Hello Livers,

-my Brooke Astor, lady doo good picture -photo by Our Lady J

I recently received this letter from my dear friend Dr. Christan Huygen who is the Executive Director of the Rainbow Heights Club which is located in Brooklyn, New York, and is an advocacy program for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender consumers requiring mental health services. They provide socialization, support, peer advocacy, and a safe place to take the next step on your road to emotional recovery and wellness.

It seemed like I should pass this on to all of my NY LGBT readers as health care is such an important issue to all of us.

From Christian:

Dear friend of mine,

Please excuse me if I’ve e-mailed you more than once about this.  I’m pretty excited about this project because I helped to plan and oversee it.
Right now a first-ever statewide assessment of LGBT New Yorkers’ needs for health and human services is being done, under the auspices of the Empire State Pride Agenda’s LGBT Health and Human Services Network.  (I co-chair the Network’s technical assistance committee, which is overseeing this project.)  

The survey is online at nylgbtsurvey.org and it takes about ten minutes (I finished in six).  It’s open to all LGBT residents of New York State ages 18 and up.  The survey is IRB-approved and anonymous.  If you like, at the end you can enter a drawing for one of 20 $50 Amazon gift certificates.

Please forward this to your friends and colleagues so that we can capture as much data as possible.  (If more than one member of a household is trying to take the survey, you may need to delete cookies to allow you to do that.)  If you run a blog, or know someone who does, it would be wonderful if you could post this information there.

Thanks so much.  The survey is open only through April 20, so don’t delay.  If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know.

--
Best regards,

Christian Huygen, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Rainbow Heights Club and
   Heights-Hill Mental Health Service South Beach
   Psychiatric Service Community Advisory Board
718 593 9923
www.christianhuygen.com
www.rainbowheights.org

I’m sitting in a hotel room near te Incheon Airport in Seoul, Korea where eveidently Shortbus was just allowed to open after a huge lawsuit that changed this country’s rules on censorship and what constitutes pornography. I, in my travel haze would never have known that if I hadn’t received an email from John Cameron Mitchell informing me of that juicy tidbit earlier today. I wonder if anyone in Seoul would knock on my door if they knew the “Misstress of Shortbus” was dangle by the airport. Hmmm…

I haven’t been bloggin’ cause I’ve been too busy livin’. My Australian adventure has been one of extreme pleasure and delight.

                                                                                        My Poster at the Sydney Opera House!

Last year when I was here on the final Kiki and Herb tour it was kind of  a drag. Lots of anxiety leading up to their election made the city seem very tense. Kiki made some jokes which were told to MSN out of context and we received death threats.  It was all just too much.

This year, however, The Australians have a new government, we have a new government and I’ve found a whole new joy in my work… many skins have been shed and shedded -or shedden, even.

And Spring is upon us!

the Sweetest Boy in Sydney

Today is friday the 13th and I’m entering the new season with a tremendous sense of attunement and community.

                                                                                                   “Friends Down Under”

At the Opera House where I was brought in to perform my “Justin Bond is Close to You” show with a magnificent orchestra under the musical wizardy of Lance Horne, I also got to Emcee the Late Night Cabaret where I go to perform with my new friends Amanda Palmer, Meow Meow, Julie Atlas Muz, Alan Cumming, Mark Trevorrow and some amazingly talented Sydney Queens whom I had never met before -Trevor Ashley, Joyce Maynge and Carmen Get It.

Joyce Maynge, who does the best interpretation of Juice Newton's "Queen of Hearts" in the world.

Joyce Maynge

I also got to see The Wet Spots -a swinging husband and wife cabaret dou who turned me out!!! They’re big hit song is “Do You Take it in the Ass?” a quaint little ditty that asks some very important questions. Their show was really clever, charming and hilarious. I love them. THEY WILL BE PLAYING JOE’S PUB MAY 16th. GO!!!!!!
The day after their show Lance and I went to Luna Park with them and it was a hoot..
                                                                                           
                                                                                                        The Wet Spots

"Do You Take it in the A**?"

