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by Rip & Marsha Naquin-Delain

New Orleans Loses
Philanthropist Andy Boudreaux

New Orleans has suffered a great loss with the death of Andy Boudreaux, Fri., May 1. Born Oct. 15, 1935, the legendary bar baron of MRB and Wolfendale's fame, and proprietor of A. Boudreaux Produce, was a generous philanthropist, donating thousands of dollars to community charities, cultural events and political campaigns over the years. And let's not forget his generosity to his family which he loved tremendously.

Andy Boudreaux will be missed by his family, numerous friends and business associates. Join in the celebration of his life, a memorial tribute on Tuesday, May 19th, 8pm, MRB, 515 St. Philip St. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to Food For Friends, 1407 Decatur, New Orleans, LA 70116.

HRC Boycott Success;
Bolsters Awareness

The boycott of the Louisiana HRC Dinner has been a huge success in bolstering awareness of the plight of Transgenders. HRC National now has to focus their eyes on the bayou regarding the Transgender issue. Although protests have plagued HRC throughout the country concerning this issue, Louisiana's boycott has unified the Transgender community. Transgenders must be included in the fight for Gay and Lesbian human rights, and in subsequent language pertaining to the HRC Mission Statement.

Letters to Ambush, both pro and con, have been largely in favor of the boycott. The boycott this year has cost the Louisiana HRC Dinner over $20,000 from those who have joined the boycott openly on the HRC Boycotter/Girlcotter list, including those who wish to remain anonymous. In addition, many auction donors from the '97 dinner did not donate to the '98 auction. The '97 dinner auction was the most successful in Louisiana HRC Dinner history raising some $20,000, led by chair Toni Pizanie.

The Boycott HRC website @ www,ambushmag.com/boycott has garnered a national audience with 1,795 unique visitors accessing the site creating 8,435 hits. E-mails have poured in from across the nation voicing opinions both pro and con, overwhelmingly in favor of the boycott. The pros pretty much voice the same frustration many have encountered with HRC's silence on Transgender issue requests. Several of these messages also indicate that boycotts and protests of local dinners in various cities throughout the country, some with the backing of local organizations and publications, are under consideration for late '98 and '99. The cons have little understanding of the boycott and see it as divisive, some to the point of being belligerent with boycotters.

The Louisiana HRC Dinner committee has worked diligently to offset the boycott with a tremendous public relations blitz never before seen in Louisiana. From personal letters from HRC National reps Elizabeth Birch and Donna Redwing, to balcony banners, huge bar posters and street corner canvassing, the committee has been a busy one. The dinner still will be a success. We applaud their efforts and look forward to the day when all boycotters can rejoin in these very efforts.

Miss Love Will Crown
$1,000 Has Been Winner

The 1st Annual Has Been Ball will crown one lucky winner with $1,000 in cash and prizes as "Has Been of The Year." Soon to be HAS BEEN Southern Decadence Grand Marshal Miss Love will host the festivities. Judged by audience response, the individual portraying the best LIVE Has Been will win. To enter the contest, come as your favorite live: Southern Decadence grand marshal, drag queen, sports star, pride grand marshal, King Cake Queen, Mr. or Miss Gay whatever, screen-stage-recording god or goddess, etc.

Benefiting Team New Orleans, the costume festivities is being sponsored by Oz and Ambush Mag 2000 at Oz, 800 Bourbon St., New Orleans, 10pm on Memorial Day Weekend, Fri., May 22nd.

The $1,000 prize package includes crown, cash, bar tabs, dinners, gift certificates, lunches and merchandise from New Orleans and Baton Rouge establishments. A complete prize and donor list will appear on the Has Been Ball poster, on www.gayworld.net/hasbeen and in the next Ambush issue.

Team New Orleans has already raised over $8,000 to help send its members to Gay Games V, Amsterdam 1998 in August. Please attend the Has Been Ball to ensure a New Orleans presence at Gay Games V.

