The Pridelets Files for September 16

On this day in 2004, having been fined $1,229.09 and convicted of misdemeanor harassment for dumping 3 tons of manure along the planned gay pride parade route in Conway, Arkansas, cattle farmer Wesley Bono suggests that "I didn't do this as a hate crime. If I was going to do it as a hate crime, I'd get it done." Bono pleaded innocent "insisting he was utilizing his constitutional right to free speech," ... "Under the first amendment-- a man is allowed to protest. That's what I was doing. (Besides) A guy fertilizes for free. What should he get?"

BIRTHGAYS (and the occasional straights)
* 1856 German artist and "First Photographer of the Male Nude" Baron Wilhelm von Gloeden
* 1887 - Music teacher Nadia Boulanger
* 1926 - "A Separate Peace" author John Knowles
* 1934 - "West Side Story" actor George Chakiris
* 1949 - Activist / priest Kathy Piccard
* 1954 - novelist Michael Nava
* 1980 - "First Hand" magazine -- "Because talking about sex is important."

Q.UOTE
"We undressed and he kissed me. It was the first time in my life that a kiss meant what it was supposed to mean - it sent me through the roof. I was like a man emerging from 44 years in a cave to taste pure air for the first time, feel direct sunlight on pallid skin, warmth where there had only been a bone-chilling numbness. I pulled him to the bed and we made love like I'd always dreamed: a boastful, passionate, whispering, masculine kind of love." -- Ex-New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey, on the first sex he had with the man for whom he'd ruin his political career

THE BEDSIDE TABLE
"Gay-2-Zee: A Dictionary of Sex, Subtext, and the Sublime" by Donald F. Reuter
If you've ever wanted to know the origins of the gay meaning of the word pansy, the slang term Twink(ie), or the phrase, Mary, dont ask, then girlfriend, you're in luck. Gay-2-Zee is the absolute go-to guide (dont call us anything as dull as a dictionary) for all things said from a queer perspective. Lavishly illustrated in two-color throughout, Gay-2-Zee explores the gay dialect in twenty-six alphabetical sections with entries that include definitions, provenance, and which section of the gay community is most likely to use the term, including: Cinderella:One who does not keep the usual late-night gay hours. Dont bother asking Cinderella to join: He needs to be home, in his bunny slippers, by midnight. dash:A small amount; One who shows apparent signs of gayness. Id say hes more like a dollop than a dash in that outrageous chartreuse top. Gay-2-Zee compellingly makes the case that language, especially a vernacular born out of secret, coded communication, can tell a provocative and enlightening tale of turmoil, compassion and fortitude of the history of homosexuals all done with plenty of laughs.

This work is copyright© 2006 Thomas Allen Heald, all rights reserved. Contact the author at tom@idontgetit.org and the latest column are always available at www.Pridelets.com.