What's Hot? - Ambush Mag

what's hot?
Volume 22/Issue 17/2004

by Rip & Marsha Naquin-Delain
Visit their site: ripandmarsha.com

33rd Official Southern Decadence Expected to Exceed 120,000 Revelers
The 33rd Official Southern Decadence celebration is expected to bring in at least 120,000 revelers according to preliminary reports from Official Southern Decadence Guide Ambush Mag and SouthernDecadence.COM.
Hotels are filling up fast, calls are coming in from around the country and SouthernDecadence.COM has been bombarded with e-mails requesting information to the tune of almost 3,000 e-mails per day from the Official Southern Decadence Website. The 2004 celebration should be as large as last year, or maybe even larger this year. It was estimated that 2003 brought out over 121,000 revelers with an economic impact of over $96 million for the local New Orleans community.
Southern Decadence Grand Marshal XXXII Donnie "Jager" Jay is leading the 2004 festivities raising dollars for his primary charity, United Services For AIDS, and both Buzzy's Boys & Girls and New Orleans 25th annual Pride Festival held Oct. 9 and 10 this year. The Official Southern Decadence weekend always falls on Labor Day weekend and runs Sept. 1-6.
The next edition of Ambush is the largest of the year and contains all of the information on Southern Decadence in New Orleans, Last Splash in Austin and Labor Day Weekend activities across the Gulf South
Mwindo to Host Summer Splash V Aug. 21st
New Orleans - The Krewe of Mwindo, Inc. will present Summer Splash V: South Pacific on Sat., Aug 21st, 6-10pm. The annual pool party is hosted at the French Quarter Courtyard Hotel, 1101 N. Rampart St. Admission is $10.
Amon Ra's 38th Mr. & Miss America Pageant Aug. 28th
The Krewe of Amon Ra's giant 38th Annual Mr. & Miss America Pageant is set for Sat., Aug. 28th at the St. Bernard Cultural Center in Chalmette. This year's theme is Back to School and is celebrating 38 years of camp and fun.
The event features a $1,000 cash raffle with 1st Prize $500, 2nd Prize $300 and 3rd Prize $200. Winner need not be present.
Doors open at 7pm with the show beginning at 8pm. Table seats are $20 and balcony seats are $15. See any member for tickets or contact TheOneKissFan@aol.com or visit KreweOfAmonRa.ORG for additional information.
Mr. Louisiana Leather Set
at the Bourbon Orleans Sept. 4th in New Orleans
New Orleans - The Lords of Leather presents the Mr. Louisiana Leather 2005 Contest during Southern Decadence weekend in the Big Easy.
The contestant Meet and Greet party will be Friday night, Sept. 3 in the Barn at Cowpokes, 2240 St. Claude Ave.
The contest itself is scheduled for Saturday night, Sept. 4, in the ballroom of the Bourbon Orleans Hotel, located between Orleans and St. Ann on Bourbon St.
The judging panel for the Mr. Louisiana Leather contest includes Larry Everett, International Mr. Leather 1995; Dean Ogren, American Leatherman 2000; Gary Vanderventer, International Mr. Drummer 2001; George Wong, judge for IML 2004; and Tim Lott, Mr. Louisiana Leather 2004. Master of Ceremonies for the evening will be internationally recognized leather person, Mr. Frank Nowicki from Washington DC.
Tickets are $25 and are on sale at Second Skin Leather and Cowpokes or from any krewe member. Contestant applications are available on the krewe’s website at LORDSofLEATHER.com. For more information, please email the krewe president, Todd Cole (bear6522@aol.com).
Belle Reve Sets Fundraisers
Belle Reve has set its calendar for upcoming functions. NO/AIDS Walk will be held on Sun., Sept. 26. Belle Reve will have a team and would like to invite you to walk for Belle Reve. Belle Reve is asking walkers to get people and businesses to sponsor them to help raise money for AIDS. Belle Reve will receive 75% of all of the money it raises while NO/AIDS Task Force will receive 25%. So it is a win, win for everyone. Please join Belle Reve in making this the biggest NO/AIDS Walk EVER!!!
