The Southern Food & Beverage Museum is a nonprofit living history organization dedicated to the discovery, understanding, and celebration of the food, drink and the related culture of the South. While based in New Orleans, the Museum examines and celebrates all the cultures that have come together through the centuries to create the South’s unique culinary heritage. The … [Read more...] about Southern Food and Beverage Museum & Museum of the American Cocktail
The Bookstore on Frenchmen
In 1977, Tom M. Horner, a former Episcopal priest, had two things on his mind—finishing his book on homosexuality in the Bible, and opening a gay & lesbian-themed bookstore. By 1978, Jonathan Loved David: Homosexuality in Biblical Times was published by the Westminster Press and Horner signed a lease on a space for a bookstore at the corner of Frenchmen and Chartres … [Read more...] about The Bookstore on Frenchmen
Book Review: Mr. Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Elder
Mr. Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Elder. John Waters. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2019. 384 pages. John Waters, filmmaker, actor, writer, & visual artist, is one of those cultural institutions that people either get or don’t get and never the twain shall meet. Or shall they? Mr. Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Elder may … [Read more...] about Book Review: Mr. Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Elder
Backstreet Cultural Museum
Located in the heart of Treme, the Backstreet Cultural Museum is a New Orleans treasure. Technically opened in 1999, the museum had its origins years earlier in 1988 when Sylvester Francis, who used to march with the Gentlemen of Leisure Social Aid & Pleasure Club, began displaying photographs and other memorabilia in his two-car garage. Mardi Gras Indian tribes … [Read more...] about Backstreet Cultural Museum
Gay Zoo Day: Tales of Seeking and Discovery
Gay Zoo Day: Tales of Seeking and Discovery. Mike McClelland. Beautiful Dreamer Press, 2017. 274 pages. Every now and then, I stumble upon a book I didn’t know I was looking for. Gay Zoo Day by Mike McClelland is one such book. Imminently satisfying, this debut collection of short stories is breathtaking in its warmth and scope. Before … [Read more...] about Gay Zoo Day: Tales of Seeking and Discovery
Remembering the Legacy of Chris Daigle
Christopher Daigle was a banker before he became a gay activist in the early 1990s. Educated at Loyola University, Fairfield University and Dartmouth College, Daigle settled in New Orleans and took a job as the Director of the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Life at Tulane University, Daigle became involved in LAGPAC and led the organization for roughly … [Read more...] about Remembering the Legacy of Chris Daigle
Spotlight on Saints and Sinners LGBTQ Literary Festival Speakers
In this series, we introduce you to some of the writers in the all-star lineup for #SAS20 this March in the heart of the French Quarter. Deb Jannerson is an award-winning, Pushcart-nominated author. Her YA debut, The Women of Dauphine (NineStar Press, 2019), a New Orleanian lesbian ghost story, received praise from Kirkus Reviews, LoveBytes, and Ambush. She also has two … [Read more...] about Spotlight on Saints and Sinners LGBTQ Literary Festival Speakers
The Rose Room, the Goldenrod Inn, and Police Raids
There have always been queer people in New Orleans, and while the city currently looks favorably upon us, it wasn’t always so. It wasn’t too long ago that rainbow flags on Rampart Street and Mayoral proclamations for Pride and Southern Decadence would have been inconceivable. The New Orleans Police Department was still raiding gay bars as recently as the … [Read more...] about The Rose Room, the Goldenrod Inn, and Police Raids
How to Be Alone: If You Want To, and Even If You Don’t
How to Be Alone: If You Want To, and Even If You Don’t. Lane Moore. Atria Paperback, 2018. 215 pages. Good books make you think or feel. Great books do both. How to Be Alone is a great book. Moore has transcended an abysmal childhood marked by neglect and abuse. Nothing unique about that, but what makes Moore’s story so … [Read more...] about How to Be Alone: If You Want To, and Even If You Don’t
Le Musée de F.P.C.
Le Musée de f.p.c., a historic house museum, is one of the country’s few attractions dedicated exclusively to preserving the material culture of and telling the story of free people of color. The founders of this repository strive through their collection of documents, paintings and decorative arts to present, interpret and preserve the history and culture shared by so many … [Read more...] about Le Musée de F.P.C.