|
elcome
back,
dear
readers,
to
another
week,
another
issue
of
the
news.
I
should
welcome
myself
back,
as
I
just
returned
from
the
far
reaches
of
San
Francisco,
California,
where
I
attended
their
Gay
Pride
celebration.
It
could
be
argued
that
San
Francisco
is
the
center
of
the
American
gay
universe;
yes,
New
York
is
a
more
populous
city,
and
Washington
D.C.
harbors
all
the
political
clout.
But
it
is
San
Francisco
that
generates
the
free
thought,
the
excitement,
the
lifeblood
of
whatever
it
is
the
“gay
community”
is
trying
to
become.
Attending
a
Gay
Pride
event
in
San
Francisco
is
somewhat
of
a
spiritual
awakening.
Rare
are
the
days
when
attending
a
gay
event
is
still
exciting,
yet
in
San
Francisco
people
are
smiling,
happy
to
be
out,
to
be
“out,”
aware
of
how
lucky
they
are
that
they
can
be
exactly
who
they
want
to
be.
Much
of
the
city
is
taken
over
by
the
festival,
and
hundreds
of
thousands
of
people
fill
the
streets,
dancing
and
drinking
and
perhaps
walking
around
bare-ass
naked.
The
police
just
look
the
other
way
when
a
penis
or
a
vagina
comes
into
view.
Is
it
legal?
Not
so
much.
But
this
is
San
Francisco.
These
things
happen.
The
night
before
the
big
parade,
my
friends
and
I
met
at
a
restaurant
in
Noe
Valley,
which
is
over
the
hill
from
The
Castro.
One
little
hill,
and
it’s
worlds
away
—
filled
with
young
couples
pushing
baby
carriages,
as
they
walk
down
the
street
to
the
land
of
family-life
bliss.
Our
restaurant
was
filled
with
tables
of
four,
a
straight
couple
and
a
gay
couple
sitting
together,
the
straight
couple
grilling
their
gay
friends
about
their
newly-legalized
marriage
options.
It
still
seems
to
be
a
bit
of
a
novelty:
people
(gay
and
straight
alike)
ask
their
gay
friends
“Are
you
going
to
get
married?”
as
casually
as
if
they
were
just
inquiring
about
their
plans
for
the
night.
These
are
the
questions
reserved
for
nosy
mothers
at
family
functions,
yet
friends
at
a
restaurant
table
think
nothing
of
smiling
at
a
gay
couple
and
asking
them
to
define
the
future
of
their
relationship,
as
if
it’s
just
party
talk.
You
can
see
the
poor
couple
squirm,
their
faces
going
rigid
as
they
think
of
something
appropriate
to
say
in
the
company
of
their
significant
other.
Imagine
walking
up
to
a
straight
couple
out
on
a
date
and
asking
“So,
you
think
the
two
of
you
have
marriage
in
your
future?”
You
wouldn’t
dare.
The
inquisitions
don’t
come
from
a
place
of
disrespect;
it’s
happiness
for
their
friends,
and
excitement
about
things
to
come.
But
it
also
signifies
the
reality
of
“gay
marriage”
being
an
actual
marriage,
and
that
being
something
very
private,
has
yet
to
sink
in.
BACK
IN
SOUTH
FLORIDA,
things
aren’t
so
rosy:
as
you
may
have
noticed
in
our
cover
story,
it
seems
“someone”
has
stolen
several
thousand
dollars
from
the
Stonewall
Street
Festival,
right
out
of
the
cash
registers.
Who
took
it?
A
mysterious
moustached
man,
pretending
to
be
a
volunteer?
It’s
a
very
odd
situation,
which
the
police
were
quick
to
admit
they’ll
never
solve.
It’s
not
just
the
festival
itself
that
suffers
from
the
theft.
The
Pride
celebration
operates
as
a
non-profit,
having
been
established
to
benefit
the
community;
the
proceeds
from
the
Stonewall
festival
fund
grants
for
community
organizations,
such
as
the
Poverello
Center,
Tuesday’s
Angels,
and
SunServe.
When
someone
grabs
a
few
thousand
dollars
out
of
the
cash
registers,
those
organizations
lose
funding
that
is
part
of
their
operating
budgets.
We’ve
also
featured
two
stories
of
“firsts.”
Congress
held
it’s
first-ever
official
hearing
on
transgender
rights,
a
major
milestone;
and
the
Cuba
almost
hosted
its
first-ever
gay
pride
celebration…until
the
government
became
skittish
and
shut
it
down.
Although
Cuba
has
come
a
long
way
since
the
1970’s
when
effeminate
men
were
sent
to
work
camps,
to
toughen
them
up
and
literally
beat
the
gayness
out
of
them.
News
aside,
we
are
tickled
“pink”
for
the
opportunity
to
splash
the
glorious
Leslie
Jordan
across
our
pages.
Mr.
Jordan
is
coming
to
the
Parker
Playhouse
in
Fort
Lauderdale
to
perform
his
one-man
show,
“My
Life
on
the
Pink
Carpet,”
as
well
as
give
us
a
taste
of
his
upcoming
series
on
Logo,
“Sordid
Lives.”
Will
he
give
us
a
taste
of
Beverly
Leslie,
his
Emmy
Award-winning
performance
on
“Will
&
Grace”?
Fingers
crossed.
Needless
to
say,
it
will
be
a
brilliant
show.
You
should
go.
Also,
we
updated
our
list
of
community
events,
paying
extra
attention
to
the
sports
listings.
Are
you
on
a
team
that
should
be
listed?
Let
us
know,
editor@expressgaynews.com.
Thanks
for
reading.
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