Arts & Culture

ARTS & CULTURE Trodding the Boards

Brian Sands bsnola2@hotmail.com

“Uncle” Wayne Daigrepont at Andrea’s Restaurant on June 19

When Jefferson Parish moved into Phase 2, live entertainment began to make a comeback. And what a pleasure it was recently to head out to Andrea’s Restaurant (3100 19th St., Metairie) to enjoy the music and esprit of the ridiculously talented Wayne Daigrepont.

With impish humor, “Uncle” Wayne, as he’s known around town, holds court in Andrea’s’ Capri Blu Piano Bar on occasional Fridays. A diminutive man with an outsize personality, “Uncle” Wayne may always be quick with a joke and a laugh but there’s nothing goofy about his piano stylings.

Notes tumble forth when this adorable pixie sits down to make music. His marvelous playing may be reminiscent of Liberace but, rather than feathers and sequins, he sports a Tweety Bird vest and straw boater. And always a smile.

“Uncle” Wayne prompts people to request songs from the catalog of 900+ that he knows. Gershwin, Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hammerstein and all the other classics (and not-so classics) from the Great American Songbook are his bag as well as most show tunes. Except for late 20th and 21st century ones. The Phantom of the Opera is about as recent as he gets.

From The Wizard of Oz’ If I Only Had a Brain to beautiful medleys of the scores of Cabaret and The Sound of Music, with effortless ease Daigrepont brings modern baroque interpretations to songs that are instantly recognizable.

Asked to do something from Fiddler on the Roof, rather than the typical klezmer approach, “Uncle” Wayne provided an inventively jazzifi ed take on the numbers of this beloved musical. When someone suggested he play “17” (don’t ask), he immediately responded with Sound of Music’s Six

“Uncle” Wayne Daigrepont at Andrea’s teen Going on Seventeen. Sharp as a tack he is. Want something classical? He can even do Carmen. Exquisitely.

Audience sing-alongs are encouraged and often theater people in the crowd will step up to sing a song or

two. Alas, the theater folk had yet to reemerge when I was there but I did get four well-cocktailed women doing a kickline to New York, New York. In these socially distanced times, it was slightly surreal.

The Capri Blu Piano Bar offers a thoroughly relaxed atmosphere where you can meet up with old friends and easily make new ones. As the evening progressed, renowned Chef Andrea Apuzzo came to hang out there as well. A Marx Brothers movie silently played on the room’s large TV screen which was fine with me and certainly an improvement over what I was told is usually a sports game.

“Uncle” Wayne is generally given only a few days’ notice as to when he’ll be appearing, but he will be performing again on Friday, June 19, from 8 to 11pm. You may want to friend him on Facebook so you can see his cute cartoon-inspired notifications of upcoming gigs. After going out to Andrea’s, you’ll be happy to say “I tawt I taw ‘Uncle’ Wayne! I did! I did taw ‘Uncle’ Wayne!”

Curtain Up

Though Orleans Parish theaters remain dark for now, venues in the surrounding parishes are hoping to begin lighting up next month; three have already announced plans to do so. While I encourage you to support these local companies, best to check with them to confirm performances will be going on as scheduled and to find out what measures they have in place to prevent the further spread of COVID-19.

First up is Rivertown Theaters which will be presenting Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, July 9-19. First seen on television in 1957, the musical was adapted by Douglas Carter Beane for the stage and debuted on Broadway in 2013. Featuring seven classic R&H songs (inc. Impossible, Ten Minutes Ago, A Lovely Night, etc.), Cinderella will give us a “happily ever after” ending which we all could use these days. (www.rivertowntheaters. com)

Next, Playmakers of Covington kicks off with the classic musical A Chorus Line, July 18-26. If you haven’t been to this playhouse on the North Shore, one of the oldest continuously operating community theaters in the U.S., this would be a great opportunity to visit and see the Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning show about Broadway gypsies which is dedicated to “anyone who has ever danced in a chorus or marched in step...anywhere.” (playmakers-theater-05.webself.net)

Last, 30 by Ninety Theatre in Mandeville promises “side-splitting hilarity” with The Hallelujah Girls, July 18–Aug. 2. In it, five feisty females of Eden Falls, Georgia, decide to shake up their lives after the loss of a dear friend causes them to realize that time is precious, and if they’re going to achieve their dreams, they have to get on it now. After months of quarantining and sheltering-in-place, sounds like a very good idea. (30byninety.com)

Some other recent updates come from the New Orleans Shakespeare Festival which announced that its 2020 shows, Twelfth Night and Troilus and Cressida, have been rescheduled for Summer 2021, as has Summer Lyric Theatre’s regional premiere of the Tony winner Once. A Night with Janis Joplin, which was to have been playing at Le Petit now, has also been postponed but new dates have not yet been determined.

For those of you not quite ready to venture out yet, new offerings continue to become available online.

José Torres-Tama’s Video Corta

ditos & Picante Performance Poems

is a series of YouTube shorts that are informed by this poet/actor/performer’s politically charged spoken word poems. Español Is Verboten Here is a multilingual “sci-fi Latino noir” celebrating the diverse people of GrinGoLandia making radical love across racial borders to create a hybrid nation (www.youtube. com/watch?v=xugjeuK224s). And What If After So Many Words takes on Confederate-flag-Loving-Christian-Right-Wing Militants (www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4Pqvwuk3-E).

Torres-Tama’s newest release,

Symbolic Opponent Syndrome/SOS/

Remembering the Dispossessed, addresses police violence against Black and Brown people, as well as the brutal murder of Jessica Hernandez, a Mexican LGBQT teenager, who was gunned down by white Denver police. Jessie, as she was known, was an active leader in Denver’s LGBQT community, and 800 people turned out to mourn the brutal point-blank killing of this bright soul (www.youtube.com/ watch?v=I9DBnzhoBao).

In a much lighter vein, the June online edition of Debauchery!, New Orleans’ only kind-of-live, ongoing soap opera hosted by Southern Rep Theatre, will feature a psychic who shares a vision she had with the utterly dysfunctional family created by Pat Bourgeois. To find out what this vision is, purchase a “ticket” at www.facebook.com/ events/260455651696751 and a link to the online episode will be emailed to you before showtime on Wednesday, June 24; it will be available for viewing through June 30.

