by Wally Sherwood
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA
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EAR DECADENCE IN THE BIG EASY will be highlighted by the Sire Ursus 2004 Contest and Grand Big Bear Banquet, sponsored by the New Orleans Bear and Bear Trapper Social Club during the Labor Day weekend.The main festivities will start on Sept. 3 at 7pm in The Barn Theatre, located in the rear of Cowpokes in the Faubourg Marigny. During the Bear Decadence dinner catered by the award-winning Bywater Bar.B.Que, complimentary cocktails will be served by the Cavaliers Motorcycle Club and Crescent City Outlaws.
In an outreach of brotherhood within the community, presidents of all local leathers clubs have been asked to help choose the new Sire Ursus, with Mark Thomas as master of ceremonies for the contest. Following the contest will be an all-night jock strap party, held in tandem with Cowpokes. Donation for all the events will be $20 at the door with a cash bar provided.
The New Orleans Bears will again be participating in the Bear Breakfast and Make-Up Party before the Southern Decadence parade on Sun., Sept. 5. Beginning at 10am at the Phoenix, the club will be holding light-hearted contests for the Best Bear Beard, Belly, Buns and Chest, with trophies awarded in each category. The Knights d’Orleans will be hosting a cocktail party.
Also coming up on Sept. 2 will be the Fourth Annual Miss Queen Fashions Pageant at Oz, beginning at 9pm. Categories will be evening wear, talent presentation and question-and-answer session with the judges. The winners will receive $200 cash/$100 gift certificate; $50 cash/$50 certificate; and $25 cash/$25 certificate.
And, locals and visitors alike, take note. Queen Fashions launched its newest showroom, The Exotic Fashion Mall, with a gala wine-and-cheese reception on Aug. 9 at 3017 19th St. in Metairie. For more information on the pageant or store, contact 504.524.HEEL, 1.866.HIHEELS or exoticfashionmall.com.
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ICK-OFF FOR LEATHER DECADENCE: Helping to welcome all the far-flung visitors to Southern Decadence on Sept. 2 at 6pm will be a beer bust at Rawhide hosted by the Cavaliers Motorcycle Club until the suds run out. The traditional Hot Ash Cigar Party will be on Sept. 5 at 6pm at the New Orleans Eagle. And a $100 cash prize awaits the winner of the Fourth Wet Boxer Contest on Sept. 5 at 11pm, with Miss Loretta Wynette emceeing at Cowpokes.The Sweet Oliver Bed and Breakfast, located at 2460 N. Rampart St., will be the den for visiting Bears during Southern Decadence and again on Mardi Gras. Dale Irvin and David Johnson, both members of the New Orleans Bears, will be hosting a "Bears and Bubbles" cocktail reception from 4 until 8pm on Sept. 4 with food and fun for their guests and other Bears. For more information, contact them at 504.947.4332 or 877.470.5323.
Catwoman has not gotten rave reviews from the critics, but Halle Berry has created a lot of buzz for her scanty leather S/M attire complete with a finely tuned whip. In whatever meager plot there is, we learn that the leather outfit was given to her by a Gay co-worker who wanted her to shed her hippie duds and start dressing more like a dominatrix.
And hometown gal Ellen DeGeneres, who won four Daytime Emmy Awards, is about to get a new lease on life. Her summer break ends on Sept. 6, when brand-new shows start airing at 10 on weekday mornings locally on WDSU, Channel 6. But, if you always suspected God was a she, Ellen will prove it in an upcoming remake of Oh, God!, and please do not forget her latest book, The Funny Thing is…
Sexy Colin Farrell stars in Michael Mayer’s adaptation of Michael Cunningham’s insightful novel, A Home at the End of the World. As a sensitive bisexual chef, he envisions a new kind of family with Gay critic Dallas Roberts and free-wheeling designer Robin Wright Penn. Co-star Sissy Spacek could be up for another award as a biting symbol of the failure of the traditional heterosexual family.
Tickets are now on sale for the Sixth Voodoo Music Experience at City Park on Oct. 16-17, with the Beastie Boys leading the pack of over 60 acts. Fiddler on the Roof plays on Sept. 3-19 at the Grand Casino in Biloxi, and will be followed by the adorable Debbie Reynolds on Sept. 24-25.
Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding is the offering on Sept. 4-6 at Harrah’s Casino, with $10 off the $59 admission with your copy of the advertisement from Ambush Magazine. But, considering that it is Southern Decadence weekend, would not Tony n’ Tim’s Wedding or Toni n’ Tina’s be more appropriate? But again, perhaps not, as hateful politicians have served notice that Louisiana is not for lovers-or weddings.
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REEDOM RIDE IN THE BIG EASY: The Cavaliers Motorcycle Club held a final "Freedom Ride" on Aug. 14, celebrating the last day of choice in Louisiana before the new helmet law took effect. Nine riders, along with five passengers, made the ride, each exercising his or her choice in wearing a helmet or not.The group of 14 headed from the French Quarter to the lakefront, stopping on the West End to eat at Jaeger’s on the Lake. It was a breezy and warm summer evening, and the group enjoyed a great view of the sun setting over Lake Pontchartrain while they dined on fresh seafood.
