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SUMMARY:Books After Dark: An Adult Banned Book Fair - Pride Edition!
DESCRIPTION:Books After Dark: PRIDE EDITION!!! Join us after hours on Sunday\, June 14 from 6PM-9PM for a night of queer joy.This is a ticketed 21+ event right smack in the middle of Pride Month with an emphasis on banned LGBTQ+ books.There will be onsite bartenders with a selection of signature themed cocktails!Customers can come sip and shop in ambient atmosphere while we discuss the tea surrounding the current sociopolitical climate. Like cultured adults.Did you know that 3\,743 unique titles were banned during the 2024-2025 school year? Book bans are a bellwether of broader societal trends. Since 2021\, book bans have reflected backlash\, at times coordinated\, against the mainstream acceptance of LGBTQ+ people\, efforts to reckon with the country's history of racism and inequality\, and increased comfort with open discussion of sex and sexuality. For books banned in the 2024-2025 school year\, a strain of anti-intellectualism\, as illustrated in bans on nonfiction titles\, also mirrors the broader political attack on facts and knowledge and the skepticism and devaluation of\, and disdain for\, experts and expertise tactics long associated with the rise of authoritarian regimes and intended to sow distrust in democratic institutions. Let's learn more about how to fight against book bans in Utah!We are featuring local vendors\, artists/creatives as well as hosting a moderated book panel with local publishers\, literary icons\, and radical educators! ImageTara Lipsyncki is the founder and executive director of the United Drag Alliance and Drag Story Hour's Intermountain West chapter. Having performed for over 20 years professionally in drag and as a performer with Disney on Ice\, they are a born entertainer. They have also been recognized by the Senate of California for being part of a community effort to raise over $1 million dollars for HIV/AIDS resources and homeless LGBTQIA+ youth in San Francisco.@taralipsyncki Executive Director:@united.drag.alliance & @mosaics.utah on InstagramImageAnya Bacon (she/they) is a campy drag performer\, producer\, activist\, emcee\, community organizer\, ordained minister\, storyteller\, and self-certified icon. Performing on stages since 2009 and in drag for nearly a decade\, Anya is known for blending Broadway flair\, pop culture references\, and delightfully chaotic energy into unforgettable performances. A member of the Matrons of Mayhem and a board member of the United Drag Alliance\, she is passionate about creating spaces where community\, creativity\, and self-expression can thrive. Anya is also the creator and host of Bacon Boulevard at Laziz Kitchen\, where drag\, storytelling\, and a healthy dose of nonsense come together over brunch. Whether she's on stage\, behind the scenes\, or organizing in the community\, Anya believes life is better when it's a little louder\, a little weirder\, and a lot more fabulous.ImageMadazon Can-Can\, M.Ed is a local performer\, educator\, activist\, clown\, and all around weirdo. They specialize in pursuing and teaching subjects that are taboo and often within the realm of the underground\, the unseen and the under-appreciated. They have been reading Tarot professionally for 6 years and can be seen producing and performing and teaching all around the valley in subjects of art\, dance\, human relationships\, self improvement and more. They are overjoyed to be working with Weller Book Works as a previous English Major and current radical educator specializing in their own programs and being a full-time self employed artist here in the valley of Sin and Salt. www.madazoncancan.com and @madazon_can_can on Instagram.ImageImageRebekah Cummings is the Director of Digital Matters at the University of Utah Marriott Library and Co-Director for the Summer Institute "Humanities Perspectives in Artificial Intelligence." Rebekah has championed library issues and funding since 2017 as the Utah Library Association President\, Utah State Library Board Chair\, and co-founder of Let Utah Read. Her library advocacy has been recognized by the American Library Association\, Utah Library Association\, the League of Women Voters\, ACLU of Utah\, and the Utah Academy of Science\, Arts\, and Letters. In 2024\, Rebekah Cummings was the first librarian to run for the office of Lt. Governor on a major party ticket in the United States.