Gay It Forward (aka Boston PRIDE)

Hello my petite cakes of beef. Momma missed all of you while traveling and representin'. Let me tell you all of my latest journey...

Sam & I started out this trip meeting at 11am in front of the NYC Hilton on Friday to take the Limoliner To Boston. We had to take this mode of transportation because Amtrak was closing down the track back & forth to Boston for our desired dates. So Limoliner, here we come. I loved it! Sam did too! The seats were leather, wonderfully comfortable, jet business class seats. We got wi-fi, an outlet for electricity, and a cigarette outlet for our phones. The Limoliner served us drinks, snacks & lunch. We also had a bus attendant who did everything a flight attendent would do, including bring me pillows and blankets. Yeah! And it only cost $89/one way. Not bad, considering the Acella costs a minimum of $110 one way and it isn't any more comfortable nor faster as we got into Boston in less than 4 hours. I highly recommend trying it.

We arrived at our hosts (Gail, Beth & Ken) around 3:30pm. I was so happy to be out of NYC for a while. The city just closes in on me sometimes and I have to get away from the big buildings and the busy people. I loved the quiet, clean Boston streets. After catching up with Gail for the afternoon, Beth, Sam & I went out to dinner to Coda bar & kitchen. I had their turkey meatloaf, it was good. After dinner, we went back to the apartment to catch up. Sam & I then decided we were going to try and see what was going on this fine PRIDE weekend in Boston. We first went to an old neighborhood bar called the Eagle. No it's not a leather bar, although I wonder if it was at some point? Most other Eagle Bars are leather bars in other cities, but I promise you this place isn't. So we walk in and the first thing I notice is that the bar is quite empty. The second thing I noticed was that half of the small quantity of people in the Eagle were women. How does this make me feel? Well, I'm going to be honest and say, "I didn't care at first." But little did Sam & I know, that this was going to be the theme for most of the weekend. We moved along to The Alley. "How was it ryan charisma?" - well half full of mens. Do you see what's happening here? Not a happening night.

Saturday morning, we wake and have coffee with our hosts. Around 11am Sam & I go to my friend John's for a brunch party before the parade. John & his roommate Nick (not bfs) hosted a lovely party to kick of the pride parade. Mimosa punch & peach lemonade. yeah! I had a drinkie and stared in bewilderment at all of the food. Gays don't eat! Not in public anyway. 12pm (noon) hits and it's time to head to watch the parade. Sam & I meet Gail, Beth, Randi & Craig as well as some of their significant others & friends at our pre-determined spot on the parade route.

Now this is where I'm not going to make many friends. I got something to say, and you may not be able to handle my truths. But I got to say what I got to say. The parade was lame. Yes you read right...lame. Where have all the muscle boys gone? Where are the nightclub floats with scantily clad men? Where were the lesbians with no shirts? I want tits in my PRIDE parade. To cut to the chase: "The gay community doesn't speak to me anymore." I can't say it any more simple than that. This community that was all inclusive is now less so than ever. Although they hide behind a facade of political correctness (which I'm not). Now this is where I need to "gay it forward" for today's young gays.

Isn't it great that you have glbt clubs in school? I wish I had that. I wish I had anything, something, that let me know I wasn't the "only gay in the village." But I didn't. And I stayed ashamed and closeted until well into undergrad. Now, let's get real. My generation, and the generations before me, didn't fight so damn hard for equality so you little shits could walk around pretending to be straight. We fought for equality and the right to be different. ARE YOU LISTENING? We are different, we're gay for Christ's sake. We're better than straights. Why would we want to be them? I want equality, not to assimilate. ARE YOU LISTENING? CAN YOU EVEN TELL THE DIFFERENCE? I don't recall when I was 22 even wanting to get married, never mind married off and with children. UGH! That is the opposite of gay. Having the same right to marry in MA is great, it's actually inspiring. But why do we, and I mean the young gays, recreate the same stupid mistakes the straights make? Marriage before 30? Are you fucking kidding me? I should have been a divorce lawyer. Really. Gay divorce going to be a gold mine soon. I reject this gay gentrification. It sickens me. I didn't sign up for this. PRIDE isn't about this. Where are the fun clothes? The messy drag queens? Kissing boys? Lesbian tits? The dignity in having pride in ourselves just as we are? I don't need to have the same haircut, clothes and pout just like the A&F catalogue. I'm bored with the young, stupid gays. Blowing their whistles for Obama not even knowing he doesn't want them to have marriage. He wants them to have something 'separate but equal' - which kids, is unconstitutional.

