Man the memories. I was 19 when I moved to Orlando. After a while in 1990 I got a job At the Parliament House, Hotel front desk. My fondest memory is Paul (Ms. P.) He used to let me borrow his car all the time. Michael was the best boss. I needed money for the dentist and he just gave it to me. Till my dying day I will never forget my experience at the Parliament House.
As a straight man working alongside the gay people, I was very "Naive". What I knew was nothing, what I learned was how fun and thoughtful these people are. I made friends I never would have even giving a second thought of speaking to. I open my thinking and these GREAT men and women opened their hearts ( and educated me). Mrs. Vicky - I love ya! After 3years , I moved on to different type of security job but the PH was a caring place to work. Thank you RUSS, MRS VICKY, the bears ( lol). It was an honor to Serve and Protect that property
WOW! What a treasure THIS was for me! GREAT to see old friends Vicki, Willie, Bill, and so many others - the "vintage" footage was a treat, too! I had the pleasure of spending two "winters" at the Parliment House - creating new numbers and magic for the weekend shows. It was a time of creativity for me personally between my National Tours. I fel that the time I spent there creating, led me to my career as a Las Vegas Entertainer (20+ years so far, working 2 shows a night, 6 nights a week on the famed Las vegas strip in Casino Showroom shows) THANK YOU PARLIMENT HOUSE, Miss P (God rest her soul, R.I.P.), Willie (& Geraldine), Vicki, Bill, David the show director (R.I.P.), Carmella Marcela Garcia ("We line our lips now, we don't know why, we just do..."), Rusty Faucet, Criss Cross, Heavy Duty, Leigh Shannon, "The Doll" Stephanie, Hurricane Summers, Laurie DelMarr, and SO MANY OTHERS!!!!! And a SPECIAL THANK YOU to Susan Unger & Don Granatstien for not only keeping the doors to this AMERICAN INSTITUTION open, but IMPROVING upon it! :O) I would love to return one day, just to visit and possibly do one of my Female Impersonation Comedy Hypnosis Shows (www.BonnieBitch.com) - what a HOOT that would be to return to one of the stages that truly, started my career..... Best wishes to "The Happiest GAY Place On Earth!"
It's now officially gone; totally demolished. With it, went my young-year's Mecca. I traveled there from Cincinnati every year, alone, and created memories that I will always cherish. I visited regularly from 1984 until 2004. Age 28 to 48. From otter to bear. RIP.
so many good memories when i had my internship at disney world an universal studios 1996 first flying flying sophmore in college. It was some of the best times ive a had all the sadness cries laughter new friendships an lots of losses bless this place Parliment live for ever
I hate that PHouse is closed. 26 years I’ve lived in the Orlando area. I remember being 16 and having a fake ID to get in. Up until Covid we hit PHouse every Sunday night. I’ll forever remember and cherish the memories made
I'm in tears right now! Happy & sad tears. I met Michael H. in Feb 1989 when he visited WPB while I was tending bar at Man's Land & had just won a Contest there. He was so nice to me & my friend Jimmy & invited us to go to PH for a weekend. We had a Blast!! We ordered pineapple upside down cake from the rest. at 3AM & they brought it up to us. We stayed in the Eartha Kitt suite whenever we could reserve it. We had neon sculptures we'd put in the window to lure in the men LOL!! I loved every minute we spent there & at the Full Moon next door. It's funny, there was a small leather shop there run by R. Hunter & when I moved to SF in '94 I ended working for R. Hunter at Mr S (small world indeed!) It was our home away from home. Well, it looks as though I'll be moving back to FL in 2020 & I look forward to getting reacquainted with the PH nearly 25 yrs later.