@rebekahcummings and @letutahread on InstagramImageThomas Ford/Tom (he/him) is a Staff Attorney at the ACLU of Utah\, where his practice focuses on complex civil rights and liberties litigation in federal and state court\, with an emphasis on First Amendment\, Eighth Amendment\, immigrant rights\, and disability rights cases.Tom has secured significant victories on behalf of clients across a broad range of constitutional matters\, including preliminary and permanent injunctive relief against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security\, Immigration and Customs Enforcement\, state agencies\, local law enforcement\, and county governments\, as well as favorable verdicts following federal and state jury trials. Tom has experience representing a wide range of clients\, including the literary estates of Dr. Maya Angelou and Kurt Vonnegut\, incarcerated individuals\, organizational partners such as the Disability Law Center\, and public school and university students proceeding anonymously.Prior to joining the ACLU\, Tom served as an Assistant Public Defender at the Alaska Public Defender Agency\, where he developed substantial trial experience advocating for the rights and dignity of indigent clients throughout Alaska. He earned his J.D. from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law\, where he represented incarcerated people with disabilities in class action litigation through the Civil Rights Clinic and was awarded the Arnold & Porter Civil Rights Endowed Scholarship for his demonstrated commitment to civil rights\, public service\, and academic excellence.Tom is a member of the Utah State Bar Leadership Academy\, Class of 2026\, and is admitted to practice in Utah and Alaska\, in the federal district courts\, and in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.ImageWill Neville-Rehbehn serves as Co-Executive Director and Executive Director at Torrey House Press\, the region's leading nonprofit environmental publisher. With THP founder and publisher Kirsten Johanna Allen\, he leads acquisitions for fiction and creative nonfiction\, edits books\, and oversees the organization's publishing\, fundraising\, marketing\, and community engagement efforts. He received a BA in Theatre from Davidson College and a master's in Political Management from The George Washington University. A Utah native and lifelong book nerd\, Will returned to Salt Lake City in 2020 with his husband\, their young son\, and very old cat.ImageImageThe ACLU of Utah operates through public education\, legal action\, and legislative and community advocacy to enhance and defend the civil rights and freedoms of everyone living in or visiting Utah. We are an inclusive\, nonpartisan\, statewide organization powered by our members\, donors\, and volunteers.ImageBefore her retirement in 2019\, local pediatrician Dr. Barbara Bean\, founder of Brain Food Books\, raised thousands of dollars in order to provide books to each patient during their wellness appointments. Her commitment to the community included keeping her book purchases local.\n\nThrough a chance conversation with Cal Crosby\, Barbara and Cal discovered their shared goal of making books accessible to under-served communities. In 2022\, Cal was honored to take the reins and step into Dr. Bean's inspiring shoes as Executive Director of Brain Food Books.\n\nhttps://www.brainfoodbooks.org/index.html#story\nhttps://givebutter.com/brain-food-booksImageLake Words as a book is a queer\, abolitionist love letter for great salt lake - a love so robust it refuses to look away. there will be no justice with this system. the system is an arbiter of destruction.it's time.for the dams to be blown.we keep us safe.for smokestacks to fall.for collective care.for decarceration.for rehabilitation.for luxury apartments to alchemize into collective affordable housing.for the swollen pockets of a few to redistribute to the many.we are all we have.we will not be lied to.we are coming.like the water that will flow to our great salt lake's body\, we will not stop until balance has been restored.@lakewords on Instagram or www.lakewords.comImageOut of the Shadows Theater Group (OSTG) Out of the Shadows Theater Group and All Sewn Up first performed Hedwig and the Angry Inch in Salt Lake City on Labor Day weekend in 2011 at the Tower Theatre. All Sewn Up is Salt Lake's only Hedwig shadowcast. They will be performing Hedwig and the Angry Inch July 10-11\, at 8pm at Alliance Theater\, Trolley Square livestream available.A transsexual punk rock girl from East Berlin tours the US with her rock band as she tells her life story and follows the ex-boyfriend/bandmate who stole her songs.Out of the Shadows Theater Group was founded in 2010 in order to bring a wider variety of shadowcasting and hold a more professional footing to the Salt Lake City area. OSTG is a local non-profit community theater group providing an alternative aspect to the performing arts and cinema. Catering to cult film followers and encouraging audience participation.\n\nWhat we do is called shadowcasting. A shadowcast is a group of actors who get onstage to do a performance of a movie while the movie itself plays on the background\, therefore casting shadows on the screen.