The parade consisted mostly of every political candidate that wants some sort of office or position. I remember when there would only be 1 or 2 candidates and they were saluted for their bravery. Now, every friggin' candidate down to the garbage collectors march. Big whop. I don't want to be considered something you 'have' to do to get elected. I want you (the candidate) to want me (the gay community). And you don't, you candidates march because some advisor told you to. Fuck you. Now the candidates were only half the parade, the other half was religious groups. Fucking religious groups. Let me first off say, OK fine, Dignity, Gay Jews all that. Fine. But really, isn't pride about breaking free of the religious dogma that has held us back for SO long, and still does? Isn't that PRIDE? Pride in ourselves without society's bullshit being heaped on us? So march on religion, but forgive me for not wanting a piece of that pie. Why? Because I resent religion. That's why. Even the title of the parade was dumb. Sustaining Our Community, Conserving Our World - fucking retarded. How are we sustaining our community with this self inflicted gay gentrification? And as for the 'green' part - I have one thing to say "Dykes on Bikes". Something about 200 womyn reeving & riding just as many motorcycles. Can you say "OIL"? And that's just the first of the parade. I won't go into the mess, the crap that gets thrown and all the paper wasted. Boston used to have such a great PRIDE. I feel as thought this 'green' movement is more of a marketing ploy to make Americans feel like they're doing something, but really - you're not.

I feel the gay community has turned it's back on itself. I think the people who used to stand on the sidelines and say, "I like pride but those guys in leather and the drag queens gotta go" have won the war. And I can't for the life of me figure out how, especially since PRIDE was a direct result of drag queens taking their rights back. PC sucks, hence Boston PRIDE sucked. And they've got no one but themselves to blame.

So after that poor excuse for a display of PRIDE, Sam & I decided to go to the block party at Fritz. It's an annual event hosted in the afternoon, and the money goes to charity. It's a good dance and it usually has great DJs. Well..., I have to say it was a difficult party for me to handle since I usually go to this block party with a small group of friends. One of them being Dennis. Since Dennis' death, I've had quite a hard time dealing with the loss. Dennis always was at this block party, he actually loved going. Every time I looked up or around I saw someone who looked like Dennis. I didn't speak to them or forget he's gone, I just felt a small bittersweet pain for most of the afternoon. God I miss him. The DJ for that party was not good, I hate to say it so bluntly, but whoever this woman was, she was not even mediocre. I don't want to hear in 2008, big gay dance anthems from the mid 90's. I don't. It's that simple. There's very little nostalgia in a 10 year old play list. As for the boys at the Fritz block party. Well, when I lived in Boston, I would go to Mike's Gym II, which is now a BSC. When I worked out there, there were all the muscle boys that were so lovely to behold. Of course they wouldn't give me the time of day, and would most likely leave me bleeding in a gutter if found. But they were very hot, sexy men. The really hot guys from the gym usually worked the Fritz block party. Well, after 8 years, I saw some of these hot men. Let me say, they don't look so hot anymore. These virtual gods of muscle, have now gone down one of two roads: 1) they've gotten fat. simply put - fat. 2) they've gotten fat. simply put - HIV med belly and/or hump. Either way - they looked like shit. I questioned how I felt that these men I used to long for and lust after (knowing they didn't know I existed) have fallen from A-list grace. I want to say I reveled in it. But I didn't. Perhaps it was my melancholy over Dennis? But the ironic twist of social position didn't go unnoticed by me nor Sam.

Around 4:30pm Sam & I headed for our host house. Gail, Beth & Ken planned a fabulous cookout party for the evening. I love their parties. So Sam & I decided we would make up a fabulous drink for the party. We got a couple of bottles the new Stoli Blackberry Vodka, lemonade, a splash of blackberry juice & garnished with a few blackberries. YUM! It was the hit of the party. Oh at least we gays can still bar tend well. There were many people there that Sam & I knew and the we didn't know. We had the best time. Soon Who's Leslie? played a couple of numbers. Sam did a few songs from La Cage Aux Folles. Then panic. Word spread that there were a battle of lesbian bands starting. Everyone to the living room. Somehow a rival lesbian band had began performing. Who won? I can't say, but my allegiance is with Who's Leslie?. Luckily the hosts of the party didn't mind that I invited my friend Kathleen to visit at the party. Oh boy I miss her. She is a hoot, we used to wait tables together. Sometimes, I wish the world wasn't so spread out.

After the PRIDE cookout, Sam & I decided to do our traditional trip to the Boston leather bar Ramrod. I have to say I wanted to go in honor of my friend Dennis. When he was alive, we always went to the Ramrod on PRIDE night. It was our tradition. So off Sam & I went. So much has changed. The Ramrod was only about half full and there was a dance happening at it. Didn't anyone get the memo? Leather boys don't dance. No, they don't. We had a toast to Dennis finished our drinks and left. Nothing is the same. Not even the barflies. If Dennis were alive, this would kill him.

The following day, Sunday, it was raining horrible. So we bagged the idea of going to anymore PRIDE festivities. We stayed in, had a lovely lunch. Did a little shopping and in the evening our friend Patti joined us for dinner. Gail took us to Gaslight. Which btw is right next to BSC where the former muscle boys used to work out. I really enjoyed this restaurant. I had the salmon. Why? Because I'm healthy like that. We had a great dinner and returned to our hosts' apartment to watch the Tony Awards 08. They were just as mediocre as the PRIDE Parade.

The following morning Sam & I returned to NYC on our Limoliner.