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Sheeee's Baaack!
I was not Miss America," said former beauty queen and Gay-basher Anita Bryant, recently in Greensboro, NC to sing the national anthem at the BASS Masters Classic fishing tournament weigh-in. "I was second runner-up."
The 58-year-old 1959 Miss Oklahoma, known for her singing in 70s Florida orange juice commercials, suffered a career meltdown following a clash with Gay activists in 1977 over Bryant's work to repeal a Gay rights ordinance in Florida's Dade County. Gays boycotted orange juice nationwide and picketed Bryant's concerts. Orange growers, who paid Bryant $100,000 a year to sing "Come to the Florida Sunshine Tree" in TV commercials, dropped her.
She looks back at that time as a "period in the wilderness" when singing dates disappeared. Her 20-year marriage to Bob Greene, a former disc jockey, also crumbled. Bookings are better now, and Bryant is writing gospel music. There are even discussions about returning to sing commercials for the Florida Citrus Growers again, she said. [from The Advocate]
Travolta Suit
John Travolta has been named in a lawsuit that claims the Church of Scientology deceived a Gay member into believing he could turn straight. Michael Pattinson, a Beverly Hills artist, alleges that Travolta was used as an example of a homosexual "cured" by the church. Pattinson's 166-page complaint filed in federal court in Los Angeles says he "reasonably relied upon" Travolta's marriage to fellow Scientologist Kelly Preston as proof that "Scientology processing and courses would `handle' my own homosexuality." [from The Advocate]
Red Lobster Drops Challenge
To Gay Rights LawFollowing meetings with Gay rights activists in Chicago, the Red Lobster Restaurant chain dropped its challenge to the Cook County Human Rights Ordinance, affirmed that it does not tolerate discrimination based on sexual orientation and apologized to the Lesbian and Gay community.
"We welcome Red Lobster's withdrawal of their legal challenge to the human rights ordinance and their statement that they support it-fully and without qualification," said Rick Garcia, director of the Illinois Federation For Human Rights. "We are pleased with Red Lobster's affirmation that they will not tolerate discrimination based on sexual orientation."
On July 17 and again on July 22, Red Lobster officials met in Chicago with representatives of the Federation and Roger Leishman, director of the Gay and Lesbian rights project of the ACLU Illinois and new co-chair of the Federation of Statewide LGBT Political Organizations. In addition, Nadine Smith of Equality Florida worked closely with the Chicago activists in planning strategy.
"We are pleased to see Red Lobster withdraw their inappropriate and unsupported legal challenge to the ordinance," said Leishman.
"The quick and positive resolution to this situation demonstrates the importance and power of state and local groups working together," said Smith.
As a "One-Man Gay AP,"
Wockner RocksFor the past four years, reports Steve Silberman in the Aug. 5 Wired magazine, "a pioneering journalist named Rex Wockner has used the Net to up the intelligence quotient of the mainstream press and to affect the way media cover Gay and Lesbian issues." Wockner-a "one-man Gay AP"-aggressively markets his international news feed not only to Websites such as Planet Out but to 91 outlets including newspapers all over the world, says Wired. "Wockner's diligent networking played a crucial role in breaking the story of America Online naming Gay sailor Timothy McVeigh," writes Silberman. But Wockner says, "If someone...in a Third World country reads a story about hundreds of thousands of people marching in a pride parade in Los Angeles, they could get the idea that if they stick with it, they might make it. That's really why I do this."
The Wired magazine profile demonstrates the vital role the Internet plays in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender communities, and validly positions it as a lifeline to many of our community's members. What's more, it provides an entertaining, informative look at a little-known person who has played a pioneering role in expanding Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender culture-and creating community across national boundaries.
Please thank Wired magazine for a profile as enlightening as it is entertaining. Contact: Martha Baer, Managing Editor, Wired, 520 3rd St., 4th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94107-1815, fax: 415.276.5150, e-mail: editpress@wired.com. [GLAAD]
Wood Enterprises Gears Up
For Southern DecadenceThe men of Wood Enterprises, which comprises Cafe Lafitte in Exile, Good Friends Bar, Rawhide 2010 and the Clover Grill, have already begun the countdown to Southern Decadence, which began July 29 with their hosting the Southern Decadence Grand Marshal's Press Party in the Corral above Cafe Lafitte. Robin Malta, 1998's Grand Marshal, presided over the event and a good time was had by all.
In keeping with this year's theme, Cafe Lafitte in Exile has chosen TV sitcoms as its theme for Southern Decadence. With the bartenders dressed for the occassion, you are sure to see a Mrs. Brady or Endora. They've also gathered up a beautiful array of men from Atlanta, Florida, Chicago and Ohio to dance and prance on the bar top. The pulse will be nonstop for the entire weekend, thanks to the best DJs in the South: Chris Allen, Ricky Taconi and Tedd Ellison.
The Miss High Hair Awards ceremony, at Good Friends Bar, 740 Dauphine St., one of the major events during Southern Decadence, will be held Sunday, Sept. 6, with registration beginning at 2pm and the ceremony at 5pm. Anyone can enter. All you need is high hair! Qualifications are: Bleached Hair, Flipped Hair, Psychedelic Hair, Atomic Hair, Pageant Hair, Truck-Stop Hair, Get-It-Girl-Curl Hair, Sculptured Hair, Tortured Hair, Anchor Woman Hair, Fried Hair, Cosmic Hair, Angel Hair, Pubic Hair, Fake Hair, Streaked Hair, Timeless Hair...well, you get the picture.
The Miss High Hair Awards were begun in 1990. The winner is selected by the audience, so remember, the bigger the hair, the louder the applause. The prize is the most sought after award of the weekend. The Bronze Barbie is the Oscar of desire. Varla Jean Merman, now performing in NYC, won the award in 1991 with the Empire State Building as her hair design. So, obviously the sky's the limit.
Rawhide 2010 will be offering their fourth annual Limited Edition Southern Decadence T-shirts. As in previous years, there will be a limited number of shirts, so get yours early.
Apparently, Grand Marshal Robin Malta has chosen the Clover Banana as his fruit of choice. To celebrate this, Clover Grill has decided to "Go Bananas" for Southern Decadence. There will be banana specials on the menu. Be on the lookout for manager Sidney. He has threatened to walk around the Quarter handing out bananas. It sounds more like he's gone NUTS!!
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