                                                                                                           Lance and I

I’d like to write more but believe it or not it’s taken me an hour and a half to get these pictures uploaded and I have a flight in the morning.

Next week I kick off my Rites of Spring tour at the Rrazz Room in San Francisco with Our Lady J. We are performing three shows – March 20, 21 and 22 at 10 pm.  Book your tickets now so I don’t have to be stressed out all week wondering whether anyone is going to come or not!

www.therrazzroom.com

I really do think it’s going to be an amazing show. More on that later… Xox

I landed in Sydney yesterday and hit the ground running.  

My first order of business was to go and have lunch with Meow Meow.  She’s doing a show at the Sydney Theatre Company called Venus and something…  I have trouble with specifics when I’m jetlagged -AND I AM JETLAGGED!!!  For this production she’s not billed as Meow Meow  -evidently IT’S SHAKESPEARE so she’s Melissa Madden Gray.  I never heard of a Shakepearean play called VENUS AND SOMETHING but the show is only 70 minutes long so I plan on seeing it.  

For tickets go to:

http://sydneytheatre.com.au/next-stage/venus-adonis

After lunch we were walking arm in arm along the pier and Cate Blanchett and her husband -together they run the Sydney Theater Company- drove by IN A CAR and waved at us.  I thought, “Who are these very white people waving at us?”

Today is Meow’s birthday so:  

Happy Birthday Melissa Madden Gray Meow Meow Shakespearean Chanteuse Danseur  She-Devil!  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALL THE WONDERFUL THINGS AND PEOPLE YOU ARE!!!

For luncheon I was wearing white jeans, pearls and my new tretorn sneakers so I went back to the hotel to change into a more glamorous evening ensemble before the Internationally renowned Dj Sveta and her girlfriend Siri picked me up at my hotel to take me to the opening of Alan Cumming’s new show “I Bought a Blue Car today” at the Studio at the Sydney Opera House.  

At the show I was seated next to the CEO of the Opera House who is A VERY ATTRACTIVE GENTLEMAN.  I was tempted to give his knee a squeeze under the table but his wedding ring put me off, I mean,  if circumstances had been different when I was born I COULD HAVE BEEN A LADY so every now and then I try to pretend to act like one.

Alan’s show was TOTALLY ENJOYABLE.  My favorite song was one Lance Horne wrote about an ex-boyfriend that coincidentally was also an ex-boyfriend of Alan’s.  When Alan was telling the story I had a FLASHBACK to the night of the great 2002 BLACKOUT in NYC and I remembered making out with Grant, Alan’s husband, on the hood of Daniel Nardiccio’s pickup truck on the Bowery.  I had smoked a joint and was enjoying the quiet and the moon and stars -things you rarely see on the Bowery due to the light pollution from the city.  Anyway, this was long before Alan and Grant married. Grant is a great kisser.  Alan is a very lucky man…  I think I may have told the CEO all of this…

Isn’t it wonderful how we all have so much in common!

Afterward we went to a dance party deejayed by Bob Downe on Oxford Street which had a kind of David Lynch meets Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In kind of vibe.  

SOMETIMES I’M GLAD I DRINK.

Tomorrow night Alan, Lance, Meow Meow, Bob Downe and some other people I have yet to meet will be performing a late night cabaret at the Opera House.  The theme is HEAVEN AND HELL and Meow and I will be Emcees.

I PLAN ON BEING HELL!

AND WHILE I’M ON THE SUBJECT OF HELL…

I recently received this from Penny Arcade:

Hi

I know you are very busy with your own stuff..but would try an experiment with me?

I am doing Bitch!Dyke!Faghag!Whore! in SF at a great and beautiful theatre BRAVA THEATRE FOR WOMEN..It is baroque and gorgeous but they have no money and no staff….I am doing 9 shows of B!D!F!W! both to introduce myself to San Francisco and to help give BRAVA visiability. This is my 41st year performing , often I get produced with lots of press and  visibility. It is always OUTSIDE the USA.

