Posts Tagged ‘drag’
You can always go… Downtown!
Thursday, May 13th, 2010
She is brushing a crimson polish onto her nails with breathtaking speed, all the while trying on pairs of high heels to match her fingers, the color of blood, and yet she still has the presence of mind to patiently answer my questions.
“We ain’t Nero fiddling while Rome burns, hon,” she is saying, puffing on her fingers to quicken the seal. “We are the party here. We’re setting the fire!” The other entertainers in the cramped dressing room hoot in agreement.
She is large, even by drag queen standards, and her make-up is a Technicolor explosion that makes little sense until she reaches for an enormous blond wig that dominates her dressing table. She pulls it over her head — utterly smooth terrain that a receding hairline has laid bare — and is transformed.
“She’s baaack …” she giggles in the mirror. “Betty Lou Overdue is back at ‘cha! Missed you, girl!” She poses and vogues to herself.
“So Betty,” I say, “how long has the club … been so exclusive?”
“Oh, lemme see now …” She grabs her compact and starts to brush her face again, like one of those Victorian paintings that has one masterwork on top of another. “When was it they pretty much announced there weren’t gonna be no cure? Like we didn’t figure out that one on our own. Five years ago? And then, well, things just happen on their own. People figure out their place, I do believe.”
A recorded overture begins outside the room. Applause erupts.
“Take a peek for me, hon?” she asks, and I step through the dressing room doorway, just backstage, and discreetly part velvet curtains. The cabaret room is a mass of men, all talking, drinking, laughing. Cigarette smoke, like London fog, hovers above their heads. They happily anticipate the end of the overture with more drink orders and dashes to the john.
And without exception, according to Ms. Overdue, every one of them is infected with HIV.
“You’re up or down,” Betty Lou had told me sternly, when I had first arrived and brought up the three-lettered term, “so forget the HIV word, hon. If you managed to keep away from it, you’re up. You caught it? You’re down.”
“But what about people who could still get it?” I had asked her. “It’s not as if this is a static thing.”
“Honey, it’s so static my dress sticks to my panty hose. New boys that get it just aren’t sticking to their own, like the nice boys here. They’re all humping, no doubt, but they’re carrying on with each other, you know? Hell, let ‘em be.”
I finished surveying the crowd and returned to the dressing room. “Packing them in, Betty,” I say. “So, tell me more before the show gets going.”
“Like what?” she asks. She samples feather boas from a stack in the corner.
“Condoms?”
At this, a thin black drag queen stops lip syncing to her mirror and leans over in my direction.
“Oh please, darlin’,” she says. “I’ve got more latex in my cheekbones then I’ve seen around here in four years.”
“But what about new strains? Multiple infections?” I look back and forth between them, their faces blank beneath Crayola colors. “Jesus, Betty.”
Betty reaches to an intercom by her table and presses a button. “Larry? Hon, mix that overture into the long version. I need time. Gotta tinkle.”
Groans can be heard among the performers. Betty Lou doesn’t blink.
“Shut up girls,” she says. She fixes her six inch eyelashes in my direction. “Look here, friend. You’re down too, ain’t that right?”
“Yeah,” I respond.
“Then welcome, baby.” Her expression changes and something more severe emerges. “But you cut the pissy propaganda with the ‘multiple’ this and ‘new strains’ that. You think I’m stupid?”
“But it’s downright…”
“Fatalistic?” she shoots back. “Think I don’t know what you wanna push on us? Maybe these men got low self esteem, how ’bout that? Or they’re all freaked from their friends dyin’, you think that might be it, Mr. AIDS know- it-all? Huh?”
“If they were educated about –”
“Like they don’t know. You don’t think they know about mixin’ strains? Like they never heard of the things you’re talking?” She makes an aggressive stab at her face with a powder puff and stands up. “Well baby, you are welcome to tell them that playing around might be — could be, can’t be proven but may be — dangerous. Tell them about the viral soup they’re cookin’, baby. You think it’s dangerous? I think it’s just delicious.” She leans over and wraps her boa around my neck and pulls me close. “And hon,” she purrs into my face, “they can guzzle it from a Snapple bottle for all I care.”
With that, Betty Lou Overdue stalks out of the room and onto the stage. The overture ends and a tribal roar ensues at her entrance. I leave the dressing room and slip into the crowd. The air is moist and thick with smoke and jubilation and body heat.
