Amazeballs

LGBT HQ director Matthew Levine (left) manning the booth at this year’s New York Comic Con. | RYAN KERR

LGBT HQ director Matthew Levine (left) manning the booth at this year’s New York Comic Con. | RYAN KERR

A sold out crowd of fans swarmed the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center this past weekend for New York City Comic Con, one of the biggest conventions of its kind.

Comic Cons have a reputation of celebrating diversity, and there was a strong LGBT presence among both the panels and the exhibitors — including LGBT HQ.

“What exactly is LGBT HQ,?” you may ask.

Matthew Levine, the organization’s director whom Gay City News caught up with, was at the ready with an answer.

The group, he explained, is “a hub for all things gay at Comic Con.”

The group works to ensure queer-themed programing and representation at conventions both big and small throughout the northeast.

About this year’s Comic Con, Levine had only praise.

“This year has been amazeballs,” he said, boasting, “This is our very first New York Comic Con booth for LGBTHQ.info, and it has been nothing short of amazing. The vendor response to us being here has been amazingly supportive.”

In addition to its work on facilitating queer visibility at conventions, LGBT HQ also hosts queer-themed events throughout the city. Its next event, “Skin Tight USA: Spooktacular,” takes place on Friday, October 21 at Boxers Sports Bar in Hell’s Kitchen at 742 Ninth Avenue at 50th Street. For more details and a preview of other upcoming events, visit lgbthq.info.