An estimated 160,000 people turned out for the 41st annual Southern Decadence celebration in New Orleans. The long weekend included non-stop debauchery in the French Quarter, two parades, pool parties, circuit parties, lots and lots of shirtless guys, and, of course, a few grumpy protestors who tried (and failed) to put a damper on the gaiety and jubilation.
Scroll down for a small sampling of the shenanigans, and see the full gallery over at GayCities…
Photo credit: GayCities/Queerty
Jimm Wiedeman
It’s always debauchery at that event. No thank you.
Vishal Singh
Skyler Shammie
Paul Castilonia
Awesome weekend! Look forward to next time.
Glücklich
@Jimm Wiedeman:
I didn’t know you were allowed to access the internet from the convent.
Gerard Sikora
I always wantdd to go…
Stache99
@Jimm Wiedeman: ..and that’s a bad thing? That’s like saying “it’s always fun at Disneyland”. Lol
Bauhaus
Don’t think I’d get outta Cafe du Monde long enough to participate. Beignet is southern decadence, for me. The rest is an afternoon stroll.
David Leonard
It was so damn hot outside….damn my hometown and it’s humidity!
sportyguy1983
The French quarter is basically an outdoor port-a-potty. No one with self respect would attend an event like southern decadence
Bauhaus
@sportyguy1983:
Clearly, you aren’t fond of art, architecture, history, antiquities, culture and cuisine. Never mind, letting your hair down.
The Tower of Power
@Stache99: I feel no need to parade around in public with almost nothing on for attention from strangers. My family loved me as a child 🙂
Stache99
@The Tower of Power: I’m almost certain that they and everyone else appreciates that too.
OhHellNo
Thank God for Queerty to alert us to the hard news of shirtless men, scooping all other news agencies. I smell a Pulitzer.
DerekR
@sportyguy1983: Jesus Christ you are annoying and seriously needing a punch in your judgmental, smug, condescending, self-righteous mouth.
F@ck off douchebag
Holly Liverar
it was great!!!!! <3
Billy Budd
The guy in the blue speedo can’t be human. He is too perfect.
Masc Pride
@The Tower of Power: It can be fun to get attention and compliments (from guys who aren’t wearing dresses). Wouldn’t touch any of them with a 10-foot pole though. Most of these guys totally have AIDS and/or other parting “gifts”. Same with Folsom.
The Tower of Power
@Masc Pride: No, I don’t think I would be interested in most of the guys there. My tastes in men are much too vanilla for men into exhibitionism. This is not to say I don’t like to party, but the guys I’m into tend to be more low-key. Wentworth Miller and Ronan Farrow would be the kind of guys I’m into.
Glücklich
@Bauhaus:
Ask anyone who dumps all over these sorts of large public gatherings if they attend benefits or season opening galas for their nearest large opera/ballet/symphony season, visit art fairs and the like and the response would be “Oh those elitist hoity-toity things are only for bigoted bloated plutocrats! I wouldn’t be caught dead there!” There is no pleasing ’em so they’re welcome to get fat staring at “Big Bang Theory” re-runs. It helps those of us who get out of the crypt once in a while recognize who to avoid.
Glücklich
@Billy Budd:
The guy in the tan shorts next him is where it’s at for me. And I want to get tipsy with the black queen in the feathered head dress.
Carol Garber
Uh, did Halloween come early this year?
Steve Carroll
I was there and enjoyed every minute of it!
gauty
@Masc Pride: Yawn. Try harder, your troll repertoire is very 2011.
Masc Pride
@gauty: No trolling intended. Lots of those guys are infected. If you ever hear about the things that go on at the host hotels, it’s pretty easy to see why. It’s a celebration of promiscuity. To each his own and all, but don’t shoot the messenger.
Sidenote: 2011 wasn’t that long ago, buddy. Usually people go back a little further than four years when using that line. lol
Clark35
@sportyguy1983: Very true. I wonder how many men used crystal meth or other drugs that weekend, or who traded strains of HIV or got infected with HIV despite thinking that prep/Truvada would keep them healthy?
David Harlem
Shirtless debauchery in New Orleans! Not exactly news is it? At Mardi Gras women were lifting their naked tits to the sky for a handful of beads…
Rob Johnson
Looking at my friend’s pics, it was also plenty of shortless debauchery too. lol
SportGuy
@Clark35: I am going to guess it is a really high number!
jimontp
@Clark35: You really need to stop spreading ignorant misconceptions about scientific facts.
“trading HIV strains” is a myth. It came from a couple of men in the 90’s, before there was effective HIV treatment. Google it.
Positive men do NOT take Truvada/PrEP. They take a combination of prescription drugs to TREAT hiv, not a single drug to PREVENT it, since they are already positive. Logical thinking must be a foreign language to you.
But you are right about the Meth fueled concomless sex contributing to higher rates of OTHER STIs. And yes, some men might get infected with HIV, but they are NOT the men on PrEP, and the ones infecting them are NOT the HIV positive men on treatment with undetectable viral loads. Google it. There are some large SCIENTIFIC studies published recently on both topics.
The problem I have with your comment is, when you state the blatently uninformed ravings about PrEP, then NO ONE will believe anything you say about Meth. You have lost your credibility.
jimontp
@Billy Budd: Well yeah, great looking, perfect body, except there’s no hair below the chin, and, well, there doesn’t seem to be much in the speedos. But I bet he’s got an amazing butt.
Andrew Lopez
It was a total blast though!!!!
Brian K Combs
Was it Wesley Hung
Stache99
Wow. We got all the right wingers on one post. Where’s Jacob23 to complete the duchebaggery?
Clark35
Sportyguy1983
Masc Pride.
Stache99
@Stache99: I wonder though. Which one of you is Michael Mueller? That troll will never die.
Clark35
@Stache99: Mary please, you’re a troll and right winger.
Philip Ramirez
Southern Decadence was a complete success. So much fun, so much good food and so many good people.
liquidskyny
@Jimm Wiedeman:
take a seat and watch Ellen and Antiques Roadshow with your hot cocoa then.
Ebonybear
160,000 attended and ONE judgmental asshole paints us all with the same brush.
Bisexual-Transwoman
@jimontp: I know multiple HIV+ men who have been infected with new strains of HIV, as this does happen if you are HIV+ and bareback. Barebacking also messes up your medication regiment or stops your meds from working and the other person’s meds from working and co-infction does happen as does reinfection with the original HIV strain.
But you will meet a lot of poz men (they’re always gay men) who are in complete denial about how they still have to practice safer sex and use condoms to prevent co-infection or reinfection of themselves or another HIV+ person.
Now you have foolish people who think that Truvada will actually keep them HIV neg and they can bareback like it’s 1980 but these idiots have a death wish.
The Tower of Power
@Bisexual-Transwoman: It’s not just gay men. There are plenty of hetero men who refuse to practice safer sex as well. In fact, the main reason why HIV is spreading faster in the hetero community is because so many hetero men refuse to wear condoms, even when they are free, in many developing countries. The HIV rate in many developing countries is appallingly high, much higher than in the US.