Same-Sex And The City: Live from New York
Sydney is rightly world-renowned for its fantastic Mardi Gras, but how do the gay communities in other global cities party? To find out, we've sent our Gay and Lesbian Editor, Andrew Georgiou, to get fruity in the Big Gay Apple for NYC Pride Week. Tune in every day this week for his reports from New York...
Dance on the Pier
Every G&L March requires a good party chaser and last night The
Heritage Of Pride's Dance On The Pier saw the end of Pride Week in
sweat and style. As the outdoor equivalent to our Mardi Gras Party, the
West End's Pier 54 was transformed into a floating dance party that saw
thousands of queer New Yorkers and Pride Week visitors flood the pier
to pay homage to the closing of the week's festivities.
In true West Side style, clothing above the waist was discarded within
moments of hitting the pier, resulting in a sea of flesh pulsating
rhythmically to the fast and furious sounds of DJ legends Joe
Gauthreaux and Tracy Young. With the pier at maximum capacity, and the
dance anthems floating across the Hudson to neighbouring Jersey City,
the Official Dance On The Pier was underway.
As official guests to the party, Time Out Sydney was privy to the VIP
area of the party where the stiff drinks flowed faster than a New York
minute. With exclusive access to viewing platforms throughout the night
we were able to capture the enormity of the event and the numbers who
have made it the single largest queer dance party in the city's
history. When the Time Out Sydney camera came out all manner of Chelsea
Boys, bears, twinks and Muscle Mary's struck a sharp pose for their 15
seconds of fame. We know it was a strain, so thank you boys.
As the sun set over the harbour, sailboats sporting rainbow sails were
greeted by a large steamer with water cannons spouting a pink plume
hundreds of meters into the air to thunderous cheers form party goers.
The activity on the harbour was orchestrated to honour the party,
signifying the enormity of this event. As the night drew to an end,
tightly woven crowds moved in towards the stage to greet the surprise
guest of the evening (traditionally the best kept secret in New York).
Without much warning Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson appeared on
stage and fed a ravenous crowd a healthy entrée of soul food. The
traditional closing fireworks lit the skyline magnificently to the
sounds of our very own ‘Love Is In The Air'. A nice Aussie touch to an
amazing New York moment.
New York City Pride March 2008
If you were to stretch Sydney Mardi Gras over 40 New York City blocks,
and line the streets with a million more people, you'd have New York
City Pride March.
Time Out Sydney was once again front and
centre when our exclusive coverage of the official 2008 Parade kicked
off at midday on Sunday at 52nd Street. With transgender star Candice
Cane (from Seven's Dirty Sexy Money) and Gilbert Baker the original
creator of the rainbow flag as Parade Grand Marshals, the festivities
opened to the cacophonous roar of lesbian bikers who would have made
their Sydney sisters proud.
As the city's guests we witnessed
thousands of entrants colouring the streets of Manhattan on foot, bike,
float and skates waving the freedom flag for a city which spearheaded
gay pride with the original Stonewall riots. NYC has come along way
since that first bottle was thrown, with community groups ranging from
AIDS activists, cultural groups, churches, transgender pioneers, and
all manner of queer champions and their supporters setting an already
sweltering afternoon on fire with infinite pride.
The 39th
annual March worked its way from 52nd Street through to Christopher
Street in the Grenwhich Village, adorned with thousands of entrants
from all corners on Manhattan and Staten Island as well as participants
from across the continent and South America. Millions of parade goers
lined the streets for several hours cheering on the parade, showing
their unwavering support for GLBT equality.
The sizzling heat
made way for a thunderous downpour of rain as the city's Fire Fighters
showed their support at 52nd street. The wet weather left the crowds
unfazed as rap shout outs to the heavens - "Don't rain on our parade!"
- echoed along 5th Avenue. Within an hour the rain had passed - proving
God does love the gays.
The shear size of NYC's Pride March is
difficult to digest. The inspiration, emotion and pride it omits into
the cheering crowds can be overwhelming. We left the parade feeling
stronger and more visible with louder and prouder voices, all the while
with the spirit of our own Sydney Gay And Lesbian Mardi Gras burning
brightly inside us as we supported our queer family here in the
fabulous New York City.
As the hosts with the most, New York
City's Heritage Of Pride Organization has given Time Out the royal
treatment all week and will continue later tonight as the infamous
Dance On The Pier awaits us, as does the city's best kept secret - its
surprise special guest performance.
