2006 NYC Pride
Last weekend NYC celebrated Pride 2006. Personally, I celebrated 20 years of being an openly gay man of color. It’s an experience that has been liberating and at times, heartbreaking. Surrounded by close personal friends, we partied like the good ‘ole days and reminisced of a time when we were carefree. By Sunday, we had rallied over 15 of our closest friends to meet at New York’s West Village where the festivities were in high gear. In honor of the occasion – or maybe because I’m also celebrating my personal Body Beautiful for 2006 campaign – I wore an outfit that can only be described as Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Just BAM! With camouflage hot shorts and matching muscle tank covering very little of my body, I gyrated to tunes from back in the day. Truth is, I haven’t had that much fun in quite a while and the self-conscious demons of yesteryear weren’t around to ruin the festivities. A special thank-you to Linda and Juanita for serving as my personal drivers for the evening and to Slugger and Bobby for serving as my security staff…at times, I was a bit overwhelmed by the groping hands that insisted that looking was just not enough. A welcome home to Tim… boy, this battle is not yours. Most of all (and here comes a religious moment) a special thank you to my Lord Jesus Christ, for allowing me to come through a period where so many didn’t make it through. I’m open to your will and purpose.
Taking Matters Into My Own Hands
In just over a month I’m celebrating my 37th birthday. It’s a time to take the bull by the horns and create the perfect birthday weekend by heading out to the beaches of Puerto Rico. My soul-wifey Marcia will be taking my birthday trip with me this year and I can’t think of a better person to bring in a new era with. The plan is to fly out Friday, August 4th and return Monday, August 7th. I’ll have pictures to share with the group in mid August.
DC…Can’t Get Enough
I’m thinking of visiting my home away from home again next month. If all goes as planned I should be coming down for a short weekend stint in mid July. I’ll keep my DC family posted. All those who missed out on getting together during my April visit are asked to make a special effort to squeeze me onto their busy calendars. Folks, let’s try to plan something to bring all the new additions – those growing babies – together. It is truly a blessing to have our children mingle now and create bonds early. It also makes the collective history of our crew live on more vividly.
On Blast
Women: Do you feel that the down-low phenomenon has affected the way you feel about openly gay men? Do you now create a clearer separation between your man and your gay friends?
Straight Men: Are you afraid to interact with gay men and be open-minded for fear of being pegged as a down-low man? Do you believe that all gay men want you?
Gay Men: Do you curb your behavior around straight men or become standoffish with straight men, to avoid being seen as flirtatious? Do you engage straight men as possible “playmates”?
Keep passin’ the open windows…
2 comments:
I don't think it's the gay men we have to worry about with our men. DL has not affected my relationships with my man and our gay friends. To me, it's the DL men that are ranting and raving about bashing gay men. So as long as my man continues to communicate with us - me and our gay friends - that phenomenon affects us in no way.
A more appropriate question might be: Why do you feel men, specifically men of color, feel is necessary to maintain a DL status?
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