Social Summer 2026
Fun to be had. Lessons to be learned.
I normally write my summer blog in a lighthearted fashion, and while this blog for this Summer 2026 will have lighthearted elements, there were some very heavy moments and lessons that I need to discuss. To encapsulate:
-- After 30 years of church trauma, consisting of gaslighting, rejection, being told that I'm "too ugly to talk to", and
then subsequently kicked out, seeing the online (and offline) behavior of certain evangelical Christians doing everything from preaching on planes in the air to
saying that empathy "is a sin", the fact that one evangelical Christian told me that I need to "repent from my sin" and "return home", home being the 30 years of church
trauma, is beyond my imagination.
-- Return home? I am home! I have the most wonderful and interesting friends ranging from
Trans people to gay muscle witches to the loveliest goth queer couple to a cornucopia of creative, fun, joyous, beautiful people who helped pay my rent and bills when
I was unemployed for 7 months, and loved, accepted, and included me.
Getting that out of the way, let's talk about Summer 2026!
May (Memorial Day weekend)
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This Golden lewk took about 2.5 years to create, the longest of any lewk I have ever done in my years of Dandyism. This was for a Ball that I unfortunately didn't win.
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This suit by Erdem, a gift from my beloved cousin, was my go-to for
Swann Queen: Effervescent. I got to meet a longtime queer
legend, Rayceen Pendarvis, and I missed walking a mini Ball for arriving so late.
June (Pride 2026)
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This lewk was for two different Pride parties, each hosted by different close friends of mine. The music was amazing; the parade was fun to watch; the company was enchanting, and I
think I reflected the spirit of Pride in my own elegant way (I dunno, you tell me).
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Sunday at Flower Factory for Pride. I felt a fashion trend moment and went
orange for this lewk.
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For the first premier screening of "Swann Queen", I appeared in a lewk that was a slight
elevation of the lewk I wore in the movie. Yes, I'm in a movie!.
July
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When you, once again, not even get nominated for Best Dressed category for the third year in a row, you put on your best "Revenge Dress" and show up to let them know what they once
again missed.
August
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I won a Ball! At long last I won Best Dressed at a ball, this being hosted by
DMV Kiki Nights and the House of Supreme at
Spark Social DC. I got a trophy!
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Carnival! This is my absolute favorite time of the year: going for days to the end of Cape Cod in Massachusetts for outfits, creativity, music, dancing,
gorgeous people, lots of seafood, and heaven. Theme this year was "Deep Sea Disco", and my first lewk is inspired by the
Spanish Dancer who gets dressed up and goes out to the "clurb".
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Friday's lewk is also inspired by colorful creatures, i.e., my tropical fish I kept in an aquarium when I was a child. I was using a common color scheme of small aquarium fish: blue
base, green jewel tones, and yellow tendrils.
September
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For Labor Day I did my annual tradition and went to Trade dressed up for their annual Labor Gay party.
Unfortunately I couldn't capture the suit in its full form, but it looked good in daylight
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Surprise! Labor Day wasn't the last outfit of Summer 2026 after all. I put together one last outfit to surprise Aaron at
Trade. Another fashion moment was had with blush pink and chocolate brown. Also we must never forget
those who were taken from us on that horrible moment on September 11, 2001, and to not at all forget the heroes who did rescues and tried to thwart the terrorists, including LGBTQ+
heroes who did the ultimate sacrifice.
Summer: Epilogue
Summer has always been my favorite season of all: warmth, sunshine, fun, creativity, gorgeous men, beautiful everyone, Pride, and Carnival. But this year it had an even deeper
resonance with me as I learned both contentment, acceptance of myself, and the realization that, in my deconstruction journey, that I don't have to fear being separated for all eternity
from "my home" in their version of heaven when, in fact, I'm already home right now on earth.
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