Cockettes Forum at NYC Gay Center
I was back East last week visiting with my family and assorted pals, including the crazy surviving gang from the Cockettes.
For those not yet alive in the 1960s, or those who were and lived through those turbulent times but can't recall them, or anyone unfamiliar with the old gay sub-culture, the Cockettes were a gender-bending, drug-loving, sex-adoring troop of performers. Based in San Francisco, where their theatrical acts were radically altering lifestyles and social norms, many of the Cockettes now live in the NYC area.
On June 5 at NYC's gay community center, in the same assembly room where ACT UP met in its heyday, a room still not wired for air-conditioning or good ventilation, the remaining Cockettes put on a forum. They, and the fawning audience, took a fun-filled, and factually-challenging, given all the drugs and competing egos, sweaty and steamy walk down memory lane.
Click here for the Cockettes video web site, which has a history of the glam guys and gals. I hope you enjoy my photos from the Cockettes symposium:
Wow that is so fantastic. I was there that legendary night at the Anderson when The Cockettes failed -- but the event succeeded anyway. What a night! I sat between Robert Rauschenberg and Helmut Berger.
ReplyDeleteThey Cockettes merge into everything of that era - the triumph and the tragedy. Hibiscus (along with Klaus Nomi) were the unwitting Cassandras of the AIDS epidemic.
ReplyDeleteHaha, crazy stuff. Those types of performers are regulars at most gay clubs in my city now.
ReplyDeletethanks to all NY friends and fans who made us all feel so welcomed. It was great to perform for a NY audiance and feel all that love.
ReplyDeleteHope to see you soon again.
Dolores DeLuce