25th Annual Mermaid Parade

Today the Farmboyz and I schlepped out to Coney Island for the gayest not-really-gay event in NYC, the 25th Annual Mermaid Parade, the first time any of us had attended. The day started a little bit chilly with the giant clock (see below) facing Central Park reading 57 degrees. In June. But by the time we reached the beach, the temp was a pleasant 73 and we exited the D train to find the barricades across Surf Avenue had just been raised, giving us an immediate front row place (facing Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs) from which to watch the parade, a lucky thing too, because within 15 minutes the crowd was 15-deep behind us.

This year King Neptune was played by one of the Mythbusters dudes, a joke on the rumor that this will be the final Mermaid Parade due to the impending demolition of Astroland, which as of last week appears to have been given a one-year reprieve. Over a couple of hours we viewed topless mermaids, buttless mermen, and more than a few mertrannies. Very Mardi Gras At-The-Beach - I even caught a strand of beads. The highlight was the We Like Dick contingent (bottom right), headed by some guy named Dick. Really. We packed it in before the parade finished, mindful of tomorrow's much longer event.

Gay Bomb: The Movie

Well, that didn't take long. Gay porn house Dark Alley has announced plans to produce a porn take on the Pentagon's recent "gay bomb" research.

Gay Bomb will take us into the future and the year 2012. George the Second has refused to step down as leader of the “free world,” and the nations of Europe have banded together to fight the new American military dictatorship. Desperate to fend off its attackers, the US launches the experimental “gay bomb,” designed to make the enemy forces drop their guns and turn fag. But the winds of fate blow in a different direction, and soon America is brought to its knees.

To its knees. Yuk, yuk. Rimshot! Wait, that's a different movie. Dark Alley says they'll begin work on Gay Bomb in November, right after they finish production of their impending classic, 20 Fist Weekend. Rimshot! Wait, that is the name of their movie. I love my people.

The Gayest Corner On The Gayest Day

This Sunday I'll be shepherding my festive flock of fabulous - oh wait, I can't finish that alliteration - fabulous, um, strong gay men to the corner of Christopher and Gay Street to watch NYC's 38th annual Pride March. History has taught us that corner is nicely shaded, although Sunday's weather is predicted to be relatively mild, as has been the entire summer so far. Stop by and say hello if you're in the nabe, or join us if you don't want to watch the parade solo. Happy Pride, y'all. Get out there and be the gayest you can be.

They wish we were invisible.

We're NOT.

Let's DANCE!
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More Woes For Perez

Gossip blogger Perez Hilton has been dropped by his hosting company, due to their fear of being added to the multiple copyright infringement lawsuits he is currently fighting. The site was dark for a few days, but is back up now on a new service, although with limited functionality and without archives. Washington Blade editor Kevin Naff takes some cheap shots at Hilton's appearance, but makes some valid points about the usage of copyrighted photos, which most bloggers (including myself) do, although Hilton's fair use defense is very thinly supported. To my mind, drawing cocaine spots on Lindsey Lohan's nostrils is not "commentary".

Gay Rape Hotline Set Up In SF

In a joint venture with the gay support group Community United Against Violence, San Francisco has unveiled a new campaign encouraging gay men to come forward and report rapes. With a hotline and a website, the groups hope to reduce the stigma and increase the reporting of the attacks, the majority of which take place in the Castro. In 2007, 18 cases have already been reported.

Blender.com: Gayest Moments In Music

Head over to Blender.com for their list, The Gayest Moments In Music. I'm not crazy about their picking Village People's YMCA as their number one, but there's some great stuff on there. RuPaul's talk show, Madonna's kiss with Britney, and some seriously classic moments like Sylvester's You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) all make the list. I'd have to think a long time about it, but I'd probably put You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) as my number one. What's yours?

Radical Homos Zap Speaker Quinn

Yesterday the activist group Radical Homosexual Agenda staged a protest at City Hall during the speech of openly lesbian City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, claiming that Quinn was the "civilian agent" of a new NYPD policy that subjects to arrest the members of any group of 49 persons or more that gathers without an approved NYPD permit. Activists claim this new rule was created in secret, with no public hearings and has no basis in statute. The hundreds of gays on hand loudly booed the protesters. Quinn is widely expected to succeed Michael Bloomberg as NYC mayor.

