Get the Dish with Miss Priscilla Pride!
by Miss Priscilla Pride

Well kids it’s a New Year & a new beginning! 2003 will hopefully be exciting, fun-filled and just loaded with PRIDE events that make our Long Island GLBT community as well as our national community proud! We just came out of a momentous December... SONDA was passed in NYS by a vote of 34 to 26 in the NYS Senate... YEAH!

Now we have to work together with those in our Transgender community for their rights. I truly understand their fight, but for the 30+ years struggling to get SONDA passed, I know the Transgender community realizes that by pushing to get the bill to include Transgender now could have meant another 30-year struggle! We need to take all the gains we get and build on them... so now the Transgender community should sit down together and decide what needs to be done. They should invite the rest of the Long Island PRIDE community to a series of meetings across the Island to let us know how we can work together for equal rights for the Transgender community (please dears asking someone from Nassau to travel to Suffolk and visa versa in this community is like asking a camel to go through the eye of a needle... one hump or two... it’s no small task if you catch my drift). So a few meetings across the Island would be nice.

I know it’s still too new and the pain is there, but I think that we should try to work together. I hope some of you do too... let the Transgender community know that you are at least willing to listen to their side of the issue before deciding to dismiss them. I just don’t get it... we keep saying we are the GLBT community and I have read some discussion about adding several other initials, such as ‘Q’ for questioning... well dears, my point is, should we not be listed with as many initials as possible to embrace the many groups within our community? After all, we all have one common cause: ending discrimination based on sexual identity! How that’s handled and how each group makes their cause(s) known is another issue.

Yet Priscilla asks: aren’t specific Lesbian issues different than Gay issues and doesn’t the same hold true for Bisexuals as well as Transgender? We all may not agree with all the issues/causes of each group. We should respect the right of any group to have a cause, especially if that cause rises out of ending discrimination! What was 1969 all about?

The Drag community (a group within our Transgender community) played a pivotal part in our community’s most momentous occasion... Stonewall 1969... Sooo, don’t we at least owe the Transgender community the right to be heard? I believe we do! We may not agree with all of their issues, but in the spirit of brother/sister hood and in the name of uniting with PRIDE, let’s stop all the bitter clawing and scratching, the rehashing of who voted what and when in the past... who cares... let’s just start here and start now to see what we can do for a better future!

I had to get that off my chest so to speak! This size 54 is ample enough to hold a lot and then I just explode! Now before you all get too involved with those New Year resolutions... you know... the gym, dieting, remembering to take that Prozac the doctor ordered... you know those things we need to do but hate to do so we can have a better 2003. I reflected on 2002 and thought, “Hhhmmm, Priscilla, our Long Island GLBTs took part in some pretty nifty stuff this past year!” And then I thought about the yucky things that happened and realized that at times I just wanted to say to those who had a hand in them... ”What the hell were you thinking?”

Sooooo, to that end I decided to add my views and reviews to the mix of the many best and worst lists America has right now... of course none will have my style nor elocution... my flair for the dramatic yet pointed view... many have tried but none can ever compare! So I am giddy with PRIDE to announce the premiere of a regular January Priscilla column! (The reason this column is appearing in February, not January is due to the editor -- (me) not, Priscilla -- Ed.) Ready? Hold on to your wigs and grab onto those chapeaus. Don’t let those skirts fly up like Marilyn in the 7 Year Itch and open your eyes because it is time for:

For those involved with the HOT stuff... I applaud you all! For those involved with the not so HOT, I offer, “Please think before you act!” Well I can only hope that 2003 will be a year more HOT than NOT!