Drag Fest Weekend
Brings Out All The Girls

Drag Fest Weekend featuring the anniversaries of the Golden Lantern and the Corner Pocket brought a bevy of beauties exposing patrons to varied forms of entertainment.

Lucille celebrated her grand opening and the 31st Golden Lantern anniversary beginning with a massive buffet and complimentary cocktails on Apr. 24th. The annual anniversary drag show on the 25th was a showstopper starting off with Tiny Tim [dead, you know] emcee Ted and Tom doing Sonny [dead, you know] and Cher's "I Got You Babe".

One of the highlights was Mumbo as Linda Ronstadt piercing Mr. Fly's Aaron Neville-like forehead growth producing white ooze juice, which Mumbo promptly licked.

Another was Benji's portrayal of "Barbie Girl" popping that ponytail right on cue. Other memorable performances included Mother Bob, Clorox Bleachman, Smurf and Red, Spoofina, Veronica, Berta, Electra Lux, Miss Thompson and Miss Little.

Not to be outdone, Fly hosted "Love for Sale: A Fancy Lady Cotillion" on the 26th as all of the "Hoochies, Hookers & Hos" celebrated giving New Orleans the "Best Bang For Your Buck!"--Corner Pocket style.

From Miss Do's number presenting Fly with a photo blast from the long-ago past, to Smurf's onstage intimacy with a big ole boy givin' it to her, this show had something for everyone.

The action lineup included performances from Clorox Bleachman, Lisa Beaumann, Danae Daniels, Lucille, Paloma, Ineeda Roc, Jamie Temple, Stephanie Williams, Lucille, Miss Thompson, Mumbo, Sweet Sensation and many more.

Oz Gives "Cookin' Country"

Show Bar of the Year, Oz, has exposed New Orleans to some great new Wednesday shows. The Wednesday we chose featured "Cookin' Country: Flour Sacks to Sequins."

The show opened as show director Lisa Beaumann joined Raquel Chevallier and Teryl-Lynn Foxx doin' a Dolly Parton favorite, "Lil' Bitty Country Place."

That was just the beginning. Special guest Stephanie Williams did Juice Newton, while Lisa did some Shania Twain and Patsy Cline. Raquel did a little Reba McIntyre, with Teryl-Lynn portraying Loretta Lynn and Lynn Anderson.

And let's not forget emcee Becky Allen doing all of her monologue country style.

Manager Ted did the stage set complete with a cow, pig, chickens and a hen house; however, Ted would not comment on who his model was for the cow. We can only guess?

Pensacola Getaway
Sees Emerald City Open

A weekend getaway landed us on opening weekend at Emerald City, 408 E. Wright St. in downtown Pensacola. But we'll get back to that later.

A drive over the 13 mile bridge would bring us to dazzling Pensacola Beach. The beauty of this area is breathtaking. Unlike New Orleans, everything here is impeccably clean.

Returning to Pensacola, the first bar we found open in the early afternoon was the Roundup, 706 E. Gregory St. Danny was on duty and is the Roundup's newest and quite hunky bartender.

We met and had a delightful conversation with the Riviera's 1st Miss St. Patricia, Jena Davis. The diva gave us the lowdown on Pensacola and even knew New Orleans' own Pussy Galore. We got to meet Riviera DJ Shane who was cocktailing here.

Then it was off to the Riviera, 120 E. Main, for cocktails with beautiful, sexy and vivacious Lou, a real fox of a woman. She showed us the complex and its Jazz Fest-like patio which features live entertainment.

After a hotel rest, we headed out at 11:30pm to Pensacola's newest bar, Emerald City. We had to make our way through some bible thumper protesters, but our jumbo petit size only helped push our way across the street. You can't keep these two old girls from bellying up to any bar.

The club has a fabu staff with three bars open including one on its lush patio complete with rooftop access. Famed DJ Dwight Barkley kept the dance floor busy with the help of light master Jack.

With a 2:30am closing, we missed two popular clubs: Red Carpet, 937 New Warrington and Red Garter, 1 W. Main. Hope to see them on Memorial Weekend.

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