Decadence Day Parade in the French Quarter today! (with pictures)

I love the crazy folk who inhabit the Quarter!

Down and out? Hell, lets put on our tutu's and party!

:party: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA090505.24A.katrina_french.89fd85d.html

Humankind always amazes me in its diversity. I will always treasure NO for its legacy of tolerance, diversity and creativity that makes it unique. Strangely, this kind of thing re-assures me that she's going to bounce back.

But still haven't gotten in touch with.

Congratulations on the luck!

This is wonderful. Gotta love the Big Easy.

I think it is interesting that a bunch of white folk got together and did that.

Im white. I think it's tacky. I think it is just as tacky as the pResident talking about how he used to go get drunk in NOLA.

I think we are a nation of incredibly tacky people.

Now that being said. Im sure that the thought behind it was nothing but good...

On one hand, it flies in the face of the idiot so-called religious figures who tried to blame the whole fucking hurricane on gay people. It's wonderfully defiant in that regard.

And yet a human tragedy of mind-boggling proportions that did not have to reach such epic proportions, is still taking place not too far away.

... the whole Southern Decadence day thing is a creation of the GLBT community. These are folks who know what it's like to be outside of -- and the target of -- the political power structure. It's entirley possible to be white and oppressed in this country.



http://www.365gay.com/newscon05/09/090505nola.htm

with the scale of human suffering and anguish going on. It was an ill-advised, tacky thing to do and diminishes the catastrophe's impact on tens upon thousands of residents displaced by the storm. How did they even get a permit to have this display of insensitivity?

i guess i can see the 'spirit' in it, but considering that there are still dead bodies in other parts of town, possibly people still trapped, i don't see anything much to smile about.

folks did the same at the height of the plague in europe. i don't want to judge anyone here, i can't even imagine what they're going through.

They celebrate the release from life. Give a girl a pair of cutoffs and a boa and he may save a city. Just hoping they have adequate drinking water, (and of course, skin care products).

(And I can't imagine anyone but a rethug even thinking about a parade permit).

all the participants were white.

Funny how people see race in everything. What do they call that?

So I assume there is more

And since when are three photographs taken by the MSM representative of an event????

Im not saying this has to be about race.. but we white people often wonder why race comes up.. well, maybe because we do stupid tacky things.


A jazz funeral is a whole lot different then thousands dying.

I'm amazed at their resilience and applaud them for it! :-)

I saw at leat 2 black folk.

Of course a lot of gay folk.

IMHO, this could possibly be one of the most uplifting stories I've seen. No matter what mother nature throws at us, no matter what the catastrophe...

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and my people.

Why you want them to wallow in darkness. Don't they deserve a laugh or must they satisfy how you morn?

I love NOLA.
I love the people.
They will recover and their spirit is the reason why.

bad thing you can imagine someone who's far away and can't grab people off their houses and save them would feel. Then I had the first real laugh in a long time when I saw these guys on WDSU yesterday, they told me (and I hope everyone from all areas affected) not to give up, the city was down but not out. They might not even know about all the horrifying stuff going on in other areas. I don't know, they just showed what I imagine New Orleans to be about, zwa da vee (hooked on Frenchonics worked for me).

I probably know some of the folks there celebrating! ;)

Poor, street musicians, artists, etc. (like me).. naturally N'awlins! :D

one poster seems to believe that artisan=rich? :eyes:

How is your family? Did you locate everyone yet? :hug:

I finally found a cheap apartment and payed the deposit last night (with borrowed money). When I went there this morning, the lady had given the apartment to someone else, lease and all! What a humanitarian! :grr:

You live in the Marigny/Bywater area...or over by Carrollton?

I live by Carrollton Ave., Uptown ... about 10 blocks from Cooter Brown's. :beer: ;)

And no, "these people" don't represent what the gay community is all about.

Use a little common sense.

How utterly insensitive.

... and not being an apologist for the lowest-common-denominator type of behavior and attitudes that bring the community down.

Because frankly I can't imagine how someone who can't distinguish an act of defiance from a good-time celebration is doing much of value.

... how anyone who would support throwing a party amid the devastation would be anyone I'd have anything to say to that wouldn't get the post pulled.

How hard is that to understand?

...into what you think is tacky....here ya go... http://www.exodus-international.org/ Enjoy the repression you expect others to feel!

... but it would be nice if some of you would feel a bit of compassion.

Because we don't 'march' to your opinions, we are now without compassion. :eyes: I see this a testament to this great city! Nothing, not even nature herself, will squash the heart of NOLA!

Your post belongs on Free Republic, not here.

Whatever you think of 'Southern Decadence', it represents gay people as a whole about as much as Mardi Gras represents all straight people.

