SouthernDecadence.com • Feb. 2-15, 2016 • Facebook.com/AmbushMag • The Official Mag©
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moments in gay new orleans history
by Professor Frank Perez
E-mail: f.perez@sbcglobal.net
Photo by: Larry Graham, GrahamStudioOne.COM
“An Interview with Gay Carnival
Historian Howard Smith”
One of the most fascinating aspects of Carnival history in New Orleans is the gay krewes. Like everything else gay in the 1950s and 1960s,
the gay carnival krewes were secretive
and mysterious. The threat of police
the real cheese ...from 10
ond annual 12th Night party at his 3rd
floor French Quarter Villa. I had been
trying to put myself together for this
grand event for days, finding, the right
dress, jewelry, etc. All the things we
queens think we must do. I must have
started painting my face before even
waking up that morning, as it was an all
day event for me. Except for my good
wig (I only have the one!), everything
else was new, thanks to some generous patrons during the holiday season.
Well that, and the 75% off sale at H&M.
For a change I was feeling quite confidant I would pull off a decent look for
my appearance.
Plans were laid that I would be
picked up and make my entrance with
bestie and one of the reigning SDGMs,
Misti Ates. But upon turning onto Decatur
after the Joan of Arc parade was lining
up, bumper to bumper traffic meant on
to plan B. A cab was called, as I still
don’t quite understand this Uber thing,
but I’m going to take a class on it or
something soon. Well after twenty minutes of waiting it was onto plan C, my
scooter. I check the wind, not too bad,
I respray my good wig a few times,
secure my evening bag on the handlebars, put on a fur coat, hiked up my full
length gown, and off I went!
I figured if the wig ended up a little
wind blown, it would look more natural
anyway, and I could always say I borrowed one of Princesse Stephaney’s.
Upon arriving I hoped I would get
compliments of either looking like
Marilyn Monroe, had she made it to
forty something, or maybe Madonna
had she had better work done, but no
what do I get, once again, Joan Rivers!
Well, after seeing some of my pics I
now welcome that comparison, as depending on the lighting, with one wrong
angle I looked more like Rose Marie!
For those too young to know who that
is, Google it!
To say the party was packed would
be an understatement, there were so
many gays there, you would’ve thought
Cher and Tina Turner were both doing
another farewell concert at the same
venue. People were dressed in everything from formals to wild creative cos-
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harassment and arrest was very real
and for this reason, much of Gay
Carnival history has been lost to time
and the closet. But that will soon
[continued on 14]
tumes. There were young, old, gay,
straight, in betweens, rich, poor, and
even Miss Love. Before I could mix with
the crowd, I had to seek out my escort
Misti to help with emergency body
adjusting in the powder room. Seems
going without a girdle or gaffe while
riding a scooter wasn’t a great idea, as
the layers of pantie hose were rolled
into a not so flattering position, not to
mention that I was no longer hiding my
candy that well. I will say that after
asking her to get up under my dress
and pull for dear life we are now bonded
for eternity!
The Krewe of Queenateenas added
a bit of royalty with their receiving line,
complete with the kissing of The Pope
of Bourbon’s ring, I did attempt to kiss
it, now I will address my alleged ass
kissing in future columns. Still reigning
King Cake Queen Aubrey Synclaire
looked stunning in her fishy subdued
makeup, while she provided milk for
white Russians from her own buxom
breasts that were lactating profusely. I
went for the punch that I had no idea
was a bit spiked, until days later when
I asked a another fellow columnists,
Tony Leggio if I had seen him at the
event, to which he replied, "Yes Queen,
you were drunk!!! Don’t ever drink and
drag again!"
As the crowds thinned, somehow I
found myself on the host’s bed with
former SDGM Chad Boutte, dressed in
bunny attire, ears nose and all, posing
for pics and eating sliced ham and
cheese, while listening to one of the
youthful underwear models hired for
the night plea to get him unbanned from
one of my favorite places that feature
the all male ballet I often refer to. Even
in my now liquored up state, I somehow
instinctively knew to leave him on his
own. This turned out to be the wise
choice, as he was to see to it that the
party would later end on a most memorable note, involving bouncers from Las
Vegas, a human tornado of sorts, EMS,
firemen, state troopers, and possibly
the FBI and INS. Needless to say it was
a glorious start to the Mardi Gras
season!
And that my dahlins is The Real
Cheese! Til next time, I’m Felicia Phillips,
The Cheese Queen of New Orleans!
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under the gaydar ...from 12
change. Howard Smith, of the University of Southern California, has been
researching this intriguing history for
several years and is currently writing a
book on the subject. Unveiling the
Muse: Gay Carnival in New Orleans
will be published later this year.
