Last night on my way back from work, I was riding down West Side Highway here in NYC. The Christopher street light turned red and I had to stop. I was in the center lane and on my right a Ford 150 truck pulls up with a guy at the wheel.

Two pedestrians…guys cross in front of us. They are holding hands and are walking towards the waterfront.

One of them asks me “What year model is the bike”.

I say “1991″.

He replies “That’s old maan !”

And I am thinking….”Hmm well yes”

At that instant the light turns green and I put into gear and move on.

All of a sudden I hear the guy in the truck shout out “Hey You Faggot, get outa here”.

Believe me I was a bit taken aback. Not because the guy shouted out “faggot” but because this happened in NYC.

NYC is one of the most liberated cities in the world when it comes to homosexuality. And hence for this to happen in NYC was a shocker. If it was in Texas, Nebraska, Illinois, Oklahoma or any redneck middle of the country place, it wouldn’t be shocking.

I slow down and let the truck pass me. And bingo….it has Texas license plates.

My faith in fellow New Yorkers is back up.

Rock on NYC.

I’ve got a HUGE problem with this. First the study was done on straight men, the largest at risk group in Africa. The largest at risk groups in NYC are IV drug users and gay men. No study has been done on correlations between gay men, circumcision and HIV transmission, and circumcision is going to have no impact on IV drug use transmission. The study also doesn’t address condom use among the uncircumcised population. Studies on African men have long shown that they refuse to use condoms which has added greatly to the HIV epidemic in that region. (Of course it doesn’t help that the Catholic church discourages condom use and that people are so under educated that they believe things like holy water or sex with a virgin can cure HIV.) Why would a city agency push a painful and expensive procedure on a population for which no study has shown a benefit? Yes, fund a study. But why waste tax dollars on promoting a new “solution” that is anything but? Who is the city to tell me what to do with my penis anyway? Condoms are affective, easy to use, and don’t involve several weeks of pain, not to mention reduction in sensation afterwards. The DOH needs to focus on HIV education and keeps its grubby mitts out of my pants.

Just how many more signs do we need for everyone to acknowledge the Apocalypse is coming?
Anna Nicole dies. Tim Hardaway surprises no one by revealing the NBA’s not-so-latent homophobia. Britney goes apeshit and shaves her head, then buys a really crappy wig. Lieberman votes with Republicans. Again. New Jersey allows gay civil unions.
Is the earth cracking yet?
Oooook. Howzabout: The Freedom Tower’s finally going to built. Maybe. Or possibly. With budget cuts. Cheney’s still Evil (with a capital E).
Oh, wait. That’s pretty much par for the course.

Those civil unions…funny that our little neighbor, Jersey, would be the one to enact them while the New York Court of Appeals rebuked it and said the legislature would have to decide without their being any explicit denial of equal rights involved in not having some form of union recognition. All the blithering by the radical fundamentalists in this country about the destruction of society as we know it…and Massachusetts has yet to be destroyed by God and sink into the Atlantic. Vermont’s doin’ just fine. Connecticut? Half the people in this country probably aren’t even aware they offer civil unions.
And the world keeps turning. Here’s hoping Spitzer makes good on a campaign promise to introduce equality legislation in the Empire State by day 365.

[photo from Ackland.org]

In the cab I also learned more on the topic of NYC neighborhoods. Chelsea is where the gay boys hang out and it’s fun, nice, and chi-chi. Lesbians, being poorer, tend towards the East Village, which is gentrifying but not too horribly fast. I will like Greenwich Village which is studenty and full of bookstores and cafes (says my Wise Guide.) I will like the East Village, which will remind me of the Mission and specifically of Valencia Street in San Francisco. (How did he KNOW?) And I must, must, must, go to a particular Cuban restaurant in Soho, I think on Prince Street but unfortunately I can’t remember, but it’s insanely popular, great, and cheap.

We all know Thursday is the best night to go out in NYC so there’s no excuse for staying home.

Come out and support your favorite NYC feminists, HollaBackNYC and RightRides, at this month’s MIXTAPE party at Galapagos Art Space starting at 10PM. Barnacle Bill performing and Party Machine spinning.

Yes, it’s a FREE benefit. So drink up. ; )

The informal theme? More Sex. Less Street Harassment.

There’ll be free condoms, lube, and other goodies, plus some t-shirt giveaways!

Hope to see you there!

I’ll admit I didn’t stay for the whole show. With a start-time of 9:30 it was a late night for me so as soon as my friend was done, I got up to go. Right before I left, a group of guys rose to leave as well. I thought maybe they were friends of my friend, or had the same plan I did, or they just had to be somewhere. Then a woman’s voice called out from back:

“Leaving so soon? Don’t you want to see the rest of the show? What’s the matter? Can’t you handle it?”

Everyone froze. Keep in mind all this went down right after my friend’s act, which was the raunchiest so far. I won’t go into too much detail but let’s just say it referenced dildos, a boy toy named Tobey, and a camcorder. Maybe the woman was referring to the supposedly offended, suppsedly straight guys who had just left, but I was the one left with the aftermath.

Everyone stared at me as I slinked out of the room. I was mortified. You don’t understand! I wanted to shout. I’m not homophobic! I just took 5 pictures of my friend – I gave feedback on that dildo joke! I’M THE HAG!

I didn’t say anything. I just tried to leave as quickly as possible, only afterwards realizing in my haste that I had forgotten to pay my waitress. At first the host was going to make me go back into the room to do so, but I couldn’t do it. “I don’t want to interrupt the next performance,” I said. Thank goodness he was able to wave my waitress over.

Of course I shouldn’t care what people think. I was there to support my friend. But it was still pretty humiliating to be called out as an uptight homophobe – or at least to catch the tail end of such a call out – in a roomful of queers, smackdab in the middle of Pride Week.

According to NY1, New York State’s highest court began hearing a case today as to whether or not same-sex couples can get hitched in our great city.

And whodathunkit? Bloomberg’s all for it. If the court rules in favor of same-sex marriages in the state, he says he’ll allow it in the city, and that even if the court rules against, he’ll work with the State Legislature to try to get ‘em to change their minds.

Right now Massachusetts is the only state to recognize same-sex marriage, while others – California, Connecticut, D.C., Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey (props to my homestate) and Vermont – give those in same-sex unions a legal status that’s similar to that of married folks.

Why not grant gays the right to marry? If men and woman who don’t even frigging know each other can get married (see Britney Spears and Jennifer Lopez – not to each other of course though that’d be hot), why not two men or two women in a long term committed relationship? Ah, the mysteries of closed-mindedness.

Gay Millionaires Club is searching for a few good men in New York City. If you or anyone you know is single and looking for a life partner — please visit the website today.

You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Nothing to lose? Well, I could think of a few things… Everything to gain? Guess that depends on your definition of “everything.”

If it is in fact for real, and anyone out there can make use of it, just remember me when you’re seated comfortably in a masculine lap of luxury.