Tag Archives: Gay Pride

WATCH: Bette Midler’s Final Performance At The Continental Baths in NYC. (1971)

In the late 1960’s Steve Ostrow opened the Continental Baths in the basement of the landmark  Ansonia Hotel, which at one time was home to such greats as Caruso, Stravinsky, and Toscanini.

Famous for its lavish accommodations, the Continental Baths was advertised as being reminiscent of “the glory of ancient Rome.” The impressive features of this bathhouse included a disco dance floor, a cabaret lounge, sauna rooms, an “Olympia blue” swimming pool, and clean, spacious facilities that could serve nearly 1,000 men, 24 hours a day. (And many patrons did!)

One gay guide from NYC in the 1970s described the Continental Baths as a place that “revolutionized the bath scene in New York.”

An extra added attraction at the Continental was the first-class entertainment provided by performers such as Melba Moore, Peter Allen, Cab Calloway, The Manhattan Transfer, John Davidson, Wayland Flowers, and Madame and Bette Midler, who began her career by performing there with Barry Manilow in 1972.

Despite Midler’s constant complaints about “that goddam waterfall,” her poolside performances were so successful that she soon gained national attention, beginning with repeat performances on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

Many of those who were fortunate enough to see Bette’s early bathhouse shows attest to the fact that her greatest achievement in show business took place the night she convinced the otherwise shy Barry Manilow to accompany her on the piano while wearing only a white towel, which was considered “proper bathhouse attire.”

As the popularity of the cabaret shows increased, a wide variety of entertainers were invited to “give it up” at the Continental Baths, including the soprano Eleanor Steber, who gave a “black towel” concert there in 1973.

The list of visitors to the Continental Baths read like a “who’s who” of the entertainment world, from actors, singers, artists, and producers, to the mafia and even the Metropolitan Oper. They all paid a visit either to see Bette or have some fun.

And for those unfortunate souls who never descended into that legendary basement bathhouse, the Continental Baths were able to come to them in the form of the highly popular Continental Baths towel, which was sold by Bloomingdale’s department store at the height of the club’s fame.

During this period even the mainstream news talk show The Pat Collins Show broadcast live from the club. In one segment, Pat sat by the pool and interviewed proprietor Steve Ostrow while nude men, apparently indifferent to the television cameras, went splashing  (WCBS-TV received only one complaint about the program.)

Below watch one of Bette Midler’s final performances in its entirety at The Continental Baths. (With Barry Manilow on the piano of course)

Apologies about the quality of the videos below but it’s a miracle that it exists at all

Setlist:

“Friends”
“Fat Stuff”
“Chattanooga Choo-Choo” (Andrews Sisters)
“Superstar”
“Empty Bed Blues” (Bessie Smith)
“Marahuana”
“For Free” (Joni Mitchell)
“Easier Said Than Done” (The Essex)
“Chapel Of Love” (The Dixie Cups)
“I Shall Be Released” (The Band)

PRIDE Anthem 1998 - "BELIEVE" by Cher.

PRIDE Anthem 1998 – “BELIEVE” by Cher.

“Believe” debuted as the lead single on October 19, 1998. “Believe” was written by Brian Higgins, Stuart McLennen, Paul Barry, Steven Torch, Matthew Gray, Timothy Powell and Cher, and was produced by Mark Taylor and Brian Rawling. “Believe” departed from Cher’s pop rock style of the time, adopting an upbeat dance-pop style. It featured a pioneering use of the audio processing software Auto-Tune to distort Cher’s vocals, which was widely imitated and became known as the “Cher effect”. The lyrics describe empowerment and self-sufficiency after a painful breakup. Harkening back to an earlier PRIDE Anthem, by Gloria Gaynor: “I Will Survive.” 20 years earlier.

TRIVIA: The song, recorded and released in 1998, peaked at number one in 21 countries worldwide.[On January 23, 1999, it reached the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached number one on the chart on March 13, making Cher the oldest female artist (at the age of 52) to perform this feat.[Cher also set the record for the longest gap between number-one singles on the Hot 100; there was a gap of 33 years and 7 months between her singles “I Got You Babe” and “Believe” reaching number one.[

Ladies, Gentlemen, and Whoever you choose to be: Cher.

Gay History – June 17: Liberace: ‘I’M NOT GAY!’, Barry Manilow, Walter Mondale, and NYC Funeral Homes Refuse AIDS Victims.

