Lavender Lounge
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Lavender Lounge is an arts organization / company started by Mark Kliem in 1991. The name "Lavender Lounge" was first used as the title of a public access television show in San Francisco that aired from 1991 to 1995. Mark Kliem was the creator and Executive Producer of Lavender Lounge, nicknamed "The Queer American Bandstand".
The format of the show was a "TV Dance Party for Gay Boys and Girls", with members of the public invited to dance in the studio to recorded music interspersed with guest performers. It was patterned after Dick Clark's American Bandstand and John Waters's Hairspray, but aimed at a gay and lesbian audience.
Sixty episodes of the Lavender Lounge television show were created, including being named "Official Video" of GLBTQ Pride Parade" in 1993 and 1994, plus "Official Video" of Halloween In The Castro 1992 and 1993.
Segments of Lavender Lounge were screened at the Los Angeles Gay Film Festival and the Fresno Gay Film Festival. During a six-month period in 1994, episodes of the show were broadcast on satellite reaching from Alaska to Puerto Rico.
In 1994 and 1995, Lavender Lounge was aired on both the public access channel and the leased access channel in San Francisco. It was one of the most popular public access shows ever aired in San Francisco.
After the television shows ended, Mark Kliem continued to use the name "Lavender Lounge" as his business name. He is now the webmaster of adult websites such as LavenderLounge.com, and Lavender Lounge Blog, MuscleBearCub.com, ReelGuys.org, and SisterZsaZsa.com.
