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border=0> Wild costumes and plenty of exposed skin are common at the annual Fantasy Fest in Key West, Fla. |
For the second time this year, an Atlantic hurricane is forcing the postponement of a popular homosexual event filled with "unthinkable debauchery."
The annual Fantasy Fest in Key West, Fla., had been slated to kick off today, but the threat of Hurricane Wilma is putting a damper on the festivities, delaying events until after the storm passes.
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"We've never had a hurricane interfere with Fantasy Fest, at least as long as I've been here," Harold Wheeler, director of the Monroe County Tourist Development Council for the past 10 years told the Key West Citizen. "In fact, it's just the opposite – Fantasy Fest has always been there to open up our season."
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border=0> Participant at 2000 Fantasy Fest in Key West, Fla. |
According to its official website, "The 27th Fantasy Fest 'Freaks, Geeks & Goddesses' offers another nutcake romp through the realms of the ridiculous and will not back down in the face of a hurricane. ... Well, maybe we'll have to push it back a few days, but fear not! Fantasy Fest events will still rock the island, just packed into six days instead of 10."
For those not familiar with the perennial party in the week leading up to Halloween, the Associated Press describes it this way:
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Fantasy Fest, which began in 1979 as a small food fair and parade, is a huge event in the nation's gay community (not that there aren't plenty of straights who also come for the debauchery). There are AIDS fundraisers, drag queen beauty contests, costume parties, lots of drinking and women wearing nothing but paint from the waist up.
The Miami New Times calls it a "time for parades, beads, wild costumes, and unthinkable debauchery ... packed with plenty of scary, silly, and downright naughty parties."
As WorldNetDaily previously reported, another homosexual festival, Southern Decadence, was postponed in August as Hurricane Katrina approached New Orleans.
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border=0> Robert Baxter pushes Grand Marshal Robert Doucet Sept. 7 during the Southern Decadence Parade in Exile in Lafayette, La. (courtesy: The Daily Advertiser) |
But the catastrophic damage left by Katrina did not stop homosexuals from partying, as less than a week after the disaster, while thousands of citizens were suffering from homelessness, hunger and looting in their flooded city, a group of "gays" marched down Bourbon Street in the Big Easy. A few days later, other homosexuals gathered in Lafayette, La., to hold what they called the Southern Decadence Parade in Exile.
At least one state senator has attributed this year's hurricane devastation to the hand of God punishing the U.S. for its national breaking of biblical laws.
"America has been moving away from God," said Alabama Sen. Hank Erwin, R-Montevallo. "The Lord is sending appeals to us. As harsh as it may sound, those hurricanes do say that God is real, and we have to realize sin has consequences."
Fantasy Fest is the biggest money maker for the Florida Keys, drawing up to 60,000 people who spend millions of dollars.
"People who have been poor for months wait for this week," Barbara Anderson, a local real-estate broker told AP.
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