Some of you who I have written have been impacted at one time or another by my work, some of you are just in my email address book under A…..You are all in my address book because I have had personal interaction with you.

Here is the  experiment I propose…all of us have people we don’t know we know, living in San Francisco..all of our friends have friends that we don’t know living in San Francisco.

This is not a good experiement for dead people because it takes some energy…but what I am asking you to do is not only to email this email to people you know who live in SF but to everyone you know..asking them to send it to everyone they know..

I know that this is not to cure cancer or to create world peace….wait a minute..I take that back…B!D!F!W! has already contributed to world peace and perhaps  it has prevented cancer forming in some people.

I know wholeheartedly I am committed to both.

The art world is corrupt and  the media is corrupt but we do not need to be corrupt. Anyone who thinks they are successfull just because of their  talent is delusional. People become successful because of access to the public

We need new ways to be united artists and to create new ways of letting the public know what is available to them because the gate of the press and publicity is narrow and straight  and not available to all.

You don’t need to answer this ..just do it if you will. If you just have friends in SF you can send it to them or you can go the whole way in my experiment of reaching the San Francsco public

I am going to have forms and pencils on the seats to ask the audience how they heard of the show…I will report in full to all I promise..I am now on Facebook..write me..it is fun!

love
penny arcade

13 Reasons  do go see  Penny Arcade and Bitch!Dyke!Faghag!Whore! at Brava Theatre February 27th -March 7th tickets  www.brava.org/ 415-647-2822

1. The  very mainstream San Francisco  Chronicle is running a profile of  underground icon Penny Arcade and her  show with erotic dancers that is called Bitch!Dyke!Faghag!Whore! but there is no other press!

2. Cynthia Nixon from Sex in the City is currently starring as Penny Arcade in the new film about Quentin Crisp

3 Penny Arcade is an international performance star and  international cultural icon.

4 BItch!Dyke!Faghag!Whore! has been a mainstream commercial  hit in 22 cities around the world.

5 Penny Arcade and Bitch!Dyke!Faghag!Whore! are playing SF for the first time with an all San Francisco cast of male and female erotic dancers with a huge audience dance break in the middle of the show! NO CHEERFUL BURLESQUE ! REAL EROTICA

6 Quentin Crisp officially named Penny Arcade as his soul mate and the woman he most identified with in the world.
.
7.Penny Arcade is internationally considered the High Priestess of Gay Wit and Wisdom

 8 Bitch!Dyke!faghag!Whore! created the international neo burlesque movement.

9 Penny Arcade is internationally  considered the Queen of the Underground

10 Penny Arcade has her own chapter in Please Kill Me, The Oral History of Punk, as one of the original instigators of  Punk

11 Penny Arcade was a Warhol superstar at age 18, featured  in the film Women In Revolt and an original member of the queer glitter/glam, rock and roll, political, theater The  Playhouse Of The Ridiculous at 17

12 Penny Arcade is one of a handful of people who invented performance art in the 1980’s for which she apologizes to everyone.

13. Penny Arcade rocks so hard , she doesn’t need a band.

I, TOO, WILL BE PERFORMING IN SF SOON!!!!

March 20, 21, and 22 I will be ringing in the Vernal Equinox with my show

JUSTIN BOND RITES OF SPRING

at the Rrazz Room

click here for tix:
http://www.ticketweb.com/snl/Search.action?query=justin+bond+rrazz&x=0&y=0%20%A0

Hopefully together we can get the word out….

ONE LAST THING!

If you’re in New York GO AND SEE Liz Swados’ new show “Kasper Hauser” the the Flea Theater.

for tix:

for tix:

“> <a href=”https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/637795″>

It’s the last thing I did before I left town and I CAN’T ENCOURAGE YOU TO SEE IT ENOUGH!!!!!!

Due to a greedy, hateful landlord The Zipper Factory was forced to close its doors this week.

I am so heartbroken for their wonderful staff. The loss of the Zipper Factory is a devastating loss to the city and to the many artists who have had the pleasure of working there.

