Scottie said yesterday, "I just don't know what we would do without our family. We are always there for each other." How true. I sincerely doubt whether anyone could successfully enter South Beach gay society without an introduction to "the family". We've spent ten years assembling a self-protective group I call the Gay Italian City State. In the Renaissance, the great city states of Italy formed an association which was very simple: An attack on one is an attack on all. I'd add: Acceptance by one is acceptance by all. It works.

In the end, you have yourself and--perhaps--the "other" to depend upon. But, waiting for you in a dark corner or a wet gutter is madness; madness is always there for you. You brush it aside sometimes and in others, embrace it like the love of your life. You worry about whether your taffeta gown is green or teal, if your Court sash is straight or slightly off, and if the eyes behind the fan belong to a boy or girl.

As my great mentor once advised, "Never fall down the steps of madness."