THEYFRIEND
Performances that uplift, center, & celebrate nonbinary identity!
Nonbinary Performance Festival
THEYFRIEND
THEYFRIEND is the world’s first performance festival uplifting, centering, and celebrating nonbinary identity. Last year, we featured over 40 nonbinary performers from the Bay Area and beyond, showcasing drag, music, comedy, burlesque, film, poetry, theater, and more!
Save the date for this year’s annual festival happening in San Francisco November 13–17, 2024 !
ARTIST APPLICATIONS are expected to open in June– Join our newsletter to get notified when applications go live this summer or follow us @diamondwavearts!
ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
Now in its fifth year, THEYFRIEND gives platform to nonbinary performers working in burlesque, circus, comedy, dance, DJ, drag, music, performance art, poetry/spoken word, theater, video and/or hybrid and interdisciplinary practices, with compensation ranging $100–$1,000. This year, the festival will take place during Transgender Awareness Week, (November 13–17, 2024) in partnership with San Francisco arts presenters and queer nightlife venues.
THEYFRIEND 2023
Our 2023 Festival was a blast! Thank you to all who participated, volunteered, attended, and supported. The festival performances are now available for viewing– check out the THEYFRIEND 2023 Archive page for event details, photos, artist details, and videos!
Nonbinary Cabaret Series
NEW!
This year Diamond Wave is partnering with Brava to bring you more THEYFRIEND! Hold the dates for these cabaret events featuring Bay Area nonbinary performers!
August 15
September 19
October 17
March 21
April 18
May 16
WHY THEYFRIEND?
Although formal language surrounding the government recognition of nonbinary gender identity is a fairly recent phenomenon, gender variant, gender non-conforming, and third gender people have long and rich histories throughout the world (Akava’ine, Baklâ, Bissu, Fa’afafine, Hen, Hijra, Mahu, Muxe, Two-Spirit, etc.).
The 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey found that, out of 27,715 participants, 31% identified as nonbinary, and a 2017 UCLA study discovered that 27% (796,000) of CA youth now identify as nonbinary. Despite such a sharp increase in nonbinary identity…
We still have few creative & artistic events that embody and uplift our perspectives, needs, and experiences as nonbinary people.
We’re building community
THEYFRIEND brings nonbinary people together! In addition to creating performing arts showcases that feature a myriad of racial, age and artistic diversity, we also seek to create connections amongst our artists and with our audiences - regardless of assigned sex at birth (ASAB).
Looking for a fun and creative way to learn about nonbinary identity? Check out Stuart Getty and Brooke Thyng’s How to They/Them: A Visual Guide to Nonbinary Pronouns and the World of Gender Fluidity
THEYFRIEND Artists have included:
Billy Dean Thomas
Dorian Wood
KB Boyce
Cassils
Beatrice L. Thomas / Black Benatar
Kanyon Sayers-Roods
Edgar Fabián Frías
Stuart Getty
Evan Spigelman / Mz Aza Metric
Sharmi Basu
Tyler Holmes
Vin Seaman
Hennessy Williams
Kanyon Coyote-Woman Sayers-Roods
LOTUS BOY
Papi Churro
The Living Altar
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Rawiyah Tariq
THEYFRIEND is supported by the California Arts Council, the Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation and the Hormel LGBTQIA Center at San Francisco Public Library, and is presented in partnership with Brava! for Women in the Arts, the LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District, Oasis, the San Francisco Transgender Film Festival and the Transgender District. Diamond Wave is a fiscally sponsored project of Intersection for the Arts that is supported by Grants for the Arts, the Horizons Foundation, the Walter & Elise Haas Fund and the San Francisco Arts Commission.
THEYFRIEND Archive
