How the Homosexuals Saved Civilization - Cathy Crimmins [18]
The ingredients of Gay Bingo remain the same from town to town. First, there is always a drag-queen host. In Seattle right now, it’s Glamazonia, played by Thom Hubert. In Philadelphia, until they quit in a huff two years ago, it was the famous gay duo Carlota Ttendant (Michael) and Chumley Singer, a divinely zany pair. The bingo night usually has a theme, like The Wizard of Oz, Gilligan’s Island, Singin’ in the Rain, or Hawaii Five-O. Tasteless jokes are made throughout the evening.
In Philadelphia, the Saturday-night bingo game features “a cheesy prom set,” as its promoters boast. Much time is given over to ribald back-and-forth, such as Carlota Ttendent’s confessions about having crushes on the Amish boys who work at sausage stands at the farmer’s market.
In Seattle, the connection between the Catholic Church and bingo is emphasized by the administrations of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, bearded transvestite nuns. And Glamazonia tries to do “dirty fast talking” to confuse the sign-language interpreters.
All bingo games have borrowed the original Seattle concept of having “BVDs”—Bonafide Verification Divas—in drag outfits and roller skates, zipping around the players to determine if a bingo card is really complete.
The real surprise has been what a draw Gay Bingo is for the straight community. “This isn’t your grandma’s bingo game” is often the slogan. At some games, more than half the audience is straight. While some heterosexuals come because they’ve lost loved ones to AIDS and want to support a good cause, others just enjoy a good time.
The Seattle Times reported that some straight couples bring their children along. “The kids love it,” said Dee Steele, forty-six, of Edmonds, Washington, whose kids are ages seven and ten. “Most of the jokes are over their heads, and it’s not anything that’s harmful. . . . This is a lot more fun than staying home and watching a movie.”
Once again, gay men have taken a dull ritual associated with little old ladies in church basements and made it hip and fun. When I first joined my outdoor pool club in Philadelphia in 1986, the tradition of the Saturday-night bingo game held on but was poorly attended. That was when club membership was comprised mostly of elderly people and young straight couples with kids. I never went to the upper deck to play—it was too depressing just hearing the constant drone of the bingo announcer wafting out over the water. In the nineties, many gay men moved into my neighborhood, and the number of queer swimmers increased by 30 percent. As soon as the homosexual population reached a critical mass, gay guys took over the dreary bingo night and made it campy fun, with silly prizes and routines. Almost immediately, bingo night became a standing-room-only affair at the Lombard Swim Club, with straights and gays merrily socializing. I hate bingo, and even I couldn’t resist the shtick of the gay master of ceremonies.
Of course, at our small swim club’s bingo night, all the proceeds went to the winners. But the large Gay Bingo celebrations are always AIDS events. Raising money for people living with HIV and its consequences is a skill so developed in the gay community that straight charities have been trying to emulate it for years. In Philadelphia, there is a lot of cross-pollination between gay organizations and traditionally straight organizations and events. For example, Chumley Singer, the creator of Philadelphia’s Gay Bingo, has also directed the city’s Fourth of July and New Year’s Eve celebrations. He’s planned traditional Thanksgiving Day parade events as well as events for PrideFest America.
Sing OUT, Young Man: Gay Choruses, Mixed Audiences
Gay Bingo, with its costumes and camp and exuberant tone, exemplifies what