Here we go!
It’s Pride month, which means I’m wahoo-deep in rainbows and unicorns.
I’m hosting three events this month. The first one will be the Hudson Area Library’s inauguration of its LGBTQ Archive, this Thursday, June 6th at the Library at 6pm. They are doing an oral history project, interviewing local LGBTQ members, as well as cataloging local articles, memorabilia and ephemera.
I’m also hosting Gay Antique City at the Hudson Boat Club on Sunday, June 23rd from 1-5pm. You have to go to this. You sit out on the patio, have some great (inexpensive) drinks, eat a grilled sausage sandwich, watch some drag shows, and listen to the same jokes I’ve been telling for the past fifteen years. It doesn’t get any better.
Then, on Friday the 28th, I’m hosting a Pride event and fundraiser in Kinderhook.
One of the clips I showed the Hudson Area’s Archive was from 1988-1991 when I was working on the gay Manhattan public access TV show, Out in the ’80s/Out in the ’90s. The show was LIVE Tuesday nights at 11pm.
(Directly following our show, at midnight, was The Robin Byrd Show, also live. Some of you may have watched that. I have many Robin Byrd stories.)
I videotaped ACT UP or Queer Nation “zaps”, like the one in the video below. We showed up at various anti-gay events and shouted at them or just shut them down, then aired the footage on public access.
At the time, there were gangs of youth that would hang around gay bars wielding baseball bats, threatening and “bashing” gays. I recorded the interview below in my dorm room with my friend Michelle and two of the Pink Panthers, an LGBTQ patrol group. The Pink Panthers walked around Manhattan and helped stop any anti-gay violence.
I have dozens of VHS and 3/4-inch video tape that I have to transfer to digital to make it viewable to another generation. Please remind me to do that every time you see me.
Meanwhile, speaking of gaydom, MadeX had their Meet Locker event last weekend.
Here are a couple of pics.
Happy Pride Month.
Trix