How One Michigan Community Events Organizer Is Rewriting What It Means to Belong

From pool parties to art workshops, James Staycation is bringing Big Event Energy to Metro Detroit

James Staycation. Courtesy photo — James Staycation. Photo: Preppyman Photography

Published: May 19, 2025 | Last Updated: May 21, 2025

One hundred people — mostly gay, mostly men — walk into a bar.

It might sound like a punchline to a joke, but it’s how Detroit Staycation Club started.

James Staycation, 36, and his friends grew bored of their routines going to the same few places in the early 2010s. They loved frequenting local LGBTQ+ establishments like Pronto, Gigi’s, Gold Coast, Soho and Inn Place, but they were looking to find a larger community outside of their regular spots.

Staycation and his friend Steve Lovett came up with the idea to create Detroit Staycation Club (DSC) — in a booth at Inn Place in Royal Oak, no less — after they realized they would travel to other cities and experience those places’ hotspots and cultural touchstones, but they weren’t really doing the same right here in Detroit.

“There are things in your community that, because they are in your backyard, you don’t do them. But yet, if you’re visiting another city, you would do those things. So we wanted to highlight them,” Staycation tells Pride Source.

Their first trial event was in 2015 at Twin Peaks in Madison Heights, a sports bar with a very different vibe from their normal hangout spots. The bar was brand new and Staycation thought it could be fun to bring his friends, Steve’s friends, and friends of friends together to meet and celebrate the opening. They let loose while flooding the lodge-like bar with line dancing queers wearing cropped flannels.

“That sticks out to me still, because at what time are you going to have 100 queer people come together at the same time and go to a Twin Peaks of all places?” says Staycation. It was then that he realized this idea of bringing people together to explore their own city and find community while doing so was something that had real potential.

Growing up in Troy, Staycation recalls hearing people label Detroit as “unsafe.” He says suburbanites typically only ventured downtown for two things: shows and sports. As he got older, he would visit on weeknights and remember “everything was closed.”

But things changed for both Detroit and the queer community in the 2010s, during what Staycation calls the city’s “resurgence and revitalization.” The downtown area came alive, and the queer community began to form connections right at the heart of the action. Staycation wanted to be a part of that transformation, so he set out to show that Detroit was more than the city he’d known growing up. The result? “By diving into the city’s culture and seeing its representation, it made us love and appreciate it even more.”

But it always bothered him that Detroit, despite having so much to offer, wasn’t considered a “destination city.”

“Detroit has essentially every offering possible, so my hope with Detroit Staycation Club is that people realize what is here, what is available, and love their city,” says Staycation.

DSC has hosted hundreds of events over the past 10 years. One of its most popular recurring gatherings is the Parasol Pool Parties, the pool parties of your summer bucket-list dreams. Attendees bask in the sun, dodge beach balls and sip tropical drinks while enjoying drag performances, DJ sets and go-go dancers — all without the stress of worrying about acceptance.

“If you go to a lot of ‘gay’ pool parties, you generally see one type of person that's there, at least that’s what I see through social media. But when you come to Parasol, it's a very eclectic mix of everyone from across the queer and allied communities,” says Staycation.

Diversity in identities and body types is essential to Staycation. This commitment to inclusivity inspired one of his favorite ongoing events, the Detroit Queer Sketch Series (DQSS).

Staycation has always had a deep passion for art, which he describes as his "pandemic therapy." Along with Chris Gorski from Detroit GT, Staycation co-created DQSS to provide a welcoming space where individuals can create and immerse themselves in art alongside other community members. The event is barrier-free, operating on a pay-what-you-want basis and welcoming both seasoned artists and newcomers.

A Detroit Queer Sketch Series session. Courtesy photo

Just as the artists represent various backgrounds and parts of the queer community, the same goes for the models. Joni Genovesi, who modeled for the first time ever in February at a DQSS event, says it was an experience unlike anything she’d ever been part of before.

“Being a trans woman, I have some pretty high discomfort with my physical presence. I wanted to do this to hopefully help shed some of my own insecurities,” Genovesi tells Pride Source.

Despite her initial nerves, she says, “the minute my robe came off, everything just felt right. Seeing the artist's drawings at the end brought me to tears. I saw my masculine features beautifully complimented with my feminine self. It was incredibly empowering, and I took so much more out of it than I could have possibly expected.”

Although Genovesi only met Staycation that day, she quickly understood why people are drawn to DSC events and why they keep coming back to be around him.

