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Reverend of the American Catholic Church in Nevada, an independent church that does not frown upon homosexuality or female clergy.
Dicotignano regularly performed holy unions for gay couples from all over the country before gay marriage was legalized.
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Established in 1982 in Las Vegas, the queer Satyricon Motorcycle Club hosted an annual run they called Hell on Heels, which was attended by queer motorcycle clubs from throughout the Western United States. Celebrated over two or three days, the run included a fundraising stage production featuring musical numbers and lip-synched drag performances by club members. This video records the 12th annual Hell on Heels stage production, titled, Comedy Tonight, which includes Las Vegas lesbian activist and Satyricons member Lisa Hernandez. This tape also records the Hell on Heels registration at the Buffalo bar on April 30, 1993, as well as footage filmed inside the Buffalo; a bus tour of the Ethel M Chocolate Factory and Botanical Cactus Garden on May 1, 1993; and club members in other, unidentified locations in Las Vegas and/or Henderson, Nevada. The Buffalo bar was the Satyricons' "home bar," owned by Howard Thompson, who also owned the Backstreet Bar and Grill. See "Satyricons Ready for Annual Show and Anniversary Party" [Las Vegas Bugle, April/May 1993, 4]. [00:00:00 - 02:53:39]
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Ralph Vandersnick was born March 16, 1927 in Annawan, Illinois, a small town that was 150 miles from Chicago, Illinois. His mother died when he was five, and his family moved to Atkinson, Illinois in 1934. He grew up in the Great Depression and was drafted into World War II when he was 17, missing high school graduation by a year.
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