“Welcome, my babies!” Betty Lou cries, and they respond with more cheers. “Welcome to our sick little show!” An enormous neon sign appears above her, the name of the club, blinking in a gaudy, hypnotic red. “DOWNTOWN,” it says, of course. The cheers are raised another notch. Betty Lou basks in it. “We gonna get down, that right boys? Then let’s get some while the gettin’ is good!” A golden oldie whirls on and she launches into it, two hundred jubilant men at her feet.
I awake.
I roll over and find a dry spot on the sheets, trying to sleep again, feeling haunted by a nightclub. I drift back, and the trumpet strains of an old Petula Clark song reverberate through my head, reminding me of the looking glass through which I’d fallen, inviting me to return.
————–
I wrote this fifteen years ago, but was afraid to publish it online. The whole concept seemed perverse, or at least too bizarre to be taken seriously. But since then, “Serosorting” (HIV positive people seeking sex partners who share their status) entered our lexicon, and has been written and debated, and this story felt… almost quaint in it’s depiction of a serosorting horror show… don’t you agree?
Tags: aids, barebacking, culture, drag, recovery, Recreation, serosorting, Sexuality
Posted in Books and Writings, Gay Life, Living with HIV/AIDS, My Fabulous Disease | 1 Comment »
Positive Lite: Humour and Living with HIV
Monday, May 3rd, 2010
Brian Finch knows a thing or two about “humour” and HIV. As a fellow HIV positive gay man (and addict in recovery) he has applied his entertaining world view to serving as editor of PositiveLite, an uplifting HIV/AIDS oriented site, and to his personal blog, Acid Reflux.
The internet brought Brian and I together almost as soon as My Fabulous Disease launched, due to our obvious affection for mixing humor with our health challenges. This month, Brian interviewed me about my own site and what role humor plays in my recovery. He includes some fun links so I hope you’ll check it out.
Brian is Canadian but manages to be funny anyway. Most recently he went on a shameless, ego-crushing quest to win a meaningless (to most) prize from Kathy Griffin. Brian produced a video begging to win a contest for a personal meet-and-greet she was doing. He did everything in the video but film himself in the shower naked. Okay, he did that too. He lost the contest anyway.
Undeterred, Brian continues his blogging and produces a video series called “The Real Hags of Cabbagetown.” If you think his sense of humor is odd, you may be mildly disconcerted to know there are more like him, whom he features in the offbeat series.
Cheers, Brian!
Tags: A Place Like This, culture, drag, gay, help others, meth, recovery
Posted in Books and Writings, Gay Life, Living with HIV/AIDS, Meth and Recovery, News | No Comments »
Facing Change
Thursday, March 25th, 2010
I recently made the move from my beloved Atlanta back to Fort Lauderdale, and it’s been tough saying goodbye to my friends, my doctor and my support system. And the physical act of moving is hard. I’ve had to decide what is worth keeping and what to finally give up.
In this video episode, I share the personal reason I chose Fort Lauderdale over Atlanta (it wasn’t the weather). And since I never can resist absurdity, something a bit surreal happens along the way. When you’re packing alone, you have to converse with something. (Thanks to my set decorators, Jenifer and Bobbin.) Are you traveling light these days? Are you holding on to old items (and behaviors) that don’t fit anymore?
I always welcome your comments and feedback. My next episodes will cover finding a new doctor; talking to HIV- men; drug addiction; and of course, there’s plenty in store when I head to Vienna, Austria in July for the international conference AIDS 2010!
Tags: Aging, drag, family, gay, help others, hiv, meth, physician, recovery
Posted in Anita Mann and Acting Gigs, Family and Friends, Gay Life, Living with HIV/AIDS, Meth and Recovery, My Fabulous Disease | 3 Comments »
Anita came out to play last night…
Saturday, March 20th, 2010
Sometimes the old girl busts out of her shell (how she breathes stuffed in a gym bag in the back of the closet I’ll never know) and takes the stage. She got her chance last night, when my drag alter ego brought some laughs to a group of friends in recovery with her infamous TV set number. They responded with love and applause, so she happily withdrew to her musty closet until another time.
It reminded me of her earlier exploits, when the show “Anita Will Recover!” was produced for a sober event in Atlanta. The first few minutes of the show include a interactive media number and then a sit-down before Dick (my actual gay brother) strolls in to deliver some withering remarks.