If you need a laugh, and can’t wait for Debauchery!,check out Grenadine in Quarantine in which Running with Scissors’ dysfunctional McGunkle family and assorted friends deal with the pandemic in their own unique way. It’s 9½ minutes of laughs at www.facebook.com/ watch/?v=1522650211229974

PAST PRESENT FUTURE III

For the third PAST PRESENT FUTURE, Augustin J Correro and Nick

Augustin J Correro and Nick Shackleford of The Tennessee Williams Theatre Company

Shackleford let us know what was going on at the Tennessee Williams Theatre Company when things shut down, what it’s doing now, and what plans they have for its future.

Reviewing Suddenly Last Summer last year, I wrote “Correro [who directed] creates an eerie, at time expressionistic landscape of the mind perfectly suited to Williams’ heightened language...beautifully sustaining the tension throughout.” I have consis

CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

tently admired Shackleford’s sound designs as well as his performances in The Normal Heart and Jesus Christ Superstar.

PAST

The Tennessee Williams Theatre Company of New Orleans (TWTC)

was founded in 2015. We spent the first four and a half years bouncing between barrooms, fellowship halls, and other nontraditional spaces as we struggled to make our way in the challenging but rewarding theatrical landscape of New Orleans.

In 2019, we began our partnership with Loyola University New Orleans and broke basically all of our records (attendance, financial, etc.). We started 2020 finally feeling like we were hitting a sustainable stride.

In early March, when COVID-19 began to enter conversations in a serious way, we were deep in rehearsals for our spring production, In The Bar of a Tokyo Hotel. By the middle of the month, we knew a call had to be made.

On March 12 at about 5pm, two hours before one of the very last rehearsals prior to tech week, we called Patrick Gendusa at Loyola, then the show’s director Torey Hayward, followed by Tracy Cunningham at the Tennessee Williams Festival (with whom we were collaborating), and our production manager Maddie Taliancich. We let them all know that we had made the decision to cancel for the safety of our artists and audiences

After this surreal series of calls, it was done. We had cancelled our first show. Our set had been built, costumes designed and altered, four large TV screens had been installed for what was going to be our most technologically complex production to date. The actors were in a good place. Then everything got swept away.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a reckoning for us. It was humbling. All the work we had done to establish the company was suddenly cast into a seemingly interminable limbo. We had always imagined the first time we’d need to cancel was going to be for a hurricane; COVID-19 took us all by surprise.

We knew it wasn’t going to be some quick thing, either. We would need to make a decision about our summer production, Summer and Smoke, which was already cast, and determine future revenue streams, overall safety concerns, and--most importantly--how we could continue to serve our loyal, daring audience in this new, still-evolving paradigm.

PRESENT

During the Great Intermission, we have continued programming, though intermittently.

It began when Board Member Nori Pritchard approached us about a project that became No Pants Shakespeare. Our online “staged” reading of As You Like It was a successful experiment in using technology to bring theater to the homes of stir-crazy folks like us.

Nori’s husband Nat Twarog (a local actor who had previously worked with us) connected a Zoom meeting to a streaming platform in the vein of the Twitch program, allowing over a dozen actors to be onscreen and connected at one time.

No Pants Shakespeare didn’t end with As You Like It--we followed it with a presentation of The Tempest. Both readings are accessible at https:// bit.ly/NoPantsShakes. Other companies worldwide quickly joined the online staging arena, and now there’s a plethora of material to choose from… but viewers and theater-makers alike agree that it’s not the same.

Without the crackle of connection and in-person catharsis, we know that theater isn’t, well…theater. That’s why we’ve been working alongside other local theater leaders to acknowledge the challenges and prepare to meet them when the occasion presents itself.

In the meantime, we’re biding our time, examining and streamlining our operations, and looking for ways to ensure that when we do make our return to the stage, TWTC will be better than ever.

It also must be stated that we’re in a historic moment alongside another historic moment. While constantly negotiating risk involved with the pandemic, we are listening to renewed calls from Black communities to stand up, pay attention, and change the way theater serves audiences and artists. We’re working diligently to rise to that occasion, another important aspect of our current focus.

FUTURE

Everything is currently in a state of flux, even as we begin to return to “normal”.

Theater will surely be one of the last types of events that audiences will feel comfortable returning to, but we take heart in the knowledge that theater as an art form has survived in every culture globally, through literally every disaster, upheaval, and pandemic. We will pull through this and we know that people will always be hungry for compelling stories and good company.

Our next production will be For Whom the Southern Bell Tolls by Christopher Durang. It’s a campy spoof of The Glass Menagerie and will be paired with a couple of other short plays that lovingly poke fun at Williams plays.

Most of the roles have been filled, the rights are secured, and whether Southern Bell occupies its original slot or gets moved up, it will be the production we share with audiences once the COVID-19 situation clears up. As of early June, we are hopeful that a miracle will occur by November. Still, it would be a disservice to say we are optimistic about that prospect.

What we do know is that by 2021, we will be just as ready as our audiences are to get back into theater spaces and partake in collective storytelling. Tennessee Williams’ work will be that much more timely then, when we will have been craving connection for so long. His work is known for striking the chords of the human soul. We cannot wait to share his words with audiences as soon as it’s safe again!

Augustin J Correro and Nick Shackleford are the Founding Co-Artistic Directors of the Tennessee Williams Theatre Company of New Orleans. Correro holds an MFA in Theatre Pedagogy from Virginia Commonwealth University and is currently working on his book Tennessee Williams 101 with Pelican Publishing. Shackleford is a local sound designer and actor. Both men were featured in Gambit Weekly’s 40 Under 40 for 2019. For more about TWTC’s programs and mission, visit www.twtheatrenola.com

Please send press releases and notices of your upcoming shows to Brian Sands at bsnola2@hotmail.com.

Stay Safe New Orleans! Love, James, Monica, and the Lantern Team

THE ROCKFORD FILES Beyond the Barricades

Ryan Rockford RyanRockfordNYC@gmail.com

As a contributing writer to a conIn New York, the frustrations and temporary publication, I would feel a bit protests related to George Floyd and amoral if I didn’t take this opportunity the prevalent racism within this counand use this platform to speak on what try’s police force has reached a boiling has become the largest civil rights point. Violence is being met with viomovement in history. A movement inlence in some areas, resulting in a chaspired and enraged by the killing of otic destruction of property and looting George Floyd, an unarmed black man of businesses by protestors desperatein Minneapolis, killed by police while in ly trying to make a point. their custody. In an effort to keep the general

As the COVID-19 pandemic public out of harm’s way, as of this writstretches on longer and more moning, New York City is still under a strict strously than anyone could have imagcurfew [Ed. Note: the curfew ended ined, there is a global desire to return on June 7]. At 8pm, every cellphone to ‘normalcy’. Unfortunately, in Ameriin New York bleeps and vibrates with ca, the death of an unarmed black man an “Urgent Alert” reminding all resiwhile in police custody, followed by dents (with the exception of essential protesters desperate to be heard has workers) to stay inside, off the streets, become almost ‘normal’. And that isn’t and refrain from travelling from 8pmacceptable. 5am. Living under quarantine all day