The protest came as City Hall was in the midst of their annual Celebration Of LGBT Rights, a peculiar time for a protest perhaps, but organizers claim that Quinn has made herself otherwise unavailable to discuss the new policy, which she apparently does not deny is partly her doing. After the protesters were removed by police to the cheers of the audience, Quinn told those remaining that she was willing to meet with anyone to discuss NYPD rules on assembly. On an NYPD-related note, for the first time in 16 years, Heritage of Pride will not stage its annual post-parade PrideFest, the NYPD having denied their request to relocate the event to Chelsea.

(via - JamesWagner.com)

Gaydarade

Shelter Kitty: Week Seven

Shelley Winters has discovered climbing and there is no height in my apartment that she has not scaled. I came home yesterday to find her crying on top of the cabinets over my kitchen sink, which I presume she got to by a counter to microwave to cabinet route. Her favorite perches are the back of my desk chair (but only when I'm typing) and the tires of my bike, which do not seem very comfortable. This morning she was having one of her usual freak-out romps and managed to pull the cable box down onto her head, after which she required lengthy consoling. She is becoming both increasingly wacky and increasingly snuggly, insisting on sleeping on me, a habit which I must break.

Eggs & Excrement At Jerusalem Pride

Jerusalem's Pride parade was this morning, where marchers encountered hundreds of Haredi, Israel's bizarre Ultra Othodox sect, who arrived with eggs and bags of human excrement to hurl. Just before the parade kicked off, police arrested a 32-year old man carrying a bomb which he said he'd planned to detonate near the parade to "scare people away." Two hundred Haredi were arrested by the 7000 police officers brought in from all over Israel to protect the marchers, who numbered only 1000. For the last week, the Heredi have been rioting in protest of Jerusalem Pride. Last year they succeeded in getting Jerusalem Pride cancelled entirely.

Remember your Israeli brothers and sisters when you enjoy Pride this weekend. The only thing being thrown here will be kisses. Count your blessings.
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Curb Alert

There's a fascinating article in today's NY Times about "freeganism" - folks who try to reject capitalism wherever possible by using thrown-away products such as damaged food or items found in dumpsters. The article talks at length about the perfectly good furniture and personal items tossed out by New Yorkers. If you go into just about any of my friends' apartments, they'll proudly point to a table or a desk with a story about how "it was just sitting on the sidewalk". Craigslist has a category called "curb alert" so folks can let others know about items they've just spotted on the street. Here on the Upper East Side, where the zillionaires toss their entire place regularly, I never have that kind of luck. Every time I see something cool on the street, I'm by myself and can't carry it.

Morning View - Empire State Building

The Empire State Building, viewed from 14th Street at Union Square.

Open Thread Thursday

A couple of posts down you'll find my rant regarding those in our own community who heap scorn and insults on gay men that don't meet their twisted personal standards of masculinity. Longtime readers of this here website thingy know that I regard that sort of divisive self-loathing as perhaps the greatest internal challenge that gay men face, both as a community and as individuals. A thoughtful reader suggested that I make this issue the topic of today's open thread.

So here's the question: How did your own childhood experiences with being called a "sissy" or "faggot", etc., work to create the person you are today? Do you try to forget it? Did you make a conscious decision to "butch up"? Do you just shrug and own it? And if you managed to slip under everybody's gaydar without such taunts, how does that affect your opinion of those who didn't?

(Thanks to TankMontreal for the suggestion.)

He's Jon, The Winner, He Is

Shortly after last call at the Bada Bing, Lady Randomocity finished her lap dance to text me the winner of this week's Swag Tuesday, Jon of Jersey City, who wins an advance box set of Showtime's hit series The Tudors and Tudors t-shirt. Jon gushed: "Holy crap, that's fantastic! You are awesome, Your web site is awesome and I can't believe I won. This is totally shocking to me, I never win anything!" Thanks to awesome Showtime and don't forget to check out their new thriller series, Meadowlands. Publicists: If you'd like to participate in Swag Tuesday on JMG, please email me. And somebody please tell me they get the title of this post. I do try.

