In pre-pandemic times, hip gays from Miami and beyond flocked to Hotel Gaythering to drink, flirt and get a little naughty. The adults-only hotel’s typically bustling lobby bar and lounge throws together tropical ’50s elegance and vintage summer camp aesthetics to tremendous effect, making it a popular, offbeat refuge from the hyper commercial madness of South Beach.
Nowadays, the Gaythering and its facilities are closed to the public. But if like so many of us, you’re looking for ways to feel connected with the community while staying home, there’s good news: the Gaythering has gone online. Favorites like karaoke, trivia and bingo are back and streaming live on the internet until we ride this thing out.
Read on for a breakdown of the Gaythering’s current virtual programming plus more in the works for the near future.
Karaoke Quarantina Mondays
Hosted by Miami Ultimate Drag Queen 2019 Karla Croqueta, karaoke carries on as usual in its regular slot—cheekily rebranded as Karaoke Quarantina Mondays and streaming live from Instagram. Follow @karlacroqueta. Mondays 8 to 10pm.
Shade at Home Trivia Night Wednesdays
Hotel Gaythering’s own Alex Guerra hosts Shade at Home Trivia Night, which saw 34 teams and more than 600 viewers at last week’s game. Sign up to play using the Bar Trivia App and hang out virtually using the Zoom app (gameplay and Zoom meeting details can be found on Gaythering’s Instagram). Teams can also use a second device, like an iPad, to tune into Guerra’s live stream, where he asks questions before posting them to the app, gives out answers and banters with players between questions. Follow @gaythering. Wednesdays at 8pm
Drag Bingo Thursdays
Resident drag queen Blamie Forret leads virtual bingo from her living room. Log onto the free Bingo Maker website (no signup required). Once Blamie’s game is live, you can search for it on Bingo Maker and get your free digital card. Players with multiple devices can even get down and dirty and play multiple digital cards at once. Winners go live with Blamie over Instagram to get checked. If you don’t actually have bingo, get ready to be Shame! Shame! Shamed! by everyone else in the room. Follow @blamieforret. Thursdays at 8pm.
Sunset Session Fridays
Friday has arrived which means one very important thing: it’s happy hour time. Log onto the Gaythering’s Zoom virtual happy hour to mingle and dance as resident DJ Manny spins a brand new sunset session. Follow @gaythering and @aural.fixationz. Fridays at 6pm
Upcoming
Bitch Sesh with Blamie
Blamie is back and taking callers live for a new Tuesday night comedy event. Lockdown life got you down? Call in, blow off some steam and allow Blamie to soothe you with her comedic recommendations on surviving social distancing and how not to be an asshole during this time.
A Conversation with licensed family therapist Damon L. Jacobs
PreP (Pre Exposure Prophylaxis) educator and friend of the Gaythering, Jacobs will open up a discussion about the gay man’s experience during the coronavirus, touching on the impacts of social distancing on depression, along with tools on how to combat those feelings.
Pride
A virtual pub crawl is in the works that will highlight a variety of local talent and bars from Miami’s queer community. Each bar will host its own event streamed live from the Gaythering’s social channels. Expect drag shows, lip sync battles, DJ sets, musical performances and more.
Follow @gaythering for all details TBA.
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