There’s much cause for celebration in gay New York this month! Just in time for Pride, our very own Governor David Paterson—following suit with California’s new legalization of gay marriage—last week instructed all state agencies to update their policies to respect legal out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples. It’s an incredible step for gay families (and toward gay marriage in New York City). A big thank you to the Governor!
To continue the Pride-licious-ness, we hit up Queens Pride Sunday. This borough started early with its celebration in Jackson Heights and we got there so late we missed the parade (girl, Saturday night was rough—see below—and that E train runs so slow!), but thank god we stayed for the festival. Between the hot Latino and Asian boys, the fantastic drag queens and the unbelievable salsa contest, this is the best thing we’ve done on a Sunday afternoon since, well, last year’s Queens Pride. We couldn’t stand the sunlight for long though, and headed into the wonderful Atlantis to look at some more boys and have a refreshing cocktail in the dimness we’re more accustomed to. The dancing hotties packed in the place all night. For our Pride prize we want to give a special shout-out to Miss Mundo, who’s really an older gentleman with a full beard dyed yellow and green, several insane outfits and a parrot perched on his shoulder or on his hat. It looks like all the real characters have moved out of Manhattan and into Queens.
Along with Queens Pride, we made it a three-borough weekend and decided to spend Saturday night in Brooklyn. First stop: Savalas for the second installment of Camp Out. The Williamsburg crowd was mixed gay and straight, but they were all hipsters and they were all cute. Bringing out the fun crowd were hosts Acid Betty, Michael T and James Coppola. DJs Twig the Wonderkid, Steve Shakewell and Rokone turned it out with some old favorites and some hot new sounds, making it the best set we’ve heard in a while. The award for the best gimmick we’ve seen in a while goes to Sugarland, who had nametags at the door for everyone to put on. No one used their real name, but that was half the fun, and certainly led to some strange introductions on the dance floor. Since none of our introductions panned out, after that it was off to Vinnie’s for some delish pizza. If you can’t score a piece, you might as well get a slice!
Wendy Ho was not messing around for the start of her weekly show Glory Ho last Tuesday at Vlada. The crowd of friends, well-wishers and fans was totally into her uproarious act except the one loud jerk who kept drowning out her songs. Finally, in mid-song, Ms. Ho walked off the stage, up to the offender and scolded, “Shut the fuck up! You’re getting a good show in a gay bar for free.” The queen tried to give her some back talk, but she eventually shushed him and everyone hollered with appreciation, including DJ Steve Paul (looking sexy with his bald head instead of customary cap) and special guest Leybia Rogers (who was hysterical, as always).
A big crowd of sexy arty types turned up at Don Hill’s on Friday for what would have been the late Dean Johnson’s 47th birthday. The nightlife icon’s two bands, The Weenies and the Velvet Mafia, performed sets to celebrate his memory and raise money for gay homeless youth shelter Sylvia’s Place. Plenty of people came to pay their respects and lend vocal duties to some of the songs, including The World Famous *BOB*, Michael Formika Jones, Justin Bond, The Dazzle Dancers, Bebe Buell, Corey Tut, The Dueling Bankheads, PeeWee, Nurse Wanda, Phoebe Legere and Xavier. It was a great show that Dean would have loved, and not only was he there in spirit, but in a body of sorts, too, as Machine Dazzle dressed as Johnson looked so much like the original, it was creepy.
In an update of New York naughtiness, the infamous Baña Pool Party Friday night turned a perfectly classy spa into a modern-day Roman bath. The all-night open bar didn’t hurt! DJ Billy Bond spun while Marty Pants and Tori Scott made a special performance at 2am. Promoter Michael Formika Jones mentioned a desire to turn the party into a more frequent event and surely anyone who attended and stumbled outside at 5am with a grin on their face and wrinkly fingers will be very pleased to learn that.
Hot Mess is moving! Removing their hogties from Porky’s, the party’s brand new home will take effect on Pride night (June 29th). The new venue will be announced shortly. In the meantime, the Sunday party will rush over to Rush. One quick tip: make sure to use the Hot Mess entrance at Rush, or you’ll pay a cover and potentially end up a hot tranny mess at the weekly transgendered party on the first floor. (But we won’t tell Christian Siriano if you don’t!). Promoter Charles Winters let us know that Hot Mess will be back to Porky’s on holiday weekends, which were always this Sunday night bash’s best nights.
Speaking of hot messes, last Tuesday’s premier of the Sex and the City movie at Radio City Music Hall was a PR nightmare as 2,000 guests (many of whom had won passes in sweepstake giveaways) were turned away. To make matters worse, we’re told the venue, which seats almost 6,000 people, didn’t open all the balcony seats! However, we’re happy the movie—which is pretty great and damn funny!—topped box office predictions and made a whopping $55.7 million (we think it had something to do with SJP on the cover of Next a few weeks back). It was the best debut ever for an R-rated comedy. Bravo, ladies! And hurray for Sex fans—a sequel is already in the works. Let’s hope the sequel to the premiere goes better! N
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