June 17:

1883 – Birth date of Mauritz Stiller, the Finnish film director. Stiller was Greta Garbo’s discoverer, mentor, and friend. Tall, lean, gay, with a shock of hair and long expressive hands,  Stiller, was not only gay but a flamboyant man about town…One of Stiller’s most important relationships was with Nils Asther, the Danish actor.  Stiller was in demand in the film industry and his price to come to Hollywood was a contract for the then pudgy Greta Gustafsson.

1943 – Birth date of Barry Manilow, American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, entertainer, and performer.  Manilow stayed in the closet for many years, but his sexual orientation was an open secret in the music industry and among the Friends of Dorothy.  When Barry Manilow finally did come out in 2017 at the age of 73,  it really didn’t really matter and was a shock to no one.  

1948 – Anthropologist Ruth Benedict who advocated cross-cultural and racial equality died on this date. She is best remembered for her works on the national character of various cultures including several Native American tribes, and her most famous work on Japan, The Chrysanthemum and the Sword.   Benedict was a sometimes lover and lifelong friend of fellow anthropologist Margaret Mead.

Benedict held the post of President of the American Anthropological Association and was also a prominent member of the American Folklore Society. She became the first woman to be recognized as a prominent leader of a learned profession.

After Benedict passed away Margaret Mead kept the legacy of her lovers work going by supervising projects that Benedict would have looked after, and editing and publishing notes from studies that Benedict had collected throughout her life

1959 – On this date a London court awarded pianist Liberace $22,400 in damages against the “London Daily Mirror” for implying that the flamboyant entertainer was a homosexual by referring to him as a “mincing ice-covered heap of mother love.” The case went to trial, and when Liberace was asked by his own counsel whether he was gay. Liberace said no, saying: “My feelings are the same as anybody else’s.  I am against the practice because it offends convention and offends society.”

Our only guess to how Liberace won the lawsuit is that the jury was both blind and deaf. 

1976 – In Toronto, the Coalition for Gay Rights in Ontario presents a brief “The Homosexual Minority in Ontario” to the Ontario Human Rights Commission.

1977 – Vice President Walter Mondale angrily left a San Francisco Democratic fund raising event when his speech on human rights in South America was interrupted by a man who demanded to know when he would speak in favor of gay rights. Members of the newly formed San Francisco Gay Democratic Club held up signs demanding a statement on human rights in the United States. The club was created by Harvey Milk.

1981 – Sen. Roger Jepson (R-IA) introduced the Family Protection Act in Congress. It specified that anyone who was homosexual or openly supportive of homosexuals could not receive student aid, social security, or veterans’ benefits; and regulated what public school textbooks could say about human sexuality. It never passed, and Jepson lost his bid for re-election when it was revealed he had a membership at a brothel.

1983 – New York State Funeral Directors Association announced its members would not embalm the bodies of those who had died of AIDS.

From The New York Times: “The state’s largest such group, urged its members yesterday not to embalm victims of AIDS until the government issues guidelines for safe handling of such cases. Governor Cuomo characterized the action as “unfortunate.” He said he had asked state officials to investigate all legal remedies “to insure that the civil rights and human dignities of AIDS victims’ families are not compromised.”

It was HELL.

1985 – Johnny Greene was fired from his job with McDermott International Inc. after writing an article for PEOPLE magazine about his own suspected case of AIDS. “They just walked in and said, ‘Get the hell out,’  Green said. “I hope they were acting out of panic or confusion, not belligerence or homophobia.”

Immediately after being fired, PEOPLE magazine hired Greene and put him under contract to report on the AIDS epidemic.

1989 – Jessie Portis Helm, a columnist for Gentleman’s Quarterly, died 

1990 – Twelve US marines attacked three gay men outside The Remington bar(pg.4) on Capitol Hill, leaving two of them unconscious. Two of the marines were fined $400 and confined to their barracks for 30 days. Despite witness accounts that several of the marines chanted,Kill the fags,” Marine officials ruled that it was not a gay bashing but a bar brawl.

1990 – Mayor P.J. Morgan of Omaha, Nebraska declared the week of June 17 as “Understanding Our Differences, Respect All People Week.” Though in coincided with gay pride week, he received criticism for not mentioning gays and lesbians in the proclamation.

