On the day of the release of their new book, LEGENDARY CHILDREN, join us for a live taping of the Tom + Lorenzo podcast, with Tom Fitzgerald and Lorenzo Marquez in conversation with Marti Gould Cummings.

Snag your ticket in advance and save some dough by purchasing the $25 ticket which includes a book!

All proceeds benefit Housing Works' services and programs for low-income and homeless New Yorkers living with or affected by HIV/AIDS.

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ON THE PODCAST AND LEGENDARY CHILDREN:

In the ten years since its premiere, RuPaul’s Drag Race has gone from an unknown reality show to become an Emmy-winning phenomenon, making international superstars out of its contestants and spawning its own DragCon. The show has hooked viewers with its show-stopping runway looks, hilarious impersonations care of the “Snatch Game,” and epic lip-sync battles, but many who tune in may not know that nearly every facet of the show has deep roots in queer culture and history. Tom Fitzgerald and Lorenzo Marquez, creators of the influential pop culture blog Tom and Lorenzo, have featured Drag Race on their blog since its first season, recognizing it as one of the purest representations of gay male social culture on television and watching it evolve to include the spectrum of modern LGTBQ culture as well. Thus, they set out to expand on RuPaul’s mission to—in her words—“teach the children” the roots of drag culture and how it fits into the arc of queer history with their new book LEGENDARY CHILDREN: The First Decade of Rupaul’s Drag Race and the Last Century of Queer Life (A Penguin Books Original; On Sale: March 3, 2020).

LEGENDARY CHILDREN breaks down the different challenges and rituals that Drag Race fans know and love, giving historical context to the roots of those aspects of drag culture. From the tradition of “reading” (as RuPaul says, “reading is fundamental!”) and throwing shade in the Werk Room, to the roots of lip-syncing in drag and even the historical importance of the Pit Crew, LEGENDARY CHILDREN gives readers a crash course in the long and harrowing history of our LGBTQ community over the last century. Tom and Lorenzo recount the bravery of queens like Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, who stood up to police harassment and violence so that they and others could live their lives as who they really were, the struggle of queens like Crystal LaBeija who constantly fought against prejudice and racism within the drag balls, and the trailblazing work of the drag community during the devastating AIDS crisis as the straight community turned a blind eye for so long.

For anyone who cancels plans when the newest season of Drag Race is announced or has downloaded every single season of All Stars and Untucked, LEGENDARY CHILDREN will leave readers with a new level of love and respect for RuPaul’s groundbreaking creation.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

The bloggers behind the massively popular site Tom and Lorenzo, Tom Fitzgerald and Lorenzo Marquez offer their unique take on all things fashion and pop culture-related every day to an audience of more than seven million readers a month. They've appeared three times on Sundance Channel's All on the Line, with Joe Zee, in which Joe called them "two of the most important fashion bloggers today," made a dozen-plus appearances on Sirius XM Radio's "The Derek & Romaine Show," and have been profiled, quoted or interviewed by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, National Public Radio, Entertainment Weekly, People, Vanity Fair, Elle, Rolling Stone, the Daily Telegraph, The Huffington Post, Slate, The Guardian, and Newsweek, among others. They live in Philadelphia.