How To Not Win Friends And Influence Bears

You may recall the huge brouhaha a few months ago when complaints arose that the bear-themed hookup site Bear411 was routinely refusing membership to men whom the site owner felt did not meet his personal ideal of "bearness", namely non-hirsute or smaller guys. Asian men in particular seemed to bear the brunt of the rejections, although some were allowed to join. The standards for membership seemed capricious at best, downright racist at worst. A boycott led by bears blogging on LiveJournal ensued.

But Bear411's nastiness has been outdone by a new bear hookup site called Bear Trapping, which launched their site by sending a blast email with a graphic attacking the masculinity of the owners of another popular bear site.

Among the outraged recipents of the email was Scott McGillivray, the editor and co-owner of 100% Beef Magazine, who fired off this reaction:

You guys are fighting a losing battle if you're trying to take on Bill and Andy of BigMuscle.com and BigMusclebears.com with this type of approach. Neither of them are "girlymen", and their websites are based on the celebration of masculine identities. In fact, they're two of the greatest guys in our community, and their work is loved, embraced and celebrated by hundreds of thousands of men, worldwide. Just because a gay man is comfortable enough in his masculinity to "camp it up" for a charitable cause (such as toenail painting at Lazy Bear Weekend, or wearing a pink fur vest at a San Francisco Pride Fundraiser) doesn't make him effeminate or "girly". You're going after the wrong guys with the wrong approach, and I'd reconsider your marketing approach, if I were you. Just a friendly piece of advice.

Bear Trapping's owner responded:

You just cannot fathom how incorrect you are. For every one of you fluffy fags that defend those two child endangering losers, we get 200 to join our REAL Bear site. Why? Because outside of GayLoserTown USA, (aka San Francisco), the rest of the gay world regrets you flaming queens even exist. Your bring the curve down for the rest of the community, and are the root cause of why we don't have equal rights.

::joe's head explodes::

Yes, Mr. Bear Trapping, there are plenty of "fluffy fags" and "flaming queens" out there and some of them are bears. So FUCKING what? Part of the reason "we don't have equal rights" is because of divisive self-hating homos like yourself. Obviously you "str8-acting" haters are too busy practicing your "masculine" in the mirror and tearing down those that don't meet your "real man" standards to take part in the movement, otherwise you'd fucking know that the rights you DO have were largely built on the backs of those queens, those "girly men" I'd wager you fear being yourself. The ladybear doth protest too much.

Sigh. As I've said before, sometimes we are our own worst enemy. For what it's worth, part of the reason that I feel comfortable at bear bars and events is because of the bear community's famous welcoming inclusiveness, the fading of which is evidenced by sites like Bear411 and now Bear Trapping. Still, I'm not quite ready to say (like many unhappy with the direction things are going have) that I'm "post-bear". Even though I'm on the smaller side of the bear world's large men, I continue to feel very welcomed there. For now. Again, sigh.

UPDATE: A reader tipped us off that the owner of Bear Trapping owns a large flotilla of similar sites under an umbrella company called Ironclad Media, which has been the subject of numerous consumer complaints including credit card fraud. Check out the complaints thread on Ripoff Report for details, it's all rather unbelievable.
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"Truth" Ministry Zinged

Remember all the fun we had here last year with photoshopped parodies of the "ex-gay" billboard campaign? Somebody is having fun again with a new campaign from them wacky totally-not-cocksuckers and the doctored version is flying around the web.From the Truth Ministry site:

A photo of our Greenville billboard has recently been doctored by someone and posted on a national website. It is now being distributed around the country. It now reads: "Are you Asian and don't want to be?" The words above the doctored billboard say that this is a parody. I understand the meaning behind the parody. It is to imply that homosexuals do not choose to be gay any more than do Asians choose to be Asian. To this point I would almost agree. No one chooses to have same-sex attractions. If you will look around our website you will see what I mean. Our ministry is not here to spew hate towards gays and lesbians...quite the opposite. If our ministry angers you, we understand. However, we do not consider you our enemy or adversary. We too were in your shoes. Most all of our staff, mostly all volunteer, were former homosexuals themselves. We overcame our past, through placing our trust and lives in Christ Jesus and following His plan forour lives. We pray that you will do the same one day. We pray for you on a regular basis. We hope that you will not allow this one issue in your life to define--Who You Are.

From the Digg.com comments: "I'm pretty sure he missed the real meaning, it's not really that Asians don't choose to be Asian, it's that there's nothing wrong with being Asian in the first place."

