May 24

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library (DC Public Library)
901 G Street Northwest
Washington, DC 20001

Brought to you by Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library (DC Public Library)

Join DC Public Library and Loyalty Bookstores for a discussion about writing and portraiture with George M. Johnson in conversation with Twiggy Pucci Garçon. The afternoon will begin with a discussion of Johnson’s new book Flamboyants: The Queer Harlem Renaissance I Wish I’d Known. Copies of Flamboyants will be available for sale and signing.

Following the exploration of LGBTQ icons from the Harlem Renaissance, audience members will be invited to walk across the street to view and enjoy Timothy Greenfield-Sanders’s portrait of Garçon at the National Portrait Gallery. Copies of Flamboyants will be available for sale and signing.
About the Speakers:
George M. Johnson (they/them) is an Emmy nominated, award-winning, and bestselling Black nonbinary author and activist. They have written on race, gender, sex, and culture for Essence, the Advocate, BuzzFeed News, Teen Vogue, and more than forty other national publications. George has appeared on BuzzFeed’s AM2DM as well as on MSNBC. They are also a proud HBCU alum twice over and a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated. Their debut memoir, All Boys Aren’t Blue, was a New York Times bestseller and garnered many accolades. It was the second-most banned book of 2022 in the United States, according to the American Library Association. For their work fighting book bans and challenges, the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) honored George with its Free Speech Defender Award, and TIME Magazine named them one of the “100 Next Most Influential People in the World.” While writing their memoir, George used he/him pronouns. Originally from Plainfield, New Jersey, they now live in Los Angeles, California.
With a Southern upbringing, Twiggy Pucci Garçon is a proud non-binary member of the LGBTQ+ community. They are a director, producer and activist who found support in the ballroom community at a very crucial moment in their life. For more than 15 years, Twiggy has been a cultural practitioner who aims to increase the creative and socio-political agency of LGBTQ+ youth. They are the International Mother of the Legendary House of Comme des Garçon, the Chief Ambassador for the Center for Black Equity, and Co-Founder of All Tea, No Shade Productions alongside NY Times Bestselling author George M. Johnson.
In film and television, their directorial debut short documentary film, MNM was awarded at film festivals worldwide and will be released on the Criterion Channel. Twiggy is a former Consulting Programmer for Outfest, Newfest, and Outfest Fusion and currently serves on the Board of Directors for Doc Society. They were awarded the Concordia Fellowship for directing in 2024. Twiggy served as a consultant and runway choreographer on Ryan Murphy’s Emmy nominated hit FX series, POSE. Twiggy and the team behind the ALL BOYS AREN’T BLUE dramatic reading were awarded the GLAAD Special Recognition award and were nominated for a 2024 Daytime Emmy. Twiggy was a featured subject in Timothy Greenfield-Sanders’ HBO documentary feature film The OUT LIST and is the co-writer and participant in the Sundance-selected, award-winning documentary, KIKI (Directed by Sara Jordenö). Twiggy is in development with a new feature-length documentary film.

Sponsored by the DC Public Library Foundation and the Capital Pride Alliance in partnership with Loyalty Bookstore