DIRTY DANCING: THANKSGIVING IN ELIZABETH, N.J.

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Marsha P. Johnson is a legendary transgender activist. She threw the first shoe at the police at Greenwich Village's Stonewall Bar in 1969. When "respectable" gay pride march organizers decided to ban drag queens from the annual NYC Gay Pride Parade in the late 1970s, Marsha, Sylvia Rivera and a few others simply marched a half block ahead of the main march, appearing as if they were "leading" the entire parade. Marsha P. Johnson was the mother of my extended gay family from 1980 until 1992 when she was found dead, floating in the Hudson River at the foot of Christopher Street--an apparent victim of a hate crime. Through Marsha (given name: "Malcolm Michaels') I met, got to know and came to love her sister, Norma, (heavy woman glimpsed during this video). With all my loved ones dead from AIDS and my biological family scattered far away, Norma (Marsha's sister) & the Michaels family became the place I would always go on Thanksgiving. They all really know how to live life to the fullest & have a good time. This year the party was more fun than ever! If you get a kick out of this, wait till you see my next installment: "SEWERAGE MAN: Your business is my business" :-)