The Sweetest Hangover

I'm a bit late in reporting back, but Motor City Pride in Hart Plaza was amazing.  And if you've ever been to ANY Pride before, you know walking away saying it was anything better than "fine" is unusual.  But it really was.  I was so ... proud.

Organizers estimate 44,000 people attended over the two days, which is incredible.  Between the Lines did a nice writeup of the event, so instead of re-hashing it all, I'll link to it here.  Let's just sum up and say it was incredibly diverse, Oakland County did not stay away, and everyone seemed to have a really great time.

The rainbow stripes on the Ren Cen were one of my favorite things!

Other local media did the obligatory puff piece with photo gallery of all the festival gayness (yours truly not excepted), which I thought was pretty lame given the fact this marked a gigantic jump in visibility in an area with essentially none.  I mean FOR REAL - it was big news that Movement/Electronic Music Festival had 99,000 over three days, but 44,000 local GLBT people gets the boilerplate article?  I guess the story was only interesting when Ferndale Pride and Motor City Pride were at odds with each other.

About that ... apparently by the time June rolled around, most animosity about Pride's move seemed to have dissipated, and from what I heard the Ferndale events were nicely attended and everyone was happy.  I fully intended on checking it out but the addition of a Pride parade on Sunday morning meant any free time was filled planning for that.  Maybe next year I'll plan better.

In Detroit, everyone is a star! Especially Robert M. Nelson!

Everything else went great too.  The Pride Project came together beautifully and I got great feedback from both the Detroit indy businesses that supported Pride as well as the folks at Motor City Pride and Equality Michigan about it.  I even had some other businesses approach me to be included next year!  Please be sure to check out that website again and thank (and patronize!) anyone who participated!

A few very nice posters of the Pride Project placed around
Hart Plaza attracted no end of attention.

Finally, the Friday night Pre-Pride Doggy Style was out of control.  Who knew a downtown gay night on a Friday could attract so many people?  Someone open a downtown neighborhood gay bar NOW.

People who need Doggy Style are the luckiest people in the world.

After all the Pride Projecting and Doggy Styling and Fierce Hot Messing and Hart Plaza-ing and Parading and everything, I was the closest to exhaustion I've been in my adult life.  If I had a normal job I'd have had to call in "Proud" on Monday, I was that worn out.  To me, that's a great Pride.

The most incredible thing about this Pride was that for the first time since I moved to Detroit, I actually really felt like being gay here was totally normal.  I mean as completely normal as it would be in Chicago or Washington, DC or Boston or anywhere else I've lived.  Everywhere you went there were gay people or rainbow flags or just people asking how Pride was going.

In my email to business owners for the Pride Project I said that Motor City Pride moving downtown had the potential to change perceptions about Detroit in a way that hasn't happened since the Superbowl was here in 2006.  In the way Pride exceeded every expectation, I really believe that was the case.  What I didn't expect was that it was going to change the way *I* thought about Detroit.

The whole weekend left me feeling a little feisty, like maybe it's OK to say that something can just be GAY for its own sake without people getting defensive or worrying that people will feel left out.  (It's Detroit, for God's sake. The Island of Misfit Toys.  Everybody belongs.)  By foregoing a gay identity in the name of not offending anyone, we actually diminish our ability to create our own community, raise our own visibility and maximize the positive impact we could be having on Detroit.

This post is long enough without hashing out all that in 2000 words or less, so let's just say Pride left me thinking "what if ..." a lot for a long time afterward.  And it's been a while since I really looked at Detroit that way.  I'm sure I'll elaborate soon enough.

SO! It's been a recuperative and reflective couple of weeks, and that's why it's taken so long for even a little reporting back.  But now that I can finally deal with this stuff again ...

Double Rainbow: Oh My God!

This Tuesday night is a big gay double feature, starting with the Model D Speaker series "Gay Detroit"!  Join an expert panel of judges as we discuss the state of gay culture & community in Detroit.  I'll be sitting on the panel in my first official public appearance.  It's a real Detroit gay meet-and-greet!

The event is followed by a Town Hall discussion presented by Unity Michigan.  The Model D panel will be a little more community-oriented (and certainly City-oriented), and we'll let the folks with Unity Michigan handle the heavy stuff.