2005 – On this date the U.S. Roman Catholic Bishops agreed to a five-year extension on their unprecedented policy of permanently barring sexually abusive clergy from church work.  They did not take the opportunity to stop scapegoating gay clergy for the institutional church’s misdeeds. – Obviously the barring of sexually abusive clergy did not work. 

2006 – An estimated 2.4 million people took to the streets of Sao Paulo to celebrate the Brazilian city’s 10th annual Gay Pride parade.The record attendance — the largest in the world, according to organizers — topped 2005’s official crowd count of 1.8 million, and was a far cry from the 2,000 people who took part when Sao Paulo’s first Pride was held a decade ago. Some revelers dressed up as Batman, Elvis Presley, Cinderella or Marie Antoinette; others as gay cowboy lovers Jake and Heath from “Brokeback Mountain”.

WATCH: “Everyone’s Just A Little Gay” A Musical Tribute by Taryn Southern & Ross Everett

After the past month leading up to the Ides of Trump we are all a bit overloaded with news about the ungreat orange one.  So we just wanted to post something to bring the GAY back to Back2Stonewall.

So watch and smile below at Taryn Southern & Ross Everett of the YouTube talk show Party Fun Times as they celebrate PRIDE with the musical number “Everyone’s Just A Little Bit Gay”

On a personal note I’ve always found this to be especially true after a six-pack and a joint.

Gay History - August 14, 1961: Police Raid The Tay-Bush Inn in S.F. The Largest Gay Bar Raid in S.F. History

Forgotten Gay History – March 8, 1970: The NYC Snake Pit Bar Raid. 167 Arrested, 1 Critically Wounded

March 8, 1970:

Many people don’t realize it but the raids on gay bars by the New York City Police Department didn’t end with the Stonewall riots in the summer of 1969. In fact the raids continued, virtually uninterrupted with some continuing on into the late 1970’s and early 1980’s.

On March 8th. 1970 at about 5:00 am in the morning the NYPD once again led by Officer Seymore Pine raided the Snake Pit, an after-hours bar at 211 West 10th. Street in Greenwich Village. Pine showed up with a fleet of police wagons, and arrested all 167 customers mostly all gay men, staff, and owners and took them to the station house, which violated police policy.

One patron, Diego Vinales, panicked. An immigrant from Argentina who was in the country illegally, he feared what would happen to him in the police station and tried to escape by jumping out a second story window. He landed on a fence below, its 14-inch spikes piercing his leg and pelvis. He was not only critically wounded, but was also charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. As paramedics attended to Vinales, a cop told a fireman, “You don’t have to hurry, he’s dead, and if he’s not, he’s not going to live long,”

“You don’t have to hurry, he’s dead, and if he’s not, he’s not going to live long.”

Viñales was eventually cut loose and taken to St. Vincent’s Hospital. he survived after spending weeks in the hospital and when released moved back to Argentina.

The Gay Activist Alliance immediately organized a protest for later that night. A pamphlet publicizing the protest read, “Any way you look at it, Diego Vinales was pushed. We are all being pushed. A march on the Sixth Precinct will take place tonight, March 8, at 9 pm, gathering at Sheridan Square. Anyone who calls himself a human being, who has the guts to stand up to this horror, join us.” 

A silent vigil will occur immediately following the demonstration.” Nearly 500 people showed up for an angry and loud but peaceful protest protest to the precinct station on Charles Street, followed by a vigil at St. Vincent’s hospital where Vinales lay in critical condition.

Rep. Edward Koch, who would later become the Mayor of NYC accused NYPD Commissioner Howard Leary of green-lighting the resumption of raids, harassment, and illegal arrests against the gay community. Both Leary and Seymour Pine was reassigned to the Flatbush section of Brooklyn.

Gay Activists Alliance and Gay Liberation Front quickly assembled a protest march, the results of which demonstrated the strength of the recently formed gay rights organizations and inspired more people to become politically active setting the stage for the first Christopher Street Liberation Day (Pride) March 3 months later on the first anniversary of Stonewall Riots.

Never Forget   

*WARNING:  Graphic image below.

23-year-old Argentinian immigrant, Diego Viñales, apparently got scared and jumped out the precinct window and was impaled on an iron fence.

57+ LGBT Candidates Are Running For Congress

Exxon/Mobile Bans LGBT Rainbow Pride Flags

Exxon Mobil Corp. plans to prohibit the LGBT Rainbow Pride and rights flag from being flown outside its offices during Pride month in June prompting an immediate backlash.

