.My name was Doug/Dana..
I have many wonderful memories of those days..
That was a time when drag shows were fierce and the queens were legendary. From 1978 through 1981 I saw many queens come and go..but at Renes you had to be either very talented or beautiful to work in the shows.
During those years I worked with Tiffany Arieagus “who was my personal favorite”. Tiffani Middlesexx, I was there when Rene brought her in from I think it was Ohio I could be wrong but he took her under his well seasoned wing and Boom she was Miss Florida.
Heather Fontaine, Coquina Chell, Eve Star, Sandi Cher, My beloved Kim Ross,
Erica Andress and Mellissa Mason, Tissy Malone, Gerri Day, Dana Douglas ‘the blonde goddess” Chena Black, Chena Kelly, Candi Stratton, Patti Cakes, Chelsea Hazel, Lakesha Lucky “the dancing Dynamo” Mohagany. I remember when Mahogany would be out by the pool before she got her start @ Rene’s and would do mini drag shows by the pool she wore rene down till he finally let her get on the stage and she tore it up and then went on to become Miss Florida and Miss USA. Bobbie Lake worked there for a short time she was basically what we called a Goya girl as was Gilda Golden who worked at Rene’s Briefly as well. The Goddess Roxanne Russell made guest appearances she had moved to Cali..When they would have the Chocolate Coffee and tea show that starred Arieagus, Kim Ross & Hot Chocolate the lines to get in would be around the club..That show was amazing.
The bartenders were Denis Dorado, Reno, Jerry Powel, Don Paxon, Curry Stevenson and others I cant quite remember at the moment and of course Rosie aka baby pussy ” which I named him in 1978″ who worked at the kikiki recently.Lady Tiffany would work the door “she was a hot mess” but a dear.
Eddie Coin worked the door at times in the early days and then the beloved Fruity the lesbian that wanted to be a gay man. “loved her”
It was a most magical time and if anyone from those days is still kickin and would like to contact me please do so @ DaynaDaDiva@aol.com. I would love to have a Rene’s reunion.
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Lambda
The Greek Lambda symbol was another commonly used Gay Rights symbol prior to the Rainbow Flag, and was the sign of the Gay Activist Alliance.
The First Flag
The first rainbow flag made its debut at the San Francisco Pride Parade in 1978. Designed by San Francisco artist Gilbert Baker, the original flag was hand-dyed and consisted of eight symbolic colors: Hot Pink (sexuality), Red (life), Orange (healing), Yellow (sunlight), Green (nature), Turquoise (magic/art), Blue (serenity/harmony) and violet (spirit).
‘Gay’ Becomes Okay
The first gay rights group to use the word ‘gay’ in their name was the Gay Liberation Front, which was formed In the immediate wake of the Stonewall Riots. Whereas previous organizations, such as the Mattachine Society and the Daughters of Bilitis, had deliberately chosen obscure names, the GLF believed directedness was necessary, as exemplified by a slogan on one of their fliers: “Do You Think Homosexuals Are Revolting? You Bet Your Sweet Ass We Are!”
Annual Reminders
Although the Pride Movement did not galvanize until after the Stonewall Riots, there were a handful of gay rights demonstrations prior to 1969. The most direct link to the early parades were Annual Reminders. Every fourth of July, beginning in 1965, homophilic groups would picket Independence Hall in Philadelphia to inform and remind the American people that LGBT people did not enjoy basic civil rights protections. After Stonewall, picketing seemed too pacifistic, and Reminder organizers instead helped plan the first Gay Liberation parades. Photo via ericbeato at Flickr.com
Island-Long Pride Flag
The longest Rainbow Flag used in a Pride celebration was unfurled in Key West, Florida, for the flag’s 25th anniversary in 2003. Dubbed “25Rainbow Sea to Sea,” the 1.25 mile long flag stretched across the entire island, traveling from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf Coast Sea. Following the celebration, the flag was cut-up and sent to Pride celebrations around the world.Photo via torbakhopper at Flickr.com
Pride in Sao Paulo
With an estimated 3.5 million attendees in 2011, Sao Paulo, Brazil, hosts the world’s largest Pride parade. For more information about Sao Paulo Pride, check out their site.
