Key West New Year, 2010
Posted: Friday, January 01, 2010
by Gregory Lewis
PopGnosis
"Watch a drag queen named Sushi in a big red shoe for New Year's? Why not?" I ask myself, "Why not take advantage of the unique culture where I choose to live?" Since moving to the Florida Keys in the fall of 2008, I challenge my old fogieness every opportunity I get. Being raised in a stiflingly conservative climate, I grew up around people who acted "old" their whole lives. Now they really are old, and they have missed out on so much that it makes me sad for them.
Before joining the throngs on Duval St., where all the action is I mingled among the thousands crowded onto Mallory Square to watch the last sunset of '09. This was the famed Sunset Celebration. And what a sunset it was. My camera died earlier in the year, and I felt a little left out as digital cameras were raised everywhere to capture the minutes leading to the disappearing sun. I asked one gentleman if he could email his photo to me, where I could post it in this article. It never arrived. Alas, the fickle fortunes of technology.
Sunset Celebration on Mallory Square is a veritable circus of tightrope walkers, gymnasts, painters, guitar players, sword swallowers, and silver, bronze and gold painted mimes and trained dogs, among others, who all perform for tips. They would be on their finest form this night; their hats brimming over with green.
Still, there was plenty of time to kill afterward, so I bought a cigar from a stall on Duval and bicycled my way to the AIDS walk pier, sat on a bench looking out at the Atlantic Ocean and the blue moon in ethereal contemplation. Magical and symbolic, I imagined how my loved ones and I separated by thousands of miles are supernaturally connected by sharing the same moon.
As the evening progressed I returned to Duval St., where I locked my bike and walked. For a street one mile long to be so congested with so many drunks and little to no violence is remarkable. Pastor Fred Phelps had his man on the street, too, holding up his "God Hates Fags" and "God Hates America" signs. Police were stationed near him, for obvious reasons. This guy garnered a lot of attention. Many gawkers coalesced around him for pictures. A few gave him the finger, but most just laughed. At one point I heard a cop say, "Don't do it! Don't do it," apparently to one of the revelers who was about to do something that might potentially land him in jail. This poor, pathetic, brainwashed clone, I thought about the unkempt, bearded man with the signs. What a fun-less waste of human potential, tricked into following someone else's evil dream.
Last year I video recorded the dropping of the Great Conch from the roof of Sloppy Joe's. I wrote about that here on SearchWarp. This year I was determined to see the spectacle of Sushi the drag queen being lowered in a big red shoe.
As spectacles go, this one did not disappoint. I stood landlocked in a sea of people from 9 o'clock till shortly after midnight. Between hours was full of entertainment, including scantily clad males, and a number of singing drag queens. The most notable of these was a guy named Randy James, dressed as a dead ringer for Cher. James sang a medley of Cher songs so faithful to their original voice that I wondered if he might be lip synching. Anyway, it was fun to sing along. Another group called the 801 After Hours Club were dressed in lime green outfits. Fake snow fell upon us, and confetti machines burst color into the warm, tropical air.
Sushi herself waited at balcony level, perched in her shoe. She was stunningly attired in a shimmering iguana-green evening gown. She had been doing this for 12 years, she said, and this would be her last year. I don't know if she meant it.
I first became acquainted with this tradition living in the cold north, when I watched New Year's from around the world on television. Key West was so strikingly exotic, as compared to the Time Square event. These were people who really knew how to live, I thought. They invent their own traditions.
"It's all about the back," she said, turning around so the CNN cameraman could get a good shot of her back. Unlike many drag queens, I would say that Sushi had accomplished a feminine mannerism. For example, the platinum blond Emcee, named Portia, would alternate between a soprano falsetto and a masculine baritone. She did it for effect, and it was quite amusing. Sushi seemed to maintain a suspension of her masculinity. Very queer, in all senses of the word!
Still, you don't have to be gay to enjoy the cultural contribution of Key West's gay community. In fact, most people attending were heterosexual, traditional couples. The show was enjoyed by all, regardless.
Some people annoyed me, and I confess they were foreign speaking Europeans, for the most part. One 20-something young man and his girlfriend, speaking either Swedish or Russian (couldn't tell because of the noise) seemed especially greedy about grabbing the numerous Mardi gras beads thrown from the balcony. The usual etiquette is to reach up and grab what comes to you. This guy kept butting into me, reaching not just into my personal space, but even the people on the other side or in front of me. You would think that cheap glass costume jewelry must be a rarity in his country. Eventually he left, satisfied that his woman was duly impressed with his bead stealing prowess, and the party moved forward without his distraction.
The show went on, with me packed in near the stage. Then, just a few minutes before midnight Sushi in her big red shoe descended to the ground. It was rather comic, even pedestrian. Nothing so dour as the Waterford Crystal ball at Time Square. This was a laid back ceremony for the people; for fun. Of course Auld Lang Syne followed, accompanied by champagne and kisses. I noticed people turning around, waving behind me. It was the CNN cameraman pointing his camera right in my face. When that bright white light centered on me in my bright yellow T, Rock Star hat and rope of brightly colored beads around my neck, you can bet I waved with a vengeance, mouthing the words, "Hi everyone at home!" Though I was without my own camera, this would become another lifetime memory I have grown fond of collecting.
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Top-level comments on this article: (4 total)Fine piece of journalism, old friend! It's as if I was there.Please log in to respond to this comment.
Sounds similar to the reasons I try to attend the Texas Renaissance Festival every year. I bask in the ambience of 15th century England at every available opportunity. Thanks for taking me with you to your celebration- through your words, I could see and hear it all.- EllaPlease log in to respond to this comment.I LOVE Renaissance Festivals! I used to attend the one in Sterling, New York, on Lake Ontario. Fantastic!Please log in to respond to this comment.
I hope you are aware, Gregory, that you're teasing ones like us stuck here where New Year's celebration is non-existent. Mentally, though, I can steal a bit of your exhilaration in tropical Florida, my dream state. Thanks for taking the time to jot a fun-filled adventure. ~mogama~Please log in to respond to this comment.Mogama, I had waited decades to finally go to one of these. I finally had the opportunity, and seized it.Thanks for reading, and thanks for joining my fan club my friend.Please log in to respond to this comment.
Wonderful article Gregory. Felt like I was there.BlessingsPlease log in to respond to this comment.
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