Paris, Arizona

 

This one’s for my fellow Phoenicians: I was tickled to death when my old Arizona Republic friend/colleague Francine was able to find this 40-year-old menu from the beloved French Corner restaurant, which my brother Bill introduced me to in 1987, the same year I first visited the City of Lights to attend the French Open. (For my birthday that June he bought me my treasured Jaz Paris wristwatch.)

Although I can't confirm that it's gotten much better, Phoenix felt like a cultural wasteland in the 1980s to this aspiring poseur. So there was something extraordinary about stepping into this cozy bistro located in the Uptown Plaza -- North Central Avenue and Camelback Road, just south from the nearly as exotic International House of Pancakes(!) -- and pretending you'd been transported across the Atlantic. (Full disclosure: There may have been a beret involved.) 

Adding to the authenticity was the fact that unlike virtually every other place in the Valley of the Sun, the French Corner didn't check IDs, which meant my friend Kristen and I could get sauced before we'd turned 21 -- exactly what two angst-ridden New Wave geeks needed to survive in a 110-degree conservative hellhole.

I don't know how long the joint lasted -- I moved to Los Angeles in 1990 and was never there again. (I'm told it later became The Eggery.)  But this little blast from the past -- en français -- made my day. Please contact me if you ever visited. 

Such a step up from Caf' Casino, a French-style cafeteria near Los Arcos Mall in Scottsdale, that was a mandatory French class field trip in high school and college!

My precious watch from my brother, the first "nice" thing I ever received. xo

Song of the Day: 'Johnny, Are You Queer?' by Josie Cotton

This one's for my Phoenix brethren. (Ping me if you used to hang out at Gay Denny's!)  My friend Francine recalls "the 2 a.m. show at that one! Leather dudes, drag queens, drama!" I just remember you could feel all eyes on you when you walked in or went to the bathroom, it was so intense. It made me wonder if that's how straight people felt everywhere they went -- where everyone was a potential suitor. 

On the Rag, Vol. 524

A weekly look at what's making news in the gay mags:

Gay Times (U.K.): Jake Shears opens up about struggles with anxiety and depression

HotSpots: Broadway across South Florida

Get Out!: Sandra Bernhard does Fire Island

Dallas Voice: Dale Hansen looks back on the event that made him an iconic LGBT ally

Wang Chung’s Nick Feldman rekindles the ‘80s as part of a retro music tour

Metro Weekly (D.C.): In a city desperate for more LGBTQ spaces, former JR's manager Dave Perruzza stepped up to the plate: With Pitchers and A League of Her Own, he's knocked it out of the park

Grab (Chicago): Bravo to everyone participating in the AIDS Ride

QX (London): Beauty queen Alexandra Mae talks shop

San Francisco Bay Times: The legacy of Aretha Franklin will forever thrive in the Castro and beyond

Between the Lines (Detroit): Trans singer moved fellow Michigan inmates. Now? An album

Q Salt Lake: The fall arts guide is here

Echo (Phoenix): Phoenix bar owner Audrey Corley celebrates 15-year journey

How glam that they've put a gay bar in the old Park Central Mall!

It's a Dry Hate

It's not the heat, it's the stupidity. #TrumpPhoenix

Meanwhile, a transgender teen says she was attacked by a group of up to 20 people last week at a Phoenix apartment complex where she was at a pool with a friend. The mob called her homophobic slurs before attacking her as she tried to leave, yelling “get it, get it,” later sharing the video to social media. The Phoenix police are investigating the incident as a bias attack. More about the vile attack HERE.

UPDATE: People are saying the attack was carried out in "retaliation" for what this young woman had done to another girl, which was also filmed. Whatever the case may be, I don't think this is the best way to address the situation, although what can you expect when the county has been until recently overseen by a sheriff (now a convicted felon) who doesn't believe in following the letter of the law. Read HERE.

You WON! Why is this person still having "campaign rallies"? 

I simply will not watch him speak.

Song of the Day: 'By the Time I Get to Phoenix" by Gladys Knight and the Pips

I'm off to Phoenix today to visit my Southwest family members -- above all my mom, who has been in bad shape since my brother Bill's passing -- before spending the weekend in Vegas to celebrate turning 50 with four childhood friends who were also born during the Summer of Love. Tune in for the usual departments, plus a few surprises along the way ...

