TELL is an evening of story telling from the mouths and minds of queers in NYC hosted by Drae Campbell at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division since February 2014.

Peace/Equinox is the theme of the twenty-seventh installment of TELL. Featuring Miss Crimson Kitty, Laila, Ronnie Mae Painter, and Gabe Scelta.

$10 suggested donation – no one turned away for lack of funds

Drae Campbell is a writer, actor, director, story teller, dancer, and nightlife emcee. Drae has been featured on Late Night with Conan O’Brien and on stages all over NYC. Drae’s directing work has appeared in Iceland, NYC, Budapest and in the San Francisco Fringe Festival. The short film Drae wrote and starred in with Rebecca Drysdale, YOU MOVE ME won the Audience Award for Outstanding Narrative Short at OUTFEST 2010 and has been shown in festivals globally. Drae won the grand prize at the first annual San Miguel De Allende Storytelling Festival in Mexico. She once reigned as Miss LEZ and also got dubbed “the next lezzie comedian on the block” by AfterEllen.com for her comedic stylings on the interwebs. Campbell hosts and curates a monthly queer storytelling show called TELL at BGSQD. Check her out online!  www.draecampbell.com.

Called the female-on-female drag pioneer by Time Out New York, Miss Crimson Kitty is taking drag culture by storm one perfected lip-synch at a time! The drag daughter of Rebecca Glasscock of Rupaul’s Drag Race The Lost Season, she has created a haven for other queens at LADYQUEEN which is NYC’s only all female drag revue and created an education revolution by creating LadyQueen University; A 6 week workshop designed to turn any Lady into a LadyQueen!

Crimson has been featured in the press such as the Huffington Post, Oyxgen, Time Out, and Next Magazine for her gender illusionist skills and is known both nationally and internationally as one of the top reigning queens in her field. As a title holder for Dragnet and nominated for many nightlife awards, she is representing a realm of drag much overlooked in the community and aims to change the perception of drag solely based on gender.

Photo by David Ayllon

Laila is an Arab-American Chef de Cuisine. When not experiencing commuter rage, this queer Brooklynite can be found across NYC in someones kitchen whipping up deliciousness. Laila believes we are humans first and has a strong passion for social justice and feminism. She adores long and low dogs such as Dachshunds and Corgis and is an avid list maker.

A native New Yorker born and raised in Astoria, Queens, Ronnie Mae Painter is a Brooklyn-based artist who’s primary media are painting on canvas and works on paper. She is also a published author and poet. Her literary works can be found in the anthology “Are Italians White”, edited by Jennifer Guglielmo and Salvatore Salerno. Painter’s experiences growing up as a woman of African-American and Italian-American biracial descent during the 1970s are transcended through both her visual and literary works in energetic movements and a shouting tone.

Gabe Scelta is a painter, writer, and woodworker. He grew up in Williamsburg, moved everywhere else, and now lives just across the bridge in the Lower East Side. You can find more of his work at www.gabescelta.com