meaning making
Tallahassee is in the Deep South. The largest employer in town is the State government which headquarters in a phallic Capitol complex. The city is also home to Florida State University and Florida A&M. In the late 1980s, the town held about 100,000 people, half of them being university students. Set in rural Leon County… Continue reading Club Park Avenue Trip Report: A Cocktail with the Cosmos
My first Pride event. The year was 1988 or 89. I was an undergrad at Florida State University in Tallahassee. My boyfriend and I drove my clunky Toyota Starlet to Atlanta for pride weekend celebrations. We stayed with a friend near Piedmont Park and met up with a lesbian couple (Vicky and Wendy) we were… Continue reading Thirty+ Years Ago, What I Remember from my First Pride
“Be yourself, everyone else is already taken”. ~ Oscar Wilde
Early on, there were times I wasn’t sure being gay was compatible with having a life worth living. But even during those dark times, if someone had offered me a pill to make me straight I would’ve declined it. I clung onto a belief, instilled in grade school at St Mary’s in Balboa, Panamá, that… Continue reading Rainbow Spirituality
Almost fifty years ago, on a hot summer night in June 1969, the patrons of a mafia-run bar in NYC's Greenwich Village found themselves subject to yet another police raid and the humiliating rough treatment that came along with it. However, on this night the patrons fought back. The combatants lived in the margin of… Continue reading In Pictures: Stonewall 25 and Gay Games IV
Blossom Jasmine Nightmusk, 20th/21st century CE. First performance & last performance (she’s in retirement). BIO: Born in Tallahassee, Blossom performed worldwide as a solo artist and with The Linen Sisters, delivering her signature Street Gutter commando style cabaret act as far away as Sydney (during Gay Games 2002). In the heart of Texas, she twirled… Continue reading All About Blossom
Lots of activity at Trafalgar Square, setting things up for Pride festivities tomorrow. And I love the Assyrian protective spirit standing guard over it all. The British Museum has several colossal statues (“lamassu”) of this winged-man-bull/lion deity from ancient Mesopotamia.
Today is National Coming Out Day. Culturally, “coming out” experiences are distinct rites of passage that are a shared experience for most rainbow people - we all have our coming out stories. It’s one of the things that unite us as a “tribe.” Coming out can be scary as hell, even life threatening. And also… Continue reading Happy National Coming Out Day – 2017
Happy National Coming Out Day to the international LGBTQ+ tribe and straight allies (yes, allies “come out” whenever they publicly declare themselves to be supporters)! People are more likely to support equality under the law and related human rights if they personally know someone who is impacted. Coming out as one's authentic self is a powerful… Continue reading Happy National Coming Out Day (Oct 11)
Twelve years ago, Erin and I met and started a courtship. This photo is from our date # 4 adventure. We went to the Texas Renaissance Festival, perhaps the largest such faire in the country. Erin was eager to introduce me to his favorite high school hangout spot. I was flush with a heady mixture… Continue reading Renaissance Romance