CommuniKate

What a glorious time to visit Asheville, North Carolina! Kudos to my planning team. It totally makes up for Detroit in February. It had been a cool, long rainy non-springy spring in the Northeast, gray and overcast, and I was in desperate need of some color for my palette. Of course the day I flew out of New York it was into a clear blue sky with a heat promised that would surely blast open the flowering trees down by the Hudson River.

Asheville in Blue Ridge mountained western North Carolina was lit with enough pink and white dogwood, flaming azaleas, tender new green leaves and chirping birds to break a city girl’s heart. I arrived the afternoon of my show and strolled “the Paris of the South.” Part of the charm of the city is its vibrant music scene. I am in favor of cute girl accordionistas on every other street corner. It should be a by-law in every town.

The gorgeous, well-staffed Diana Worthem Theater is a dynamic part of the Pack Performing Arts Center. In addition to an art and earth science museum, the theater is a must-stop for dance, theater and music troupes on any Southern tour. My Thursday night crowd looked like old home and homo week down from the hills and hollers of Tennessee, Virginia and Kentucky. Since I was going to be in town for a few days, I asked them what I should do and the suggestions cascaded down from the balcony – kayaking, dining at my place, visiting the Biltmore estate, hiking or biking the arboretum, hanging out. They love where they live.

If you’re ever in Asheville, go to the Early Girl Eatery and have their southern style cooking with locally grown produce. The biscuits were five-pointers on Weight Watchers but who cared? They do grits. And the waitresses were hard-working, tart and tangy and knew me by name after my second meal there.

The real purpose of my visit was to attend the commitment ceremony of two old friends from Provincetown, happily transplanted to Asheville. Amy and Katina had been married in Provincetown in October, but wanted to celebrate with their new friends in the town where they had sunk roots in the last five years. My galpal joined me on Friday and we hung out with old friends Nancy and Beth who had emigrated from Jamaica Plain in Boston. We hiked the arboretum.

Friday night before the ceremony, Amy and Katina’s friends had a dinner party for friends and family. Even though everyone seemed to be a transplant, we were warmly welcomed with classic southern hospitality. As apartment dwelling New Yorkers, we schwinged at the size of the house. The ceremony the next day was welcoming and woo-woo, with vows, blessings, a medley of songs from members of Womansong Chorus, roasting and toasting, dancing, and finally more music from Nancy and Beth’s great band “Lucky”. A great buffet of southern fried everything kept everyone stoked.

Since I don’t often get to stay for a few days in towns where I perform, the weekend was special. The women we met were smart, political and committed to creating social change through their jobs, their retirement, their art and conversation. Their values create community and it radiates out into a wider community. My partner and I spent one whole breakfast at Early Girl Eatery trying to figure out how we could swing a move to Asheville. And flirting with Fran.

Today the trees by the river are at a full flower with some petals already floating down like spring confetti.

Since my last performance three years ago in Indianapolis, the city has gone through a lot of changes. They have a new state of the art airport. Nonetheless, I was still delayed out of LaGuardia. They have a new football stadium emblazoned with “Lucas Oil” on it. For now. Sadly the city landmark, the Hoosier Dome has been razed. I miss it. It looked like a giant diaphragm on the horizon just waiting for the Washington Monument to come to town. Despite the handy Lucas lube nearby, the dome had to go. Indiana takes abstinence-only very seriously.

My old pal Dino Sierpe, the P. T. Barnum of productions for 25 years in Indiana once again brought me to the amazing Indiana Roof Ballroom. Built in 1927, you can just imagine the big swing bands that played for cotillions, proms and New Year’s bashes over the years. The duo, The Troubadours of Divine Bliss [troubadoursofdivinebliss.com], opened with a set of their own rocking folk music. The crowd loved them. So did I.

Dino is a community organizer who sees every production as an opportunity to involve as many groups as she can in her schemes. Her production company, Branching Out Productions and Indiana Equality co-sponsored the show. PFLAG, Indiana ACLU, the Out Word Bound Bookstore [while the dome is gone, the bookstore remains!] I-Can and the Indiana Youth Group were all involved. Dino has recently been hired as a field organizer for Indiana Equality and will be traveling the state to help towns pass a Human Rights Ordinance with an eye toward a statewide gay rights ordinance in five years. They won’t know what hit ‘em.

The next night I returned to Boston to emcee the Fenway Men’s Event, at the Copley Marriott. It was déjà vu all over again. The Women’s Dinner was held first this year because organizers wanted to avoid conflicting with the LPGA Dinah Shore and the NCAA women’s basketball finals. The Women’s dinner raised a record amount of cashola and challenged the men to match. The men got out their checkbooks, bid at the silent and live auction and more than met the challenge.

Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank, head of the House Financial Services Committee, and a very busy man, presented the Gerry Studds Visibility Award to author and Democratic National Committee Treasurer Andy Tobias. Barney spoke of his friend Gerry, the first openly gay member of Congress in 1983, gave his assessment of gay legislation and then presented the award to his friend, Andy Tobias. In his acceptance, Andy marveled at LGBT progress and stressed the still basic importance of coming out.

Special thanks to Tim Fitzgerald and all the Fenway staff. A week after the Women’s dinner, they moved into the new Fenway Center as they prepared for the Men’s event. Those two dinners and the move into a new space would have done me in, but the staff and volunteers were professional, gracious and had a good time too!

The official ribbon cutting for the new ten-story building is May 7. If you are in Bean Town for a Red Sox game or to run the Boston Marathon stop in at 1340 Boylston to marvel at what the GLUT community and its Boston allies have created.

Did I already mention my new book, I TOLD YOU SO? Order it now. It’s a lovely read for Spring.