New Jerome Caja Film Shoot on Sunday, June 28th

6/26/2020

FILMING: People’s March & Rally, Pride is a Riot, and “Pride is a Protest” Jerome Poster

San Francisco’s Gay Pride parade was cancelled this year because of COVID-19. In its wake, and on the exact same day, two marches (People’s March & Rally & Pride is a Riot) are appropriately taking its place this Sunday, June 28, 2020.

In support of today’s Black Lives Matter movement, in celebration of 50 years of Gay Liberation, and in appreciation of Win Mixter’s new, fabulous “Pride is a Protest” Jerome poster — we are taking to the streets to film these historic moments (see filming logistics below).

We will also show our love and support to three of San Francisco’s drag legends — Joan Jett Blakk, Juanita More, and Jerome Caja by marching with protest posters honoring their fierce political contributions to radical social change!

All are welcome! You can join our contingent at any time.

PLEASE NOTE: Because of COVID-19 and California’s current state guidelines, we ask that you wear a face covering and maintain physical distancing when participating in our outdoor film shoot.

Four Part Film Shoot Logistics

Please wear your best Freedom Day togs and feel free to bring your own homemade protest signs as well. If you are willing to share your cell phone video footage with The Jerome Project, we will consider it for the feature film on Jerome Caja. You can contact us through our website here.

IMPORTANT REMINDER: This is a protest and because multiple marches are happening at the same time, this schedule may change. We are headed to where the demonstrations are. The following is a tentative schedule of what we think will happen on Sunday.

I: Filming at 10:30 AM — "People's March"

Spearheaded by Juanita More and Alex U. Inn and led by an all-black and brown committee of trans and queer activists, community leaders, artists, and performers.
Scheduled to begin at 11:00 AM.
Location is at the intersection of Polk & Washington (1800 Polk Street).
We recommend you get there earlier (10:30 AM) so we can be up close and have time to gather properly.
Historically this is the exact place where the first San Francisco “Gay-In” began in June 1970.

II: Filming at 12:00 PM (estimated time) — "People's Rally"

Also spearheaded by Juanita More and Alex U. Inn.
Location is on the steps of City Hall in San Francisco’s Civic Center.
This is where the People’s March ends and also where the Pride is a Riot March may arrive.
We will film the speakers and happenings.

III: Filming at 2:00 PM (Estimated time) — “Pride is a Riot”

Announced by an autonomous multiracial trans and queer group.
Scheduled to start at 12:00 PM on the corner of 19th & Dolores and the march is at 2:00 PM.
It is unknown where this march will head, but perhaps it will head toward City Hall.

IV: Filming TBD — "Pride is a Protest" Jerome Poster

Our final film shoot for the day will take place just a few blocks away from Civic Center, in Mid-Market.
Location is on the northeast corner of 7th & Market at the MUNI bus shelter.
Win Mixter’s fabulous Jerome Caja “Pride is a Protest” poster is part of the San Francisco Arts Commission’s “Art on Market Street” poster series.
If all goes as planned, we will take still photos of all of us gathered around Win Mixter & Joan Jett Blakk, bookending and spotlighting Jerome’s poster. We will also film several short “people-on-the-street” interviews in front of the bus shelter.
If this doesn’t happen on Sunday, we’ll schedule a shoot before the posters come down in August.

Pioneering Political Drag Sisters

Joan Jett Blakk is a fabulous drag persona created by Terence Alan Smith. She is most famously known for her Democratic presidential campaign against George W. Bush in 1992 — "Joan Jett Blakk for President." Her political aspirations were inspired by activist groups like ACT-UP and Queer Nation and their fight for visibility during the AIDS crisis.

Joan Jett Blakk was also a dear friend of Jerome, and she used her Oprah Winfrey-style platform as a way to help promote him and his art. Jerome was a special guest on the infamous Joan Jett Blakk Show, at Josie’s Juice Joint, along with other radical queers like Rena McDonald (aka Adam Klein) and Lynn Breedlove & Leslie Mah’s fierce SF LGBTQ+ punk band, Tribe-8.

LINK: Official Joan Jett Blakk Website

Juanita MORE! is a denizen of the limelight. For almost three decades the tireless hostess has blitzed San Francisco with high glamour, drag irreverence, danceable beats, culinary delectables, political activism and a philanthropic heart that has illuminated the entire city. Juanita remains a creation of fashion and glamour, generosity and nerve, inspiring those around her to make a positive difference in their lives and in their communities, doing it all with a timeless elegance and an innovative spirit.

LINK: Official Juanita MORE! Website

Jerome Caja was a master American painter and skag-drag performer. He was at the center of San Francisco late 80’s and early 90’s queer counter culture movement of art, AIDS and activism. He used trash, found objects, and anything you might find in a drag queen’s hand bag (lipstick, eye liner, makeup, nail polish, etc.) as his medium of choice in his paintings and his apocalyptic drag. Jerome died in 1995 from complications related to HIV & AIDS. Twenty-five years after his death, our culture is only just now starting to catch up with his vision.

LINK: Official Jerome Caja Website

To this day, these three drag sisters, Joan Jett Blakk, Juanita Moore & Jerome Caja, are pioneers. They challenge us in different ways with their own provocative political drag art.

Marching for Gay Freedom as opposed to passively “Celebrating” “Pride” is a necessary return to the event’s origins as a protest (see Win Mixter’s Pride is a Protest website here). It is also a well-needed shift away from the toothless rainbow capitalism we have grown accustomed to for 20+ years.

If Jerome were alive today, he would have joined in this march. He would have scrounged up his Sunday best skimpy lingerie, slathered on some cheap makeup, and marched behind Joan Jett Blakk and Juanita Moore as their freaky white sister-caboose. The Jerome Project actually has vintage VHS footage of Jerome doing this. In the late 80’s and early 90’s Jerome marched with the Chaos & Uranus contingent in Gay Pride, and instead of joining everyone on the float, Jerome chose to walk alone, behind the truck, as his own freaky individual float. Like always he stole the show.

All of this is in direct alignment with everything Jerome believed in and painted — radical social change!

Suggested Poster Themes

Black Lives Matter
Black Trans Lives Matter
Pride is a Protest
Jerome Caja as a beloved gender terrorist
Joan Jett Blakk for President
Any and all messaging regarding re-claiming and celebrating “Gay Freedom Day” as opposed to the innocuous and ubiquitous Pride

We Hope to See You There

If for whatever reason you are unable to join us on Sunday June 28th, but would still like to contribute, you can also make a financial donation to the GoFundMe page for the People’s March & Rally here — THANK YOU & STAY SAFE!