PART 2 of JustCircuit.com's NYC Pride weekend series
Destination NYC Pride: Drinking Rot-Gut Vodka and Going to WORK by Mickey Weems
Day Two began with a brunch with the FindFred.com crew in Chelsea. Afterwards, I took a short walk to Christopher Park, the triangle of land that sits across Christopher Street from the Stonewall Inn.
For you babies who don’t know, Gay Liberation (and Circuit parties along with it) began in the wee hours of June 28, 1969 when Gay patrons, drag queens, butch dykes, and Straight-allies finally had enough of police oppression. They fought back with sticks, bricks and pocket change representing briberies that cops demanded from Gay bars. The riots were transformed into what we now call Pride parades.
I went to Christopher Park to take pictures of the Gay Liberation Monument (bronze sculptures of four people: two men standing together, and two women sitting together) and the actual Stonewall Inn.
A documentary was being filmed about the statues. The two women who posed for the statues were there, sitting on either side of them! Some 30 years later, they still look like their images.
I asked the people making the documentary if I could take a picture of the women with their statues. When she found out that I am the chief editor of the upcoming Encyclopedia of Gay Folklife, I was asked if I wanted to interview them myself. Well, yeah!
It was a great experience. But there was trouble brewing.
Some of the local characters that frequent the park were making loud noises, fighting amongst themselves. I had the impression that some of the locals were displeased with a camera crew coming into their favorite place to relax, then pushing them around. To me it seemed like they had a point. The camera crew wanted certain benches emptied, sound levels lowered, and were totally polite. But those of us who have worked with filmmakers before know that they can sometimes get testy if the background noise or intrusion of unwanted images get in their way.
I went over to three very loud people and offered to buy them a beer at Stonewall, hoping to give the camera crew a break. Instead, we went to a nearby liquor store and bought cheap vodka and clear plastic cups.
When in Rome…
We ended up having a total party, with music blasting, people dancing, and more fun than I’ve had with my pants on in a long time.
As the sun went down, I took a nap and prepared for WORK with Peter Rauhofer at the Roseland Ballroom. We departed for our destination about 11 pm, just as the space was filling up.
The Roseland has changed for the better since last I saw it in 2002. It had been transformed from a run-down nostalgia to a real hot spot. The cavernous space had been artfully carved up so that its immensity had a nice intimacy to it. For the first time, my ears were not cringing from overloud and under-quality sound.
But THE LIGHTS!!!! Three shiny concentric circular frames housed a series of powerful colored that made DC’s former Nation nightclub pale in comparison. For those queens who want to read me for filth for not being up-to-date on the latest in Clubland, I’ve not been back to Manhattan since 2001, so I am playing serious catch-up.
I spoke with Paul Marin, lighting genius from Australia, about it. He showed me a series of pictures of other light installations he had worked with before. Fabulous.
Hitting the dance floor, the crowd was easy-going, even as it packed in. Only about half the boys had their shirts off, once again signaling that this generation was setting its own rules when it comes to required conformity in our tribe.
I still till 4 pm. The music was flawless. More to come.