Fortunately, their fearless, magical and wonderful leader, David Brouillard, was able to find a wonderful place for us to move our show.

SO!

“Justin Bond Rites: More Songs for the Neo-Pagan Revolution”

Sunday January 18th at 10pm
Sunday January 25th at 10pm
Tuesday February 3rd at 10pm

LE POISSON ROUGE
158 Bleecker St. (the site of the old Village Gate) at Thompson

to purchase tickets click here

It’s a great venue and I’m very excited to perform there.

The show was an absolute blast last week.

February 18th I have a special surprise in store

February 25th is a benefit for the Transgender Legal Defense and Education fund. To purchase special $150 seat link to

IF YOU HAVE ALREADY PURCHASED TICKETS

You will receive a notification and ticket refund from the Zipper Factory with a link to Le Poisson Rouge where you can re-purchase your tickets!

Sorry for this inconvenience!!!

I’ve been asked by an English magazine called Polari www.polarimagazine.com to be the guest columinst for their next issue which is themed “Evolution”.

In the United States “Evoluton” is still a somewhat controversial subject.  It was an issue in our last Presidential election.  Many people still believe in creationism while most educated people seem to favour Darwinism.  I prefer pragmatism, but then, I believe in everything.  You know -whatever gets you through the night…

One time when I was,  oh I don’t know, maybe in my teens -fourteen or so- I was sitting at the kitchen table with my Dad and the subject of homosexuality came up.  I could have been sixteen because it was at that time I caused a big stink at church by inviting my friend Pat Stein, who worked for Planned Parenthood, to come and talk to our youth group about contraception.  I’ve always been concerned about over-population -especially at church.

Anyway…

So my father and I were having a friendly sort of gay “pro” or “con” conversation and I put forth the theory that as the world became more and more overcrowded homosexuality would become more and more prevalent -that perhaps homosexuality is nature’s way of protecting herself.  As a matter of fact -well I’m not so sure what I think about facts.  I have problems with facts.  You can’t actually count on facts and people who are sure about anything make me very nervous.  Perhaps that’s another symptom of evolution.  Things change.  A lot of people don’t like that.  Arguments ensue.  Worlds crumble.  …you’ve got to hold that line, stick to the old ways at all costs.  

I say throw the baby out with the bath water.  

Last night I saw an amazing performance by Dina Martina at the Cutting Room here in New York and she was doing a segment on “global warning” where she was voicing her concerns about the rising ocean levels.  Dina advocates everybody going to the beach, bringing as much water home with them as they can and boiling it. “I don’t know where it goes and I don’t care!”   Now there’s a practical solution.

Dina Martina -a pragmatist

I like the story about how God created the earth in seven days.  It’s also super cute to see grown ups defending it, arguing over it, giving money in order to support other people who believe in it.  One day I was sitting in Soho House in London and I looked out the window and I saw a hundred Santas!  They say Santa isn’t real.  I don’t know…

Realness is such a slippery slope isn’t it?  ”Touch this skin, Honey!”  Seven days…  One hundred Santas…  I like the story about how God created the earth in seven days.  Then there’s the story of finding a wooly mammoth that had been frozen for millions of years.  I like that story too but I don’t care about it all that much.  I don’t care about the past all that much.  For some reason I do care about the future.  Well, I choose to care about the future but to be honest I don’t feel like carrying a whole bunch of water home from the beach and boiling it just to try and save the world.  I think a lot of people would prefer for the world to end anyway.  They’re living for it!

You can’t talk sense to people like that.

But for all you progressive types out there, if you care about the future of the world at all -and you’re too lazy to boil water- the greatest contribution you can make towards saving the planet is to slow down population growth.  And the easiest way to do that is to stop reproducing.  The quickest way to go green is to go gay.

Evolve, Mary!

ps.  Don’t forget to come to my show at the Zipper Factory this sunday night at 10.  If you can,  avoid taking cabs.  Either take the subway or ride piggy back on  a homosexual.