Blown away by Blow Off
Cyndi Lauper knows it, Scissor Sisters' Baby Daddy knows it, and now
Time Out Sydney is in on one of NYC's steamiest gigs: Blow Off. The
west side's infamous High Line Ballroom played host to this furry
mashed-up night of electro pop, indi-funk and progressive house anthems
on Pride Eve which pulled in a rocking pastiche of daddy bears, indie
queers and furry funksters to its den. Born in Washington DC in 2003 by
fab fur rockers cum DJs, Bob Mould and Richard Morel, Blow Off has
matured from an intimate gathering of peeps in on the secret of a great
Blow Job to the sell out party that it is today.
An anxious
crowd lined West 16th Street anticipating an 11pm kick off and the
Ballroom was jammed to the rafters by midnight. Mould and Morel worked
the room into a tight frenzy with a seriously smooth blend of electro
beats and deep house accompanied by a backdrop of kitsch video graphics
to stimulate the senses. By 1am the Ballroom had reached its maximum
capacity and aided by steamy temperatures, shirtless daddies, sons and
alternative grizzies let the fur fly. Morel and Mould do far more than
simply spin the decks to a hungry crowd, they orchestrate a flawless
soundtrack, which doesn't allow for respite from the dance floor,
delivering it raw to the floor.
We left inspired and perspired
and have laid out the welcome mat ready for Blow Off to come and blow
us back in Sydney anytime they please.
Photograph by: Michael Alexander
JOAN RIVERS live in Chelsea
People over seventy involuntarily pee their pants. Joan Rivers makes everyone else wet theirs. That's the effect the irreverent Joan Rivers has on an audience. Comic incontinence.
Playing to a sell out audience at New York's infamous Cutting Room, Rivers immediately catapulted her opening gag into the audience and the shock therapy session began. She finds China dirty, thinks lesbians should laugh more, despises her generations' Viagra enhanced erections and has concerns about her own collapsed vagina.
Yes, Rivers is a sharer and if you can't laugh at yourself, be you Gentile or Jew, her routine may offend. There lays the genius of this fearless, shameless button pusher. While she has always had the mouth of a sailor, her overzealous use of profanities are even funnier today. Perhaps it is because it's a treat to hear a woman of her age say ‘fuck' so liberally. We'd like to hear Sally Field say it more often.
Unlike many of her peers, Rivers excels in keeping her material fresh and in the here and now whilst throwing in the legendary bits she is renown for. This makes for a unique and wildly successful routine. Her acute observations are both hilarious and bizarre. Who else would alert us to Katie Holmes' subtle blinking patterns on the red carpet? Eye movement which Rivers interprets as subliminal SOS calls.
Off stage, Rivers continues to shine as a gracious Dame with impeccable style. Whilst she kept us shielded from a New York summer night's heat by fanning us with a bi-folded sheet of paper, Rivers confessed that she couldn't wait to return to Australia. We feel a guest editorship of the Gay and Lesbian pages coming on during her next visit.
The Garden Party
New York City's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Center launched its 25th Annual Garden Party at the West Side's Pier 54 and Time Out Sydney was there to soak up the festivities. Literally.
As New York's version of Sydney Mardi Gras Fair Day, the Garden Party is an annual event which sees over 35 purveyors of fine foods and beverages line the enormous pier inviting party goers to sample their wares. Gourmet magazine's Editor-in-Chief Ruth Reichi chairs the event which guarantees the array of foods are as creative, unique and as colourful as the people who make up the city's queer community.
Like any NYC party crowd, the Garden Party's didn't fail to please with an urban pastiche of drag queens, artists, critics, volunteers and a wonderful representation of New York's mature gays and lesbians still taking a very active role in supporting the Center which has supported them since 1982.
As the sun set on the Hudson river, we caught up with Queer Eye For The Straight Guy's culinary queen Ted Allen, who gave us a few tips on some of the night's best bites.
The Garden Party raises funds for the Center allowing it to continue supporting New York's GLBT community through advocacy, culture and health programs, as well as meeting and conference services, while providing a safe and welcoming environment.
The Rally
The NYC Pride festivities began today with the Heritage Of Pride
Group's annual rally: an afternoon of inspiring speeches from some of
the city's most prominent gay and lesbian figures. Emcee Judy Gold
fronted the event, which saw a fabulous line-up of entertainers
including Anthony Rodriguez, and the Gender Offenders entertain New
Yorkers and visitors alike at the iconic Bryant Park.
For those
who haven't had their NYC Pride cherry popped, a word of advice: Sell
whatever you have to on eBay and put the dosh towards a trip to the Big
Gay Apple next year. As the week begins, queers of every kind start
appearing at every corner of the east and west and Greenwich Village,
ready to homo-rumble. In between Pride events the city is littered with
an incredible plethora of gay night cubs catering for twinks, bears,
electro-homos, daddies, sons, muscle Marys, fetishists, the ambiguously
curious and other subcultures who have yet to be classified.
