30pm, and Neon the Glowgobear spins at 1:30am.

The PFLAG support group for parents and families of LGBTQ children meets today at the Atlanta International School.

Queer AF is a new Sunday night at My Sister’s Room with Drew Friday and Candida Valentina at 9pm.

Trans and Friends is a youth-focused group for trans people, people questioning their own gender and aspiring allies, providing a facilitated space to discuss gender, relevant resources, and activism around social issues.

Salsa! Merengue! Bachata! Enjoy Latino Tuesdays at Blake’s on the Park.

Don’t be shy — it’s Underwear Night at the Atlanta Eagle.

The Atlanta Coalition for LGBTQ Youth (ACFLY) is a consortium of youth-serving nonprofits and other service providers working together to promote community-wide LGBTQ, youth and intersectional cultural humility, increase inter-agency collaboration, and facilitate referrals across service providers. The group meets on the third Thursday of the month.

Do you remember the old variety shows like “The Carol Burnett Show,” “The Muppet Show,” or “The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour?” Did you/do you always dream of being in the audience and being a part of the show? Atlanta’s all LGBTQIA+-identifying comedy group, Queeriety, has just the show for you. Come see The Queeriety Variety Show on the last Saturday of every month. Each show will be jam-packed with improvisation, live sketch comedy, stand-up comedy, puppetry, and drag performances.

The Auburn Avenue Research Library, in collaboration with the Charis Books and More Independent Book Store, will host author and activist Charlene A. Carruthers, as she discusses her publication “Unapologetic: A Black, Queer, and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements.” Drawing on Black intellectual and grassroots organizing traditions, and LGBTQ rights and feminist movements, Unapologetic challenges all of us engaged in the social justice struggle, to make the movement for Black liberation more radical, more queer, and more feminist. This book provides a vision for how social justice movements can become sharper and more effective through principled struggle, healing justice, and leadership development.