OH MY - so many familiar names, faces and memories flooding back. Ya, my first visits was in 1976, and my 16th (1978) birthday was celebrated there then.. I did leave for years :) The entertainers (Ms. P, Tosha Diane, Tosha Thomas, Von Grechen... so much fun.. and they had the best of everything - I am trying to remember the room number I was in for a time, it was grove side but the rest.. is ... well... a blur. So many fun (and otherwise) memories... and Vicki, I doubt she would remember me but she was like a mother to (tough love a times) to so many ... so many times my own mother showed up a dragged me out by my ears - as she did with my brother James before me - especially happy to see Geraldine Jones again
So many memories, from new friends, meeting old friends (and even those that do not like me), over the years I appreciated those memories. Parliament House was once my landlord when I owned The Galleria Night Club at 3400 Orange Blossom Trail. Like El Goya in Tampa, she will always hold a special place in my heart as I move back to Tampa.
I was 12 years old the first time I visited the Parliament House in 1972 with my parents. We had dinner in what later became the Powerhouse Disco. Flash forward to 1978: I was 18, blonde and bouncy, and I was back! I spun around on the dance floor, dropped my poppers, and suddenly realized I was in the exact same spot that I'd previously dined at in 1969! I lived in fear that the grove would develop a sinkhole and swallow my father's ice blue Cadillac. Fun times!
Congratulations to the house and it's 40th anniversary. Thank you for a wonderful remembrance of Michael Hodges and what he did for the community and P- House. It was a well-made video, I'm only disappointed in the fact that the 90s and the participation of the leather community and of Michael's partner Bob were forgotten or ignored, in the video, during that timeframe. The leather community came to the Parliament House number of times a year during weekends & weeks for events that many of us will never forget. I was fortunate to have gotten to know Bob and Mike and call them friends. I emceed & co-emceed a few of the leather contest, be it the Drummer contests or the Florida Leather contest. We had a great time, with every event, we came up and I still have some memories of that I have in photographs and I won't ever forget them in my mind. Michael & Bob were always a great and kind people and I was able to call them friend. So I just wanted to say congratulations and thank you, and wanted to add some if ky memories, considering I didn't move to Florida till 1990 myself. I was up recently as a month ago for a event outside of the P-House, but stayed there and it still has a very fond place in my heart & memories .
First time i was there I was 17.....I HAVE SEEN ALOT THERE THROUGHOUT THE YEARS.... LOL. This Video is a GREAT perspective.. CONGRATS ON 40 years! ! :)
The first bar I ever went to and was made up and dressed by the gorgeous Tony Cheek…I was only 16 and I kept hearing the boys holler “Fresh Fish!” and asking Tony, “Is she real?”. Every week we’d take home the Grand Prize at the Dance Contest or at least a cheap bottle of “champagne”. Later, at my first apartment, above a garage downtown O’ville on Cathcart, I found myself being the next door neighbor of the “Divine Miss P”! Remember like it was yesterday the old typewriter on a table at the top of the stairs that she left for visitors to leaver her messages. And next door in the Lieberman’s building lived Miss Gay Orlando, Rusty Fawcett, my namesake Lorrie Delmar and Lana Lane. How freaking cool was that? I absolutely grew up at the PHouse…Poppers on the dance floor, rails in the girls room…what’s not to love?
I was just asking Ginger (minj) what happened to Rusty...I'm one of Gingers daughters and wanted to look.back at my roots so to speak. Turns out there are a few vids of Rusty here but spelled with an I not y. Would love to visit P house...my friend went and said there were women dressed as mermaids in the pool.
pika23 I would never trade growing up where, when and how I did for anything in the world! Even the fact that so many of my friends have passed taught me to truly value every moment I’m alive and cherish every memory I have. Hope you find what you’re seeking darlin’!
First time there was Winter 1978-79 while bartending at the Grand Central in downtown; would go to PH on my days off and then to Southern Nights for afterhours. I was completely surprised when I returned there in 2012 and found 4 of the people from '78 were still there! Must be the great 401k offered!! Still love to pull out the flags on occasion and head there for Sunday Tea - best blacklights around!