(h/t: Chris @ Boys Briefs.)

A Global Swell Of Anti-Gay Hate

What a strange Pride Month it has been so far for LGBT folks around the world. On the sort of plus side, Colombia tried but failed to grant gay couple similar rights to those of straight couples and Costa Rica is contemplating a similar attempt. On the downside, we've got Russia with banned Pride marches, violence against gays, and an American protest of Russian vodka. Israeli cult Orthodox Jews are issuing curses and staging anti-gay rallies. Jamaican mobs routinely beat suspected queers. In Iran and Iraq, militias hunt down and murder gays. And now comes word that thousands of gay Poles are fleeing their country in advance of a government-sponsored persecution program which includes a research into "curing" homosexuals. Many of these gay Poles are applying for asylum in Germany and the UK.

Those of you reading from far safer places, keep these folks in your thoughts. We're making great progress in many places, especially in the U.S., but we need to put the pressure on our government to consider the plight of foreign queers when they deal with their governments. These anti-gay thugs see what's going in other countries and feel emboldened. It's about time our famous big stick is used for something besides oil.

A Little Respect For Tainted Love

My UK blogger pal Mike Atkinson, AKA Troubled Diva, has really been making a name for himself as a music journalist. Head over and check out his interview with the rarely heard from Vince Clarke of Erasure, in which Clarke talks about his "monogamous loyalty" to singer Andy Bell and what it's like to be one of the few surviving '80s synth-pop acts. And speaking of surviving '80s synth-pop acts, Troubled Diva also has a great interview with Marc Almond, formerly of Soft Cell, who talks about his new album and his recovery from his devastating motorcycle accident. Interesting stuff!

Bishop Harry Jackson Takes Out Anti-Matthew Shepard Act Ads

Bishop Harry Jackson: "Gay activists around the country are getting nervous that they are about to experience an embarrassing political setback. Instead of amending the hate crimes legislation that protects churches in a substantive way, they are simply crying out in a louder, more threatening manner. Gay advocates are not looking for fairness; they are looking for an upper hand. Both gays and blacks should get justice in America, but we cannot allow either group to receive special privileges at the expense of another group of Americans. If the loopholes in this legislation are not closed, Christians and Bible-teaching churches could become victims of a strange brand of reverse discrimination. These actions are tantamount to the gay community saying, "Freedom for me, but bondage for you." This attitude is just not consistent with America's ideals."

Things are getting really ugly. And we still have no word on when the vote will be. (via - Pam's House Blend.)

UPDATE: View this video and please contact your senators urging their support of the Matthew Shepard Act!

Morning View - Times Square

HomoQuotable- Matthew Titone

"I have my partner here on the phone and he just asked me to marry him. My answer, Madam Speaker, is yes." - New York State Assemblyman Matthew Titone (D-Staten Island), cellphone in his hand, moments after the Assembly passed its same sex marriage bill. The chamber gave Titone a round of applause.

One day after passing through the Assembly judiciary and rules committees, the bill was approved yesterday by an 85-61 vote. The Human Rights Campaign's Joe Solmonese released a statement saying, "We congratulate the New York Assembly for passing this important, fair-minded bill, and we also congratulate Empire State Pride Agenda and Marriage Equality NY for their hard work. We also thank Governor Spitzer for his leadership -- this bill got its start when the Governor followed through on his unequivocal promise to fight for marriage equality."

The Assembly vote tally should appear here shortly. It's nice to see that Micah Kellner, my just-elected Assemblyman, got himself added to the list of the bill's sponsors. The bill now faces stiff opposition in the state Senate, where Republican Majority Leader Joe Bruno has already declared it "dead on arrival." The current Senate session ends on Thursday and Bruno will have no difficulty blocking its presentation until then.

Here We Perot Again

NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg threw a huge honkin' monkey wrench into the presidential campaign today when he stunned politicos by announcing he was no longer a Republican. Bloomberg told the press today that he was now independent after switching his voter registration last week. With a personal wealth estimated at over $5B, he could easily underwrite his own presidential campaign, as he did in the 2005 NYC mayoral race to the tune of $85M. I'm sure the networks are already $alivating over the prospect of a national version of his blanket-ad style.

