[OutVoice] Reno, NV: "Gay ski events promise black diamonds and drag queens"

[TheChorusBoy at aol.com]

RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL

Gay ski events promise black diamonds and drag queens

By MERRIE LEININGER

February 24, 2006

Great parties and great comedy are planned -- including headliners Kathy 
Griffin and RuPaul -- during this year's gay and lesbian ski weeks at Lake Tahoe.

The two events, Ascent and WinterFest, overlap again this year. Ascent -- the 
Winter Party at Lake Tahoe, starts Feb. 26 with a kickoff party at Faces 
nightclub on Kingsbury Grade and goes through Feb. 5 with the Tahoe Arts Project's 
Night with Oscar party at the Circus Maximus Showroom in Caesars Tahoe. 
Guests will be kept laughing and dancing all week by comedian Cheril Vendetti, 
feel-good reggae band The People, folky pop singer Garrison Star and Doria Roberts
, a self-proclaimed "pissed-off, rock-n-roll, dyke-n----r-bitch.

"The week also features apres ski events every night at various South Lake 
bars. But Janna York, events coordinator with Ascent, said Harveys reports that 
most of the tickets are already gone for the big-name entertainment: 
Celeb-obsessed Kathy Griffin and ANT, who was on "Last Comic Standing." York says "he's 
a kick, he's hysterical." You may remember Griffin from such shows as 
"Suddenly Susan" and her reality show "The D-List" on Bravo. She was also a member of 
the famed Los Angeles comedy troupe the Groundlings.

A cut of all the proceeds go to Lake Tahoe Gay Lesbian Foundation, the 
nonprofit side of LTGL Events, which is the sponsor of gay ski week. LTGLF has eight 
beneficiaries for the year. Check out www.ltglf.org or 
www.ascentlaketahoe.com for more information.

The Lake Tahoe WinterFest kicks off its ninth year March 5 and ends with a 
huge party March 11 at the Hard Rock Cafe with RuPaul. She will perform her 
dance songs, including "House of Love," and "Supermodel (You Better Work!)."

WinterFest producer Kevin Ray said DJs will keep the party going all night 
after RuPaul leaves the stage.

Other events include an opening- night party at Faces and on March 9, a PFLAG 
fund-raiser with comedian Jade Esteban Estrada, who performed at 2005's gay 
pride parade in Reno.

"People just loved him," Ray said. "He's a one-man show that portrays a lot 
of gay and lesbian icons throughout history."

Ray said the WinterFest party usually attracts about 500 people, and he hopes 
to keep it at that size.

"We've been told every year they like it because it's a friendly event where 
people have an opportunity to meet people," Ray said.


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