Your post reeks of ingrained homophobia. You have a lot of learning to do about the world.

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you don't understand that gays are as diverse as straights. Some will march in a parade like that, some won't. It has about as much bearing on all gays as does the moon.

If you wouldn't march in such a parade, great, more power to you. But to bemoan that "if these people represent what that gay community is all about then point to me Exodus" reeks of self hatred and an internalization of a Freeper mentality about the realities of human sexuality.

but the frustration that so many in the LGBT community are still stuck in that "party like it's still the '70s" mentality that events like Southern Decadence symbolize.

We can no longer afford to be stuck in the sort of perpetual adolescence to the point where everything becomes an excuse to throw a party. If we as a community ... a DIVERSE community ... expect to be taken seriously by the rest of the world, we need to grow up a bit.

ever heard of the Rainbow World Fund? Think of a gay Red Cross. Right now, while you're worrying about a few Katrina survivors making themselves feel better, these folks are actively raising funds for Katrina hurricane relief.

Wanna donate?

http://www.rainbowworldfund.org/index.html

... and I've put a link for donations on every page of the web site of my LGBT Democratic Club.

that people dancing in the street is not representative of anything. Because you're keenly aware that vast numbers of gays and lesbians have mobilized to help with relief efforts, either individually or institutionally.

So why are you worried about a hundred people making themselves feel better?

... but do you really not see the potential backlash in this? Thousands are dead or stranded without food or water and a handful of people are going ahead with a celebration. I really believe it's a poor reflection on the GLBT community as a whole ... like we don't care about the rest of NO as long as we survived.

Yes, I realize there is a NO spirit and I'm all for the idea of celebrating the fact that the French Quarter survived with little damage. Maybe I'm too hung up with the idea of how it appears to others ... but I think it sends the wrong sort of message about what is important to us.

THE "gay response" to Katrina, then yes, I would agree we have something to worry about public relations wise.

But even the media knows that this is not the "gay response" to Katrina, so I doubt it would be reported with that slant (except by NewsMax and WorldNetDaily or possibly Drudge).

Instead of worrying about how others (the Reich wing) will react, why not worry about how your gay and lesbian brothers and sisters are feeling?! They are celebrating their survival and their city! Fuck the right-wing!

... they are a 'lost cause' when it comes to any gay issues.

I don't want to risk alienating those who are in the middle.

Hell, I'm all for pride festivals, etc., and support the right of participants to come in drag, leather outfits, t-shirts with all sorts of statements on them. I figure it's our party.

Maybe it's different because it's NO and as several have pointed out, it's part of the NO spirit. But would I want to go ahead with a pride festival if, for example, my city was hit by a huge disaster the week before the festival? No, not at all.

If this had happened around Mardi Gras, I'd bet my gay ass that there would have been the SAME response! It is a testament to the majesty of the city and her citizens!

What on earth do you mean? And what do you care what a FEW among us do to express themselves? I don't understand your outrage one bit.

If you have such a problem with them... don't identify with them... I really don't get this.

Disaster...
All over the world, in war zones, hunger ravaged areas, and now in NO people continue with their lives in this manner.

camps. I'm not equivocating, but it is, I believe, the same type of coping skill.

"Business as usual"

:hi:

... the reception at Exodus would likely be friendlier.

Enjoy your party! Perhaps the next time we have a tornado or flood or other natural disaster you can come up and make us feel good with little frilly party favors, too.

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:rofl:

They are gonna LOVE you there... perhaps they will pair you up with a right-wing fundie anti-choice ex-lesbian. That would be much better than living and letting live a few homosexuals in NO.

Is showing your ignorance a choice for you? :rofl:

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Although he's not gay, his costume makes him fit in quite nicely:

don't understand the people of New Orleans. They're defying disaster and telling us the spirit of New Orleans has survived.

... is just dumb as a block of wood. :dunce:

to the situation in NO would come in second to a block of wood in an IQ test.

It's tacky and an embarassment to the gay community ... at least those of us with at least a modicum of compassion.

you won't "get that" either.

oh, lord, the fundies are gonna have a field day w/this one

We can't have that. We mustn't say/do anything that would bring about their disapproval.
:sarcasm:

who gives a shit what they say, anyhow.

this is a prime example of the good of new orleans.

they WILL NOT BE BEATEN!

and for those of you saying "well what about the dead and dying, just blocks away?"

well, what about the hundreds of thousands of dead iraqis, at our hand?

is proximity a guideline as to our compassion/concern/shame/guilt?

to beat adversity you have to laugh at it.

this just shows that new orleans WILL come back.

:thumbsup: to the revelers.

I just know they will use it to their advantage.

