Decadence returns to NOLA; CVB announces Pride trip winner

The gay boys turn out every year for Southern Decadence, the New Orleans bacchanal that rocks Labor Day Weekend. - ARNOLD WAYNE JONES/Dallas Voice

Three years ago, more Americans learned about Southern Decadence than had probably attended the event in 35 years — and not in a good way. It was days after Hurricane Katrina blasted the Gulf Coast, sending New Orleans under 10 feet of water. Death. Tragedy. Financial ruin.

And the evangelical group Repent America blamed it all on SoDec — God’s wrath for such an unbridled gay bacchanal of partying, drinking and sex.

But New Orleans would have none of it. Southern Decadence came back with a vengeance, and it continues to grow. It returns this month for a 39th year, running from Aug. 27 through Labor Day, Sept. 1.

Most of the fun takes place in the French Quarter, which was largely spared when the levees broke — nightlife there has barely slowed. Indeed, veteran attendees say post-Katrina New Orleans is actually more tolerant of good-natured fun (flashing, outlandish behavior) than in the years before Katrina.

Café Lafitte in Exile, a gay club popular with bears and “average” guys, has one of the many wonderful iron balconies overlooking Bourbon Street and high-energy dance music. Bourbon Pub, a big video club with dancing upstairs and cabaret shows on Mondays, is across the street from Oz, where you’ll find dancing boys on the bar.

The leather bar Rawhide has lots of daddy types and explicit porn playing on the videos, while Good Friends boasts hot shirtless bartenders and a friendly atmosphere. The Golden Lantern, established in 1966, is a neighborhood bar with drag shows.

There are tons of scheduled events as well. Harrah’s, the only hotel and casino on solid ground in New Orleans, hosts “Glitz: The Art of Female Impersonation” Aug. 28–31. The extravagant drag show includes a cast of faux Whitneys, Dianas, Lizas, Judys, Tinas, Dionnes and Marilyns. And celebrity DJs ChiChi LaRue and Lady Bunny will be on hand spinning music — and hosting events like the Big Dick Contest (which is just what it sounds like). Sodom by the Sea lives on!

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The Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau’s “Win a Trip to Dallas Pride” has a winner. Yvette Roper of Jamaica, N.Y. won the vacation package aimed at promoting LGBT tourism to Big D over Pride Weekend (Sept. 19–21). You have to wonder whether the fix is in, though: Jamaica is in Queens.

Whatever the case, Roper and a companion won two round-trip tickets aboard American Airlines, three nights at the Crowne Plaza Hotel and two tickets to Gay Day at Six Flags, courtesy of Dallas Voice. If you see Roper around, make sure to give her a warm, “Howdy!”



This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition August 15, 2008.