Via Bloomberg:

Exxon updated company guidance on what flags can be displayed outside its offices, banning “external position flags” such as PRIDE and Black Lives Matter, according to the policy seen by Bloomberg News. In response, members of Exxon’s PRIDE Houston Chapter are refusing to represent the company at the city’s June 25 Pride celebration, according to an employee group email.

“Corporate leadership took exception to a rainbow flag being flown at our facilities” last year, Exxon’s PRIDE Houston employee group wrote in the email Thursday. “PRIDE was informed the justification was centered on the need for the corporation to maintain ‘neutrality.’” 

“The updated flag protocol is intended to clarify the use of the ExxonMobil branded company flag and not intended to diminish our commitment to diversity and support for employee resource groups,” Tracey Gunnlaugsson, vice president of human resources, said in a statement. “We’re committed to keeping an open, honest, and inclusive workplace for all of our employees, and we’re saddened that any employee would think otherwise.”

Sure Jan.

Watch Rare Video Footage Of NYC’s First Gay Pride March – Christopher Street Gay Liberation Day 1970!

 

 

CHRISTOPHER STREET 1979:

This is when the Pride Parade had no floats, no go-go boys, and topless Dykes on Bikes. That would begin to happen in the next two years. It was then a parade of people.  Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered. All ages, sizes, and colors walking and marching side by side together for our rights.

A first person account as told by Fred Sargeant

“Getting everyone together for the Stonewall anniversary march proved to be a challenge. In the fall of 1969, the Eastern Regional Conference of Homophile Organizations met in Philadelphia. Two women, Ellen Broidy and Linda Rhodes, were instrumental in getting a resolution for that first march passed. New York Mattachine was the sole holdout.

After months of planning and internal controversy, the Christopher Street Liberation Day Umbrella Committee negotiated with more than a dozen very different gay organizations. One of the largest hurdles was which group would have the honor of heading the march. It was only when Craig and Michael Brown, who’d arranged for those first permits, decided that each group would have one representative was the matter finally settled. Even the question of a chant was endlessly discussed—the winner: “Say it clear, say it loud. Gay is good, gay is proud.” Craig and police brass worked out a glitch over permits for the parade and the post-parade “Gay-In” in Central Park’s Sheep Meadow only moments before the events began.”

Say it clear, say it loud. Gay is good, gay is proud.”

This is our history.  And let us never forget it.

 

 

 

 

Armed Neo-Nazis Protest At Detroit Pride Festival

Armed Neo-Nazis Protest At Detroit Pride Festival

Armed Neo-Nazi protesters with police escort marching through downtown Detroit during the Motor City Pride festivities. NSM
[The National Socialist Movement] members from across the country reportedly traveled to Detroit to take part in this anti-Pride demonstration.

The Independent reports:

In Detroit, an armed white supremacist group called the National Socialist Movement (NSM) descended on the annual Motor City Pride Festival, where they held placards, gave Nazi salutes and displayed armbands with swastikas.

Photos from the event, which was attended by thousands of LGBT+ supporters, showed a group of around 10 neo-Nazis marching surrounded by police officers.

Dressed in black with a number carrying firearms and shields, the NSM marchers tore apart pride flags and pushed over at least one counter-demonstrator. One even appeared to urinate on an Israeli flag. (pictured above)

D.C. Pride Parade Erupts In Panic After Reports of Gunshots.

D.C. Pride Parade Erupts In Panic After Reports of Gunshots – VIDEO

Washington, D.C’s., Pride Parade erupted in panic late Saturday after the sound of gunfire caused parade participants and spectators run and to cover from what they believed to be an active shooter.

Cmdr. Guillermo Rivera of the Metropolitan Police said police were responding to a call of a man with a gun. As they approached the scene, they encountered people who said shots had been fired.

The panic appeared to stem from a person showing a weapon in an “altercation” on Dupont Circle. The person with the weapon was apprehended, the police officer said, and police tweeted out that the “threat has been contained.”

Rivera said there was currently no evidence that shots were fired.

Seven people were taken to hospitals with minor injuries, and others were treated on site the commander said. Other people were treated at the scene, in Washington’s Dupont Circle.

Police are reviewing recordings to try to determine what the noises were and if shot were actually fired elsewhere in the crowd.