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It’s been almost 30 years and despite challenges from thousands of hilarious contenders, Rita Beads remains my all time favorite drag name. Rita was a hairy chested, butch mustached, roller-skating, pregnant nun sort of drag queen, back in late 70’s Orlando. The reason Rita Beads is such a funny name is probably sadly lost to most of you, but the …

It’s only the first day of June and I’ve already had more than enough hot. New York is just miserable during the summer and it’s a freakin’ 2-3 hour science project just to get to the beach. Not that I enjoy beaches all that much anyway, with my fishbelly complexion. Ten years in Fort Lauderdale and I probably went to …

West Village, Summer 2004 It’s a beautiful afternoon. My friend Andy and I are killing an hour ambling around the shops on Bleecker street, wasting time before a show. Across the street, I spot a drag queen pulling off a spectacular Mary J. Blige impression. Big wig, big glasses, big bling, big Louis Vuitton handbag. I’m so impressed with how …

My book debut comes this July 28th, in the forthcoming Carroll & Graf anthology, From Boys To Men: Personal Essays Of Gay Coming Of Age. Rather than a traditional collection of coming out stories, “In these memoirs, coming out is less important than coming of age and coming to the realization that young gay people experience the world in ways …

On a sunny day, New Yorkers are not above plopping themselves down just about anywhere to catch some rays, like this rather leathered old biddy who chose the pedestrian overpass of FDR Drive at 71st Steet. I guess the noise and exhaust of the 6-lane highway beneath her isn’t a bother.

This weekend is the annual messy, sloppy, sodden gathering of gay bloggers in NYC. I stole this naughty graphic from Chris over at See My Briefs, who has an amusing listing of the schedule of activities. I’m looking forward to seeing a lot of familiar faces from around the country and hoping to meet some new ones. Btw, blaggle? What …

So here’s my dilemma: Do I go see the Al Gore’s global warming documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, and come out with sharply detailed information over which to obsess and worry? Or do I not go see the movie and merely continue with this vague, unfocused sense of dread?

Big weekend. Big in every way. Saturday: Up early and out for the Superbowl of gay rugby, the Bingham Cup. Emerging from the 6 train up in Harlem, Eddie and I ran into podcaster/tough guy Mike P and blogger hottie Bryce of Plastic Music, and we joined the curious mix of locals, ruggers and gay rugby groupies waiting in line …

Canada’s upcoming high-profile gay wedding between two members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is beginning to cause some stir in Canadian government, as Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s office has issued a gag order warning Conservative members of Parliament to make no comments on the wedding to press. Harper is probably just really sick of hearing “Brokeback Mounties”. (- via …

Sports journalists are calling bullshit on televangelist Pat Robertson’s claim to be able to leg-press 2000 pounds. CBS Sportsline columnist Clay Travis says: “There is no way on earth Robertson leg presses 2,000 pounds. That would mean a 76-year-old man broke the all-time Florida State University leg press record by 665 pounds over Dan Kendra. 665 pounds. Further, when he …

A lot of the guys I saw at the Bingham Cup are of surprisingly normal size. I even saw a few guys that were rather tiny. But some of them, hol-ee cow, thems was some mooses! This guy picked up little Eddie like a sack of Puppy Chow.UPDATE: Eddie suggested that I add this picture to get a better idea …

“An exciting range of shampoo and conditioner formulated especially for beards, but it’s great for the hair on your head too!” – Bear Wash, a new product listed as “coming soon” on the XXL site. Does it also leave back hair soft and luxurious? Bear Wash, coming soon in exciting fragrances such as Musky Moonlight, Potato Salad Surprise, and Yesterday’s …

Fire, Fire IslandIt’s a funky weekendA funky funky weekendDon’t go in the bushes (Don’t go!)Don’t go in the bushesSomeone might grab ya!Someone might grab ya! –Fire Island, Village People, 1977 Summer season commences today and already the morning 6 train was noticeably empty. The destination of choice for the A-Gays continues to be Fire Island, a place I’ve only been …

It looks like a battle is brewing between two of the nation’s largest leather events, as SF’s Folsom Street Fair, now in its 23rd year, has filed a petition to cancel the trademark of New York’s Folsom Street East, about to celebrate its 10th year. I suppose there’s no jurisdiction to revoke the trademark of Toronto’s Folsom Fair North. (-via …

Tuesday night, I attended the 2nd Annual Images In Advertising Awards hosted by AOL at Time-Warner’s swank headquarters above Central Park at Columbus Circle. Produced by the Commercial Closet Association, whose mission is to “educuate and influence the world of advertising to understand, respect and include LGBT references in advertising”, it was a typically fun night of open bars, schmoozing …

Troubled Diva, aka music journalist Mike Atkinson has a great piece in Slate called America, Meet The Eurovision Song Contest , in which he explains to us Yanks exactly how this year’s event, hosted by Greece, went down. My English coworkers are always amazed at how utterly unknown Eurovision is in the U.S., other than as a footnote to die …

If you are in NYC for Pride Week, I invite you to attend this year’s Pride edition of WYSIWYG, the monthly queer bloggers showcase, where I will perform with a fun cast including haikuist/go-go boy/composer Joel Derfner, who totally upstaged me in last year’s show with a song about sperm donation. Joining Joel and me will be my hilarious pal …

Tonight there was a young punkish girl with purple hair sitting in a wheelchair outside the main entrance of Grand Central. She was holding a sign that said: “Will Code HTML For Food”. This town.

Not to get all Gawker Stalker on you, but in the last couple of weeks I’ve seen the following celebrities hoofing it down Gotham’s sidewalks: Frank Gifford, Jon Stewart, Jeff Goldblum, Jackie Mason, Jane Fonda, Moby, Harvey Keitel, Lorraine Bracco, Chris Carrabba (only recognized him because of his tats), Star Jones (who has a really weird neck) and (most importantly) …