January -
WHAT WAS HOT...
PRISCILLA PRIDE is back in print! News reports have hit the airwaves that Priscilla survived a horrendous tornado. It seems she was struck by some flying furniture in the windstorm and it knocked her out... Hhhmmm... sounds familiar... while Priscilla was in her deep sleep induced coma she recalled her being caught in a place filled with lies and innuendo about the Long Island GLBT community and Priscilla knew she had to get back to basics and to home! Anyway... once Priscilla awoke she was quoted as saying to her new PM Parlee boss, “Oh Auntie Bill, there’s no place like a well-read home! There’s no place like a well-read home! I have a home now where I can write about all the worthy GLBT non-profits and their fund-raising events. Oh Auntie Bill if I ever go looking for another place besides PM Parlee and Licktheweb, just bitch slap me hard!” Auntie Bill looked out the window and saw neighbor Louis Trapani, Licktheweb.com creator, heading over to see how Priscilla fared in the storm! Auntie Bill told Louis what had just occurred and the two said in unison, “Don’t worry ‘Scilla, if you ever stray we’ll just hit you hard and remind you from whence you came!” And the three went on to a happy year!

February -
WHAT WAS HOT...
LIGALY (Long Island Gay and Lesbian Youth) held their 1st Annual MARDI GRAS and it was a HUGE success! Many community leaders such as Al Lawrence, Barry Jones, Jim Coppola, Jim Pizzo, Ken Shanahan, Fred Schieferstein, Lester Borenstein, Michael Wade, Walter Jackson, Bill Borman and several members of the L.I. Ravens MC, as well as, Long Island Pride Parade Committee members attended this sizzling extravaganza! PANDORA’s VOX played for most of the evening and LIGALY supplied a DJ as well! The food was simply scrumptious and everyone had a hot, jazzy, beady time!

This event rivaled all those New Orleans (or NawrLeans as my southern sisters say it) fetes.

I’m told we can expect a hotter time at the 2003 Mardi Gras!

Another fun event took place during February... Miss Auntie M’s Pageant! The event raised money for Auntie M’s Helping Hands Inc., a worthy non-profit (filing for 501 c 3 status in 2003 so they can gain access to more grant money... YEAH!!) that helps other worthy organizations in their fund-raising efforts within our Long Island GLBT community. The 12 winners from the Miss Auntie M’s monthly contests runwayed, sass-shayed and displayed their finery in an evening that rivaled any Miss America pageant. Princess Janea took home the crown and all who attended had such a grand time! We are all looking forward to the 2003 event!

March -
WHAT WAS HOT...
Those hot, leather men from the Long Island Ravens M.C. held their annual X-Rated Leather Ball within a weekend extravaganza that snapped and sizzled with pizzazz and zing! The event was well attended and many community group leaders were in attendance.
The Ravens are such staunch supporters of our Long Island GLBT community non-profits and community members. Some of the money raised by this worthy group throughout the year is donated back to community non-profits through grants. The Ravens also holds an annual Toys For Tots campaign and are just there whenever we need a need hand.

Their home is the L.I. Eagle and you can always find out about their upcoming events by going to website, www.liravensmc.org, or by calling (631) 665-9027.

They are moving the event to a new place in 2003, so be sure to look for the details!

YeeHAA, Long Islanders into country line dancing and country music have their own group... The Long Island Wranglers! Rope and tie me and brand me HAPPY! These guys and gals know how to host a real country style ho-down and they have a foot-stompin’, rip-roarin’ good time too. Check them out on http://members.aol.com/blueskyfox/index.html and look at their calendar of events! Ride’em cowboys and cowgirls!

April –
WHAT WAS HOT...
LIGALY had a very important visitor! Maxine Postal, that great gal and Suffolk County Legislator and friend to the Long Island GLBT community, visited the youth at LIGALY!

Maxine spoke about how she stands up for our community’s rights in her job through bills she has proposed and supported throughout the years. She also spoke about ending discrimination and how the youth can fight for their rights! YOU GO GIRL!

The Gay & Lesbian Switchboard of Long Island brewed up a lot attention and attendees at their Coffee House fund-raising event! The entertainment was spectacular... Michael Bonti, Dennis Milone and Estrogen, the brews wee hot and the night was a sheer delight!

A NITE OF ELEGANCE continues their tradition of FABOO fund-raisers for their organization with SINGLETONS, an evening fun and frolic for singles and couples! This group always posts their events through li-pride yahoo groups, so if you’re not Internet connected (come on kids and get into the new millennium of the worldwide web... it’s not that scary!), find a friend who is and ask them to keep their eyes out for all the elegant events each month!

