The 24th Annual Official Gay Easter Parade is scheduled to roll through the French Quarter on Easter Sunday, April 20, at 4:30pm. The parade will consist of numerous carriages, walking groups and convertibles.
The Gay Easter Parade started in 2000 in New Orleans as a fun way to showcase the fashion and creativity of the entire LGBTQ+ community with ladies in gowns or summer suits with Easter Hats and gentlemen in summer suits or tuxedos. It’s meant to be a fun cultural event the whole family can attend regardless of whether or not you identify as LGBTQ+.
The annual parade is a fundraising event for Food for Friends, a division of CrescentCare. Since 2003 the parade has raised $352,517.04 for Food for Friends. Funds are raised through sponsorships and a series of fundraisers. One of the earliest annual fundraisers is the Purple Party.
In 2000, Rip and Marsha Naquin-Delain, publishers of Ambush Magazine who had just assumed control of the Gay Easter Parade approached Chuck Turner and Bill Miller about hosting a fundraiser for the parade at a new bar they had just purchased—The Double Play. The bar had previously been called The Wild Side and was owned by the legendary Miss Fly and managed by her best friend, Miss Do. Sadly, Miss Fly was murdered in 2000. Turner and Miller took over the bar after her death. Before Miss Fly’s ownership, it was another gay bar called Gregory’s.
The date Rip had in mind for the parade fundraiser just happened to be Chuck and Bill’s anniversary. Thus, the Purple Party began as a double-celebration of sorts: a fundraiser for the Gay Easter Parade as well as an anniversary celebration. Turner recalls he and Miller were vacationing in Vermont when that state legalized civil unions for same-sex couples. “We were the first in line,” Turner said.
Turner and Miller owned The Double Play for seventeen years before selling the bar to current owner Dr. Randy Speights, who renamed the bar Crossing. Turner remembers the Purple Party as always “being our biggest party of the year. It always drew a great crowd. And it was so fun decorating the bar for the party. The Purple Party, which was a drag show featuring the likes of classic performers such as Big Momma and Clorox Bleachman, also featured auctions and food. Turners says the annual event usually raised about $3,000 to $4,000 a year.
Why Purple? Turner said, “Well, Café Lafitte had the Red Party and the Pub had the White Party, so we just decided to go with purple.” In recent years, the Purple Party has continued to grow in popularity. After Rip and Marsha died in 2017, the party was renamed The Marsha Delain Purple Party. In her later years, it was the only event at which Marsha would still perform.
Turner says he will be at this year’s party, which takes place on Saturday, April 12, at 7:00pm at Crossing, 439 Dauphine. It will be an emotional experience for Turner, not only because he recently lost his husband Bill Miller, but also because his long-time friend and employee Will Antill is serving this year as one the Gay Easter Parade’s Gran Marshals. Antill bartended and managed The Double Play for years and continues to do so at Crossing.
