Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Gustav Cuts New Orleans Southern Decadence


Southern Decadence, the largest gay festival in the South, had hardly begun when thousands of people Saturday night were told to flee New Orleans as hurricane Gustav continued to barrel down on the Gulf Coast.

Southern Decadence, held over the Labor Day Weekend, regularly attracted more than 100,000 people and had been one of the city’s biggest moneymakers. This year, attendance was lower, as concerns mounted that Gustav was heading toward the Big Easy.

Most people fled New Orleans as Katrina approached, but a small number of people remained in the city, and amid the destruction a small parade behind a tattered rainbow flag made its way up Bourbon Street in an unofficial celebration of Southern Decadence. The group - about two dozen people - all said they lived in the largely gay French Quarter. Defiant, they said they were not about to flee the community despite orders from the city to do so.

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