To make it extra special, there's a post-panel Doggy Style!  Yes, you can't get enough!  It all happens at the Park Bar, starting upstairs at 5:30 and ending sometime after midnight in the gutter.  Please join us, and help keep the Pride momentum going!

Model D Speaker Series: Gay Detroit
Charles Pugh of Detroit City Council, Roland Leggett of Equality Michigan, Kirsten Ussery of the Downtown Detroit Partnership and Villages CDC, and me.
Tuesday, June 21, 5:30 - 6:30pm
The Park Bar, 2040 Park Ave. (upstairs)
Pre-registration is encouraged.

Unity Michigan Town Hall: Equality Action
Denise Brogan-Kator from Equality Michigan, Shellie Wiesberg from the ACLU, Curtis Lipscomb from KICK, and Laura Hughes from Ruth Ellis Center.
 7:00 - 8:30pm

Hot DP (Double Panel) Doggy Style Action!
9pm - ?

I never meta promo I didn't like

Sometimes, when you take a chance and work really hard you get long-deserved recognition for your singular efforts.  And sometimes you just hit the town, make a bunch of alcohol-impaired gaffes and meet the right people.

You have to date me to find out all my secret tricks, but suffice to say something I did landed me a spot in this month's HOUR Detroit magazine in an article about Detroit's most popular blogs!  I was very excited (although my parents somewhat less so). Turn to page 52 in the current issue for the rundown on the best of the Detroit blogosphere.  I am sure some of the URLs will be familiar.  If you aren't local, you can get the bones of the feature here.

Thanks to Superfriends Alexa Stanard for the wonderful prose and Cybelle Codish for indulging my whims in a fantastic photoshoot.  And much thanks to the folks at HOUR Detroit who (despite their suburban home base) have been amazingly supportive of all my endeavors in Detroit, as well as the efforts of so many of my friends and fellow entrepreneurs.

A blog post about a magazine article about that same blog ... I don't even know for sure how to use "meta" in a sentence but I think I can get away with using it here!

Party Chatter

There are nights that just reinforce everything you want to believe in.

The yard sale, while exciting and initially lucrative, was rained out in the early afternoon.  After communing with nature while packing up sopping wet housewares and subsequently making a donation to the greater enjoyment of thrift store shoppers in southeastern Michigan, I rejuvenated and made a stop back on West Canfield.

That Historic West Canfield block is one sexy street.  I like to be irritated with Midtown and the Neuvo Royal Oako agenda that just might be seeping in there, but sometimes you just can't deny when something works.  If you are not familiar with this block, check this out.

Among the many cool Detroiters I saw there, I ran into a relatively new acquaintance at this party, a guy who went to U of D High like I did (only a few years behind me), whom I've run into here or there.  He's active in the local political scene in his own ultra-current way, and a super smart and fun conversationalist.  Which is, of course, what one should expect from a U of D High grad.

It's been a long time since I've been so engaged in a conversation, especially when it is with someone who isn't pushing their own agenda (ie: me), wants to hear your thoughts and has great insights of his own.  I would be remiss if I didn't mention his fantastic girlfriend who is apparently a genius in her own right.  The three of us discussed topics ranging from Council by Districts, Kwame Kilpatrick's misuse of corruption, Detroit Declaration, suburban vs. city living, me, Charles Pugh's God complex, gay marriage, Rochelle Riley, the closet and politicians who are no way whatsoever possibly or even remotely same-sex oriented.  These things were attacked with gusto and energetically debated, in what may have been the most casual party-talk manner I've ever experienced.

I realized, as we were making our way out, that I didn't have to talk about a home improvement or a luxury vehicle or a mall shopping experience or a different city's advantages in the entire ninety-minute conversation, and we all left happy and, at least as far as I was concerned, excited about our next meetup. And I almost couldn't believe how much I appreciated that.

I enjoy making sweeping generalizations and I'm going to make one now: over and over I find that my encounters in this city are so different in attitude than the ones I have in our 'burbs.  As much as I want this city to rejuvenate, I want to be explicitly clear how much I really enjoy what we have going on right now.  That recent Palladium Boots Detroit Lives documentary captures one aspect of the city in a great way, but I sure wish I was talented enough to show the world the kind of night I had tonight.  I think we'd have thousands of great people wanting to move here.