My problem both, as an individuand then having a curfew at night is al, and especially as a writer is I don’t starting to put New Yorkers on edge. know what to say. I am a privileged And please, I have no time to entertain white man who recognizes the atrocquarantine complaints from my friends ity of racism; I’m empathetic to those and family who have been ‘forced’ to affected by it and strive to be a part of stay home and quarantine in their the change I’d like to see in society’s yards and around their pools. view of people of color. But black peoThere are no yards, or lush public ple are not trying to hear that right now. spaces, or personal pools in midtown And I get it. White people will NEVER Manhattan. Residents are stacked on fully understand the effects racism. We top of each other. Nerves are frayed. will NEVER know what it feels like to Each building is its own Jenga tower. be discriminated against due to the colPulling one tenant in the wrong direcor of our skin. Never. And although we tion could be the one beam that brings may share their tears and fiercely fight the whole building down. With nowhere beside them in securing their rights to to go, I cannot help but hear television pursue a life of liberty and happiness, broadcasts and the conversations of ultimately, racism is one of those things those around me and the gist of what that white people aren’t able to comI hear most is “Yes, what happened to prehend – not fully, viscerally. George Floyd was wrong but the po

Protests over the death of George lice have to stop the vandalism and Floyd have resurrected the Black Lives looting.” To me that ideology is a bit Matter campaign to an all-time high. twisted. Shouldn’t we be thinking more Anger towards police because of their along the lines of; “Yes, vandalism and casual dismissal of this and similar inlooting are wrong but the police have stances has forced those looking for to stop the killing of innocent people of justice to hit the streets, in record numcolor.” bers. I support the Black Lives Matter These same broadcasts and concampaign and I also happened to be versations lead others to believe that white. I want to do something. I want New York is a city on fire and burning to help. I’m just not sure how to do it in anarchy. That isn’t true. There have without coming across as patronizing been a few incidents of significant deor inauthentic. struction but New York is not on fire

As the protests grow in numbers and being overrun with anarchists. and bricks and Molotov cocktails are New York is pissed, and has every being volleyed across picket lines, right to be. If so many people are fearwhite people, like myself are stuck in ful and concerned about protests, how some active/passive gray area. I’m about let’s fix the issues at hand so pretty sure our black friends do not there won’t be an issue to protest? Until want us calling them and ‘checking in’. then, there will be protests. There must They don’t want us asking how they be protests. Standing up for what you are feeling or what their thoughts are believe in, in solidarity with like-minded about the current situation. From what individuals, has been historically provI gather, what most people of color en to be the most effective way to get want to say to white people right now an agenda accomplished. If the perseis “Shut the fuck up, you racist piece of cuted and victimized don’t take a stand shit. Get out of my face and let me do for themselves, who will? Clearly we this.” That’s what I would say. cannot rely on local, state or even federal organizations to put the welfare of persons of color on the same level as the white population. That’s the reason the Black Lives Matter movement began in the first place.

Time and again, this country seems to demonstrate that the lives of black individuals just aren’t as important as those of white individuals. The fact that Floyd was being arrested and killed for the petty ‘crime’ of forgery, amid a pandemic that is killing hundreds of people A DAY, is a perfect example of that. With a deadly virus permeating the very air we breathe, there isn’t anything the police should be policing other than a desperate, alleged act forgery by a single individual?

What everyone knows but few are prepared to say publicly is that this country is racist. To deny it would only be racism 2.0; a revamped, contemporary way of ‘thinking’ that leads to the same conclusion: we’re racist. All of us. Including you.

However, there is a silver lining. Acknowledging our racial tendencies and recognizing things being the way they are gives us power. Think of racism as a loud, rowdy and unwelcome party guest that you hope will leave if you just ignore him long enough. Nope. He’s a persistent fucker who thrives on making others feel uncomfortable and powerless.

But it’s your house and your party. Ignoring him leaves you powerless. If you see racism coming through your door, look him in the eye and get your power back. Stop that bitch before he gets to the open bar. Recognizing and acknowledging racism at your party, and in your life, gives you the power to make a choice, perhaps a different choice than you’ve made before, the choice to remove racism from both your party and your life.

It could not be more clear that widespread reform is needed. A national re-education of our police forces and of our society in general regarding racial equalities is long overdue. For there is only one true race, the human race.

COMMUNITY VOICE The Road Ahead

Dr. Andrew Watley Professional Counselor in the State of Louisiana

The year 2020 seems like some sort of weird dream. I remember standing in a bar counting down the seconds until the ball dropped at midnight to signal what I thought would be an amazing year moving forward. Boy was I wrong! I should’ve spent those last seconds of 2019 stocking up on toilet paper or buying hand sanitizer or writing my political debates in preparation for endless conversations with racist friends on Facebook.

For years I’ve been the person to sit quietly behind my computer screen while debates proliferated on social media. With popcorn in hand I would read comments but would never post.

This time, it is different. My desire for this article is not to offend anyone or to begin yet another political debate, but to express my feelings with a hope that people can understand what it’s like being on the inside looking out. Let’s start with the phrase that has been ringing around the country, “Black Lives Matter”. This phrase means just what it says. Black lives matter! It is not a competition. We aren’t saying that our lives matter more or that other lives matter less. It is a reminder because, of late, it seems people may have forgotten. There is a particular type of fear or hopelessness that has been brewing inside of me. I find that I am overly cautious these days with most things in an effort not to draw attention to myself. Due to recent times, I’m afraid that if I get pulled over for speeding or if my music is too loud or if I dress a certain way, I will only be seen as...black. To some, that is all that matters, not my credentials, my degrees or my life, just my skin color.

COMMUNITY VOICE Observing Pride from Home

Thankfully, I have had many friends reach out to me asking how I am doing as well as asking what they can do to help. Here are a few things that the black community would appreciate from our brothers and sisters of other races:

Understand. It means a lot when people understand what this movement is actually about. Like I mentioned previously, it’s not a competition. It’s about reminding everyone that we are here and we want to be treated fairly.

Acknowledge. Don’t ignore the struggle. I have plenty of people who tell me, “Well, I don’t really see you as black”. Statements like that completely negate my history and my struggle. I am black! We don’t want people to ignore it, but to appreciate it.