Would you rather the people of NO shut themselves up and not move on with their lives?

Big props to the french quarter. Life goes on, and its the first real sign that NO WILL rebuild and will become a great city once again.

:dunce:

some view it as a celebration of life - and party accordingly.

That is how I view this. More than a week of hell on earth - with a whole lot of pain in the future... why not take a moment to shake off the pain - and celebrate survival, each other, and the moment?

from the horror story they've been living for the last week. They can pretend to forget it all happened for just a few moments, defy the storm's ability to defeat them and offer at least a glimmer of hope for a day when New Orleans will return.

Certainly, many in the gay community have had great distain for Southern Decadence Days for years. Thats certainly their (and your) right. But the few times my partner and I have been were wonderful experiences that I'll never forget (and we're middle-aged Episcopalians). At least I have pictures.

I have been to SD as well and have pics....but can't share them here. :evilgrin:

Just goes to show that this city will once again rise, not because of any federal help, should it ever really arrive, but because of her people!

hooked up. I got maybe 15 beautifully decked drag queens who posed for me individually just because I told them they were beautiful!

But been to SD twice! Fun times!!! I see this little parade as a ray of hope about the recovery of a magnificent city!

;) You are welcome in my city any time... Come for Mardi Gras too, but I recommend you go to Frenchmen St. (where I regularly play) for a more low-key, local flavor. ;)

I have seen the spirit of that city! From the first step I placed on her ground, I was in love! Warts and all! I was so comfortable there, that other visitors to the city stopped me for directions, because they thought I was a local. They said I looked like I belonged there! Since that day, I have been trying to get a job there. But, I will be back, just like NOLA!

I love it!

for all its deviated preverts, it didn't do a very good job.

Personally, I'd rather dance in the face of destruction than wallow in it's misery - it does a spirit good.

The CristoWackos are saying that New Orleans was destroyed because of the immorality and homosexuality, like Soddom and Gamorrah.

If this is true, why was the ONLY area spared by GAWD the area where the gays live?

The Republican Ownership Society




The Democratic Party is a BIG TENT, but there is NO ROOM for those who advance the agenda of THE RICH (Corporate Owners) at the EXPENSE of LABOR and the POOR.

I don't think these people in the French Quarter were at the Convention Center or the Dome. They are in one of the driest parts of the city. I can't imagine that what Katrina was like for them begins to compare with people mourning the death of a child that died in their arms from heat and lack of water in the Center while surrounded by filth and dead bodies. This is a little more than "Down and out" or just surviving a storm. There are probably tens of thousands dead. This is very different to my mind than a "jazz funeral" for a single person, which is a choice of the family of the person who died.

After living through 9/11, which is a blip compared to this, I couldn't begin to even think of "symbolic" acts of "defiance", especially a crazy party-type of event, while they were still collecting bodies or rescuing people clinging to life.

But that's me. People disagree.

As it so happens, though, I LIKE "tacky." It's a celebration -- not of death, but of life and rebirth. And a big FU to Katrina.

I'd rather laugh with the sinners
Than cry with the saints
The sinners are much more fun...
(Billy Joel)

Gotta go start making plans for next year's Mardi Gras. Because now, more then ever, I'm convinced there'll be one. Scaled back a bit, perhaps, but there will be one. God Bless the people of New Orleans (a city that, if it never existed in the first place, we'd have to invent). :thumbsup:

I don't think you can dream up that kind of magic....

on it yesterday. At first, even though I grew up in and around New Orleans, and for some years was a merchant and musician in the Quarter, I was taken aback.

I was and am also concerned about the fact that there is no way for these people to continue to get food, drinkable water, there is no sewage, etc.

I've come to the following conclusion.

I'm not in any position to point fingers. Though I've been heartbroken the last few days, and though I'm searching for someone who may very well be dead after the storm, there have been times in the last week that I have laughed. Made jokes. Felt happy. Lots of that time has been full of sorrow and fear, but the other side comes through, even in the direst of circumstances.

I think these people are all adults, and are responsible for their own lives. I understand that to many, if not all of them, the Southern Decadance weekend is far more than an excuse to party. I can understand how they might have felt that no matter what, they should have done this, to show that their pride will not be stopped by anything.

It would be important to remember that these people have probably also lost loved ones, or don't know where their loved ones are. They could be hurting inside. I can't look at three pictures and judge them or know their motivations.

I hope that they will all do what they need to to ensure that they survive the weeks to come, if that means evacuating, or whatever they must do.

I would like to suggest that volunteering an hour or so of computer time to the Katrina Help Project would be a good way to help people affected by Katrina, both in New Orleans and elsewhere.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4638088

Ripples.