FP: How did you get interested in
Gay Carnival?
HS: I used to live in New Orleans
during the 1970s and 1980s. I attended
gay balls periodically, but it wasn’t until
the mid-1980s that I became caught up
in the whirlwind. My close friend at the
time was Garrett Stearns, who was
involved with the AGGI Awards, which
was sort of like the gay Oscars. He and
I pledged that we would attend all the
gay balls in 1985 by hook or crook.
There were over a dozen gay krewes
and it was very difficult to obtain invitations. Now you can buy tickets to some
balls, but back then you had to know
someone in each krewe. Garrett and I
attended not only all the balls, but the
after parties and King Cake parties and
various krewe celebrations. I think for
two months I lived in my car and a
tuxedo! After I left New Orleans I came
back every year to visit family and
friends and wanted to know more about
the balls. Nothing had ever been published, so I thought I would begin to
contact people I knew who might help.
FP: You’ve written an article on
Gay Carnival for Arthur Hardy’s Mardi
Gras Guide for a number of years
now. How did that come to be?
HS: Wayne Phillips, Carnival curator at the Louisiana State Museum,
was one of my principal contacts in my
research on gay Carnival over the years.
He had been working closely with Arthur
Hardy and when Arthur mentioned that
he wanted a piece for the Mardi Gras
Guide on the Krewe of Petronius for
their 50th anniversary, Wayne turned to
me. I had all the information after years
of research, including interviews with
Mickey Gil and George Patterson, so I
agreed. Arthur has been very interested in representing gay Carnival, and
I’ve written pieces almost every year
since then for him, all based on my
extensive research.
FP: Tell us about your upcoming
book. What motivated you to write it?
How long have you been working on it?
What is its scope?
HS: I must admit that my original
project was not a history per se. My
original plan was to write a fictional
work. No one had attempted to capture
the gay scene unique to New Orleans
and I wanted to show how we had
created our own world in New Orleans
before the onslaught of AIDS with gay
Carnival as a backdrop. This first book,
entitled The Cult of the Mask: The
Strange and Delectable History of Life
Among the Sybarites (unpublished),
ended in 1985 on the brink of this
precipice. Needless to say, publishers
were not so keen on anything like that
when I started over 16 years ago.
Times have changed and when I decided to gather together all the articles
I had written for the Mardi Gras Guide
and New Orleans Magazine, I put
together a new proposal and sent it out
to publishers as a genuine history of
gay Carnival from its inception to
present day. I was encouraged to keep
working on this project and it has evolved
into the first serious look at this history.
Unveiling the Muse: Gay Carnival in
New Orleans should be out by the end
of the year.
FP: I understand you have conducted an extraordinary amount of primary research. Tell us about the research process.
HS: I should write a book just on
the subject of historical research. Even
though I have a degree in history and
have studied various methodologies
for research over the years, I don’t
think I was prepared for quite such a
demanding and difficult task. Once I
had located many of the invitations and
documents concerning gay krewes, I
began to piece together a time-line for
gay Carnival. Next came a list of the
krewes and the people involved. This
was extremely difficult as names were
seldom ever printed in ball programs
for many decades, fearing police harassment or reprisals. Also many participants had died during the AIDS crisis or moved away from New Orleans
permanently after Hurricane Katrina.
For example, many of the programs for
the Mystic Krewe of Apollo had beautiful artworks signed with the name
“Joseph Talluto.” I looked on-line and
saw three possible names and addresses for Talluto in New Orleans. I
wrote to all three and luckily after a
couple of weeks I received a phone
call. It was Joseph Talluto’s brother
Russell and I interviewed him the next
time I was in New Orleans. I also used
to stay in the New Orleans Guest House
formerly run by Alvin Payne and Ray
Cronk, who just happened to be former
royalty from the Krewe of Petronius.
They were able to fill in many of the
early gaps in this history, and they
knew Elmo Avet, a key figure in organizing the first krewes. I also try and
substantiate any historical information
with at least two reliable sources. This
is not always possible, but it is imperative to have factual information when
compiling a history such as this, and not
rely on hearsay. Interviews with krewe
members were of critical importance
for this type of research, as you would
imagine, but memory is not always
perfect. I’ve found many times that I
had to go back and correct dates and
names when I’ve come across documents to verify the facts.
FP: What is the most surprising
thing you have discovered in your research?