I've voted for Bloomberg twice, the only times I've ever crossed party lines, and as I've noted here many times, I continue to be largely satisfied. With the exception of a couple of notable missteps (the dumbass/never happened West Side stadium, for example), Bloomberg has had this town spinning like a top. However, critics continue to complain, perhaps justifiably, that he is out of touch with the large impoverished population of the city, who continue to be pushed further out of town in search of affordable housing.

I'm not at all sure that America is ready for a zillionaire, single, Jewish president and Bloomberg continues to maintain that his only aspiration is to remain mayor of NYC until the end of this, his final term. Not to mention the havoc that a Bloomberg candidacy could wreak on the stronger Democratic candidates, whose progressive base could be lured to his pro-gay, pro-choice, pro-immigrant positions. It also doesn't hurt that he isn't saddled with any history that gives Democrats a bad taste in their mouths. Hi, Hillary. Republican strategist Greg Strimple agrees, saying, "If he runs, this guarantees a Republican will be the next president of the United States. The Democrats have to be shaking in their boots." That IS worrisome.

But wonks are also wondering if today's move is designed to make it easier for Bloomberg to lend his endorsement and financial support to a Democratic candidate. If so, who? However you slice it, today's revelation may completely redraw the landscape. With Fred Thompson about to enter on the Republican side, all we know is we don't know anything.
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Smooth/Soften

Paging the Conde Nast art department: Father Tony (NSFW) has some mad photoshop skillz, evidenced here by the creamy complexions of Superdaddy and myself. My skin hasn't looked this baby-smooth since spring break '81 when I passed out drunk in the Marlin Beach Hotel and awoke to find that my friends had entertained themselves by giving me a cucumber-avocado facial. I smelled like guacamole all weekend. I can still remember the owner of said product screaming about them having wasted his Bal Harbor purchase on me. Thanks for being my volunteer aesthetician, Tony. Makes me totally wanna look into botox.

LGBT Center Gala Surpri$e

At last night's Garden Party, the NYC LGBT Community Center's annual Pride kick-off gala, the audience got a wonderful surprise when Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer (above, right) announced a $1 million grant to the center's capital improvements fund. Nice, huh? But heads really swiveled when City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (above, left) announced an additional $8 million dollar grant from the city as a whole. I bet the Center's executive director, Richard Burns (above, middle), is still smiling. The Manhattan grant will pay out over the next two years, the one from NYC over the next four.

Trevor Hailey, 66

Sad news. Famed Castro tour guide Trevor Hailey died unexpectedly in San Diego last week. When I lived in San Francisco, Hailey was a familiar sight around the gayborhood as she led enthusiastic visitors on her "Cruisin' The Castro" tours. More than a couple of times, I happened to be on the sidewalk behind Hailey's group, eavesdropping as she regaled wide-eyed homos with fascinating tales of Harvey Milk, the White Night riots, and the landmarks of Gay Mecca. Hailey retired with her partner to San Diego in 2005. Despite her sudden death, the documentary Only In The Castro With Trevor Hailey played its scheduled run in last weekend's Frameline LGBT Film Festival.

Travolta Comes Out (Against Psychiatry)

Well, I guess I spoke too soon about John Travolta keeping his crazy to himself. Speaking to W Magazine about the Virgina Tech shootings, Travolta says, "I still think that if you analyze most of the school shootings, it is not gun control. It is [psychotropic] drugs at the bottom of it." You may recall Tom Cruise's famous anti-psychiatry diatribe during his interview with Matt Lauer. Travolta: "I don't disagree with anything Tom says. How would I have presented it? Maybe differently than how he did, but it doesn't matter."

And another Scientologist belly-flops into the Crazy Pool.

NY Marriage Bill Clears First Obstacle

The bill to legalize same-sex marriage made it out of New York State Assembly's judiciary committee today, passing 16-5. The bill must now make it past the rules committee before it is put up to a general vote on the Assembly floor. Over on the state Senate side, majority leader Joseph Bruno (R) has said many times that he will not allow the bill to come to a vote.

Morning View - Spotlight

The newest addition to the madness of Times Square is Spotlight, a karaoke bar where you are joined onstage by in-house back-up singers and background dancers. There's even a "green room" with a make-up artist to prepare you for belting out Flashdance. Audience members can send the performers Simon Cowell-worthy snide comments from their tableside interactive consoles. Spotlight also features a restaurant and this giant Jumbotron which broadcasts your live shame to thousands of milling tourists. Take your passion, and make it happen.