Communicate. Try your best not to make too many assumptions. Communicate with people to better understand why this means so much. The best

Jim Meadows Executive Director, SAGE New Orleans info@sageneworleans.org

This is Pride month. And while most in-person Pride events have been cancelled around the world due to COVID-19, there are still plenty of opportunities for you to observe, celebrate, and spend some time reflecting on our collective history. Here are some of the ways that you can participate in Pride from home.

Virtual Pride Events

On June 29 (6:00-7:30pm), SAGE New Orleans and the LGBT+ Archives Project of Louisiana will host

The History of Pride in New Orleans

on Zoom. An overview presentation on local Pride history by local LGBT historian, Frank Perez, will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Mark Gonzalez, Michael Hickerson, Valda Lewis, and Dr. Catherine Roland. To register, visit pridehistorynola.eventbrite.com.

On June 26, NYC Pride is hosting a virtual pride rally, which will be streamed simultaneously on Facebook and YouTube. For more information, visit nycpride.org. On June 28, they will be partnering with ABC7 for a broadcast event. The event will feature various performances and celebrity appearances, including Janelle Monáe, Deborah Cox, Billy Porter, Carson

Kressley, Margaret Cho, and others. You can watch it live on abc7ny.com.

On June 27, Global Pride “will stream 24 hours of content that reflects and celebrates the beauty and diversity of LGBTI+ people everywhere.” For more information, visit globalpride2020.org.

San Francisco Pride will be hosting a series of online events from June 27-28, featuring “live and pre-recorded performances, greetings from LGBTQ+ community members, elected officials, and celebrities, speeches from thought leaders, drag and dance performances, DJ sets, and more.” For more inforform of research in this type of situation is communication. Open minded discussions can help us all during this time.

Support. It means a lot to have the support of so many people. I’ve received numerous messages and phone calls just asking if I was ok. That goes a long way. Check in on your friends and ask them what they need.

Remember that we all want the same thing, peace. Let’s work hard to make it a reality as soon as we can not only for ourselves, but for the future generations of this world. Things have to change but they can’t if we don’t work together.

Dr. Andrew Watley is a licensed professional counselor in the state of Louisiana. His practice is geared toward helping adolescents, members of the LGBTQ+ community and men who experience concerns with their masculinity and body image. More information about Dr. Watley and his practice can be found on his website, www. drandrewwatley.com.

mation, visit sfpride.org.

Pride Toronto is hosting an extensive series of various online programming and virtual events throughout this month. To learn more, visit pridetoronto.com.

Podcasts

The Making Gay History podcast is a treasure trove of interviews and oral histories focused on various pioneers of the LGBT rights movement, including Sylvia Rivera, Frank Kameny, Marsha P. Johnson, Vito Russo, Larry Kramer, Harry Hay, and many others. You can listen at makinggayhistory. com.

For more contemporary perspectives, check out the Nancy podcast, which features “provocative stories and frank conversations about the LGBTQ experience today.” Listen at wnycstudios.org/podcasts/nancy.

And, in case you didn’t hear, the Ambush Radio Podcast, hosted by George Bevan, was recently launched. It features interviews with various New Orleans area LGBT folks. Check it out at ambushmag.com/podcast.

Books

This month is a good time to dig deeper by reading about LGBT history. Martin Duberman’s Stonewall is described as “the definitive account of the Stonewall Riots.” The Stonewall Reader, compiled and edited by Ja

THE HERE AND THE NOW Visualizing PRIDE 2020 and Supporting BLM: Take Action

Catherine Roland catherineroland12@gmail.com

So much is happening.

June is Gay Pride Month, and it’s been really different so far this year. We’re experiencing the Black Lives Matter protests and continuation of the movement all the while looking at this through the lens and fog of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Within the greater New Orleans area, we have seen a number of peaceful protests, increased police presence, and a heightened interest in the racial indignities that are played out daily on a national level. The population of the city is predominately African American, and spans various socioeconomic categories refl ected in our country. Many of us are very supportive of the local and national Black Lives Matter movement and are joining or following the protests closely, watching national protests, or getting information from social media.

My question: Can we be TOO involved in all of what’s going on? How do we participate in, stay safe and show support during this particular time for the equality of the LGBTQ+ community and the Black Lives Matter movement?

I think we can be too invested with all that is happening. We have been dealing with a terrible health crisis since March. Feelings of confusion and anxiety abound, even more than they did several months ago. Every day the COVID-19 pandemic continues, more people feel vulnerable, frustrated, or even targeted. Look around, there is always someone telling you what to do, or what you cannot or should not do while out in public.

To counteract this, try looking at the more hopeful side if possible, where you may have learned a few things about yourself and those around you. Things like realizing that you can be alone and not lonely and even enjoy it. That there are many kind and caring people you might not have realized were in your life. Many of us have used the time to review and re-evaluate our lives, and to look critically at the future to determine what we might want to change in order to grow.

As we approach mid-June 2020, in past years we would be decorating for Pride festivities, getting ready for a long and eclectic parade, planning food and entertainment venues, and preparing costumes in all their glory.

None of that is happening this year. It thus may be worthwhile to consider what you can do to have some fun during our annual celebration of LGwBTQ rights throughout the remainder of this month. The celebration may not have to end, just because there are some regulations preventing the typical crowded interactions.

Many of us have people we could get together with, socially distanced and while wearing face coverings, and have a meal. The weather is wonderful right now--why not take the opportunity to put some rainbow signs up in the backyard or on a large porch, invite a friend or two to bring some food for themselves and sit for a while? Outside is good, much safer in every way.

When was the last time you walked with a friend or two into the Quarter? For those who live in that area, try getting out of it, go to City Park or Audubon Park, look at the trees and fl owers outside of the city. For those living on the outskirts, come downtown, wear a face covering, social distance, go to the River and meditate awhile, and take in the beauty of the water.

A way to visualize Pride 2020 might include learning more about Gay Pride in general, the history of Pride in New Orleans, and how the LGBT fi ght for equality both parallels and deviates from what we’re seeing with the Black Lives Matter movement.

Action is the most powerful way to effect social change. We can act in so many ways, one of which is self-educating, learning as much as possible about your own social heritage as members of the LGBTQ+ community. Podcasts can help in the process of learning, and now, during Pride month, there are many such podcasts that will outline and explain the beginnings of the movement from years ago until now. Learn more about the AIDS epidemic. Learn how the quest for change in the ‘80’s and ‘90’s impacted all diversities, as it does today.

The following link, https://blog. feedspot.com/gay_podcasts/ will allow you to access up to 25 podcasts about many aspects of being LGBTQ+ in our current world.

