Some In Gay Community Beat Up On Christine Quinn At De Blasio Fundraiser

Great story in the City Room section of the NY Times on what transpired at a de Blasio fundraiser last night:

An ample-bodied drag queen (stage name: Flotilla DeBarge) declared that “just because it’s gay doesn’t mean it thinks our way.”

A curiously masculine version of Tina Turner cried that New York City “doesn’t need another Bloomberg clone.”

But perhaps nobody summed up the evening’s raw emotion and risqué tone better than John Cameron Mitchell, the actor and writer, who invoked an unprintable obscenity as he mocked the City Council speaker, Christine C. Quinn.


A rowdy and occasionally raunchy series of performances on Sunday night at a fund-raiser for Bill de Blasio, a Democratic candidate for mayor, offered a potent display of his support from the city’s gay and lesbian community.

But, as much as anything else, it highlighted a splintering of the gay community in this year’s mayor’s race, laying bare simmering frustrations with Ms. Quinn, who is gay, from parts of a voting bloc she has long symbolized and championed.

Much of the evening was given over to a biting critique of the Quinn era of government, which the actors on stage treated as synonymous with Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s tenure in office.

The ill will toward Ms. Quinn was so great that the mere mention of her name drew catcalls and laughter.

At one point, the actor and writer Charles Busch belted out a sarcastic song, titled “Yurtle the Turtle,” that depicted Mr. de Blasio as a noble frog challenging a cruel king (Mr. Bloomberg). Near the end, he paused for effect.

“I haven’t even mentioned Christine,” he said, to loud applause.

A man dressed, unconvincingly, as Ms. Turner put an anti-Quinn spin on the singer’s hit song “We Don’t Need Another Hero.”

A sample lyric: “We don’t need another Starbucks. We don’t need another Duane Reade. We don’t need another bank branch – or a Bloomberg clone.”

The audience of 300 at the Cutting Room, a venue in Midtown East, roared.

A skit featuring the actors Stephen Spinella and Sarah Paulson touched on Ms. Quinn’s biggest political vulnerability: her vote to extend the city’s term-limits law.

“Isn’t a third term illegal?” Ms. Paulson asked mischievously.

That's good stuff.

I love that stating Quinn's name alone was good enough to elicit laughter from the audience.

But some of the jokes are really funny - and accurate too.

We don't need another bank branch, Starbucks, yogurt shop or Bloomberg clone.