Teaser

Hey did you see this trailer yet?  Way more interesting than that Detroit 1-8-7 show trailer (what a disaster) and lots o' superfriends to boot!

Speaking of boots, I don't know much about these Palladium boots but if this documentary is as good as it looks I'm gonna have to buy a pair.

I couldn't have said it better myself. And I didn't.

Rather quickly I want to bring to your attention something wonderful written about Detroit.  It appeared in the New York Times last Thursday and seems to have escaped proper attention, despite the fact it's about the greatest thing anyone has said about Detroit in recent memory.

In a glowing review of the Detroit Institute of Arts' new exhibit "Through African Eyes: the European in African Art, 1500 to Present," Holland Cotter writes about the exciting new approach to looking at art this show represents, ending with:

"Enough to say that if you get a thrill from seeing things you’ve never seen and thinking thoughts you’ve never thought, Detroit is a good place to be these days."

This same day Facebook was abuzz with the fact that Campus Martius was named the top urban park, and everyone is all worked up about whether Dateline's Detroit story was good or bad, but I felt like this line about a relatively small show captured much more precisely one of the greatest things about Detroit today. At least for me.
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Supergay Slate '09!

Well it snuck up on us, 2009's Metro Times Best of Detroit voting, but it didn't completely slip by! The deadline for voting is this Tuesday, the 31st (2 days!), so please take the time to vote for Supergay Detroit as Best Local Pop Culture Blog!

This year they've pared down the categories considerably, and a lot of our friends from last year aren't really eligible for any categories this time around. So I've decided to take a different approach to picks for the Supergay Slate. In accordance with my stated objective for this year, I've made choices that I think help raise standards here, and selected places that make Detroit a better place to live for me.

I've selected 19 categories, and you only need to vote in 15. You can use this slate or make up your own - just be sure to vote for me!

Metro Times Best of Detroit 2009: The Supergay Slate

Best Place to See An Indie Film: Detroit Film Theater at the DIA

Best Local Film Fest: Reel Pride Michigan, our GLBT Film Festival

Best Local Website: Well MT always wins, but you should cast a vote for our friends at Model D!

Best Local Pop Culture Blog: Supergay Detroit!

Best Abandoned Building: Coleman A. Young Municipal Center. Obviously.

Best Bicycle Shop: Wheelhouse, because I love them.

Best Florist: the guys at Blumz continue to make great flowers accessible to Detroiters with their shop downtown

Best Restaurant Under $15 per diner: Bucharest Grill inside the Park Bar is my default spot for cheap and good eats

Best Restaurant under $50 per diner: Atlas Global Bistro, my perennial fave

Best Restaurant to Impress Out-of-Towners: Slows BarBQ never fails

Best Italian Restaurant: Angelina Italian Bistro is not only delicious, it is deliciously non-smoking. Even the bar. While I can't endorse their blown-glass art installation/light fixture, the rest of the place is perf. If you haven't been, I highly recommend it.

Best Neighborhood Pizza: Does Supino’s fit here ...

Best Gourmet Pizza: ... or does Supino’s fit here? I'm not sure, but they are fantastic and deserve a vote in both categories!

Best Deli: Mudgie’s in Corktown, for a lovely modern decor AND amazing eats.

Best Indie Coffee Shop: With Mercury Coffee Bar out of the picture, Café 1923 in Hamtramck takes this one hands-down

Best Club Night: Fierce Hot Mess has been entertaining us at Oslo all year!

Best Gay Bar: Detroit Guerrilla Queer Bar - because it really is!

Best Beer Selection in a Bar: not too many categories to pick to reward the Park Bar for being the gracious and loving host of Doggy Style, but this one fits!

Best Jazz Club: Cliff Bells, now with a delicious dinner menu!
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Super Cooper

OK so as you may have heard, Anderson Cooper was in town yesterday doing his show AC 360 live from the vortex of the American employment crisis, Detroit. A friend called up just as I was leaving work and asked if I wanted to go to a thing with Anderson Cooper where people ask questions to a panel of experts, or something like that. It was all a little vague.

To back up a little bit, it was my friend Keira Alexandra who called me - you may recall she was on the cover of Dwell magazine for her Mies townhouse a few months ago - because our friend Mitch Cope called her and said the producers told him to invite people. Mitch is one of the guys behind the $100 dollar house thing that Toby Barlow, Keira's boyfriend, wrote about in the Sunday New York Times. And AC 360 was running a piece on him during the show. So without knowing exactly what it was about we drove out to Warren to represent.

