| The Pridelets for June 18
by
Thomas Allen Heald
 ON THIS DAY:
Ricky Ian Gordon's "Stonewall: Night Variations" opens at Pier 25 in
Tribeca, on this day in 1994. "En Garde Arts presents a musical theatre
spectacle heightening your New York experience with the story of
Stonewall. Fifty actors will experience the Stonewall uprising in 1969."
The production is based on interviews with the Stonewall Club and the
Stonewall Veterans' Association.
BIRTHGAYS (and the occasional straights)
1769 - Robert Stewart, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry, the Viscount
Castlereagh
1903 - Cocteau's adolescent poet-lover Raymond Radiguet, AKA "Monsieur
Bebe"
Q.UOTE
"You are naked in front of 35 strangers, simulating sex with someone you
may or may not be attracted to...naked in front of a bunch of weirdos,
and there is someone holding a microphone over your head and they are
spritzing you with water and oil to make you look sweaty, and they are
like, 'Can you put your head back, put your hand back on his ass and we
will start from there.' That is ridiculous, that whole concept...So if
you are gay and you can't handle the fact that I didn't like the gay sex
scenes, or you are straight and you automatically think I am gay, then
you are both the same asshole, and I have no interest in talking to you.
The truth is I did it because I think it deserved to be done. As hard as
it was, that meant it was more of a mission. I had a reason to do it."
-- actor Hal Sparks on the "Queer as Folk" experience
THE BEDSIDE TABLE
"Gay Day: The Golden Age of the Christopher Street Parade 1974-1983" by
Allen Ginsberg with photographs from Hank O'Neal and forward by William
S. Burroughs
An all-new collection-none of the photos, captions, or preface has ever
been published before! Taken during the early days of the gay pride
parade, these photos were captioned by Allen Ginsberg and laid aside
until now. This book provides a unique and personal look into the roots
of one the city's most vibrant traditions, as well as being an important
addition to gay/lesbian literature and photo documentation.
Hank O'Neal chronicled the New York City gay pride parade from the
informal, spontaneous ritual held soon after the Stonewall Riots up to
the more orchestrated, glamorous parades of the 80s, before AIDS turned
the parade into a political necessity. All of O'Neal's photographs date
from 1974 to 1984, when the parade was held on Christopher Street in
Greenwich Village (it has since moved to 5th Avenue). The photos capture
the personality, the community, and the spirit of the gay pride parade
in its earliest stages.
This work is copyright © 2007 Thomas Allen Heald, all rights reserved.
Additional material provided by publishers. Contact the author at
tom@idontgetit.org. Archives, and the latest column, are always
available at www.Pridelets.com.
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Originally published on Sunday June 17, 2007.
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