A women’s dance fundraiser will be held at The New Bar on Sat., Oct. 3. The theme will be the Harvest Moon Ball. The price is a $10 donation at the door. The band is Heart and Soul and finger foods will be served. There is both a 50/50 Raffle, and a raffle of prizes. You can also take a picture with "Paris Hilton" and "Nicole Ritchie" in front of the barn. So don’t miss out on a great night of fun. Special souvenirs will be available.
The Belle Reve Auction Gala will be held on Fri., Nov. 19, at The Carrollton. It is in the planning stages now and Belle Reve believe this will be the BEST EVER fundraiser. So please join Belle Reve for a wonderful night of dancing, eating great food, drinking what you want and bringing home great items purchased at excellent prices. This fundraiser has grown every year since it was started in 1998. Please come and make this the biggest and best ever.
New Orleans Pride Fest 25 Update
The board of New Orleans Alliance of Pride would like to thank you for your continued support of this year’s fundraisers in celebration of the upcoming Pride Fest 25, New Orleans Silver Anniversary Pride Festival.
The board has been working very hard on making this a festival to remember. Members have been working on getting new sponsors on board with this year’s festival. The board is delighted to have added as sponsors this month Hyatt Regency of New Orleans who has been very generous regarding funding. Hyatt Regency has also agreed to be to be the host hotel of this year’s Pride Fest offering $99 rooms for the weekend. Also, Bud Light has been very generous regarding funding and items for all of the raffles. Bud Light has been with Pride for the last couple of years and is the Official Beer of Pride Fest 25.
After hard work and sorting out the difficulty that was created last year the board finally got the Pride Fest website up at NewOrleansPride.ORG. It looks great and much thanks to The Whiz Magazine staff and Anissa Lemmons for their hard and dedicated work.
This past week Pride held two fund-raisers in the Marigny, Chet’s Footloose Reunion III and Rusty’s Zoo Revue. Both events were successful and raised additional money for Pride Fest 25. New Orleans Alliance of Pride thanks the many performers who tirelessly contribute their time and talents to these events, the many volunteers, especially J. Dunlap, who works the events and, of course, the venue owners for generously allowing Pride to present these fund raisers. Without the support of these many involved people, a hard job would be indeed very difficult. Again thanks to all who worked and attended the events. It is your continued support that makes us proud!
Pride is looking for volunteers, vendors, entertainers and sponsors for the event. If interested please call Shayne McClain at 504.947.0816 or email donniejay@hotmail.com.
Pride Fest will be celebrating its Silver Anniversary in Armstrong Park on October 9th and 10th. The finale is the annual Pride Fest Parade.
Ambush Mag is a proud Platinum Sponsor of Pride Fest 25.
Victory Fund Endorses 50 Candidates in 22 States
Washington, DC - The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund announced that its recent endorsement of five more candidates puts its number of endorsed gay, lesbian, and transgender candidates for public office at 50 for 2004. Endorsements are made at every level of government and more will be announced in the 2004 election cycle.
"Gay and lesbian lawmakers should be involved in decisions about marriage equality and any other public policy issue that impacts our rights," said Chuck Wolfe, president and CEO of Victory Fund. "We need members of our community, at every level of government, in the middle of this debate as voting equals, rather than trying to exert influence from outside the process," he added.
With strategic consideration to the possible path of the anti-gay Federal Marriage Amendment, and the state-level battles over state amendments and referendums, the Victory Fund is also targeting 26 states that lack any openly gay or lesbian members in their legislatures.
Some early wins in 2004 indicate that Victory Fund endorsees are likely to fare well, including:
*Missouri; August 3: Jeanette Mott Oxford won her Democratic primary (House seat 59), in a solidly Democratic district, putting her well on the way to winning a seat in the same state legislature that presently lacks any openly gay or lesbian members. In the three-way primary, Jeanette won 46% of the vote. The Victory Fund raised over $8,000 for this race, over 25% of her budget, and provided onsite strategic guidance and technical assistance. However, the August 3rd results in Missouri proved to be a mixed bag. A statewide referendum on a constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriage passed overwhelmingly getting 72%.