However, the next day was not as calm and collected in Baton Rouge, as more than 350 bikers from across the state vented their anger at Gov. Kathleen Blanco for engineering the Legislature’s new law for all bike riders. Violators could face a $50 fine and in some cases hundreds of dollars in court costs.
"She is not our mama," Anna Stogner of Amite said after riding from the State Capitol to the Governor’s Mansion a half-mile away. "Riders should be able to decide whether to wear a helmet," she said, "We are educated. We can make our own choices. It is our freedom. Period."
The protest was monitored closely by dozens of state troopers and Department of Public Safety officers. All riders wore helmets during the ride. Blanco was in Canada on a cultural and economic development trip, but troopers were stationed at the mansion in case trouble brewed.
None did, State Police spokesman Lt. William Davis reported. Although organizers did not obtain the usual permit for a rally, State Police worked with them so they could have the event, Davis said. Even if the riders had made the short jaunt without helmets, State Police probably would not have issued tickets. "This is their freedom of expression," he observed.
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IDE OF DEFIANCE IN RED STICK: Although absent, Gov. Blanco was the target of heated barbs from the bikers. Some passed out stickers calling Blanco a dictator. And the back of several T-shirts read: "You had better get the f— out of my way, because I can’t hear you or see you with this damn helmet on. Thanks, Blank-O."H.L. "Big Daddy" Watkins of Baton Rouge, a longtime cyclist and spokesman for the Ride of Defiance, said bikers came from cities such as New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Houma, Monroe and Slidell. They represented all ages, ethnic groups, genders and sexual orientations.
Many bikers opposed reinstating the mandatory helmet law as an infringement of their freedom. During the session, the bikers favored instead, more stringent licensing laws and better training and educational requirements to get a license. "There are 95,000 of us," Watkins noted. "We will remember this at election time, and we all vote." He said the motorcyclists might push to change the law in the next session.
Baton Rouge biker Rodney "Smokie" Bourgeois said the rally was "all about wearing the helmets. The only thing a helmet does for you in an accident, is make your head a little prettier in an open coffin." He continued, "Don’t tell me that I have to wear one. They don’t make you wear one to ride a tractor; they don’t make you wear one to ride a horse. Maybe a newborn child should come out of the hospital wearing a helmet."
Wayne Spring of Albany said he does not plan to wear his helmet all the time, complaining that all the new law will do "is make outlaws" out of law-abiding citizens. "I’m going to break the law. I jumped out of an airplane at 14,000 feet and bungee-jumped and didn’t have a helmet," he pointed out.
"Why should it matter to Gov. Blanco? We have freedom of expression and freedom of choice in this country. Maybe the safest thing we can do when we get up in the morning is not turn on the microwave oven—because it might blow up—and stay in the house. Things happen. We are all going to be dead in 150 years."
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EMORIAL MASS FOR PAT MCCARTY: A funeral mass was celebrated on July 18 in the French Quarter at Tau House Ministry for leatherman Patrick Edward McCarty, a victim of cancer at only 49.Pat was a former employee of Secor Bank, now Regions, owned and operated Gay Mart and retained a private dungeon above the store in the 1990s. For his outstanding community service, he received a Presidents Award at Pantheon of Leather 2000 held in New Orleans.
A long-time associate member of the Chicago Hellfire Club, McCarty was a member and supporter of many other organizations. He was a local leader in the National Leather Association, which held monthly beer busts and other events at the Phoenix.
His life partner, Thomas P. Kelly of New Orleans and Dyer, AR, survives him. Family members in Baton Rouge and Gretna request donations to the Louisiana Cancer Research Consortium, 1430 Tulane Ave., SL68, New Orleans, LA 70122. The family guest book may be signed at legacy.com.
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ICIOUS VITTER BLAMES HOLLYWOOD: Campaigning under the GOP banner for the U.S. Senate, David Vitter is denying that he is trying to make political fodder by urging local governments to adopt a resolution "designating heterosexual marriage as the only natural law union." He said, "This must be maintained for the survival of America’s future generations."Madisonville became the first Louisiana city to adopt the resolution, but not until after a long and heated debate. But the Town Council then turned right around and heartily approved the celebration of Sept. 12-18 as Marriage Appreciation Week.
Vitter sent his vicious proposal to every municipality in the state to create momentum for the scheduled vote on Sept. 18 to put a Gay marriage ban into the Louisiana Constitution.
Far from seeking publicity, Vitter said his hand was forced on the issue. "I would have been very happy not to have any of this," Vitter explained, "But the Hollywood left forced me into this debate."
But Vitter and his cronies conveniently ignored the 84th anniversary of women’s suffrage on Aug. 26. It was a hard-fought victory, highlighted by hunger strikes. Then the discrimination shifted from women to blacks, who had to take to the streets to obtain equality.
And now it is the Gays who are being pushed back into the closet as second-class citizens. If our presidents would honor their oath to uphold the Constitution and give everyone equal rights, none of this would have ever been necessary. How sad.