May –
WHAT WAS HOT...
Long Island youth at LIGALY gets a command performance from female illusionist extraordinaire... MIRKALA CRYSTRAL... the kids loved the show! Mirkala, chosen to be one of the entertainment acts at the PRIDE FESTIVAL in June, performed a few numbers and chatted with the over 100+ attendees of the Friday Night Social LIGALY hosts each week! The kids loved her and who wouldn’t... she is only one of the hottest LATIN divas Long Island and NYC have right now. She taught Charo how to Coohie-Coochie and trained Gloria Estefan on how to be a hot Latin hoochie (all in good clean fun of course!).

Stony Brook Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Alliance - the oldest alliance of its kind... its inception was 1974... announced some wonderful happenings amongst their growing population of LGBT students, faculty and staff on Stony Brook University’s campus. One milestone event they felt most proud about was the construction of a 20-foot long wall, celebrating the diversity that exists within our community. The wall highlights about 50 LGBT individuals from the present and the past. Contact them via email at SBLGBTA@aol.com to find out about upcoming exciting events! You go east enders... now if only I can get more information from other PRIDE groups further east... listen kids, send me any information you have and I will contact the groups myself so I can report on their doings and fixings!

June –
WHAT WAS HOT...
The 12th Annual Long Island Pride Parade & Festival In The Park... the parade committee outdid themselves this year... kisses and hugs to those guys and gals who worked tirelessly in 2002 for us and made our annual PRIDE celebration meaningful, fun and just down right enjoyable! 2002 saw “banners” across two streets in Huntington, for the first time and from now on, announcing our PRIDE event. I was so afraid some of my drag sisters with high hair might get caught in the banners but luckily no disasters occurred. The Parade Committee worked with Legislator Jon Cooper, Huntington Town Supervisor Frank Petrone and The Huntington Chamber of Commerce and it paid off... more businesses opened Parade Sunday 2002 than ever before, the Chamber set up their own review stand for the first time to welcome parade marchers to Huntington allowing the parade float to be closer to the bulk of the spectator crowd, more groups and marchers took part in 2002 than any year in Long Island’s 12 year history with new groups such as the NY Spirit Cheerleaders and Gay & Lesbian Big Apple Corps Marching Band and most important were the presentations made by Jon Cooper and Frank Petrone to the parade committee at the Rally – both Huntington and Suffolk County officially proclaimed the 2nd Sunday every June as Long Island Pride Day! Yeah!!!!!! I get teary, weepy just thinking back to that day and how much fun it was. Seeing the close to 1,000+ marchers and even more spectators and all the businesses open to serve those spectators who lined the route... it makes my heart full! I know the committee is working even harder for 2003, especially with the Huntington Chamber to convince more businesses to open, but no one can force anyone to do what they don’t want to, plus banks and some other types of businesses just don’t operate on Sundays! But with the 4 lane wide streets, the 12 year history with Huntington, the much more solidified bond with the Huntington Chamber, Town Supervisor and Jon Cooper... 2003 parade organizers have assured me that Long Island PRIDE will remain in Huntington! YEAH!

The Parade Committee had a milestone itself in 2002... Executive Director, Jim Pizzo, announced at the 2002 Rally that he would still be an Executive Board member with the committee but that the new leader for 2003 was unanimously decided... EVA SANCHEZ – Executive Director... I am welling up again kids... it’s the first time in the committee’s history that an out lesbian takes the helm and we all applaud the committee for this move... it’s time has come and to EVA I just have to say... YOU GO GIRL! I know that all past Executive Directors from the previous 12 years are cheering and supporting you, as they know you and the 2002/2003 committees will do Long Island Proud!