Eartha Kitt was, without a doubt, one of the greatest inspirations of my life. I remember first seeing her as Catwoman and recognizing her tantalizing ‘otherness’. She wasn’t like any other creature I had ever seen before but I knew if she was possible so was I.

This is the story of how I met and had lunch with Eartha Kitt.

For my birthday in 1994 the lovely man I was dating at the time took me to see Miss Eartha Kitt perform at Kimballs East in the East Bay oustide of San Francisco. I can’t remember if it was a surprise or not because it was a long time ago and I’ve had a lot of champagne since then. I remember he told me I should get dressed up. I’m sure I was wearing the blue gardenia print shift dress my friend Scott Pimentel made for me out of some gorgeous vintage 50’s fabric his grandmother had given him. And I’m sure I felt like Samantha Stevens because at this point I was heavily into my “Bewitched” phase.

The idea of seeing Eartha Kitt live was one of the most thrilling experiences I could imagine. Not only had I been a fan of her as Catwoman when I was a child, but also several years later when she was making the rounds of talk shows after her return to America. I remember being mightily impressed by her story of having performed exclusively in europe for several years prior because she was blacklisted after confronting Ladybird Johnson about the Vietnam War at a White house luncheon in the late 60s.

For some reason I think alot of people are under the misconception that blacklisting only happened during the communist witch hunts of the 1950’s but that isn’t true and Eartha Kitt, along with many other people suffered for speaking out against the war. Even today it’s very dangerous to speak your mind -or to throw your shoes in protest. What’s the latest on the Iraqi shoe tosser? He may be an international hero, but I haven’t heard much of outcry for his release here in America.

But I digress.

Kimball’s East:

Eartha took the stage with a rousing rendition of “I’m Still Here” which got me so excited I spontaneously (rather embarrassingly for my very gentlemanly boyfriend) jumped out of my seat screaming with delight. That would have been appropriate behavior at a rock concert and to me Eartha Kitt was much bigger and more wonderful than any rock star so I was slightly offended that the rest of the audience of older, bourgeois people weren’t following suit (or cocktail dress as the case may be). Quickly my date grabbed me by the arm and pulled me back into my seat. After sussing out the situation I realized I’d better calm down.

The rest of the show is a total blur but I remember the divan, the flirting, the stunningly precise physicality, total command of the audience, her voice and something else -for lack of a better expression I would have to call it a Divine Feminine mystic spell she as casting. A challenge. I feel that everyday she walked the Earth, Eartha Kitt was a challenge to the status quo. That’s why she was so powerful. Her gaze was fierce and unflinching.

Before the show Blake, my lovely fellow, had sent one perfect rose in full bloom and an engraved invitation to join us for drinks after the show at the Redwood Room at the Clift Hotel in San Francisco.

We went and stood in line to meet her in her dressing room. I was so nervous. I didn’t know what I was going to say until finally, when we were shaking hands I blurted out, “Thank you for teaching me that it is possible to be both glamorous and political. You taught me a very valuable lesson at an early age.” She cocked an eyebrow and Blake asked if she had received our invitation. She had. She demurred on joining us for drinks which was a bit of a disappointment but countered by asking if we would like to take her to lunch the following day as she was supposed to have with a dear friend named Christobel who had recently gone through a bitter divorce. Maybe we could all try and cheer her up?

I gave Miss Kitt my phone number and Blake and I continued our evening by slipping off into the night for fancy birthday drinks at the Clift.

The following morning I woke up to the sound of a decidedly over-enthusiastic knocking at my door and a pounding in my head.

At the time I was living in the upper Haight in a house with four lesbians, two cats and a very anxious canary.

“Come in!”

Through the door burst our friend David, a very adorable young queen who was staying with us at the time. He was in a terrible state of agitation and was practically bouncing up and down… the way he was shaking and quaking… I was terribly alarmed. “What is it?”

“Justin, um… This may sound weird but… EARTHA KITT IS ON THE PHONE!!!”

oh. my. God.

Maybe I had thought she was just being nice, or that I had dreamed the whole thing -I don’t know what I thought. I certainly never expected that the fantastical events of the night before would carry through into into the morning light in my bedroom on a decidedly hungover and very real saturday morning.

