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.
Obituaries: Chad Schuyler LaClair & Steve Robertson
Chad Schuyler LaClair Chad LaClair, 30, recently lost his battle with cancer. Born in Richmond, Virginia, on December 14, 1988, Chad, a tattoo enthusiast, lived in New York before moving to New Orleans, where he worked as a bartender at Rawhide. Steve Robertson Steve Robertson, 64, of Heber Springs, formerly of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, passed away November 1, … [Read more...] about Obituaries: Chad Schuyler LaClair & Steve Robertson
The Gentlemanly Last Years of George Dureau
I recently had an especially memorable and quite perfect lunch with Katie Nachod. Although Katie is a long-time reference librarian with a career’s worth of experience at Tulane University and the Louisiana Supreme Court Law Library, and although I serve as President of the LGBT+ Archives Project of Louisiana, and although we both have degrees in English, and although we … [Read more...] about The Gentlemanly Last Years of George Dureau
Oranges
Oranges. Gary Eldon Peter. New Rivers Press, 2018. 157 pgs. $18.00. Oranges is Gary Eldon Peter’s debut collection of short stories and traverses, in linked tales, the life of Michael, a gay man from the Midwest who must find his own confusing path to adulthood after personal loss. Michael is confronted with a number of challenges, including coming to terms … [Read more...] about Oranges
Hard Rock Hotel was Controversial from Start
The dramatic collapse of the Hard Rock Hotel in New Orleans re-opens a can of worms. The proposed development was controversial from its inception. 1031 Canal Street for decades was the site of Woolworths, a five’n’dime department store whose lunch counter was ground zero for civil rights protesters in 1960. When it was proposed the Woolworths building be … [Read more...] about Hard Rock Hotel was Controversial from Start
Louisiana Governor’s Race
The results of the Louisiana Governor’s race on October 12 were disappointing but not surprising. Incumbent John Bel Edwards (D) will face Eddie Rispone (R) in a run-off election on November 16. Primaries in Louisiana are unique in that if no candidate gets over 50%, the two top vote-getters, regardless of party, face each other in the run-off. Governor … [Read more...] about Louisiana Governor’s Race
New Class Explores French Quarter Underbelly
Did Governor Earl Long really live in an apartment on Bourbon Street with a stripper? Did the Sicilian Mafia in America start in the French Quarter? Did Tennessee Williams regularly play with his dick in open view at Café Lafitte in Exile? Did a gay porn pioneer leprechaun really live on Saint Peter Street? Did Walt Whitman cruise the French Market looking for … [Read more...] about New Class Explores French Quarter Underbelly
