Alternaqueers are go!

And mustaches are back.

By Marke B.

EARLIER THIS YEAR , twee neoglam Euro fashion fused with homocore political sensibility, early-'80s downtown Manhattan attitude, and the new wave/postpunk musical resurgence to create underground queer club culture's new iconic style: alternaqueer. The term was actually coined in 2004 by the organizers of Montreal's famous Divers/Cité pride celebration to denote the performance stage set aside for "electrorockers, blues garagists, and even cowboy crooners" – but like all subcultural media tags, the term grows more fluid by the moment. (And don't let the Canadian connection blow your mind: Alternative queer cultural trends like East Coast homocore, queer rock fanzines, and Bruce La Bruce skinhead porn originated there, as did their opposites: circuit culture, designer turtlenecks, and legalized same-sex marriage in North America.)

Bay Area club kids latched on to the term's musical roots and expanded them to include everyone from electroclash fashionistas and omnisexual goths to leather-clad homo headbangers and FTM hip-hoppers. Alternaqueer has become shorthand for anyone outside the gay media mainstream. Except that now there's a uniform look: patchy hairdos, goofy sunglasses, street-hustler complexions, and Flashdance-meets-Road Warrior style, with a dash of Freddie Mercury for bombast. ("Mustaches must be coming back!" I recently heard some tourist queen squeal in the Castro. Girl, you don't even know.)

The need for a new word to describe queer folks who chafe at the one-size-fits-all, Nasdaq-ready LGBT moniker was brewing for a long time – especially in the face of gay culture commodification, alarming economic disparity between ghetto fags and rich A-gays, increasingly uncategorizable gender identities, a questionable push for state-recognized unions, and the cultlike screwiness of more established mainstream-resistance organizations like Gay Shame and ACT UP San Francisco. Alas, it seems that alternaqueer style is at present trumping alternaqueer politics. I'm nervously awaiting the backlash, but right now, at the very least, alternaqueers possess the one characteristic that renders conservatives powerless: They're just plain fucking cooler. Here's where to find 'em.

Aunt Charlie's Lounge This gritty Tenderloin gem is alternaqueer homebase. DJ Bus Station John's Thursday-night bathhouse disco, Tube Steak Connection, is packed; Tuesday nights host a revolving array of young alternaqueer theme nights, and weekend drag shows with the Hot Boxxx Girls are outta control. 133 Turk, SF. Various covers. (415) 441-2922, www.auntcharlieslounge.com.

Faggot (at Daddy's) Every first Wednesday of the month, Daddy's, the Castro's only rock 'n' roll leather bar, plays host to a swarming mob of young punks bent on alcohol-fueled rebellion. 440 Castro, SF. Free. (415) 621-8732, www.heyfaggot.com.

The Rod (at Deco) All the glamour-tragic kids gather every second Friday of the month at Deco, in the Tenderloin, for DJ Bus Station John's tongue-in-cheek tribute to clone-era gay sexuality. 510 Larkin, SF. $7. (415) 345-9832.

Arrow Bar and Rickshaw Stop Homes to the metrosexual backlash, these mostly straight(ish) hot spots attract their fair share of alternaqueers, especially Arrow Bar's Frisco Disco Saturday nights. The styles are fierce, and the music is synth-pop/postpunk icy hot. Arrow Bar, 10 Sixth St., SF. Various covers. (415) 255-7920; Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell, SF. Various covers. (415) 861-2011, www.rickshawstop.com.

Phone Booth Sheerly by virtue of invisibility, exclusion, and utter hotness, any dykes who don't wanna shack up and make babies qualify as alternaqueer. The homo chicks (and dudes) who gather at this tiny Mission spot are the friendliest freaks in town. 1348 S. Van Ness, SF. (415) 648-4683.

Charlie Horse (at the Cinch) Former Miss Trannyshack and punk rock drag idol Anna Conda slays 'em every Friday with outré drag shows and anarchic antics at this Polk Street dive. 1723 Polk, SF. Free. (415) 776-4162.

Sunday Beer Bust and Thursday Night Live (at the Eagle) No one who's anyone misses this legendary bar's Sunday-afternoon pageant of leather-loving faggotry. On Thursdays punk and electronic bands draw up-to-the-minute mixed crowds. 398 12th St., SF. Various covers; beer bust free entry. (415) 626-0800, www.eaglesf.com.

Bootie (at Cherry Bar) Every other Saturday, underground mashup stars Adrian and the Mysterious D spin bootleg and bastard pop for their hordes of fans. 917 Folsom, SF. $8. (415) 974-1584, www.bootiesf.com.

Shadowplay (at the Stud) DJ Donimo spins edgy electro, disco, Britpop, and indie every first and third Friday at this dark and lovely SoMa joint. 399 Ninth St., SF. $5. (415) 863-6623, www.shadowplaysf.com.

SFqueer.org and Ggreg.com These two indispensable Web sites (with mailing lists) clue scenesters in to the best nonmainstream queer events.