Brightest Young Things

Peter LaBarbera, who claims not to be gay despite having a French name, wants you to be shocked at homosexuals. Specifically, he wants you to be outraged over the grainy homoerotic footage he had shot at the Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco.

The Folsom Street Fair is an annual leather and S&M street fair held since 1984 on the last Sunday of September in San Francisco. Its similar to Adams Morgan Day, but with whips and harnesses instead of pupusas and falafal.

LaBarbera, who claims not to be gay despite his penchant for videotaping gay men, will be presenting his footage of the fair today at the National Press Club at 1:00pm. As President of Americans For Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH), he is hoping that Washingtonians will be so outraged that they will demand that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi condemn the fair and all of its homosexuals.

AFTAH, which claims to be an anti-gay organization despite its really gay-sounding acronym, is sponsoring the press conference. Its "dynamic new website" (according to its really-outdated and infrequently updated website) never gets around to describing exactly what AFTAH does. It just rambles about how much the group doesn't like gay people.

LaBarbera may want Washington to be shocked by his footage of a gay event. However, Sacha Baron Cohen already showed DC's own love for leather gand gay grinding in the District scenes he shot for Borat. We seem to be okay with it.

The problem with LaBarbera's premise is that Folsom isn't exclusively a gay event. Sure, there are lots (okay, lots) of gay people who attend. However, as Dan Savage has pointed out, the fair features its share of indecent straight couples dressed up in lace and leather. So does the Rock & Roll Hotel on the right night. Maybe LaBarbera should start there.

Previously in Misc/Awesome:

• 12/28: Terrible Boyfriend/ Girlfriend Generator.
• 12/1: The John Waters Advent Calendar-it starts today
• 11/28: It Chooses You: All I Want for Christmas is Everything from Miranda July's Pop-Up Shop
• 11/3: Things I'd Move to Minnesota For
• 9/6: PHOTOS: Maloof $$ Money Cup
• 9/2: PHOTOS: Chantilly Model Train Show
• 9/1: Libby's List: 5 Things I Want Right Now...
• 8/22: PHOTOS: Best Friends Day
• 8/10: PHOTOS: Lawn Mover Racing, Eastern Seaboard Regionals @ Bowles Farm
• 7/26: Special List: Things the BYGays Want Now That We Can Marry In DC (and NY!)