Swag Tuesday

Courtesy of Showtime, this week's Swag Tuesday giveaway is a special advance DVD box set of the full first season of their hit series, The Tudors, starring Jonathan Rhys-Meyers as Henry VIII. In March, I attended a screening of the first two episodes of The Tudors and I was immediately reeled in by the lush photography and uber-hot cast. Steve Waddington? Hello, Steve. I'm Joe.

The release date for The Tudors box set has not yet been set, but Showtime would like you to also check out Meadowlands, their new 8-episode thriller series. Described by critics as a creepy mix of The Waltons and Twin Peaks, Meadowlands debuted on Sunday.

The series picks up as Danny (David Morrissey) and Evelyn Brogan (Lucy Cohu) along with their two kids, Zoe (Felicity Jones) and Mark (Harry Treadaway), enter a witness protection program and are moved to a bucolic neighborhood called Meadowlands to begin a new life. Picturesque and crime-free, Meadowlands appears to be a suburban paradise but the Rogan family quickly realizes that it's not so easy to escape the past and their safe haven becomes a world of paranoia and intrigue with surprises around every corner.

You can view the first episode of Meadowlands online now. The series continues on Showtime on Sundays at 10pm, nicely scheduled to pick up the audience for that other weird family, The Sopranos. To enter to win the advance box set of The Tudors, you need only comment on this post. Only your first comment counts and please remember to leave your email address. Publicists: if you'd like to take part in Swag Tuesday on JMG, please email me.

HomoQuotable - Rich Tafel

"Over the next 20 years Pride Festivals will fall out of favor as we move from outward challenges to inward ones. We’ll grow up to understand that pride cannot be given or taken away by others. In our past, we marched to be proud and not ashamed. The next 20 years we convince ourselves." - Former Log Cabin Republicans head Rich Tafel, responding to the 365Gay.com question, "Will we still have Pride in 20 years?". Tafel says that in 20 years our complete agenda will have been won and therefore the need for Pride events will be gone. Others disagree, as do I. There will always be work to do and always be reasons to celebrate.

What Happens In Massachusetts,May Not Stay In Massachusetts

Fresh off last week's victory in stifling a possible reversal of gay marriage rights, Massachusetts advocates are now attempting a repeal of a 1913 law that only allows people from other states to marry in Massachusetts if their marriage would be recognized in their home state. The 1913 law was originally created to slow the spread of interracial marriages. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney warns that the latest move by marriage equality activists could result in Massachusetts becoming "the Las Vegas of gay marriage."

Only instead of Elvis, we'll have Sylvester impersonators.
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Wallpaper, Porn, Privacy

We talk a lot about privacy and the internet here, so I'm rather curious what you think about an interesting story out of San Francisco. The owner of Castro porn shop Auto-Erotica downloaded a naked photo of a man from the internet, photoshopped a sex toy onto the bed next to him, and posted the photo in his store's window with a mocking commentary about the wallpaper above the naked man. Turns out, said naked man lives in San Francisco and was very upset to find the photo posted in the porn shop window.

Steve Baechtle, 42, is suing Auto-Erotica for $20,000, claiming "humiliation, embarrassment, hurt feelings, mental anguish and suffering." Baechtle, a "life coach", also says that he's lost 10 clients from the situation and has been "scorned and abandoned by his friends, exposed to contempt and ridicule and suffered loss of reputation and standing in the community." Store owner Patrick Batt removed the photo immediately when Baechtle complained and offered to settle Baechtle's initial $5000 suit for $250. Batt says that he found the photo on a porn site from Finland and that the photo is not copyrighted and therefore legal to use. Baechtle says that he had used the original (undoctored) photo on a personals site that included his email, which he says Batt should have used to request permission to use his photo.

Batt responded to the suit by filing papers saying Baechtle's "posting his picture online constituted a full release and waiver of any and all claims" against him, and that Baechtle "did not sustain any cognizable damages whatsoever." The Bay Area Reporter quotes an expert in privacy law who says, "You have the right that someone won't appropriate your name or likeness." Baechtle says that his clients abandoned him after seeing the photo because it damaged their "ethical expectations" of him.