Oh yeah, Warren! The filming was at a place called J.B. Bamboozle's on 12 Mile Road across from the GM Tech Center. It was a cinderblock pub with an awning, kind of standard issue for the non-chain establishments in that area.

So Keira and I arrived and it turned out the only two seats remaining were at a table right in front. Like seriously front row. Let me be explicitly clear right here: I sat for three hours with an unobstructed view of Anderson Cooper's backside. It did not suck.

J.B. Bamboozle's was kind of a trip. First off they only had one waitress on duty for a packed restaurant, and I will tell you she was awesome. She handled everything, was speedy and kept a great sense of humor about the whole thing. We passed on the shot special, the Super Cooper ("It's Anderson Cooper's favorite shot." I'm sure.) Keira ordered wine (what kind, red or white?) in a tumbler instead of a wine glass, and they brought her a water glass full of of wine. Insane. My beer was in a gigantic mug - seriously twelve inches tall. They really don't mess around at J.B. Bamboozle's.

It was a little slow but we spent time talking with the other folks at our table (and a lot of time drinking giant drinks), one of whom turned out to be a real-life acquaintance and Facebook friend. AC was around a lot, filming little bits leading up to the show. He is a little tiny but not markedly so. And had some very nice jeans on. And his hair is fully white. I wish mine would do that, all I get is this smattering of grey.

This was our tablemate who got to ask a question. Hey Andy, sit with us!

My Facebook buddy and I agreed his grey cashmere sweater was really nice. At one point AC grabbed a mike to say hi to the crowd and ask them not to act like complete boobs on television (because America already thinks you are waste of carbon). He then took questions so I got the important one in right away: where is that sweater from? He said he didn't know, but his mother had called to say it looked green on tv. Gloria!

Oh no you didn't.

Oh yes I did.

The show then started and it was pretty relaxed. They do a lot of cutaway bits so there isn't this intense focus on AC live all the time. They informed us that they would not be focusing the entire hour on the unemployment crisis in Detroit because of the death of Natasha Richardson. Because obviously the death of a C-List actress pre-empts coverage of the economic demise of an entire region. Yes, this is CNN.

It's the mullet of outfits. Business up top, party down below.

They let the first guy ask his question, which I pretty much missed because I was staring at the most incredible mameltoe I have ever seen! It was insane. Right in front of our faces. I did catch the follow-up question that AC asked him, "How does that make you feel" or something like that, and the guy was like, "uhhhhhh" and I think some drool escaped his mouth.

"Please try to behave like normal humans."

Now you know why he had to say that.

Mameltoe.

The second question was from a woman at our table. She asked how she, with an MBA and law degree and recently laid off, can find work in a shrinking economy like this. So CNN's "expert" came up with the genius answer that she should look to her outside interests, and then told a story about a guy who became an event planner after he lost his banking job. OH BRILLIANT. Become an event planner. In the Great Recession. Talk about fiddling while Rome burns. Where do they get these people? Man, give me one shot at that gig, I swear I will do 100% better, and be interesting to boot.

When the camera wasn't on she was using that Blackberry!

Keira, please demonstrate our proximity to Anderson Cooper's butt.

Then it all wrapped up. AC said he would pose for some photos so once again front row paid dividends. Keira gave AC a copy of her Dwell magazine with a note that "This is in Detroit," so maybe he would know that not everything is as bleak and depressing as that part of Warren.

AC regards the Lafayette Park issue of Dwell.

So I got to be on CNN! It was awesome to get messages from my friends that they saw me on tv. I think I will explore a career as professional local color in news broadcasts. And I got my photo op with AC. That was also fun. But it was the first time I thought to myself that someday I will look back with regret on growing this moostache. Live and learn.
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Didn't we just do this?

Well it seems that the Metro Times has bumped up their "best of" timetable, because instead of a fall election it's now a spring election! I guess ad revenues are down and they need to ingratiate themselves to a few more businesses.

That means I am going to hit you up again to vote for me again as "Best Pop Culture Blog" - even though I should still be the titleholder for another six months!