This History is Gay podcast has been around awhile. Check it out, maybe something will interest you. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/history-is-gay/id1327642994

30 Something, Black and Gay

is a series of podcasts you can also try. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/ podcast/30-something-black-and-gay/ id1230543612

These are just a few suggestions; there are many more. I enjoy podcasts because they cover different topics which are viewed from different lenses. That usually allows for conceptualizations with lots of input. Also, podcasts can be accessed while doing other things, like walking, exercising or just relaxing. And, mostly, they’re free.

There is going to be a panel discussion on the History of Pride in New Orleans on Monday evening, June 29, from 6:00–7:30 pm. It’s a Zoom presentation, open to all. There will be an announcement of that in this issue, but I wanted to mention it. It’s co-sponsored by SAGE New Orleans (formerly NOAGE), and the Archives Project. Look for it, join us!

Happy Pride folks. Be proud. Live that word as much as you can. Stay safe. BLM.

Dr. Catherine Roland, LPC, is a therapist in private practice, specializing in our LGBTQ+ community for 25 years. Catherine is a member of the Board of Directors of both CrescentCare-NO/AIDS Task Force, and SAGE New Orleans.

CHOP CHOP A Black Chef Changed My Life

Charles Pizzo pizzocharles@gmail.com

The fi rst black chef I ever met was Austin Leslie of Chez Helene Restaurant, tucked around the corner from The Circle Food Mart near N. Claiborne and St. Bernard Avenues. It was in a neighborhood where few like me ventured back in the early 1970s, especially not a high school kid with a preternatural interest in food for his age, and the keys to his Dad’s car.

I lied and said I was going to the Krauss Department Store on Canal Street. But I was on a mission to fi nd the soul food that food critic Richard H. Collin had heralded in The New Orleans Underground Gourmet, published in 1970. I had devoured that book as if it were a religious, contemplative manuscript.

Back in those days, most white people did not go to restaurants like Chez Helene. We all know the reason why, a topic our country is still struggling with to this day. Maybe I was an out-ofcontrol teenager, a liberal-in-waiting, or maybe I was simply drawn by Collins’ words.

“The fried chicken is far and away the best in the city and the best I have ever tasted. The stuffed pepper (highly

recommended) is the most memorable version of a New Orleans favorite,” he opined.

I still have a copy, which I found online after my well-worn original was lost in Hurricane Katrina.

Though there was trepidation in the pit of my stomach, I walked inside, sat down, and ordered. I was nervous about being there, nervous about being caught by my parents, and nervous about being in a situation way over my head at that age. My fears, of course, were unfounded.

I was rewarded with, as Collin had extolled, one of the best meals I had ever eaten. And I had eaten a lot. My father was a businessman, and my family dined out all around town.

The fried chicken made me giddy. It was both crackling crisp on the exterior, and juicy and bursting with fl avor on the interior. If that sounds like a cliché, forgive me. But, it was the real deal. I was drunk on the quality and the knowledge that I dare not tell anyone I had eaten there.

As I continued to sneak over to the restaurant, the staff grew to know me. I asked a lot of questions about the food

The chef’s autograph and hand-drawn caricature

and its preparation. Perhaps my server grew impatient and exasperated with me. One day, the man himself came out of the kitchen to talk.

Austin radiated charm. He was cool because he was always himself, and never put on airs. He didn’t care that I was a kid, or that my skin color was different from the regulars in the dining room. Since Collin’s book had been published, he had grown accustomed to folks from uptown dining downtown for the fi rst time, and fl otillas of taxis pulling up with adventurous tourists from New York.

He explained that the “secret” was a splash of freshly chopped garlic, parsley, and dill pickles splashed onto the chicken as it came out of the fryer so it would seal into the crust. That certainly worked for me. The combination of fl avors exploded, and his execution was perfect. The chicken was never dry.

On his menu, it was paired with the aforementioned stuffed pepper. This too was sensory overload—the umami of ground beef paired with sweet shrimp—cooked on low to coax all the fl avors out of the vegetables and seasonings. As I look back, I realize that his soul food contained more salt than I was accustomed to (and as bad as we now know that to be, it sure as hell tasted good back then).

Hous- made potato salad crowned with an olive (he loved his toppings) was creamy and rich, a cool counterpoint to the hot chicken, and texturally worlds apart.

I was in heaven. Austin continued to chat with me on future visits, and

got me to try chicken livers for the fi rst time. He marinated them in brandy, a technique I still copy, to both sweeten and mask the strong fl avor. True to form, he topped them with sliced green onions.

The whole experience had been an epiphany for me. Many of the beliefs I had acquired growing up in Arabi were dispelled by this most human of men. I continued to follow him in his career, from the backs of bars where he cooked after losing his restaurant, to Jacques-Imo’s Cafe uptown where he found second fame.

Sitting with me late one night in a seedy bar in Treme, watching me devour his fried chicken once again, he paid me the highest compliment any chef has ever offered, “Man, a dog couldn’t eat off those bones after the way you demolished that chicken.” I loved his cooking, and he loved the fact that I did.

As I told a reporter for a story that ran in the 1990s, if I were about to be executed, this would be the food I would request for my last meal. Yeah, it was that good. Austin was a great chef.

By stepping out of my comfort zone, I had discovered one of the greatest comfort foods I have eaten in my entire life. And, I had learned a valuable life lesson: that all people are, in fact, created equal.

Charles Pizzo is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. If you’re interested in having your dining establishment covered by Ambush Magazine, please contact him.

PARTY DOWN Social Distancing Style Tony Leggio ledgemgp@gmail.com

It has been like forever since I have written this column, but it’s not like I had a lot of parties and events unless you consider my Friday evening virtual happy hours which have of late been the highlight of my week. But as our cities move into the new Phases (we in NOLA are now entering Phase 2), I am beginning to come out of my quarantine hiding. I am still a little skittish and wearing masks and social distancing, but ready to begin being with friends and family.

Now this will not be a long column, but over the past two weeks, I did a few fun things that you can do and still feel safe. Last week, a group of friends and I took a quick drive to Picayune, Mississippi, to spend a day of social distancing fun. We began our day at the Picayune Blueberry Farm, for a morning of frolicking fruit-picking. Picayune is a very easy hour drive out of the city. I had been looking for something interesting to do, and I figured, why not blueberry-picking, something new that I have never done before. Yes, I was that stir crazy.