Tolerance, Interrupted

Heartbreaking but not entirely surprising to read that Phoenix's burgeoning LGBT Pride festival suffered a major setback when its own participants turned ugly on fellow parade-goers who had the audacity to use the event to raise ... LGBT issues. Read HERE.

On the Rag, Vol. 447

A weekly look at what's making news in the gay mags:

Out: These nine gay men prove that aging can be sexy HERE.

Get Out!: Get to know Jean Arsirii HERE.

HIV Plus: Meet 15 sexy HIV activists HERE.

Gloss (SF): Dustin Lance Black is looking to make America hopeful again / Read HERE.

Metro Weekly (D.C.): Read about the 15 LGBTQ black films everyone should see HERE.

GT (London): Nearly a third of Britons still think being gay is a choice / Read HERE.

The Gay U.K.: People are going gaga over Lloyd Daniels getting naked on Instagram. (Is it just me, or being hot a lot easier in Britain?) 

QX (London): Meet young rapper Karnage HERE. 

DNA: Spend your cheat day with Matt HERE.

Echo: Arizona LGBT+ History Project to present archive additions at spring event / Read HERE.

Grab: Falcon star Seth Santoro could start Chicago's next big fire! Read HERE.

Out in Jersey remembers George Michael HERE.

Outlook Ohio: Sen. Rob Portman may not actively discriminate against his gay son, but he certainly does against Democrats / Read HERE.

Winq: Ross Watson’s erotic male artwork to be exhibited for Sydney Mardi Gras / Read HERE.

Evan Mecham High

After initially trying not to know the details of this disgusting story of six Phoenix girls -- who go to the high school that is a stone's throw away from my parents' Ahwatukee abode, so it was literally a little too close to home for me -- I was somewhat relieved to learn that they hadn't specifically gone out and had those shirts made up just to spell out the N-word, but in fact had gotten together (let's hope spontaneously) on the side for this "hilarious"photo op, (Sigh.) However, that the shirts were actually made up to assist in spelling “Best You’ve Ever Seen Class of 2016" guarantees their place in the Irony Hall of Fame.

Valley Fever?

When a friend recently asked me for suggestions of things to do in Phoenix, I realized my parents' move years ago to halfway between the Valley and Tucson had rendered me pretty clueless. Even when I rented a car, I never strayed very far, always wanting to spend as much time as possible with my parents and my sister's family in Chandler.Would be curious what my Arizona readers have to say about the list I came up with -- and what they would recommend as well.

Here's what I said:

Green-chile burros with guacamole at Carolina's is something you should do. 

Some light mountain climbing is fun on Camelback Mountain and/or Piestewa Peak (known as Squaw Peak when I lived there -- damn liberals!). 

Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright's winter home, is cool. There's so much FLW architecture all around where you're staying, too.

People love the Desert Botanical Garden.

Will you be there April 3? The First Friday Art Walk thing goes on downtown on Roosevelt Street, which was a haven for tranny hookers when I lived there. (Danny Bonaduce remembers, too!)

Jobot is a cute coffee place (in an old house) downtown

Lux is said to be good, too. 

I loved AZ88 back in ... 1988. (Waffle fries!) 

Changing Hands was my favorite bookstore when I was a kid -- where I nabbed copy of "The Joy of Gay Sex" in the used section (eek!). The location I knew and loved -- in Old Town Tempe -- is long gone. But I hear they have recently added a new location on Camelback downtown as well as the strip-mall replacement in Tempe.

The Musical Instrument Museum might appeal to you. 

The Arizona Biltmore Hotel is spectacular -- maybe have dinner there. The Biltmore Fashion Park is right there, if you're in the mood for overpriced shopping.

Sadly, the Breck Shampoo Hall of Fame is long gone ...

Readers: That's the full list. Feel free to straighten me out in the comments, or email me HERE.

Ride Me, Cowboy

From Echo magazine's look back at the history of LGBT culture in Arizona. They forgot my arrival in 1979!

1957 

George Quaintance (1902–1957) was a gay American artist, famous for his stylized homoerotic images that appeared on covers of ’50s beefcake magazines, such as Physique Pictorial. Near the end of his career, he lived in Phoenix and took inspiration from his surroundings. Wild West settings were a common motif, and his artwork was instrumental in creating the modern stereotype of the “macho stud.”

Read HERE.

Dry Humor

And people wonder where I learned to sleep until 1 p.m.!