Cheers, queers. This here’s a South by Southwest recommendation list as curated by your Qmmunity editor du jour. I’ve combed the SXSW website and ruined my sleep schedule scrolling through Instagram just to bring you all the coolest, hottest, and LGBTQIA-est SXSW happenings.
Sessions
TRANSforming Comedy
Saturday, March 12, 11:30am, Austin Convention Center
Oh, the comedic life of the transgender individual! This panel centered on trans comedy creatives in TV and film will explore the ways that writers and filmmakers with lived trans experiences are putting the kibosh on the ol’ weep-and-sob transgender narrative.
Lizzo
Sunday, March 13, 1pm, Convention Center
You are queer and reading this paper. Did I even really need to tell you that Lizzo will be at SXSW as a speaker? And, similarly, that you will be going? It’s going to be ACL 2019 all over again.
Jonathan Van Ness & ALOK
Monday, March 14, 11:30am, JW Marriott
A chat between Alok Vaid-Menon, aka ALOK, who is a mixed-media artist best known for their work to degender fashion, and Jonathan Van Ness, aka JVN, who stars in Netflix’s Queer Eye and once was in an Uber Eats commercial.
Music
Muna
TBA
You saw the But I’m a Cheerleader-inspired music video. You cheered as they joined Phoebe Bridgers’ new label. And now you’ll don your “Silk Chiffon” when you come see Muna play at SXSW. Say it with me now: “Life’s so fun, life’s so fun.”
Perfume Genius
Wednesday, March 16, 11:05pm, Central Presbyterian Church
His programming description has a byline from Ocean Vuong, for gosh sakes! What else does one need to hear except for the body-moving, head-spinning tunes of Michael Hadreas, the genius of perfume himself?
Film
“Monsieur Le Butch”
Saturday, March 12, 11:15am, Alamo South Lamar
Wednesday, March 16, 6:45pm, Alamo South Lamar
Online: March 13-21
This quarantine-shot meta-comedy follows Jude, a 30-year-old they/them who ends up living with their opinionated Jewish mom. Through scripted and improvised conversations as well as an intimate haircut (possibly one of the gayest events in a person’s life), Jude finds “the line between the stories we tell ourselves and the stories that get told about us.”
Hypochondriac
Monday, March 14, 9:30pm, Alamo South Lamar
Tuesday, March 15, 3:15pm, Alamo South Lamar
Thursday, March 17, 9:45pm, Alamo South Lamar
Online: March 15-17
RSVP to this mother of a queer horror movie, where young, gay, Hispanic potter Will is haunted by his dark, violent past – specifically his and his mother’s history of mental illness. When his mother comes back into his life after 10 years, inexplicable symptoms start to wreak havoc on his body and his sense of reality.
Parties
Dirty South Ball
Wednesday, March 16, 10pm; RSVP for location at dirtysouthball.splashthat.com
A drag ball from the incredible House of Lepore, emceed by Ms. Girl6, with categories ranging from the Megan Thee Stallion-inspired Virgin Performance to the Bizarre Runway’s assignment to honor UT’s mascot by putting your best longhorns atop your head.
Bushwig
Saturday, March 19, 8pm, Cheer Up Charlies (free with SXSW Pass, $20 at door)
Since 2018, mythos and hearsay have passed around about the Bushwig x Cheer Ups South By party – and now comes time for the party’s glorious entrance. From New York to Texas, this event proclaims itself the biggest drag party of 2022, and boy does it make a good case of that claim: Performers include Louisianna Purchase, Tatiana Cholula, Hermajestie the Hung, Gothess Jasmine, Noodles, Miss Taint, Paradox Rei, and Salem Ofax, plus DJ sets from Horrorchata and Lavender Thug, among others, and thumpin’ live music from bottoms, Girl Dick, BeBe Deluxe, and many more.
This article appears in Guide to SXSW 2022.