My excursion turned out to be very cool, however. The farm was started in 1987 on one acre and now has 55 acres with a few sheep, cattle and 13 acres of blueberries and thornless blackberries. The owners have opened the farm now and allow guests to pick their own, but if you do not want to work for your food, you are able to buy pre-picked frozen fruit. There are literally berry bushes as far as the eye can see.

When you arrive, you are given a bucket and whisked off by golf cart to a spot in the fields to start picking. They grow early, mid, and late season varieties of blueberries. Among their 14 varieties are a variety of sizes, tastes, textures, color, and firmness. You can wander around the field picking (and eating) as you like. One of my friends ended up eating more than he picked. But we all filled our buckets and returned to the main farm building where we arrived. There they bag up your blueberries and send you on your way. They also sell delicious blueberry jam as well. Their season usually begins in mid-May and lasts till early July, but is dependent upon winter weather and spring rains. To find out more go to https://www.picayuneblueberryfarm. com/.

I also went to my first two restaurants over the last two weeks to enjoy meals that were not takeouts. Our own LGBT+ favorite Betty’s Bistro is back open for business and still as wonderful as ever. The staff has taken impressive precautions to keep both their customers and staff safe.

Upon entering, you are sanitized, which honestly should be at every bar from this point on (even without a virus). Guests enter with their mask, are escorted to their table which is surrounded by a lovely blue outline. When you’re within the outline, you may remove your mask; once you leave the perimeter, the mask goes back on. The food was just as delicious as I remembered it, the staff was excellent, and I even got to see some other friends who were also there having lunch.

You do not know how good it felt to just sit at a table with friends and enjoy a meal and a few cocktails. It is amazing the little things we take for granted. But what I appreciated most of all was that the entire time the staff made me feel safe.

My second restaurant was Acorn at the Louisiana Children’s Museum in City Park. The museum itself is not open, but this delightful restaurant was and you are able to eat indoors or out on an expansive covered deck with great views of the ponds in the Park. Some friends and I rode bikes around that day visiting the Quarter and the Park stopping for cocktails at different places along the way. If you have not explored the Park recently, there are lots of flower fields in bloom and gorgeous spots for picnics.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12

son Baumann, is a diverse and inclusive anthology of pre- and post-Stonewall-related writings and interviews. Making Gay History by Eric Marcus is an excellent overview of the gay rights movement before and after the Stonewall riots.

Transgender History by Susan Stryker is a chronological history of the transgender community in America from the 1950s to today. The Deviants’ War is a new book by Eric Cervini that is centered on the life of Frank Kameny, but also “traces the forgotten ties that bound gay rights to the Black Freedom Movement, the New Left, lesbian activism, and trans resistance.”

For those looking to learn more about local LGBT history, check out In Exile by Frank Perez.

Documentary Films

Before Stonewall (1984) examines “the emotionally-charged sparking of today’s gay rights movement, from the events that led to the fevered 1969 riots to many other milestones in the brave fight for acceptance.”

Paris is Burning (1990) explores ball culture in 1980’s New York City. The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson (2017) is a documentary investigation into the death of the Stonewall veteran. Vito (2011) tells the story of gay activist, Vito Russo. And State of Pride (2019) takes a “look at the history and meaning of the Pride movement featuring a diverse range of LGBTQ+ perspectives.”

As we enter our brave new world, do not forget the virus is still around, so take precautions, wash your hands and wear your mask wherever necessary. But like so many other obstacles in the past, our city will find a way to remain one of the best places to live in this country. Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler!

Fictional Films

I’m sure everyone already has their own list of favorite LGBT-related movies. Some of mine include Maurice (1987), Orlando (1993), Beautiful Thing (1996), My Life in Pink (1997), Boys Don’t Cry (1999), Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001), Pride (2014), Carol (2015), and Moonlight (2016).

I hope that some of these suggestions will be of interest to you this month. But however you choose to observe Pride, I hope that it will be meaningful and affirming to you. Happy Pride.

STRANGE INHERITANCE Part Three: Present

Ryan Leitner reidleitner@gmail.com

Try this exercise. Mentally imagine your queer chosen family.

How many people are in your community? Where do they all come from? What are their differences? Do they all know each other?

I ask this because when I first began my Strange Inheritance project, I was able to point out each of my different group of gays, les’, trans’, inbetweeners, you name it (I called my New York gay bar friends “the gaygoyles”).

They all came from different places and from different backgrounds and I thought that was it. I thought they didn’t overlap. How would my gay friend in New Orleans know my trans friend from NYC who knew my pansexual friend in Berlin?

This project showed me how my seemingly disparate groups of queer family members came together in a network of friends, lovers, and mentors that spanned geography and cultures. With a few degrees of separation, I found a network of sexual- and gender-beautiful people that make our community so specifically unique.

While starting this project, I began to learn that even though our queer community is extensive and has growing numbers worldwide, our community is a lot more compact than most think. With the advancement of our rights (that are now, sometimes, being taken away from us again), we seem to be growing in numbers.

For the most part, we have had to rely on companies like Gallup to find out that somewhere between 4-10% of Americans considered themselves to lie on the spectrum of sexual and gender minorities. Because of the push for same-sex marriage on a federal level, this is the first decade in US history that an LGBT question (not LGBTQQIP2SAA question) was asked on the national census.

With all this in mind, the project began its journey of creating conversations around queer history sustainability. After the brainstorm I spoke about in my previous article, where the idea to clean and refurbish queer monuments came to be, I was lucky to find funding through my graduate school for a traveling fellowship that enabled me financially to visit these different public heritage sites and interview the communities that helped erect them.

Starting close to home, I began researching The Dolphin Monument in Galveston, TX, where artist Joe Joe Orangias, writer Sarah Sloane, and scientist Frank Prega constructed a 36” x 16” x 13” dolphin out of pink limestone to celebrate gender and sexual minorities in their community and The Pink Dolphin Tavern that had closed in the neighborhood.

I soon found out that Joe Joe and I had gone to the same grad program and we both had received the same traveling fellowship that would allow me to go visit his work. We had actually met a few years prior when he

came to town to visit his mentors, who incidentally, were also mine. Upon contacting Joe Joe, he informed me of the vandalization that had happened to the monument and the need for it to be refurbished.

He already had a sculptor in mind, so I decided I would be the one to help with documenting the process. When I learned about who the rehab sculptor would be, I realized I knew him as well. His name was Ryan Hawk; he had pursued an undergraduate degree at the same school Joe Joe and I went to.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 19

BOOK REVIEW The Chef Tony Leggio ledgemgp@gmail.com

James Patterson is one of my favorite authors of popular fi ction today. He has created many enduring fi ctional characters and series, including Alex Cross, the Women’s Murder Club, Michael Bennett, Maximum Ride, Middle School, and I Funny. He also has some notable literary collaborations such as The President Is Missing (and the soon to be released The President’s Daughter) with President Bill Clinton, and the Max Einstein series, produced in partnership with the Albert Einstein Estate. The National Book Foundation recently presented Patterson with the Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community, and he is also the recipient of an Edgar Award and six Emmy Awards.