I totally remember moving to Orlando from Ohio and going to the P House for the first time (prolly about a year before the big renovation!!) So needless to say it was a huge culture shock for me, definitely an eye opener.... But still a lot of fun that led to many years of many many visits and nights full of Memories!!!! It was a staple that had been there long before me....and I just that it was a still going to continue being a staple that would still be there long after I was gone!! But definitely very saddened and heart broken when I heard it was actually going to be closing its doors and then demolished and torn down. I just believed it would be there always and forever!!! And more sad that I didn't get to go back and visit 1 last time before that all happened.
Fantastic watching this video and hearing some of the history of the P House! Great to see Vicki, Bill who was my boss when I worked security for 6 months, and great to see the others in this vid as well. I had just came out at 24 years old and was taken in by Jim & Bobby who had the room on the Grove side with a sign in the window that said, "We do manage a trois" (which I didn't do with them, lol). This place holds some great memories where I've met some of the best people. I've come a !omg says living in sunny Florida to living in Alaska! Some day I'll return again for a visit.
The very first Gay Bar I ever went to in the 90s when I “semi” stepped out of the closet for a bit!! I definitely can say I learned a lot very quickly!! So many of my “the first time I ever” were done there. The memories I have are still so very vivid, the “never forget ones” Especially Miss P...I’m pretty sure she sucked the shyness right out of me many times with bright red cheeks. The 90s were the best years of my life. Sure will miss that it will not be there any longer.
Went there in 1982 on Spring Break from KSU. We didn’t stay there and went to Daytona for some reason. I knew from that short visit that it was a very special place.
Mitchell Grant I wish I had more photographs and videos of the Parliament House to share but it was just a sign of the times as photographing inside the Parliament House was pretty much banned by the owners. People didn't appreciate anyone taking pictures of them at a gay resort in those days.
i love it one night there was a bachelorette party on night and the front row was all females stretched out the length and P came out and said i detect a hint of fish in the air tonight. and that just started a explosion. p loved straight people coming to the show. he will always be the best.
Watching this was the equivalent of going to Times Square the first time after it got Disneyfied. Nearly all the excitement of the place must be on the cutting room floor somewhere...what a missed opportunity.
6 лет назад+1
You never wanted to anger a bartender..or they simply wouldn't serve you...and you best tip per drink heavily...I always drank Schnapps ..they couldn't screw that up...
Karma isn’t kinda. I loved PH, as an investor in The Gardens, a project by the owners , I’m okay losing my money, knowing they lost the PH. We were lied too, and deceived.
Much less talking-head and more pix of the actual place would have bettered it exponentially. You can turn the visuals off and listen to this and learn the same as if you watch it. Rarely have I seen a "documentary" with so little footage of the place it's documenting.
Man the memories. I was 19 when I moved to Orlando. After a while in 1990 I got a job At the Parliament House, Hotel front desk. My fondest memory is Paul (Ms. P.) He used to let me borrow his car all the time. Michael was the best boss. I needed money for the dentist and he just gave it to me. Till my dying day I will never forget my experience at the Parliament House.
m. P was amazing wow so many memories
As a straight man working alongside the gay people, I was very "Naive". What I knew was nothing, what I learned was how fun and thoughtful these people are. I made friends I never would have even giving a second thought of speaking to. I open my thinking and these GREAT men and women opened their hearts ( and educated me). Mrs. Vicky - I love ya! After 3years , I moved on to different type of security job but the PH was a caring place to work. Thank you RUSS, MRS VICKY, the bears ( lol).
It was an honor to Serve and Protect that property
WOW! What a treasure THIS was for me! GREAT to see old friends Vicki, Willie, Bill, and so many others - the "vintage" footage was a treat, too!
I had the pleasure of spending two "winters" at the Parliment House - creating new numbers and magic for the weekend shows. It was a time of creativity for me personally between my National Tours. I fel that the time I spent there creating, led me to my career as a Las Vegas Entertainer (20+ years so far, working 2 shows a night, 6 nights a week on the famed Las vegas strip in Casino Showroom shows)
THANK YOU PARLIMENT HOUSE, Miss P (God rest her soul, R.I.P.), Willie (& Geraldine), Vicki, Bill, David the show director (R.I.P.), Carmella Marcela Garcia ("We line our lips now, we don't know why, we just do..."), Rusty Faucet, Criss Cross, Heavy Duty, Leigh Shannon, "The Doll" Stephanie, Hurricane Summers, Laurie DelMarr, and SO MANY OTHERS!!!!!
