Tammy Faye Wows Crowd at Cathode Ray

Tammy Faye Wows Crowd at Cathode Ray
By Mary Damiano
Photos By Kevin Hopper
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The revival of Tammy Faye became
official June 24, as hundreds of fans packed
Cathode Ray for a meet and greet with the
celebrity.
Many people got into the Tammy Faye
spirit by wearing their “I ran into Tammy
Faye at Cathode Ray” T-shirts, which were
sold as a fundraiser for the GLCC. Everyone
who bought the shirt had their photo taken
with Tammy Faye, who also autographed
many of the shirts. Others got into the sprit
of the event in other ways, such as Ray, the
appropriately named Cathode Ray bartender,
who sported a rendering of Tammy Faye’s
famous blue eye shadow, mascara-laden
lashes and red lipstick on his well-defined
abs.
Jesse Worf, of Coconut Creek, came
with another piece of memorabilia to have
signed, a commemorative book of Jim And
Tammy Faye Bakker that he received with
his $100 donation to PTL about 17 years ago.
The PTL scandal notwithstanding, Worf is
a big Tammy Faye fan. “I got a lot of
enjoyment from the TV show,” he says. “I
loved the TV show. It was fabulous.”
When Tammy Faye arrived, dressed in
head-to-toe red, she seemed genuinely
touched by the turnout and the applause.
She commented on the T-shirts, and said
she liked them much better than the original
www.ExpressGayNews.com • January 28th, 2002
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“I ran into Tammy Faye at the mall” shirts.
Tammy Faye gave her ideas on the original
shirts. “I would have given them a pillowcase
free to photograph,” she laughed. “That’s
where all the mess is.” She answered
questions from the audience regarding her
feelings about the gay community, fur, and
her one-woman show. Tammy Faye joked
about her 4’9 height, and exhibited the selfdeprecating charisma that made her the First
Lady of Televangelists.
The appearance was a benefit for
the GLCC. Terry DeCarlo, of the GLCC’s
Programs and Development department,
organized the event. DeCarlo had met
Tammy Faye in at the Red Party in Ohio
last September.
Tammy Faye
remembered DeCarlo, and her agency
called the GLCC and offered to do a
benefit to coincide with her one-woman
show at the Jackie Gleason Theatre. “I
fell in love with her when I met her and
talked to her and she was so sweet, and
it just mushroomed from there,” DeCarlo
says.
The event was a big success. The
owners of Cathode Ray, Larry Wald and
Richard Fasenmeyer, picked up the tab
for the T-shirts, and all proceeds from
the sale of the shirts went to the GLCC.
Before the event began, DeCarlo
reported that he’d been given a check for
over $1,000 from the T-shirt sale.
DeCarlo says that he received many
phone calls asking why Tammy Faye, who
is so identified with the religious right, would
be doing a benefit for the GLCC. “During
that time she was with PTL, she would go to
the AIDS hospices and sit with AIDS
patients,” DeCarlo says. “She always had
that soft spot for the gay community.”