LIGALY once again is in the news... the 2nd Annual PROM for the kids was held June 7th and the 2002 event made everyone aware that it’s place in PRIDE month events is solid as a rock! NEWS 12 Long Island broadcast a live feed for their 10 PM telecast, WKTU 103.5 FM broadcast live the entire evening and we all witnessed the premiere of The LIGALY DANCERS! They also performed 2 days later at the 12th Annual Parade! The kids looked stunning and had a lot of fun and frolicked in their frocks! Many noted notables from the Long Island GLBT non-profit community attended in support of this event... GALFOLI (Gay and Lesbian Foundation of Long Island) and PARADE COMMITTEE Board members, NCGay Dems too and many, many more! Kudos to LIGALY’s staff for this event and the hard work they do for the kids!

July –
WHAT WAS HOT...
OUT IN LI held their 2nd Annual Summer Bash and it was a tremendous success. These 20+ guys and gals are so sweet and really are working hard at showing us all that they are a formidable Long Island PRIDE group! Their website, www.outinli.com, is simply divine and informative so take a peek and see what events are coming up!

Another powerful and active noteworthy youth group is PRIDE FOR YOUTH! Based in Nassau County the staff work so hard for the kids in Nassau and Western Suffolk. One fun night per week is their Friday Night Coffee House! Long Island Crisis Center's Pride for Youth Project provides education, outreach, and supportive services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth and their families. They serve the region of Nassau County and Western Suffolk County. Funded primarily through the New York State Department of Health, Pride for Youth's services are free and confidential. Their professional staff works with young people and their families to help young people negotiate the difficult process of coming out as a LGBTQ adolescent (for those questioning what does “Q” stand for, just that dearies... Questioning! I learned the new community initial myself and it makes perfect sense... now we’ll see how long it takes to become a wide-spread accepted part of our national community!) Write them at info@prideforyouth.org for more information and to see what fun events they have planned!

Auntie M’s Helping Hands Inc. held a FASHION SHOW in July sponsored by Auntie M’s bar and Romantic Fantasies of Babylon (they feature the latest styles in beachwear, leatherwear, club-wear and men’s lingerie-wear... the only question people are asking is, “Why Is My Soul Mate NOWHERE?”) It just takes time kids, but there is fun in finding that special someone! The show was a huge hit!

FIRE ISLAND sizzled once again as Long Island’s HOT SPOT for the summer season. Yes, things are changing... changing... changing. And yes, it’s not the same and Cherry Grove especially is in an evolutionary phase, what with Michael’s gone and The Bay Leaf never opening! But boys and girls I predict The Grove will bounce back and be better than ever... don’t give up hope! We all still flocked there though and the Cherry Pit was a happening place once again. Okay, so many might not have been happy that the owners started a new Thursday night event... PORN STAR NIGHT... but I saw many Long Island GLBTs there and the place was packed... lesbians too! I also knew someone would be smart enough to take up the breakfast gap suffered with the loss of Michael’s and that new morning chi-chi place is FLOYD’S... the owner, Brett, must be commended for making a whopping 1st season splash and we can expect only more excitement in 2003! Both The Pines and The Grove had their shining moments this season and some not so gleaming, but all in all it was another season of sand, surf, sun, smut and torrid romances! The trauma/drama of another season was in full swing and by July one gets all the players settled in one’s mind and then we watch as the play unfolds which climaxes with Miss Fire Island in September. So boy and girls, keep the faith and know that Long Island Homo/Lesbo heaven, FIRE ISLAND, is not gone... it just is like most of the construction sites on Long Island, signed with the saying... PARDON OUR DUST WHILE WE MAKE THE CHANGES WE MUST! Give the Island of Fire another try in 2003 and you’ll see the difference!