And a SPECIAL THANK YOU to Susan Unger & Don Granatstien for not only keeping the doors to this AMERICAN INSTITUTION open, but IMPROVING upon it! :O)
I would love to return one day, just to visit and possibly do one of my Female Impersonation Comedy Hypnosis Shows (www.BonnieBitch.com) - what a HOOT that would be to return to one of the stages that truly, started my career.....
Best wishes to "The Happiest GAY Place On Earth!"
Worked and lived at the Phouse in 86. What a great place to come out at, so sad its closing, lots of great memories....
My second home in 86. Great music, great people, and great times.
It's now officially gone; totally demolished. With it, went my young-year's Mecca. I traveled there from Cincinnati every year, alone, and created memories that I will always cherish. I visited regularly from 1984 until 2004. Age 28 to 48. From otter to bear. RIP.
so many good memories when i had my internship at disney world an universal studios 1996 first flying flying sophmore in college. It was some of the best times ive a had all the sadness cries laughter new friendships an lots of losses bless this place Parliment live for ever
Did my MKCP stint in 86. Lived at Lake Vista Village. Such an awesome experience. Great times.
I hate that PHouse is closed. 26 years I’ve lived in the Orlando area. I remember being 16 and having a fake ID to get in. Up until Covid we hit PHouse every Sunday night. I’ll forever remember and cherish the memories made
I'm in tears right now! Happy & sad tears. I met Michael H. in Feb 1989 when he visited WPB while I was tending bar at Man's Land & had just won a Contest there. He was so nice to me & my friend Jimmy & invited us to go to PH for a weekend. We had a Blast!! We ordered pineapple upside down cake from the rest. at 3AM & they brought it up to us. We stayed in the Eartha Kitt suite whenever we could reserve it. We had neon sculptures we'd put in the window to lure in the men LOL!! I loved every minute we spent there & at the Full Moon next door. It's funny, there was a small leather shop there run by R. Hunter & when I moved to SF in '94 I ended working for R. Hunter at Mr S (small world indeed!) It was our home away from home. Well, it looks as though I'll be moving back to FL in 2020 & I look forward to getting reacquainted with the PH nearly 25 yrs later.
Happy 42th Birthday to my favorite place in Orlando, Parliament House!!! so many fun memories
I will miss the Parliament House ! So many fun Memories .
I'm so sad. I wasn't a regular or anything but in the '90s and early '00s I was there several times and had the BEST times there. So so sad.
OH MY - so many familiar names, faces and memories flooding back. Ya, my first visits was in 1976, and my 16th (1978) birthday was celebrated there then.. I did leave for years :) The entertainers (Ms. P, Tosha Diane, Tosha Thomas, Von Grechen... so much fun.. and they had the best of everything - I am trying to remember the room number I was in for a time, it was grove side but the rest.. is ... well... a blur. So many fun (and otherwise) memories... and Vicki, I doubt she would remember me but she was like a mother to (tough love a times) to so many ... so many times my own mother showed up a dragged me out by my ears - as she did with my brother James before me - especially happy to see Geraldine Jones again
Employed there from 1991 - 1994 in housekeeping/ maid . Never forgot all the wonderful people & times !
So many memories, from new friends, meeting old friends (and even those that do not like me), over the years I appreciated those memories. Parliament House was once my landlord when I owned The Galleria Night Club at 3400 Orange Blossom Trail.
Like El Goya in Tampa, she will always hold a special place in my heart as I move back to Tampa.
I was 12 years old the first time I visited the Parliament House in 1972 with my parents. We had dinner in what later became the Powerhouse Disco. Flash forward to 1978: I was 18, blonde and bouncy, and I was back! I spun around on the dance floor, dropped my poppers, and suddenly realized I was in the exact same spot that I'd previously dined at in 1969! I lived in fear that the grove would develop a sinkhole and swallow my father's ice blue Cadillac. Fun times!