HS: My most surprising revelation
was perhaps how interconnected gay
Carnival krewes were during the Golden
Age of the 1980s. Even before this,
many members were part of several
krewes over the years. Of course,
factions broke off and formed their own
krewes, but gay Carnival was a thriving
gay environment. In fact, they all got
together and formed the Uniboard
group, where representatives from all
the krewes would meet annually and
schedule all their fundraising events
and, more importantly, the tableau balls,
so there was no overlap. This year
sees two gay balls falling on the same
night. This would not have happened in
the past because of the expert planning
by the Uniboard
FP: How has Gay Carnival changed
over the decades?
HS: Gay Carnival has certainly
changed over the years. Originally, the
balls were spoofs and focused mainly
on drag and camp. But during the
Golden Age, krewes produced professional quality tableaux beyond expectation. There was amazing choreography, masterful set design, and elaborate costumes that took almost an
entire year to execute, with professional sketches and detailed scripts
written for each ball. Music and artifice
came together for a particular theme,
like the “blues” for example, and they
were spectacular presentations. The
Mystic Krewe of Celestial Knights’ 1983
ball “Symphony in Blue” was a stunning
masterpiece. Large memberships encouraged everyone to participate and
even those who could not afford grandiose costumes could appear on stage
as pages or attendants, which contributed to a more cohesive and top-notch
presentation.
FP: I think most people associate
the gay krewes with gay, white males,
but there have been / are lesbian and
African-American krewes. Can you tell
us a little bit about those?
HS: Gay krewes and their original
memberships mirrored the trends in
society during the 1950s and 1960s.
Although it was difficult, African Americans became part of the gay krewes as
gay bars and social groups in general
became more accepting. By the 1980s,
African Americans were participating in
older krewes, such as Amon-Ra, and in
newer krewes, such as Polyphemus,
which had two African Americans as
their first king and queen. The Krewe of
Somnus in 1981 was the first attempt
at an all-black krewe, but the krewe fell
apart early on. The Krewe of Mwindo
was formed in 1999 and is still going
strong. Based on an ancient African
legend, Mwindo celebrates black gay
pride with its mixed membership of
both men and women. The only lesbian
krewe was the Krewe of Ishtar also in
1981. New Orleans, as a gay haven in
the mostly conservative South, was a
magnet for lesbians and during the
1970s and 1980s there were many
exclusively lesbian bars in the city, and
even out in Metairie. This broad sup-
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port from thriving lesbian bars enabled
the founding of the first lesbian krewe.
The Krewe of Ishtar was an important
krewe during the 1980s but was also
impacted by infighting and AIDS, as
their attention turned to care giving and
fundraising for victims. By the late
1980s, Ishtar was gone and sadly the
lesbian bars have disappeared as well.
Today, I would applaud the Mystic
Krewe of Satyricon, founded by Mickey
Gil in the early 2000s, as an all-inclusive krewe, which no longer even has a
captain to plan its balls, but rather a ball
committee elected by members. This
new type of krewe could be the future
of gay Carnival, especially since they
have prospered and presented sensational balls over the years and continue
to maintain a diverse membership.
FP: What do see in the future of
Gay Carnival?
HS: Gay Carnival in New Orleans
has reached a crisis. Many people tell
me that gay Carnival has lost its creative edge and that secret organizations such as this have outlived their
importance, especially in light of the
social advances enjoyed by the LGBTQ
community today and, like it or not,
social media. Lackluster balls are only
part of the problem for the survival of
gay Carnival. There needs to be a
recommitment to continuing this tradition with a focus on what makes gay
Carnival unique. Presenting balls that
rehash local clichés may not be the way
to ensure longevity. Great balls of the
past channeled the fantastic and grandiose, such as references to Hollywood movies, French history, literature, cocktails, of all things, and
children’s stories. Albert Carrey in the
Krewe of Armeinius once presented a
ball with the survivors of the lost city of
Atlantis, not as people, but fantastic
creatures. Perhaps we should channel
the fantastic and dig deeper into our
gay past and explore more difficult
themes. The Radical Faeries for me
continue to be a great source of inspiration. They are homo-centric and antiassimilation and proud of it. For the
most part, I remain optimistic about
gay Carnival. I think people now realize
how important gay Carnival is to the
vibrant history of New Orleans, not as
something hidden and peripheral but as
an integral and unique facet of this
grand tradition. One thing that makes
me sure that gay Carnival will survive in
the long run is that younger gays are
beginning to become involved with gay
Carnival. Jacob Aaron Thomas, for
example, has been a strong force in the
Krewe of Petronius and has injected
vitality into the group with his unstoppable energy. This new blood will definitely have an impact and I want to see
more of this exciting spirit in all the
krewes, shaking things up a bit, but at
the same time honoring those who
made such sacrifices to begin with and
making a real contribution to this fascinating history.
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