What do you think? Does this guy have a case? Or do you pretty much surrender expectations of privacy when you post a photo to a site that can be freely viewed by anybody with a computer? The case will likely hinge on the fact that the photo was used in a commericial establishment, although proving it was used to benefit the business would be difficult. The two parties meet in August for a court-ordered case managment conference.

Barker Wants Rosie For TPIR

Newly retired Bob Barker has switched gears and endorsed Rosie O'Donnell to replace him on The Price Is Right, although he cautions that he isn't sure that CBS is willing to have a female host for the show. On Friday, the now Rosie-less chat fest The View continued its 10-year losing streak at the Daytime Emmys, with Ellen Degeneres winning both best talk show and best host. Degeneres praised Rosie, saying, "I liked what she did. This was the year she should have won. I wanted to acknowledge Rosie because she has done a lot."

Folsom East Draws Record Crowd

Yesterday's Folsom Street East fair was a smash success, with a massive crowd of leatherfolk and looky-loos crowding W.28th Street from 10th to 11th Avenues. FSE head John Weis was ecstatic, telling me that attendance was an all-time high, somewhere around 10,000, putting the event on a scale with SF's similar Dore Alley Fair. Porn stars, media types, LGBT leaders and pretty much half of my blogroll (above photo) was in attendance. This year the weather was almost mild, compared to last year's blistering day.

At 7PM I was hustled backstage with the other judges (club promoter Mark Nelson and ONYX (NSFW) Vice President Master James West) for the "Nasty Pig Porn Star Pie Eating Contest", which turned out to be slightly different than I had expected. Oh, there were porn stars and there was pie. Lemon meringue, in fact. However, FSE's take on this classic America fair event was twisted. Three two-man porn teams took the stage in jockstraps, with one man on each team bending over to present his ass to the crowd as his teammate smashed a pie into his butt. And then ate it. Good clean fun. We unanimously selected the Treasure Island team as winners, which probably won't surprise anybody who has seen one of their movies. There are pictures, but nothing I can use here. Not if'n y'all wanna keep your jobs, that is. The photo to the left is my witty friend Alan, who is not a porn star, but should be.

The beneficiaries of this year's fair: the NYC Gay & Lesbian Anti-Violence Project, the NYC LGBT Community Center, and the National Coalition For Sexual Freedom. Congrats to FSE and their army of volunteers for a well-run and successful event. It was a great Daddy's Day.

UPDATE: Gawker has a brief video of the fair, including a quick shot of a pony boy. Hi, Lynette!

BELOW: Crowd shot, via Patrick's Words (NSFW): BELOW: Father Tony (NSFW) provides an aerial view:

Morning View - Hotel Chelsea

The Hotel Chelsea is the most famous artists residence in New York City. Those having made their homes there include such luminaries as Mark Twain, Gore Vidal, Tennessee Williams, Arthur C. Clarke, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Janis Jopin, and pretty much anyone else who's ever been famous for anything. It has been memorialized in song by such artists as Joni Mitchell, Jefferson Airplane, The Ramones, Bon Jovi, Nico and many others. It's also rather well-known more recently as the place where Sid Vicious stabbed Nancy Spungen to death. Built in 1883, the 12-story Hotel Chelsea was the tallest building in NYC until 1902.

Jazz Hands Might Have Been Better

San Francisco club promoters DJ Jeff Johnson and Kurt Cooper have generated some unpleasant attention for their June 1st "Fag Bash" party , with some taking great offense to both the name and ad image used. The ad appeared in two issues of the Bay Area Reporter and on fliers posted around town. The ad also appears on the Folsom Street Fair site. (UPDATE: Now removed.)

Cooper told the B.A.R. that his usage of "fag" was to reclaim it as a positive word. There have been a number of recent gay bashing incidents in the Castro, resulting in the formation of the Castro Community Patrol, a gay version of the Guardian Angels, who patrol the streets on weekend nights. Ironically, Cooper is on the board of that group. He says that his original vision for the ad was to have the fists (which are his) wearing "big girly rings", but due to budget and time constraints that idea was dropped. The next "Fag Bash" event is scheduled for August and the promoters have not yet decided on whether to change the name.

I've known DJ Jeff Johnson for a number of years. He's a smart guy, a talented DJ, and sits on the Folsom board of directors. But yeah, the name of the party should be be changed.