*North Carolina; July 20: Julia Boseman captured 80% of the vote in her Democratic primary for the N. Carolina state senate (9th District).
*Idaho; May 25: Nicole LeFavour won the Democratic primary for a seat in the Idaho state legislature. In a district that is solidly Democratic, this puts her well on her way to winning the seat.
*Oregon; May 4: Oregon State Supreme Court Justice Rives Kistler, who was appointed to the states highest court by the governor in 2003, became the only openly gay statewide elected official when he won the election to retain his seat.
*Indiana; May 4: Volunteer firefighter and businessman Mike Schaefer won his primary for a seat on the Vanderburgh County (IN) Council. Indiana is a Victory Horizon State that lacks any openly gay or lesbian officials.
Victory Fund endorses LGBT candidates through committee process based on stringent criteria, and in some cases identifies gay and lesbian leaders to run in priority jurisdictions. Victory Fund support includes training, counsel, technical assistance, PAC contributions and fundraising through its donor network.
Currently, there are 275 openly LGBT Americans in office, a 500% increase since the founding of Victory Fund in 1991 but a small number compared to the over 511,000 elective offices that make up the nation’s federal, state and local governments. Thirteen states have no openly gay officeholders serving at any level of government. Visit www.victoryfund.org for more info.
Louisiana Pride Fest Oct. 16 in Baton Rouge
Commemorating the community's heritage, the Louisiana Pride Festival currently attracts hundreds of people and is established as one of the most exciting annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) events in Louisiana.
The celebration, hosted by The Lambda Group, will take place from 10-6 on Sat., Oct. 16 at the Unitarian Church of Baton Rouge.
The Louisiana LGBT Pride Festival Committee is aware of the enormous potential of this event as an expensive task for our community and has devised a number of opportunities for you to contribute and share in our success. By partnering with you, we are building a stable, community-based future for the event and investing in our community.
Become A Friend Of PRIDE!
You are invited to join the list of a very distinguished group -corporate, organizational, and individual sponsors called FRIENDS OF PRIDE. Many people believe that the budget it takes to produce a quality festival comes to the Louisiana Pride Committee from the admission fee. In actuality, the admission fee only pays about 20% of that amount. That leaves 80% of the expenses to be covered by booth fees, food, and beverages, and FRIENDS OF PRIDE sponsors. Contributions will also be accepted in the form of services for the day of the festival or volunteers. One hundred percent of FRIENDS OF PRIDE contributions are used to pay for the festival. Informational materials about your organization will also be greatly appreciated.
Since The Lambda Group, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, registered with the State of Louisiana, all donations are tax-deductible. FRIENDS OF PRIDE will receive free advertisement on and before the event on its website, which receives an average of 9,000 hits a month.
Contributions and informational material should be mailed to: The Lambda Group P.O. Box 82775 Baton Rouge, LA 70884-2775.
Show Your PRIDE!
Informational tables, class rooms, and performance time are also available on the day of the event. Tables will be reserved at a first come first serve basis. This reservation is free for non-profit organizations and $30 for for-profit businesses. This fee includes the admission of three individuals to work the table.
Class rooms are available for workshops and discussion groups. There is no fee for this reservation. If interested, please e-mail info@lambdabr.org with information on the type of performance, speech, workshop, or group. Please include information on the expected duration and preferred time (morning or afternoon) during the day. A schedule of events will be posted and e-mailed to all participants at the end of September with periodic revisions as needed.
Please feel free to contact the Lambda Group with questions and comments you might have at 225.907.3665 or e-mail info@lambdabr.org. The Louisiana Pride Festival Committee is committed to producing one of the largest LGBT events in Baton Rouge at the most reduced cost to those in attendance. Please help the Lambda Group continue to do this for the LGBT community. Become a FRIEND OF PRIDE today!
HRC Adopts Policy Supporting Modernized Workplace Legislation
Washington - The Human Rights Campaign Board of Directors adopted a policy to support a modernized version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).
The updated language includes gender identity and expression as well as sexual orientation to ensure that every gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender American is protected from employment discrimination.
"Passage of ENDA is a brass ring for our community and we’re making it clear that it must have the strongest teeth possible to protect everyone," said Tim Boggs, co-chair of the HRC Board.