The first time Anita hit a stage to benefit those recovering from drugs and alcohol, she was pursuing the title of Miss Pink Cloud in Atlanta. After having performed with The Armorettes for a couple years back in the 90′s, I was grateful to resurrect Anita for the purpose of helping others who battles the same demons as I have. The oldest video I have of Anita is with the Armorettes, performing an interactive video rendition of Funkytown with a special appearance by the incomparable Mary Edith Pitts.
Sometimes the message is carried without high tech props. As a writer, I think I may be most proud of Anita sitting down and reading “Twas the Night Before Christmas” at a sober fund raising event. Of course, this being Anita, the story wanders off to places your daddy never explored!
Tags: acting, drag, gay, gratitude, help others, meth, recovery
Posted in All Other Video Postings, Anita Mann and Acting Gigs, Gay Life, Meth and Recovery, My Fabulous Disease | 3 Comments »
Anita Mann performs “Funkytown” with the Armorettes
Saturday, March 6th, 2010
Back in 1997, while performing with The Armorettes (who still have a weekly show raising money for people with HIV/AIDS in Atlanta), I created the first of Anita Mann’s signature act with this, a fun house freak-out of a number, “Funkytown” (also featuring the great Mary Edith Pitts). Producing this number helped me become familiar with what I could do with interactive video, and eventually led to Anita’s famous TV Set number, which I still perform today at events for gays and lesbians in recovery.
Tags: acting, aids, drag, gay, help others
Posted in All Other Video Postings, Anita Mann and Acting Gigs, Gay Life, My Fabulous Disease | No Comments »
Anita Mann as “Miss Pink Cloud”
Saturday, March 6th, 2010
My drag queen alter ego first appeared while in recovery at this event, which raised funds for Hotlanta Roundup, an annual gathering of gay and lesbian folks in recovery from drugs and alcohol. Here, Anita vies for the title “Miss Pink Cloud,” and later in the evening performs her famous TV Set number. And yes, she won.
Tags: acting, drag, gay, gratitude, help others, meth, recovery
Posted in All Other Video Postings, Anita Mann and Acting Gigs, Gay Life, Meth and Recovery, My Fabulous Disease | 1 Comment »
Anita Mann’s infamous TV Set Number
Saturday, March 6th, 2010
Set to Nancy Lamott‘s “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore,” my drag queen alter ego battles herself locked in a TV set in this, her finest hour on stage. This performance was taped at a fund raiser for gay and lesbians in recovery from drugs an alcohol, since Anita (and I) are in recovery from crystal meth addiction.
Tags: acting, drag, gay, gratitude, help others, meth, recovery
Posted in All Other Video Postings, Anita Mann and Acting Gigs, Meth and Recovery, My Fabulous Disease | 4 Comments »
Drag and Gratitude
Thursday, March 4th, 2010
My drag alter ego Anita Mann comes out to play in this video episode from December of 2009, when she read “Twas the Night Before Christmas” at a fund raising event for gay and lesbian friends in recovery. Just remember: we all have gifts in our bag. Why did I waste so many years in crystal meth addiction when I could have been having this much fun?
Tags: acting, drag, gay, help others, meth, recovery
Posted in Anita Mann and Acting Gigs, Gay Life, Meth and Recovery, My Fabulous Disease | No Comments »
Oprah Comes Calling
Thursday, March 4th, 2010
In this episode of my ongoing video series, Oprah reaches out to touch… me! It leads to bittersweet memories of Louise Hay (the “Hayrides” of the 1980s in West Hollywood), and of my gay brother Dick and his partner’s struggle with AIDS. Also, I get an annual physical with Dr. David Morris.
Tags: A Place Like This, aids, drag, gratitude, hiv, Louise Hay, Oprah, physical, physician
Posted in Family and Friends, My Fabulous Disease | No Comments »
The premiere episode of “My Fabulous Disease”
Thursday, March 4th, 2010
In September of 2008, my video series “My Fabulous Disease” debuted on the best HIV resource on the net, TheBody.com. Here is that episode, which introduces me as a gay man in recovery living with HIV/AIDS.
Tags: A Place Like This, aids, drag, gay, hiv, meth, physician, Sexuality
Posted in Anita Mann and Acting Gigs, Books and Writings, Family and Friends, Gay Life, Living with HIV/AIDS, Meth and Recovery, My Fabulous Disease | No Comments »