August –
WHAT WAS HOT...
GALFOLI launched another successful DOCK OF THE BAY! This event still remains the #1 community fund-raiser netting annually $15,000-$30,000 depending upon the economy and other factors beyond the group’s control. For those who may not know, DOTB started with the AIDS FOUNDATION of LONG ISLAND (AFOLI) and now is run by the Gay and Lesbian Foundation of Long Island (GALFOLI). Long Island GLBT 501 c 3 non-profits can apply for grants and the money raised by GALFOLI is given back to the community groups through these grants! The GALFOLI board, led by President - Barry Jones (Mr. Silent Auction himself), work hard throughout the year planning Dock Of The Bay and other events so they can raise as much money as they can to serve the community as possible! What was always known as THE event of the 90’s has eminently entered the millennium and placed its stamp on the new century with Dock Of The Bay smashing successes in 2001 and 2002! The crème de la crème of the Long Island GLBT community were spotted at the 2002 event: Helen from Club 608, Tommy from Thunders, Michael & Eugene from The Bunkhouse, Peter Barnett from Blanche; Tom Maligno, David Kilmnick, Robert Vitelli, and Yvonne Wildner from LIGALY; some Long Island Ravens M.C. members; Lester Bornstein and Michael Wade and many, many more! The food this year was great... they went back to a good, old-fashioned BBQ... reminded me of those days at TARA and Scarlet... ahhh! Visit the GALFOLI website at www.galfoli.org and see how the non-profit you volunteer with can qualify for a grant and check out the other cool things on the site as well!

September –
WHAT WAS HOT...
LIGALY bought signed the deed on a building in Bay Shore! More on that in the next month where I report on the much-anticipated “ribbon-cutting” soiree!

The Bunkhouse boys, Larry/Michael/Eugene, held their annual MISS LONG ISLAND PAGEANT! This year the competition was fierce and the field of contestants was broader (every pun intended) than ever! Kenny Dash was the hostess with the mostest! The bar was packed and the contestants strutted their stuff in front of the most distinguished judges’ panel! The winners were: Lady Ivana as Miss Bunkhouse and Miss Gay Pride Long Island, Ariel Sinclair as Miss Long Island and Campiest! Held each year on the Labor Day weekend Sunday, this event always signified the unofficial end to summer and the beginning of another season! KUDOS once again to those men of The Bunkhouse, they know how to make a drag gal feel good!

Nassau County Lesbian and Gay Democrats founder Bill Borman is elected to the Nassau County Human Rights Commission. Some republicans dared to question our Mr. Bill’s credentials and with the help a letter writing campaign and Mr. B’s supporters throughout the political community... by a vote of 19 (10 Dems and 9 Republicans) Bill was elected on 9/23. He becomes the first openly gay person to serve on the Commission! Bill’s public service record for us Long Island GLBTs is unparalleled and just simply a sterling example of leadership in action!

October –
WHAT WAS HOT...
Marriage and Equality Expo held by Marriage and Equality of New York vowed to be an annual event. Although the 2002 event was not as strong as 2001, the organizers plan to hold one each year. With the economy in the doldrums they must realize that things will pick up soon. It is an important event for those planning “the” event of their lives! Visit them at www.marriageequalityny.org and find out their events other happenings in 2003!

The Parade Committee howled and stirred the fund-raiser pot with their 1st Annual Halloween Dance. Over 175 Long Island GLBTs dressed up (and many were first-rate costumers) for the event. All had a faBOO time!

LIGALY held their GRAND OPENING ceremonies with a series of events in October for the new LIGALY Community Services Center at 34 Park Avenue in Bay Shore! Politcos, staff, the youth and members of the community all were present to witness this momentous occasion. News 12 Long Island covered the event and I just have to say... great job David and staff! You all do Long Island youth and their families PROUD!

Forevergreen’s 6th Annual Breast Cancer Fund-raiser was a tremendous success. All involved made this event another rousing success. The auction, gaveled by none other than Sharon Gillen, raised beaucoup dollars! Camille and her organizers are just the sweetest and caring people and I love them! You are all my soul sisters and the money raised will go far to help with research and care in the fight to eradicate this most dreaded disease!

November –
WHAT WAS HOT...
The Long Island Ravens M.C. hosted the final Mr. Leather 2003 event and it snapped and sizzled with the hot entrants all doing the Long Island leather community and bars proud. This year the final event gathered all the winners from the recently held bar events and it translated into an exciting competition. Winner, Frank Burdi – representing the L.I. Eagle, looks so hot on the Ravens website... not bad in person either... check him out and also find out more about 2003 Ravens events... go to www.liravensmc.org!