What I admire most about Patterson is his commitment to helping younger audiences discover the joy of reading. I truly believe that the more people read, the more enlightened they become, opening their minds to new worlds and ideas. Even though Patterson’s main genre is thrillers, he also has books for young adults. I was excited about reading one of his newest thrillers that takes place in New Orleans entitled The Chefco-authored with Max DiLallo. This pulse-pounding book focuses on Detective Caleb Rooney, a major crimes investigator for the New Orleans Police Department. He also has a very local side gig as executive chef of the Killer Chef Food Truck which he operates with his ex-wife Marlene. The action immediately grabs your attention and never lets go until the fi nal page. Filled with lots of plot twists, memorable characters and a fabulous backdrop (yes, I am a little jaded), The Chef is a great read. Before Rooney knows it, he is accused of murder and embroiled in a terrorist plot that will happen during Mardi Gras. This is a true page turner as the suspense mounts leading up to Mardi Gras Day. As a local, it is especially terrifying to think what would happen if terrorists targeted the Crescent City during one of the biggest celebrations in the world. Patterson did his research with this novel, describing in glorious detail our city, its neighborhoods and culture. He even went so far as to post actual recipes from his Killer Chef in the back of the book. The Cajun-style scrambled egg po-boy is divine. I highly recommend The Chef for a fast summer read.

And since I have a lot more time on my hands, I also read another one of his summer series stand-alone thrillers called Swimsuit co-authored with Maxine Paetro. A gorgeous supermodel disappears from a photo shoot in Hawaii and, within a few hours, the girl’s parents receive a phone call from her abductor. They make their way to the island to search for her and it soon becomes a media frenzy. Enter Ben Hawkins, an ex-cop turned reporter for the LA Times sent to cover the story. After befriending the girl’s parents, he

soon begins his own investigation into the disappearance bringing him into the crosshairs of a diabolical serial killer.

As Hawkins gets closer to the truth, more bodies start piling up. There are many plot twists throughout this book, and when Hawkins catches up with the killer, that is when the story really takes off. Swimsuit is another excellent summertime fast read. For information on these novels and his upcoming books, go to www.jamespatterson. com.

MOMENTS IN GAY NEW ORLEANS HISTORY “Tainted Love: Archbishop Hannan and the LGBT+ Community”

Frank Perez frankearlperez@gmail.com

Philip Hannan served as the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans from 1965 to 1988, a period that coincided with the coming of age of the LGBT+ community in New Orleans. During Hannan’s tenure, several key moments in our local history occurred—the Up Stairs Lounge fire, the birth of Pride, the passage of a non-discrimination ordinance, and the AIDS crisis. For the most part, with one notable exception, Hannan’s response to these events was predictably bad.

The relationship between the Catholic Church and the LGBT+ Community in New Orleans is a long one and dates back to the city’s earliest years when colonial authorities disciplined a ship captain for committing sodomy with his cabin boy. In the19 th century, Mother Mary Bentivoglio’s lesbianism created a bit of a scandal. And in the early 20 th century, W. R. Irby, a gay Jewish man, secretly paid for repairs to St. Louis Cathedral after the roof was damaged in the great hurricane of 1915.

Prior to the founding of the Lesbian and Gay Community Center of New Orleans in 1992, the St. Louis Community Center in the French Quarter served as a gay friendly meeting place for various LGBT organizations such as PFLAG, a gay Alcoholics Anonymous group, Dignity, Crescent City Coalition, LAGPAC and a few other LGBT groups. This was made possible because of the tolerance of a gay priest who ran the facility. Rich Sacher observes, “For a few years, before the Catholic Church in Rome swung to far right conservatism, this location was practically a gay community center … When Pope John Paul II was elected, we were all told to leave.”

In 1973, when an arsonist set fire to the Up Stairs Lounge, a gay bar on the edge of the French Quarter, and killed 32 people, Archbishop Hannan decreed that no one who perished in the fire was to receive a Catholic funeral. Besides that edict, the Archbishop had nothing else to say at the time of the tragedy. In fact, he would not even meet with officials from the Metropolitan Community Church who were trying to organize a memorial service. The Up Stairs Lounge arson was, and remains, the deadliest fire in New Orleans history and Hannan, who generally loved cameras, offered no public statement of condolence. Several weeks

later, he did acknowledge the fire briefly in a column in the archdiocese newsletter, but when words of comfort were needed most, he was silent.

The first GayFest (1979), which would evolve into Pride, was originally to be held in Jackson Square but when the Roman Catholic Archdiocese learned of the event, Archbishop Hannan went to work behind the scenes with his contacts at City Hall and had the venue nixed. Organizers were not happy at having the venue pulled, but GayFest found a suitable location at Washington Square Park not far away in the neighboring Marigny neighborhood.

Although he was relieved that a bunch of moral reprobates would not be flaunting their sexual depravity in front of his Cathedral, Hannan was undoubtedly disturbed by the rise of LGBT+ visibility. His fears materialized in 1984 when the City Council debated an ordinance protecting gays and lesbians from discrimination. Hannan informed the Council that if the ordinance passed, “‘’We would immediately circulate a petition to call for a referendum to repeal the ordinance.’’ He further added, ‘’we cannot compromise our principles in this matter.’’

Proponents of the ordinance vowed to try again. When the ordinance was introduced again in 1986, opponents rallied as well. Behind the scenes, Hannan leveraged the entire weight of the Catholic Archdiocese against passage. But Hannan’s resolve did not deter proponents of the ordinance. A LAGPAC delegation consisting of Stewart Butler, Lou Volz, a Catholic brother, and a lesbian professor from Tulane met with Monsignor Robert Muench, Executive Assistant to Archbishop Hannan to try to convince him to ask the Archbishop to not actively oppose the ordinance. While Muench was polite at the meeting, he was not moved. Hannan had dug his feet in and would not budge.

The 1986 defeat was particularly painful because one of the votes against it came from Councilperson Mike Early, whom LAGPAC had previously endorsed. In his first term, Early had introduced a resolution supporting Gayfest and had mediated between the police and the gay community during times of harassment. So why did he vote no? Pressure from Archbishop Hannan. The ordinance did eventually pass in 1991.