I grabbed the phone.

“Good morning Justin, this is Eartha Kitt…”

And with those words a great adventure began. Evidently her girlfriend Christobel, the down-in-the-dumps-divorcee, lived in a very difficult to find house in the hills near Sausalito so we would need to pick up her friend Jerry, who was in a more convenient and easy to find location, and he would direct us up the windy roads to Christobel’s house where we could pick up Christobel and then drive to the hotel in Oakland where Ms Kitt was staying. Then we could take them all to lunch at Trader Vic’s. It looked like we were in for what promised to be a very expensive polynesian themed tiki-rific! luncheon for five.

“See you at one o’clock!”

It was 11.

Needless to say we panicked. First of all we didn’t have a car. Blake had borrowed his friend’s beat up old toyota to take me to the show the night before which quite impressed me but I couldn’t imagine Eartha Kitt or a down-in-the-dumps-divorcee (who I vaguely recall being referenced to as “the mother of Andre Agassi -don’t say anything about that though…”) -I couldn’t imagine either of them crawling into the back seat of that particular model of gas efficient vehicle.

Secondly, how long would it take us to pick up all those people by 1 o’clock -even if we did have a car… and, most importantly, how long would that leave me to wash the sex and booze off me, do my hair and make-up and work a fierce day look appropriate for a lunch I couldn’t possibly afford at Trader Vic’s with Miss Eartha Kitt et al?

We were young. We were enthusiastic. We were scrambled. Somehow we did it. Blake borrowed his mother’s very nice late-model four door sedan WITH air-conditioning. I showered, slapped and grabbed a “pucci-inspired” linen zip-front dress out of my closet and we were off…

As instructed we picked up Jerry who, in another place and time, would be referred to as a “walker” but who in this case was more of a “pointer” as he led us up those crazy weeny-windy roads to Christobel’s house. I don’t know what I expected Andre Agassi’s (but don’t say anything) mother to look like but Christobel was this very beautiful “plus-sized” woman in a black and white caftan with pink birds of paradise on it and a salt and pepper top-knot, gorgeous sweeping eyebrows and a LOT of perfume. She took the front seat and I was seated in back with the “pointer”. We all gaily set off for the Oakland Park Plaza Hotel.

As we approached the hotel Christobel began to wonder “which Eartha we were going to get”.

“Which Eartha?”, I enquired.

“Yes, ‘Glamour’ Eartha or ‘Earth’ Eartha.”

Hmmm…

When we got to the hotel, Miss Kitt came out through the sliding doors wearing a purple, teal and white jogging suit and a matching turban with no make-up.

“‘Earth’ Eartha it is!’ proclaimed Christobel.

When she got into the car she sat -no crouched- between Jerry and I poised and tensed like an athlete. She had been up since five and had worked out and was very hungry. Charming and intense she began to regale us with her upcoming projects.

“They want to me to come to Edinburgh to the Festival to play Molly Bloooom.”

“Will you be singing?” asked Christobel.

“Of course! When people come to see Eartha Kitt they want to hear her sing!!!”

“What will the music be. Will the songs be originals for the production?”

“Yes. They are comissioning the music especially for me.” she purred.

“Who will be writing it?” I asked.

She took a deep breath for dramatic effect and then slowly released the word, “Aznavourrrrr…”

I would have been completely beside myself except there was no room for another me between myself and Eartha Kitt! Words cannot express how hard I was trying to play it cool. Basically I just tried to keep my mouth shut and let Christobel, who by now I absolutely adored… keep up the interrogation.

“Who’s managing you now Eartha? Do you have a manager?”

“No I don’t have a manager. They just take your money and do nothing. Kitt (her daughter) is my lawyer and she handles all of my contracts.”

That was interesting to me. You didn’t need a manager if you had a lawyer… or more precisely a daughter who was a lawyer. Duly noted.

“It seems there is a musical being written for me as well by… I can’t think if his name… The one who writes such wonderful vehicles for women? Tell me his name!”

