Jose "comes out" on stage during a live (in drag) performance before hundreds at a Luau, in Oahu, Hawaii.
by Rev. Steve Parelli
April 3, 2013
Bronx, NY
At a Paradise Cove luau (Oahu, Hawaii), on the evening of April 1, 2013, Jose Ortiz, volunteering at the invitation of the emcee, performed a short hulu dance (in drag) with two regular performing dancers, the final show of the evening. When asked, before the hundreds in attendance, with whom he was traveling, Jose said, "I am here with my husband." Steve, Jose's husband, standing at the side of the stage (ground level) hoping to get a photo of Jose's performance, waved his hand to the audience in response to Jose's introduction of him as husband.
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| Rev. Dr. Jonipher Kupono Kwong (right) with Pat Humphries and Sandy O of Emma's Revolution, having just congratulated Jose Ortiz (left) for his "coming out" before hundreds at a Hawaiian luau |
Immediately following the show, Rev. Dr. Jonipher Kupono Kwong the minister of the First Unitarian Church of Honolulu, and a lesbian couple (Pat Humphries and Sany O of Emma's Revolution) who were attending the luau with him, greeted Jose and Steve with cheers of gratitude. Their smiles in the accompanying photo (above, right) tell it all. They were immensely happy to have LGBT "representation" in the show, so they said, explaining how luaus here generally fail to give any support, in their shows, to gay couples.
The luau show, so opposite-sex oriented in its story line and dance movements, gives no hint of today's reality that love is found and expressed by same-sex couples, too. Gay couples are silently ignored, especially noticeable in the words of the emcee who, asking for newly weds and marriage anniversaries to announce themselves, made no reference to diversity. Diversity, on this paradise island, is apparently lost in this Paradise Cove luau performance, as beautiful as it was in its portrayal of opposite-sex love.
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| Jose Ortiz (center) in drag, following his on-stage performance |
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