Three

Three years ago pretty much today I started this blog, and a lot has changed in that time.  I started this as an attempt to find and document the gay scene downtown, so that other gay people having a hard time pinning things down here would have something show up in a google search.  And I was surprised that there was no gay voice online coming from the city and I thought I could help plug that hole.

Three years on, I sometimes feel like I don't have much gay to say anymore.  I've got my bearings, I have become part of the community - gay and straight - in the city.  I feel that gay visibility is more important than ever in Detroit, but I no longer feel the drive to build it myself.

No doubt I've had some awesome experiences because of the Supergay Detroit thing:  I've met people I'm sure I'd not have met otherwise, I've created a gay(er) night with amazing videos and a small but fun following, I've been a guest dj at Macho City, and I've been able to make a lot of jokes and hone my writing skills.

My writing on this blog has slacked off, however, as I have expanded other creative endeavors, so I think it is time to start to integrating.  Writing anonymously certainly has had its advantages, among them being able to grouse about things and not be held personally accountable, but anyone who knows the civilian me, or knows of me, probably already knows I write this blog.  My identity has been called "the worst kept secret in Detroit" and in fact, most people don't even know they are supposed to keep their yaps shut about my secret identity. So it's time to just come out.

My name is Joe Posch and I am pleased to make your acquaintance.  I run a small retail operation in downtown Detroit called Mezzanine, a relatively high-end modern design store that until last fall operated in the Harmonie Park area.  With the local economy in the shitter I moved out of my super amazing but gigantic loft showroom and took things online, and instead opened a lower-priced short-term bachelor pad "retail happening" called Hugh on Park Avenue.  Just for fun, believe it or not.  Well, and also a little bit for profit.  I also do a little freelance writing on the side and a bit of design/styling work.

Writer (remember the 'stache?).  Man about town.  Idiot.
(top & bottom photo: Marvin Shaouni for Model D)

I've been a bit of a joiner in my time in Detroit, even before I moved here from Ann Arbor in 2005.  Most significantly, I was on the board of directors for the Founders Junior Council at the DIA for about 9 years.  That's the young professionals auxiliary.  I co-chaired a couple Cirque parties and was the chair of Fash Bash back in 2006.  I got booted because I termed out and was too old to re-join the board, but I met some of my best friends in the area through that group and it really forced me to acknowledge that not everyone who lives in the suburbs is hopeless.  I say that with a wink, of course (not that I'd live there).

I've lived in Boston, Washington DC and Ann Arbor, but Detroit is my fave and that's no lie.  Without being blind to the shortcomings, I have been captivated by the creative energy of the people who live here.  If you want something here, you create it.  I have been able to try anything I want and am supported by a diverse, wide range of friends.  And there is never a shortage of friends doing cool things to support.

So that's the official coming out.  I'll still be writing as Supergay for the time being because that's a very specific voice that lives in my head.  And, as it turns out, it is also the voice I use on Twitter, now that I have taken to Tweeting on specific occasions (such as the Detroit Story event last week, and maybe the State of the City tonight).  Follow Supergay Detroit on Twitter or Facebook if you want.  Do not friend me personally on Facebook though, that's only for my 700 closest friends.

In the meantime, and here's where the integration starts, you can read the blogging I've done for Hugh and for Mezzanine (the Semi Modern blog).  They are both a lot more attractive than this blog.  I guess now I have to figure out where the whole Joe Posch brand will be housed eventually (three blogs is a little much).

So there we go.  Smell ya later.

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