“He has a very calm and comforting presence. You can tell he is just a good soul that cares about his community and wants to uplift us all,” says Genovesi.

For Staycation, it was crucial that DSC felt like a welcoming, accepting place. For him, it’s personal. His interest in community organizing stemmed from time spent as a camp director in his early 20s. Staycation was a member of the camp's community from the time he was 8, and it was a place he considered home. But those feelings quickly changed after he came out at 23.

Parasol2 — André Mason performing at a Parasol pool party. Photo: Preppyman Photography

“At first, I managed to keep my private life quiet, but over time, the weight of living a double life became exhausting,” Staycation says. He was still working at the camp in 2015 when DSC held its first event, and word got around the camp that he was gay. Staycation was told by the executive director, a priest, to “silence my social media.” He was also excluded from board meetings.

“I felt ashamed and alienated, much like someone whose family doesn’t accept them after coming out,” he says. “The writing was on the wall — I was being pushed out.”

In 2016, after being with the camp for 20 years, Staycation left. He says he hasn’t spoken to anyone at the organization since.

“As painful as that chapter was, it ultimately pushed me toward building something where queer people could always feel seen, welcome and celebrated,” he says.

And for so many people, that is what DSC has become. Even his last name is a nod to Staycation’s journey.

“Early on, we made cheesy promo videos for our events, always ending with the tagline: ‘Live Every Day Like You're on Vacation,’” he says. “It was a more intentional version of YOLO — about making the most of life, being present and having fun.”

What started as an event tagline became so much more than that for him during the pandemic. “Staycation,” he adds, “became a guiding principle for how I needed to reclaim my happiness and purpose. It became a healing mantra — a reminder that life isn’t meant to be miserable, that I deserve happiness, and that I needed to make changes to create that for myself. At some point, I changed my social media handles to James Staycation, and eventually, it just became my name.”

Staycation’s experiences have given him a unique perspective on the importance of community, and it’s this understanding that fuels the work he does now.

“We are taking the safe space with us,” Lovett tells Pride Source about DSC. “That’s a key part of the Detroit Staycation idea.” This traveling “safe space” has a lot to offer, whether it’s a Parasol Pool Party, a DQSS event, an outing to the Motown Museum, a tour of the Ford Rouge Factory or an Auto Show brunch.

DSC has allowed Staycation, Lovett and dozens of others to take part in new ventures, like curling or watching horse racing, and through these offerings, Staycation has been able to show more people the quirks of Detroit.

“Just having this space to automatically be yourself in, without having to worry, that was the goal. Plus having fun doing new things, of course,” says Staycation.

“The reality is that everyone wears different hats in different settings,” he continues. “But we also need spaces where we can let our hair down and just be. Staycation is about creating those spaces year-round where queer people can come together, feel safe, feel celebrated and build meaningful connections.”

A Detroit Staycation Club pool party. Courtesy photo — A Detroit Staycation Club pool party. Photo: Preppyman Photography

One such upcoming space is the Ferndale Pride PA•tea•O Party, a DSC-partnered event happening 3-10 p.m. Saturday, May 31 on Orchid’s newly renovated patio. With DJs, drag, go-go dancers, drink specials, private bathrooms and in-and-out access all day, the event promises a festive, stress-free way to dance, chill and recharge during Pride.

Staycation is the first to admit that planning DSC events takes a village, and that he is grateful for his.

“While I organize and lead Staycation, the success of our events is truly a collective effort. Every performer, venue owner, manager, volunteer and community member who has helped set up, spread the word or simply shown up — we couldn’t do this without them.”

“I look forward to the future of Detroit Staycation Club. There is definitely a demand for more enriching events, and James’ innovation keeps things interesting in the Motor City,” says Lovett.

Looking ahead, Staycation is excited for what is to come in 2025. He is in the process of planning more casual events in conjunction with “traditional Detroit Staycation programming," including more Parasol Pool Parties, art workshops and other ways to get out and explore the community.

“Being able to be together with our community and knowing other people are in your shoes can help us through tough times. Maybe even through these next four years,” he says, in reference to Trump’s presidency. “With today’s political climate, it’s more important than ever that we are seen and have safe spaces to be ourselves.”

Despite the uncertainty surrounding the queer community under the current administration, he remains hopeful that people will continue to support one another and embrace queer joy.

“When you look at the landscape, you see that so many people are making Detroit a little bit happier of a city, and also a little bit gayer of a city,” says Staycation. “Who knows, maybe someday we’ll even have a gayborhood.”