End of an era.....2020
I'm so brokenhearted to hear they're tearing the old girl down. So many good times were had here in the 90s.
Great to know your story, been visiting this place since 2007 and still coming back...I like it...thank you guys and PHouse staff
Congratulations to the house and it's 40th anniversary. Thank you for a wonderful remembrance of Michael Hodges and what he did for the community and P- House. It was a well-made video, I'm only disappointed in the fact that the 90s and the participation of the leather community and of Michael's partner Bob were forgotten or ignored, in the video, during that timeframe. The leather community came to the Parliament House number of times a year during weekends & weeks for events that many of us will never forget. I was fortunate to have gotten to know Bob and Mike and call them friends. I emceed & co-emceed a few of the leather contest, be it the Drummer contests or the Florida Leather contest. We had a great time, with every event, we came up and I still have some memories of that I have in photographs and I won't ever forget them in my mind. Michael & Bob were always a great and kind people and I was able to call them friend. So I just wanted to say congratulations and thank you, and wanted to add some if ky memories, considering I didn't move to Florida till 1990 myself. I was up recently as a month ago for a event outside of the P-House, but stayed there and it still has a very fond place in my heart & memories .
First time i was there I was 17.....I HAVE SEEN ALOT THERE THROUGHOUT THE YEARS.... LOL. This Video is a GREAT perspective.. CONGRATS ON 40 years! ! :)
The first bar I ever went to and was made up and dressed by the gorgeous Tony Cheek…I was only 16 and I kept hearing the boys holler “Fresh Fish!” and asking Tony, “Is she real?”. Every week we’d take home the Grand Prize at the Dance Contest or at least a cheap bottle of “champagne”. Later, at my first apartment, above a garage downtown O’ville on Cathcart, I found myself being the next door neighbor of the “Divine Miss P”! Remember like it was yesterday the old typewriter on a table at the top of the stairs that she left for visitors to leaver her messages. And next door in the Lieberman’s building lived Miss Gay Orlando, Rusty Fawcett, my namesake Lorrie Delmar and Lana Lane. How freaking cool was that? I absolutely grew up at the PHouse…Poppers on the dance floor, rails in the girls room…what’s not to love?
I was just asking Ginger (minj) what happened to Rusty...I'm one of Gingers daughters and wanted to look.back at my roots so to speak. Turns out there are a few vids of Rusty here but spelled with an I not y. Would love to visit P house...my friend went and said there were women dressed as mermaids in the pool.
pika23 I would never trade growing up where, when and how I did for anything in the world! Even the fact that so many of my friends have passed taught me to truly value every moment I’m alive and cherish every memory I have. Hope you find what you’re seeking darlin’!
First time there was Winter 1978-79 while bartending at the Grand Central in downtown; would go to PH on my days off and then to Southern Nights for afterhours. I was completely surprised when I returned there in 2012 and found 4 of the people from '78 were still there! Must be the great 401k offered!! Still love to pull out the flags on occasion and head there for Sunday Tea - best blacklights around!
I totally remember moving to Orlando from Ohio and going to the P House for the first time (prolly about a year before the big renovation!!)
So needless to say it was a huge culture shock for me, definitely an eye opener....
But still a lot of fun that led to many years of many many visits and nights full of Memories!!!!
It was a staple that had been there long before me....and I just that it was a still going to continue being a staple that would still be there long after I was gone!!
But definitely very saddened and heart broken when I heard it was actually going to be closing its doors and then demolished and torn down. I just believed it would be there always and forever!!!
And more sad that I didn't get to go back and visit 1 last time before that all happened.
Happy 40th Anniversary! So many memories seen on this. Great job Dave!