\n\nWhile the Rocky Horror Picture Show has been a Halloween staple at the Tower Theatre\, and Blue Mouse prior to that\, for more than 40 years\, with the Latter Day Transvestites since 1995 (officially as a cast [originally named Little Cast of Horrors]). We have added to our repertoire over the years. We also present Repo! The Genetic Opera with the Utah Scalpel SL\,UT's cast and Hedwig and the Angry Inch with the All Sewn Up cast in the spring/summer.ImageMeagan Skidmore is a Life Transformation Coach who empowers her clients to navigate life transitions and step into their fullest potential. Life transitions have a way of presenting the opportunity to reset our identity\, reassess our values\, and process emotions becoming the witnessing observer of our experiences instead of letting them define us.Meagan helps people awaken to their truth\, crush the boxes that confine them\, and step boldly into their power\, stop lying to themselves and live authentically and unapologetically through her coaching program and community\, living on The Other Side of Maybe .TransparentSEE: How I Learned to SEE Through My Journey as a Parent of a Transgender Kiddo is a memoir of awakening\, told through the lens of parenting a transgender child.Blending story\, metaphor\, and spiritual reflection\, Meagan shares how she learned to see her child\, her faith\, and herself with new eyes. Each chapter unfolds through a "trans" theme\, guiding readers from inherited beliefs toward embodied truth.At its heart\, this book is about letting go of fear and control to embrace curiosity\, compassion\, and love and remembering that our deepest calling is to show up fully human\, wide-eyed and open-hearted.TransparentSEE: How I Learned to SEE Through My Journey as a Parent of a Transgender Kiddo is #1 New Release in three categories!ImageSylvie Luna Thorn (She/They/Fae) is a local artisan specializing in Occult wares. Her work includes blacksmithing\, leatherworking\, woodcarving\, and the incorporation of natural materials\, making each piece a unique wonder. Her craft and vending have been fixtures annually during Dark Arts Fest held at Club Area 51. She is also a teaches classes on metal work at Make Salt Lake and was a company set carpenter with the University of Utah Theater Department.@wanderer.malik and @WanderWitch.Esoterica on InstagramImageImage
X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:
Books After Dark: PRIDE EDITION!!! Join us after hours on Sunday\, June 14 from 6PM-9PM for a night of queer joy.
This is a ticketed 21+ event right smack in the middle of Pride Month with an emphasis on banned LGBTQ+ books.
There will be onsite bartenders with a selection of signature themed cocktails!
Customers can come sip and shop in ambient atmosphere while we discuss the tea surrounding the current sociopolitical climate. Like cultured adults.
Did you know that 3\,743 unique titles were banned during the 2024-2025 school year? Book bans are a bellwether of broader societal trends. Since 2021\, book bans have reflected backlash\, at times coordinated\, against the mainstream acceptance of LGBTQ+ people\, efforts to reckon with the country&rsquo\;s history of racism and inequality\, and increased comfort with open discussion of sex and sexuality. For books banned in the 2024-2025 school year\, a strain of anti-intellectualism\, as illustrated in bans on nonfiction titles\, also mirrors the broader political attack on facts and knowledge and the skepticism and devaluation of\, and disdain for\, experts and expertise&mdash\;tactics long associated with the rise of authoritarian regimes and intended to sow distrust in democratic institutions. Let'\;s learn more about how to fight against book bans in Utah!
We are featuring local vendors\, artists/creatives as well as hosting a moderated book panel with local publishers\, literary icons\, and radical educators!
\;
Image
Tara Lipsyncki is the founder and executive director of the United Drag Alliance and Drag Story Hour&rsquo\;s Intermountain West chapter. Having performed for over 20 years professionally in drag and as a performer with Disney on Ice\, they are a born entertainer. They have also been recognized by the Senate of California for being part of a community effort to raise over $1 million dollars for HIV/AIDS resources and homeless LGBTQIA+ youth in San Francisco.
@taralipsyncki Executive Director:@united.drag.alliance &\; @mosaics.utah on Instagram
Image
Anya Bacon (she/they) is a campy drag performer\, producer\, activist\, emcee\, community organizer\, ordained minister\, storyteller\, and self-certified icon. Performing on stages since 2009 and in drag for nearly a decade\, Anya is known for blending Broadway flair\, pop culture references\, and delightfully chaotic energy into unforgettable performances. A member of the Matrons of Mayhem and a board member of the United Drag Alliance\, she is passionate about creating spaces where community\, creativity\, and self-expression can thrive. Anya is also the creator and host of Bacon Boulevard at Laziz Kitchen\, where drag\, storytelling\, and a healthy dose of nonsense come together over brunch. Whether she'\;s on stage\, behind the scenes\, or organizing in the community\, Anya believes life is better when it'\;s a little louder\, a little weirder\, and a lot more fabulous.