Hollywood GLAM hit Long Island with the Long Island GLBT Film Festival... Huntington’s Cinema Arts Centre was all a-twitter with paparazzi and film makers while the Long Island GLBT community attended in record numbers, according to Film Fest Board Prez – Stephen Flynn. I attended the Sunday films and was thrilled to see that Legislator Jon Cooper handed off a Proclamation to the Film Fest Board for their hard work and dedication to bringing informative, controversial and entertaining GLBT films to Long Island! Look to their website for information about the 2003 event: www.liglff.org.

December –
WHAT WAS HOT...
The 7th Annual Winter Ball hosted by the Long Island Pride Parade Committee rang in the holiday season with a BANG! Our community always supports this event but this year it seemed to be just ever more special and festive! Always held on the first Sunday each December, this year’s event did fall on World AIDS Day. Exec. Director EVA SANCHEZ took the advice from her Public Relations committee and offered a moment of silence at the beginning of the evening in memory of our brothers and sisters who passed from the dreaded disease! Some of Long Island’s leading AIDS activists (cutie-patootties: Gregory Noone, Bill Borman and Stephen Sebor to name a few), attended the event and joined everyone in remembering those with us in spirit. Part of remembering those no longer with us is to realize that when they were alive, they too knew how to celebrate life in the moment! Checking in with The World AIDS Day event planners for Long Island, I found that they had a Faboo attendance at their Monday, December 2nd event at the Huntington Hilton. It seems it just made so much more sense for everyone to move the activities to a Monday, and it worked too since over 300+ people attended this year. The Worlds AIDS Day planners indicated that the Parade event taking a moment of silence was very apropos and appreciated!

The Winter Ball is one of many annual events that allow our gorgeous GLBT community a chance to get together, raise some hell, catch up with those not often seen and kick off our pumps and have some fun! We know that the Parade Committee always works hard throughout the year to raise money so that the annual PARADE & FESTIVAL IN THE PARK is filled with PRIDE for all!

POLITICAL NEWS!
December also saw a milestone for the NY GLBT community... NYS Senate passed SONDA (Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act)! Now we are waiting for Pataki to sign it into law! It took over 30+ years and there still is some rancor about the non-specific inclusion of Transgender in the bill, but it is an important milestone in our fight for the end of discrimination against our community! Now we have to work together to help the Transgender community obtain their goals!

And now for the WHAT WAS NOT... in 2002!

I have one thing to say... WHAT IS NOT HOT AND WHAT WAS NOT HOT are all those lists and articles reminding us of what mistakes we all made. Why beat a dead horse I say! We are all reasonably intelligent adults and we all know basically ‘right’ from ‘wrong’. We all make mistakes at times and we all know one when we see it. Dears, it could that sent email or the words we hear ‘directly’ that are inappropriate or a written letter filled with lies and half-truths. Hell, when Mr. Blackwell comes out with his list of “worst dressed” I want to scream at him and say, “Mr. B., do you think the we don’ have any fashion sense at all and need you to remind us who looked good and who did not? PLEASE... stop giving these fashion faux pas(es) another exposure... once was more than enough!” So too with our own GLBT errors of judgment! I don’t think it wise to ever give any more credence to those not working for LONG ISLAND PRIDE by even the mere mention of the obvious blunder!

You all know who did the deeds that did not do our community Proud! You also know those who do work for our community and always further the Long Island PRIDE cause. We will all continue to support them and their efforts!

So let’s start 2003 with a hearty hello, a big smile and let’s roll up our sleeves and fasten our seatbelts... it’s a bumpy ride for Long Island PRIDE but we are most effective when we all work together and respect each other in all that we do!

I can’t wait for what’s in store for the New Year! I am giddy with excitement!

Ta-ta for now you PRIDE angels and remember to keep reading, keep smiling and keep up the good work for Long Island PRIDE!

Love
Priscilla!

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