It looks like my boyfriend Gacin and I are going to Southern Decadence this year for the first time. Has anybody been before? Anybody going this year? What can you tell us about the festivities? We've found very little real information on line-- like, the stuff the locals do, not the circuit boys. Gacin did speak to two different NOLA friends but they have children and don't remember what it's like.

Addison De DeWitt

PS How good is the A/C in the NOLA heat?

You two queens should just give it up and get loaded with the circuit boys. That's the party. I don't remember any real "alternative events". The city is just one big messy mess. But being in New Orleans, it's not like other circuit parties. It's a lot like Mardi Gras.

The best thing is, all the hatefull Christian fundamentalists come to inform all the gays that they are going to hell. The French Quarter is lousy with them. They carry signs and carry on.
But...
New Orleans, being New Orleans and always down for a party LOVE the gays (and their gay dollar). They passed a law that says Christians have to stay blocks away from any gay establishment (or some crazy law like that). It's genius! So they march through the streets, hundreds and hundreds of them, wearing matching tee shirts and baseball caps with sloagans like "I'm going to heaven and you're not". (I can't remember the exact phrase but you get the idea). And of course there is always some tipsy queen (you know the type DQ) that throws down with the Christians but the law is CLEARLY on the side of the fag durring Decadence. The cops will haul off party pooping Babtists at the drop of a baseball cap. Decadence brings MILLIONS of dollars to New Orleans and bible thumping is NOT ALLOWED.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: daddy,

Oddly enough, Drama, I have never made it to Southern Decadence either. I know that it is unlike any other circuit party in the fact that, except for one or two large dance clubs, it is totally free.
Unlike the Baptists, the Archbishop of N.O. annually releases a very mild statement asking Catholics to please refrain from "questionable" behavior during the event (he does that prior to Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest as well,) but that's as far as it goes from the Cathedral of St. Louis. I'll tip my mitre to him! As Daddy pointed out, its those other X-ians that make the fuss. Even the mayor has referred to them as "crackpots!"

Air conditioning is usually superb at all the hotels. And one really needs it at that time of year-- steambath does not even begin to describe it. You really begin to understand Tennessee Williams mind in all that heat. And why Southerners are always sitting on a shady porch with a mint julep. Bars, though they do have a/c, cannot compensate for the constantly opening doors, so my advice is to grab a "Togo" cup of some brew and take to the streets. That's where the show is anyway. And be prepared to siesta at your hotel during the hottest hours of the day.

Do be careful, however, at night. Stick to the more heavily travelled streets, and trust in your NYC radar. This is true for any time of year in NOLA, because like in any Third World country, there is quite a gap between the haves and the have-nots, and the have-nots are pretty damn desperate. But that's a standard NOLA warning which you are probably familiar with already.

Just think, it all started with a small bunch of drunken queens who got really bored one Labor Day and decided to dress up and have a party-- kind of like Wigstock, no?

So, have fun... and do take notes. We are all dying to read your report!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: hatches,