Floating Floats
Amsterdam hosts the only Pride parade whose floats literally float on water, as 100 decorated boats travel through the city’s famed canals.
Loner South Africa
South Africa is home to the only Pride celebrations on the African continent. Two of the most notable are in Johannesburg and Cape Town. The inaugural Joburg Pride parade was held in 1990 with fewer than one thousand participants but has grown considerably throughout the years, with over 20,000 participants in 2009.
Giant Flag
In 1994, Baker led the creation of a mile-long Rainbow Flag, to honor the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. The Guinness Book of World Records recognized it as the world’s largest flag.
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Gay Students Graduate Openly at Military Academies
BigGayNews.com
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Gay students at America’s military service academies are wrapping up the first year when they no longer had to hide their sexual orientation, benefiting from the end of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that used to bar them from seemingly ordinary activities like taking their partners openly to graduation events.
For the first time, gay students at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis were able to take a same-sex date to the academy’s Ring Dance for third-year midshipmen. The U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., officially recognized a club for gay students this month. And gay cadets at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., are relieved they no longer have to worry about revealing their sexuality.
Several gay students from the nation’s major military academies said the September repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” an 18-year-old legal provision under which gays could serve as long as they didn’t openly acknowledge their sexual orientation, meant significant change.
“For the most part, it allows us to be a complete person, as opposed to compartmentalizing our lives into different types of boxes,” said newly commissioned Air Force 2nd Lt. Dan Dwyer, who graduated from the Air Force Academy on Wednesday. West Point held its graduation Saturday, and the Naval Academy’s was set for Tuesday.
Official recognition by the Air Force school in May of the social club Spectrum means gay students there won’t have to meet underground anymore.
Students and gay alumni also say the repeal is creating professional benefits by opening doors to mentorship possibilities. Being open about their orientation gives students and experienced military personal one more common experience that can foster a mentoring relationship, they said.
“That’s what makes this type of networking a little bit more meaningful in our lives, because they’ve gone through the same thing and, yeah, it’s great to have that family. It’s great to have that support,” Dwyer said.
Dwyer did not know that a gay alumni group of academy graduates even existed before repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell.” On Thursday, Trish Heller, executive director of the academy’s gay alumni group called The Blue Alliance, swore him in as an Air Force officer.
“That was all based on the networking and mentorship relationship from Blue Alliance and Spectrum that would not have happened before, because we just didn’t have that much of a presence and that much of a connection with the cadets,” Heller said.
At West Point, the alumni gay advocacy group Knights Out was able to hold the first installment in March of what is intended to be an annual dinner in recognition of gay and lesbian graduates and cadets. Cadet Kaitlyn Kelly was among the dozens of cadets who attended the privately sponsored dinner. The 22-year-old Chicago resident was finally able to openly introduce her civilian girlfriend at an event marking 100 days before graduation.
“It was a remarkable thing for me, because I had taken her to previous things … but I had to do the ambiguous, ‘Oh, she’s my best friend,’”
Kelly emphasizes that she had always been respected by her fellow cadets and officers at West Point and that changes in her day-to-day life have not been dramatic. But both she and fellow graduating cadet Idi Mallari said the repeal lessened their stress.
“My friends and I, we were so relieved that we didn’t have to worry about that. Where we might not have necessarily worried about it 100 percent, it was still something in the back of your mind that you kind of always have to watch your step,” Kelly said.999999999
Mallari, who was awarded a Purple Heart during his prior service in Iraq as a combat medic, said everyone at the academy has been accepting, with just a couple of exceptions.
“I think it has to do with the fact that we’re here at West Point and everybody here is just a little more educated,” said Mallari, a 26-year-old Chicago resident.
In Annapolis, a gay couple attending the U.S. Naval Academy and their classmates posed for a photo in front of the academy’s Bancroft Hall with a dozen heterosexual couples for the Ring Dance, when students in their third year receive their class rings.
Midshipmen Andrew Atwill, of Fulton, Ky., and Nick Bonsall, of Middletown, Del., said they received many compliments for bravely standing out in a way students had not before, and they did not receive any negative feedback from attending together.
“Because they made us feel so comfortable for going to the dance with each other, we didn’t have to worry about any negative consequences,” Atwill said.