The Board of Directors voted to adopt the following resolution: "The Human Rights Campaign adopts a policy that we will only support ENDA if it is inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity and expression."
HRC took this step to ensure that ENDA will provide real protection to incidents of workplace discrimination. Attorneys who specialize in civil rights laws believe that ENDA without gender identity and expression explicitly stated may not adequately address discrimination against gay, lesbian and bisexual Americans who are often singled out because they’re viewed as not conforming to gender norms.
"I am very proud that HRC continues to lead on issues of importance to everyone in our community, including on workplace discrimination," said Gwen Baba, co-chair of the HRC Board of Directors.
"We are strongest as a community when we are united and that’s why we need the strongest and most unifying protections," said Cheryl Jacques, President of the Human Rights Campaign. "The staff of the Human Rights campaign will continue to work tirelessly to enact this comprehensive ENDA."
ENDA was introduced in 1994 and barely lost a Senate vote in 1996.
HRC FamilyNet Adds Major Religion Section
Washington - The Human Rights Campaign Foundation FamilyNet project added a major new religion section to its array of online resources at www.hrc.org/religion. The section provides overviews of organizational positions toward gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, quotes and profiles of supportive clergy, a discussion of the Bible and homosexuality, and highlights of polling on the topic.
"Religion is part of the fabric of American life and it is part of the fabric of our community," said HRC President Cheryl Jacques. "Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people are welcomed and active participants in congregations across this county. Our new religion website provides gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans and our allies with valuable information about communities of faith."
According to the new web material, a growing number of religious groups in the United States have issued statements officially welcoming gay, lesbian and bisexual people - and sometimes transgender people - as members and condemning discrimination against the community. For example, the Episcopal Church has issued an apology for past discrimination. The Presbyterian Church (USA) blesses same-sex unions. And Reform Judaism ordains openly gay, lesbian and bisexual people as clergy.
Gay VooBrew Products for Southern Decadence
VooBrew Coffee & Tea, the French Quarter's only gay owned coffeehouse and apothecary has the full line of gay love and pure sex spells & products. Our hand blended products are blessed, charged with positive energy and created specific to the needs of the up coming Southern Decadence crowd. These contain all natural ingredients, herbs and oils. A percentage of the Southern Decadence sales will benefit SDGM XXXII charity United Services for AIDS.
Take your sex appeal to a higher level.
Leatherman Potion Body Oil—Hot, masculine and dominating sex appeal in a bottle. This all over body oil will attract hot, new sexual energy or enhance the current relationship you have. Get out your tightest leather chaps and get ready to have men licking your boots (among other things), this oil is charged to draw hot, steamy New Orleans sex. Where is the video camera?
Super Torrid Hot-tub Fling Bathsalts—Whether sprinkled in a bathtub at the Bourbon Orleans or a full size courtyard hot tub it is a true mystic aphrodesiac bath. This limited edition blend will stimulate, strengthen and extend your entire sexual experience...for as many people as you can fit in the tub.
Gay Pride Relationship Gris-gris—Love, honor and trust. Our pride gris-gris is blended specifically to enhance the longterm relationship between two men.
Gay Pride Charisma Oil—Got a date? Job interview? Drag show? Dancing on a bar in your jock? Our gay male oil boosts your charisma and your appeal to those around you. It also is blended to give you a big boost in confidence.
Gay Pride VooBrew Dolls—Papa Legba is the voodoo diety that helps with sex, sex and sex. He is a super freak! Even if your a size queen, our Papa dolls are very well endowed. Pick up a New Orleans voodoo sex blessing for your bed.
VooBrew Coffee & Tea, 830 N. Rampart Street, is open 7 days a week from 8am to 9pm with extended hours for Southern Decadence. Located between Starlight by the Park and the 7th Circle, we are in the perfect location for a respite from the bars and balconies. Specialty coffee drinks include SDGM Donnie Jay’s favorite Hazelnut Iced Coffee and a Priestess Miriam: espresso, carmel and hazelnut hot or cold. Stop in and check out our special cakes for the event. Didn’t know you could do such kinky things to a chocolate cake.

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