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| John Lambert marched in an impromptu Southern Decadence parade in the French Quarter of New Orleans last Sept. 4. The week-long gay festival, which is second only to Mardi Gras, was scheduled to begin days after Hurricane Katrina hit. (Photo by Eric Gay/AP) |
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HOME > NEWS > NATIONAL NEWS
By: RYAN LEE COMMENTS
 
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tourists.”
Katrina is sure to cast a shadow over the Gulf Coast as the media and others mark the one-year anniversary of the storm, but Batson promised Southern Decadence and DecaFest won’t be bleak affairs.
“It’s not a memorial — it’s not to look back on what has been, but to look forward to what can be,” Batson said. “A lot of gay people [from New Orleans] who have not returned are coming to Decadence.”
Community comes together
The concept for DecaFest sprouted from one of the hidden positives Katrina brought to New Orleans: a collaboration among queers known as the Community Coalition of Greater New Orleans GLBTQ Organizations & Businesses.
“Since the storm, a group of us have been meeting to say, ‘What can we do to build the community back together,’” Batson said. “I am very heartened by [the unity among gay businesses and organizations]. We really need to take care of each other, because we’re all still suffering this.”
The Community Coalition is also rallying help for organizations like the No AIDS Task Force of New Orleans and the Lesbian & Gay Community Center of New Orleans, both of which have struggled with the loss of their primary donor and fundraising base.
Unprecedented levels of corporate contributions and grants from foundations to the No AIDS Task Force “has been the lifeblood that’s keeping the agency open over the last couple of months,” said Executive Director Noel Twilbeck.
“At the same time, I know some supporters of the agency who have lost their homes and their jobs, and they’re still supporting the agency — it’s so admirable,” he said.
The number of clients the No AIDS Task Force serves is down from about 1,200 before the storm to 700 people, and the agency has experienced about 50 percent turnover among staff. A small electrical fire also caused the organization to abandon its building in June, and it continues to operate out of makeshift medical stations and portable offices, Twilbeck said.
Heavily gay areas in New Orleans may be back to a vibrant state, but the hearts and minds of gay and lesbian residents continue to be clouded by the residual devastation Katrina left behind, said Rev. Dexter Brecht, pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church of Greater New Orleans.
“The most challenging thing for me as a pastor has been the emotional trauma that’s been caused by the storm,” Brecht said. “It’s been hard for some people to cope with the fact that the city — and their lives, their ev
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