Image
Madazon Can-Can\, M.Ed \;is a local performer\, educator\, activist\, clown\, and all around weirdo. They specialize in pursuing and teaching subjects that are taboo and often within the realm of the underground\, the unseen and the under-appreciated. They have been reading Tarot professionally for 6 years and can be seen producing and performing and teaching all around the valley in subjects of art\, dance\, human relationships\, self improvement and more. They are overjoyed to be working with Weller Book Works as a previous English Major and current radical educator specializing in their own programs and being a full-time self employed artist here in the valley of Sin and Salt. \;
www.madazoncancan.com and @madazon_can_can on Instagram.
Image
Image
Rebekah Cummings is the Director of Digital Matters at the University of Utah Marriott Library and Co-Director for the Summer Institute &ldquo\;Humanities Perspectives in Artificial Intelligence.&rdquo\; Rebekah has championed library issues and funding since 2017 as the Utah Library Association President\, Utah State Library Board Chair\, and co-founder of Let Utah Read. Her library advocacy has been recognized by the American Library Association\, Utah Library Association\, the League of Women Voters\, ACLU of Utah\, and the Utah Academy of Science\, Arts\, and Letters. In 2024\, Rebekah Cummings was the first librarian to run for the office of Lt. Governor on a major party ticket in the United States.
@rebekahcummings and \;@letutahread on Instagram
Image
Thomas Ford/Tom (he/him) is a Staff Attorney at the ACLU of Utah\, where his practice focuses on complex civil rights and liberties litigation in federal and state court\, with an emphasis on First Amendment\, Eighth Amendment\, immigrant rights\, and disability rights cases.
Tom has secured significant victories on behalf of clients across a broad range of constitutional matters\, including preliminary and permanent injunctive relief against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security\, Immigration and Customs Enforcement\, state agencies\, local law enforcement\, and county governments\, as well as favorable verdicts following federal and state jury trials. Tom has experience representing a wide range of clients\, including the literary estates of Dr. Maya Angelou and Kurt Vonnegut\, incarcerated individuals\, organizational partners such as the Disability Law Center\, and public school and university students proceeding anonymously.
Prior to joining the ACLU\, Tom served as an Assistant Public Defender at the Alaska Public Defender Agency\, where he developed substantial trial experience advocating for the rights and dignity of indigent clients throughout Alaska. He earned his J.D. from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law\, where he represented incarcerated people with disabilities in class action litigation through the Civil Rights Clinic and was awarded the Arnold &\; Porter Civil Rights Endowed Scholarship for his demonstrated commitment to civil rights\, public service\, and academic excellence.
Tom is a member of the Utah State Bar Leadership Academy\, Class of 2026\, and is admitted to practice in Utah and Alaska\, in the federal district courts\, and in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
Image
Will Neville-Rehbehn serves as Co-Executive Director and Executive Director at Torrey House Press\, the region'\;s leading nonprofit environmental publisher. With THP founder and publisher Kirsten Johanna Allen\, he leads acquisitions for fiction and creative nonfiction\, edits books\, and oversees the organization'\;s publishing\, fundraising\, marketing\, and community engagement efforts. He received a BA in Theatre from Davidson College and a master&rsquo\;s in Political Management from The George Washington University. A Utah native and lifelong book nerd\, Will returned to Salt Lake City in 2020 with his husband\, their young son\, and very old cat.
Image
Image
The ACLU of Utah operates through public education\, legal action\, and legislative and community advocacy to enhance and defend the civil rights and freedoms of everyone living in or visiting Utah. We are an inclusive\, nonpartisan\, statewide organization powered by our members\, donors\, and volunteers.
Image
Before her retirement in 2019\, local pediatrician Dr. Barbara Bean\, founder of Brain Food Books\, raised thousands of dollars in order to provide books to each patient during their wellness appointments. Her commitment to the community included keeping her book purchases local.