Fantastic watching this video and hearing some of the history of the P House! Great to see Vicki, Bill who was my boss when I worked security for 6 months, and great to see the others in this vid as well. I had just came out at 24 years old and was taken in by Jim & Bobby who had the room on the Grove side with a sign in the window that said, "We do manage a trois" (which I didn't do with them, lol). This place holds some great memories where I've met some of the best people. I've come a !omg says living in sunny Florida to living in Alaska! Some day I'll return again for a visit.
My god..the memories.
Wonderful Documentary
A lot of great memories going back to June of 1980 at 18.
The very first Gay Bar I ever went to in the 90s when I “semi” stepped out of the closet for a bit!! I definitely can say I learned a lot very quickly!! So many of my “the first time I ever” were done there. The memories I have are still so very vivid, the “never forget ones” Especially Miss P...I’m pretty sure she sucked the shyness right out of me many times with bright red cheeks. The 90s were the best years of my life. Sure will miss that it will not be there any longer.
Went there in 1982 on Spring Break from KSU. We didn’t stay there and went to Daytona for some reason. I knew from that short visit that it was a very special place.
What a cool, heartwarming video. I wished I visited during the 2000 clubbing scene! looks like missed out on fun times. ♥️
It was a truly amazing time!!
Miss Vicki is a legend; awesome person. She should write her book FB Carmella does; best seller.
What a great video! I really enjoyed hearing about the history of P House.
My High School Prom was held there in 1972!
Love the Parliament House 🥳🎆❤️❤️
great, used to go there in the early 90's..
Such an inspirational place.
So nice to hear this amazing story and meet these incredible people . I only wish I could have experienced it myself(:
First two minutes wonderful. Beyond that all interviews with no photos or videos of Parliament House. Needed that.
Mitchell Grant I wish I had more photographs and videos of the Parliament House to share but it was just a sign of the times as photographing inside the Parliament House was pretty much banned by the owners. People didn't appreciate anyone taking pictures of them at a gay resort in those days.
David Bain Understood. Makes sense. But glad you agree that doing some of the interviews over picture and video would have made it more entertaining.
favorite place on hearth love the staff
Very informative and entertaining. I wish the Marlin Beach Hotei in Fort Lauderdale could have been
...saved as well.
Stationed there at naval hospital in 90-92....lived in Winter Park. Saw Shae Shae Lereece “Eddie” get her start there with Miss P.
Super dope
i love it one night there was a bachelorette party on night and the front row was all females stretched out the length and P came out and said i detect a hint of fish in the air tonight. and that just started a explosion. p loved straight people coming to the show. he will always be the best.
It's very sad about the Parliament House that old girl I've had a lot of fun there over the years I hope they open in a new location
October 1984
Met my husband there
Such sad news our beloved Parliament House will be closing November 1st 2020.
Had some amazing times there in my 20s lmao
Watching this was the equivalent of going to Times Square the first time after it got Disneyfied. Nearly all the excitement of the place must be on the cutting room floor somewhere...what a missed opportunity.
You never wanted to anger a bartender..or they simply wouldn't serve you...and you best tip per drink heavily...I always drank Schnapps ..they couldn't screw that up...
It closed down ??
Yep!!!! Closed down and then was torn down, demolished!
It truly missed
Whatever happened to Monica Burke?
Stability is rare in the gay community. Thank you.
And now they're tearing the old girl down.
Karma isn’t kinda. I loved PH, as an investor in The Gardens, a project by the owners , I’m okay losing my money, knowing they lost the PH. We were lied too, and deceived.
Much less talking-head and more pix of the actual place would have bettered it exponentially. You can turn the visuals off and listen to this and learn the same as if you watch it. Rarely have I seen a "documentary" with so little footage of the place it's documenting.
And thanks to bad management & pushing politics from the stage, we lost this gay treasure and icon
I got to watch Parliament House fall to the ground. That place has taken so many lives. #TheRealGayCommunity
And it took two people to bring down a legacy
It's sad that gays don't know how to run a professional business. That was the downfall of this hotel.
FYI - The club was run by a Heterosexual couple of crooks.
I've had so many fun times here I've lost count. Congratulations!