REAL BAD Announces Beneficiaries & DJ

The organizers of Real Bad, the all-volunteer charity dance event that closes Folsom Street Fair every year, have announced this year's beneficiaries and DJ.

Grass Roots Gay Rights West (GRGR/West), producers of the annual REAL BAD fundraising party which follows San Francisco’s world-renowned Folsom Street Fair, today announced the beneficiaries and DJ for REAL BAD XXI. Four LGBT health and community service organizations, listed below, will share 100 percent of the funds raised by ticket sales to this historically sold-out event. Last year, REAL BAD XX raised a record $160,000 for worthy charities. After REAL BAD XXI, over $1 Million dollars will have been donated to charities over the event’s history.

This year’s DJ, chosen from over 20 applicants, is Phill Mezzatesta of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. REAL BAD XXI will take place on Sunday, September 27, 2009.

The organizations named as beneficiaries of REAL BAD XXI represent diverse causes within the LGBT community. The beneficiary organizations are:

• Dimensions Clinic, which offers medical and mental health services to queer, transgender, and questioning youth, ages 12 to 25
• Maitri, one of San Francisco’s most respected and valued resources in providing care to people severely debilitated by AIDS
• openhouse, a housing, services, and advocacy organization with a goal is to ensure safe housing and support services that are sensitive to the needs of LGBT seniors
  
• Visual Aid, a nonprofit organization founded to help preserve, present, and promote the work of Bay Area professional artists living with HIV/AIDS, Breast Cancer, and other life-threatening illnesses

With the Winter Party and the HOP's Pier Dance, I consider Real Bad to be one of the top three annual dance events in the country. All three are completely volunteer run. This is not a coincidence.