Through a chance conversation with Cal Crosby\, Barbara and Cal discovered their shared goal of making books accessible to under-served communities. In 2022\, Cal was honored to take the reins and step into Dr. Bean&rsquo\;s inspiring shoes as Executive Director of Brain Food Books.
https://www.brainfoodbooks.org/index.html#story
https://givebutter.com/brain-food-books
Image
Lake Words as a book is a queer\, abolitionist love letter for great salt lake - a love so robust it refuses to look away. \;
there will be no justice with this system. the system is an arbiter of destruction.
it'\;s time.
for the dams to be blown.
we keep us safe.
for smokestacks to fall.
for collective care.
for decarceration.
for rehabilitation.
for luxury apartments to alchemize into collective affordable housing.
for the swollen pockets of a few to redistribute to the many.
we are all we have.
we will not be lied to.
we are coming.
like the water that will flow to our great salt lake'\;s body\, we will not stop until balance has been restored.
@lakewords on Instagram or \;www.lakewords.com
Image
Out of the Shadows Theater Group (OSTG) \;
Out of the Shadows Theater Group and All Sewn Up first performed Hedwig and the Angry Inch in Salt Lake City on Labor Day weekend in 2011 at the Tower Theatre. All Sewn Up is Salt Lake'\;s only Hedwig shadowcast. They will be performing Hedwig and the Angry Inch &ndash\; July 10-11\, at 8pm at Alliance Theater\, Trolley Square &ndash\; livestream available.
A transsexual punk rock girl from East Berlin tours the US with her rock band as she tells her life story and follows the ex-boyfriend/bandmate who stole her songs.
Out of the Shadows Theater Group was founded in 2010 in order to bring a wider variety of shadowcasting and hold a more professional footing to the Salt Lake City area. OSTG is a local non-profit community theater group providing an alternative aspect to the performing arts and cinema. Catering to cult film followers and encouraging audience participation.
What we do is called shadowcasting. A shadowcast is a group of actors who get onstage to do a performance of a movie while the movie itself plays on the background\, therefore casting shadows on the screen.
While the Rocky Horror Picture Show has been a Halloween staple at the Tower Theatre\, and Blue Mouse prior to that\, for more than 40 years\, with the Latter Day Transvestites since 1995 (officially as a cast [originally named Little Cast of Horrors]). We have added to our repertoire over the years. We also present Repo! The Genetic Opera with the Utah Scalpel SL\,UT&rsquo\;s cast and Hedwig and the Angry Inch with the All Sewn Up cast in the spring/summer.
Image
Meagan Skidmore is a Life Transformation Coach who empowers her clients to navigate life transitions and step into their fullest potential. Life transitions have a way of presenting the opportunity to reset our identity\, reassess our values\, and process emotions becoming the witnessing observer of our experiences instead of letting them define us.
Meagan helps people awaken to their truth\, crush the boxes that confine them\, and step boldly into their power\, stop lying to themselves and live authentically and unapologetically through her coaching program and community\, living on The Other Side of Maybe&trade\;.
TransparentSEE: How I Learned to SEE Through My Journey as a Parent of a Transgender Kiddo is a memoir of awakening\, told through the lens of parenting a transgender child.
Blending story\, metaphor\, and spiritual reflection\, Meagan \;shares how she learned to see her child\, her faith\, and herself with new eyes. Each chapter unfolds through a &ldquo\;trans&rdquo\; theme\, guiding readers from inherited beliefs toward embodied truth.
At its heart\, this book is about letting go of fear and control to embrace curiosity\, compassion\, and love&mdash\;and remembering that our deepest calling is to show up fully human\, wide-eyed and open-hearted.
TransparentSEE: How I Learned to SEE Through My Journey as a Parent of a Transgender Kiddo is \;#1 New Release in three categories!
Image
Sylvie Luna Thorn (She/They/Fae) \;is a local artisan specializing in Occult wares. Her work includes blacksmithing\, leatherworking\, woodcarving\, and the incorporation of natural materials\, making each piece a unique wonder. Her craft and vending have been fixtures annually during Dark Arts Fest held at Club Area 51. She is also a teaches classes on metal work at Make Salt Lake and was a company set carpenter with the University of Utah Theater Department.
@wanderer.malik and @WanderWitch.Esoterica on Instagram
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Image
