Many men in the French Quarter during Labor Day weekend sported leather pants and bared chests, despite the obvious lack of motorcycle access on Bourbon Street. Why? The weekend of August 28 through September 2 marked the colorful 31st annual Southern Decadence celebration.

Southern Decadence, which is also known as the Gay Mardi Gras, was established in 1972 to celebrate the end of summer and the midpoint between the last and next year’s Mardi Gras. Since then it has emerged as the largest gay celebration in New Orleans. About 60,000 visitors arrived for the occasion, and the streets were crowded with drag queens and gay couples.

Brett Steele from Houston was among those who traveled to New Orleans to be a part of Southern Decadence. This was his fourth visit to the festival, and each year he comes, he brings a large group of friends with him.

“It’s a place where we can enjoy being ourselves,” he said of the celebration. “I always encourage people to come and have a wild time.”

Tourist Rick Bald did not know the festival was going on when he booked a Labor Day vacation to New Orleans with his family, but was pleasantly surprised when he arrived. “I think the celebration is a very natural thing to do,” he said. “This is awesome, and I am glad that I was able to be a part of it.”

While Southern Decadence is a time to dance, drink and meet new people, some also view it as a place to educate gay men of the dangers of unprotected sex. The NO/Aids Task Force went to Bourbon St. to hand out condoms. More than 50 people, including a group of Louisiana State University nurses, worked between 11 a.m. and 2 a.m. every day of the festival. “The rates of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases are high and rising within the gay community,” said program head James Swine. “We encourage people to practice safe sex so that those numbers can be lowered.”

Gay men, however, are not the only people who were educated at the festivities. Kim Flanigan, a visitor from Florida, said that when her family decided to stop in New Orleans on the way home from a vacation out West they didn’t know about Southern Decadence. When Kim, her husband, and two children arrived on Bourbon Street and were encompassed by throngs of people, most of whom were from the gay community, they decided to stay. “We don’t want our kids to judge others,” Kim said. She and her husband decided to let their children look around with them and ask questions about what they saw so that they would learn to be open-minded towards differences in lifestyle choices.

Not everybody on Bourbon St. was there for fun. A religious group held signs protesting the sinfulness of the festival.

“I think it’s disgusting,” said a woman who preferred to remain anonymous. “There is a place for this sort of sexual activity, and that place is not in public streets.” The group had been there intermittently for two days and planned to continue their protest until the festivities ended. “We have a right to voice our opinion, and we will do so for as long as it takes. Our ideas may not be popular, but they are right,” said another man.

No matter the reason, Southern Decadence provides entertainment for most visitors to the New Orleans area.

The festival has grown from a locally-recognized party to a nationally-renowned celebration. As one visitor put it, “In the end, Southern Decadence isn’t about being gay or straight. It’s about being yourself no matter what, and I love that.”

Festival goers rally on St. Anne St. beneath the balcony of Good Friends. (Charles Costello )

Jim Sherwood, left, Rodney Harrison, middle, and Shawn Smejkal from Memphis, Tenn. wash the feet of partiers on St. Anne St. (Charles Costello )