And just then she poked me in the ribs with a very hard, bony finger.

“JERRY HERMAN!” I spat out abruptly having no idea how or why I came up with that name… I mean, Jerry Herman?!?

She looked impressed, “Yes. That’s it. The project is still in the early stages of developement.”

As all of this was happening poor Blake was desperately trying to find Trader Vic’s. The Pointer wasn’t quite sure where it was. Finally we pulled into a parking lot and… Trade Vic’s had gone out of business.

Instead Blake suggested we go to Chez Panisse, an organic and extremely expensive ( at least to us at the time) resaturant in Berkeley.

It was so delicious to walk into a restaurant with such a star. Their was an immediate frisson as people bgan to realize that Earth Kitt was on the premises. I felt so incredibly special and blessed to be in her presence.

After we ordered luncheon the “girls” started to get into a real gabfest.

Christobel: “And how is Jane? Where is Jane? I haven’t seen Jane in years.”

Eartha: “Jane is still living in Arizona, we have been promising each other we would go on a cruise together for years, but we still haven’t done it.”

Eartha, Christbel and Jerry continued talking about Jane for awhile- how Jane had gotten drunk and “mistaken” Jerry for her “husband” and crawled into bed one with him one night after a party at her house… Jane this and Jane that until finally Eartha leaned over and whispered in my ear, “Jane Russell”.

“Oh…”, I nearly choked.

Eartha spoke about her work as an activist, how she had an organic garden in Conecticutt where she grew food for needy children, she spoke about politics, about being blacklisted -she had a few choice words for “Ladybird Johnson”. She talked about singing… how much she loved dancing to Duke Ellington’s music… It was amazing.

One of the most interesting things she told us about was when Nat King Cole was given own television show in the 1950’s. Evidently he was the first African-American entertainer to be given his own TV show so the stakes were very high within the african-american community that his show be a success so Eartha, along with many other entertainers -black and white- would fly themselves to LA on their own coin to be guests on the show. She spoke very eloquently about Nat King Cole and the struggles they all went through to break down racial barriers in the entertainment industry.

Part of why this resonated so much with me was that at the time I was involved with Queer Nation, we were working very hard to demand the establishment of queer visibility in the media and I had been involved in several events in San Francisco such as the Queer Kiss in at the Cable Car turn around, The Queer Be In ( this was before Ellen came out, Will and Grace etc.) and it seemed to me that there were a lot of parallels between what was going on with african-americans in the fifties and LGTBQ people in the 90’s.

Blake and I were in her thrall.

When it came time for coffee and desert Ms Kitt inquired if they had any fresh fruit and was brought a beatiful piece of mango.

“This mango is delicious! Would you like to try some?”

“Yes please.” And the next thing I knew she was feedig me mango. I nearly died, but since I was living with a bunch of lesbians who would be hanging on my every word whe I got home I knew I had to make the most of this moment so as she put the mango in my mouth I met her gaze and gave her my best “come hither” look. For a split second she looked slightly startled and then she laughed and put it in my mouth… I was treated to that world famous grrrowl.

Come on!!! I mean really… Earthat Kitt purred at ME! I was living…

Blake and I spent more on lunch that day than we had probably spent on anything before in our lives outside of rent, but we were treated to one of the most amazing afternoons we had ever had. For me, it was the most informative lesson on show business, politics and just plain fabulousness I could have possibly imagined…

Gurrl, it was spiritual experience.

Two years ago I saw her again at the Carlyle and that show was even more stunning than the first. “Earth” Eartha was a blessing to this world and we are all better off for her having graced us with her fierceness for so long.

We will miss you Miss Kitt! The stars in Heaven will shine brighter in your company.

Blessed be.

There is a history of dissent we can draw from in order to “isshoe”  in the New Year.

Here is one example:

This is an image of a shoe that belonged to SF mayor Frank Jordan which was captured by members of Queer Nation in SF in 1991 followed by a few words from Gerard Koskovich.  

THANKS GERARD!!!