As unhappy as Hannan was at the ordinance’s passage, he was probably not as angry as he was in 1987 when the Pope came to town. Early in 1987, the Vatican announced that Pope John Paul II would visit New Orleans in September. When the Pope’s helicopter landed at Notre Dame Seminary on Carrollton Avenue, a contingent of LGBT+ activists were there holding signs calling for gay rights and reproductive rights for women. When the Pope visited St. Louis Cathedral, Rich Magill, along with a few others distributed an open letter to the Pope to the throngs of people waiting in line to see the Pontiff.

A disgruntled priest found Magill and handed him a stack of the letters saying, “We don’t want these.” Magill recycled the letters and continued handing them out. Later, when the Pope-mobile rode down Canal Street, Butler organized a protest march to follow it. “There was a four-person LAGPAC contingent with our sizable LAGPAC banner preceded by Robby de Jacimo, prancing along as if he were a majorette. I was a bit more discrete walking off to the side as if I were some sort of chaperone.” Leonard Green and Michael Thompson (whose mother would become president of PFLAG and a dear friend of Stewart’s) carried the LAGPAC banner. The Archbishop was not pleased.

Despite all his homophobia, Hannan did get one thing right. In 1984, a young man known as Robert H. was released from Charity Hospital after a nasty episode from what we now know was AIDS. Robert H. was homeless and penniless and had nowhere to go when a compassionate nurse called a Catholic ministry in the French Quarter called Tau House run by a compassionate priest named Father Bob and pleaded Robert’s case.

Father Bob gave the young man a place to stay and soon the word spread that someone was willing to care for people with AIDS. This was rather remarkable at the time because most people with AIDS then were completely shunned. Even doctors and nurses treated them tepidly with gloves and masks. Before long, the need was obvious and Father Bob along with Father Paul Derossiers of Holy Trinity Church in the Marigny approached Archbishop Hannan about the possibility of providing shelter to homeless AIDS patients.

The Archbishop immediately agreed it was necessary and right and thus was born Project Lazarus. The home designated to house indigent AIDS patients was just around the corner from Holy Trinity Church in the old convent of the German Benedictine nuns of the 19th century. The first residents were Bob T., Leon G., and Ray G. At the time, the location of the house was kept secret for safety reasons. Tau House was the public face of the ministry.

Philip Hannan died in 2011, but the homophobia of the Roman Catholic Church persists, despite the warmth and fuzziness of the current pope.

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2218 25th Ave, Gulfport, MS Phone: (228) 206-7717 Email: sipps25th@gmail.com CONTINUED FROM PAGE 16 is where I found familiar faces like Joe After talking to a couple of local homophobic politicians at bay and kept Joe’s. historians about Sweets’ story, and her lifestyle in the wide open for the But I had known him back in New York Upon returning to the States, I after learning about the parties she’d closeted community to be a part of, if where I would photograph him and a worked with the Human Rights Departthrown for the local football team at her only vicariously. A true pioneer of how group of performance artists at my first ment in Mayor Latoya Cantrell’s office house on Prall Street, I would have to to live your best life with what you’re residency, years prior. Ryan was actuto refurbish the UpStairs Lounge mesay the Sweets was loved by all in the given. Thanks Sweets, for living by exally on the cover of one of my earlier morial plaque that had been seeing neighborhood. She was the holder of ample. I wish I could have been to one photography books where he mooned vandalism of its bronze and brick sidstories and secrets that kept the local of your parties. the camera, showing his smiley tattoo ing for years, with minimal cleanings. on his right butt cheek. Those were the I was lucky to find common voices in days. the department with a Mayor who ac

After a couple of drives back and tually cared about our community. The forth to Galveston, we were successful plaque now sits on new bricks and has in re-erecting the monument at Galbeen remounted outside the UpStairs veston Beach, but, sadly, it has been Lounge door. vandalized again by beachgoers. Of With numerous monuments uncourse, this goes with the territory of der my belt, and some great converworking with the public on minority issations with activists and historians, I sues of visibility, but yeah it still sucks. had racked up thousands of miles in It’s a conversation and a situation that my Honda Civic, and a realization that I’ve increasingly had with about half of this project was going to be forever the public spaces I visited and one that ongoing. Never a project completed, (I think) we will always need to have. but a project that would be continualT H E H I S T O R Y O F P R I D E We are forever minorities after all. ly “in progress.” Learning of different

I mention this serendipitous situlocal sheroes and heroes, and how I N N E W O R L E AN S ation because it showed me just how they were able to work towards their small our community really can be, and how little we really do know about our own demographics. If the US is just visibility and livelihood, I learned that each town had their own unique queer stories to tell with their own Marsha P. A Presentation and Panel Discussion via Zoom Monday, June 29, 6:00-7:30PM Central now taking account of a small group of Johnsons and Harvey Milks. people in this year’s census because This article is dedicated to one of Join SAGE New Orleans - NOAGE and the LGBT+ Archives they have to (due to the legalization of same-sex marriage within this decade), then there is so much data that has yet to be understood and so much those sheroes who I was fortunate to learn about named “Sweet Evening Breeze”. Sweets, as many people called shim (shim is also what Sweets Project of Louisiana for a very special presentation and panel discussion on the history of Pride in New Orleans! A presentation by New Orleans LGBT historian, Frank Perez, about our community that has yet to be liked to go by) was a community orwill be followed by a panel discussion with Mark Gonzalez, recognized. ganizer, a fixture in her church, and is Michael Hickerson, Valda Lewis, and Dr. Catherine Roland.

Continuing what I called my “Tour also considered the originator of the de Gay” to a handful of US states that I Lexington Kentucky drag scene in the could feasibly visit on this fellowship, I 1940’s and 50’s. Sweets was African GOT A QUESTION YOU'D LIKE US TO ASK THE PANELISTS? was later awarded a grant that allowed American and had moved to Lexington EMAIL IT TO INFO@SAGENEWORLEANS.ORG. me to attend what was championed from Herndon but was abandoned as a as the world’s first Queer Monument kid at Good Samaritan Hospital by her Colloquium in Leeds, UK. There, I was uncle. Sweets grew up in the hospital PRESENTED BY SAGE NEW ORLEANS - NOAGE AND able to meet like-minded people who and was an orderly there for over 40 THE LGBT+ ARCHIVES PROJECT OF LOUISIANA shared my concerns. And, of course, it years. www.GayMardiGras.com · www.GayEasterParade.com · June 16 – 29, 2020 · The Official Gay Magazine of the Gulf South™: www.AmbushMag.com · 19