As with last fall, I will create the Supergay Slate of candidates so we can spread the love around to our friends and supporters! And to make it easier for you to pick 14 other categories when you vote for me. But I just wanted to get my entreaty out there first: vote for Supergay Detroit as the Best Pop Culture Blog in the Metro Times Best of Detroit 2009!

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Last night

Was the straightest Tony Awards program ever.

Seriously - musical numbers, Hugh Jackman hosting, openly gay acceptance speeches and that fabulous set? That was a good program.

[BTW mark your calendars - the real Tony Awards aka the Gay Oscars are Sunday, June 7 on CBS!]
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Affirmations

No I'm not talking about the LGBTQRS community center in Ferndale, as fab as it is. I'm talking about affirming ME. And Model D did a very nice job of brightening up my week in this Blog Roundup.

Thanks Model D. Love you, mean it.

And thanks N. for this image!

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More Lafayette Parkness

As if being home to three of Detroit's top blogs (formerly four, detroitist is a quitter) weren't enough, Lafayette Park also enjoys a significant love from the print media. A great piece in Detroit Home last year featured a young family (who could that be?) and the Wall Street Journal did a great piece in their "Masterpiece" column last December.

The latest is a cover story in this month's Dwell magazine, featuring Friends of Supergay Keira Alexandra and Toby Barlow and their fab townhouse!


Actually Toby blogs for the Huffington Post, so I guess that makes LP home to four top bloggers. Maybe there are more I don't even know about - fess up!

Anyway - long story short, love LP. Sometimes I feel like living here is the happiest thing about my life in Detroit.
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A Bridge to Somewhere

My summertime emotional journey to heck and back turned out to be such good source material I used it for my most recent piece for Detroit Public Radio's Detroit Today program.

Enjoy my bitching about all the things I love to bitch about on here AND hear about the disco cocktail party I threw last month in this piece that aired on Election Day!

Band Fags!

Since we are on the topic of Hazel Park, there is a fun book that came out this year by a locally-grown writer named Frank Anthony Polito called Band Fags. It's a coming-of-age story of a young ... band fag ... set in 1980's Hazel Park.


Frank was kind enough to send me an advance copy this spring and I read it and was going to write about it then, but the summer crap-fest started and I was distracted by my own ennui. But now Frank is coming to do a reading at the Barnes & Noble in Royal Oak so it's the perfect time to revisit the book!

As much as Band Fags is a gay coming-of-age story, it's also a true 80s slice-of-life story. Frank spares no detail - not one - in creating the 80s feel. He name-drops products and cultural artifacts like Andy Warhol name-drops celebrities in the Warhol Diaries.

For anyone familiar with the Detroit are there is the added bonus of a familiar setting - or familiar-ish, if you didn't spend a lot of time in "Hazeltucky." When he describes the intersection where the protagonist (I guess technically it's fiction) got dropped off by his friends or the gay bar they snuck off to on Woodward in Palmer Park ... you know exactly what he means.

Band Fags isn't coming-of-age in the Best Little Boy in the World vein, but it's sweet and cute and a fun read. And the author is very attractive so you may enjoy going to the reading just to scope him out. And you can listen to him tomorrow morning on Detroit Today to hear what he has to say about the book.

It's a Band Fag start to the weekend! How perfect!

Details:

Band Fags reading and book signing
Saturday, September 27 at Barnes & Noble in Royal Oak, 500 S. Main Street
4pm

Band Fags author Frank Anthony Polito on Detroit Today
Friday, September 26 on WDET, 101.9 FM
10:30am


[PS - If you have not read The Best Little Boy in the World, I highly recommend checking it out. It was the seminal figuring-out-your-sexuality book for a generation, written pseudononymously by famous money man Andrew Tobias (who eventually "came out" as the author). Check out Edmund White's A Boy's Own Story too, another gay modern classic. And since I'm telling you what to read, check out Kevin Sessums excellent Mississippi Sissy too, a more serious contemporary growing-up-gay story.]

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One More Day to Vote!

Voting for the Metro Times Best of Detroit readers' poll ends tomorrow night at midnight!

Don't forget to Vote the Supergay Slate!

And while you're at it ... might you also consider voting for Supergay Detroit as "Best Blog" in the Ambassador Magazine Red Seal Awards? It's a much shorter ballot - only 24 categories, mostly food and fashion - and I don't know if you even have to vote for every category! Last year's winner is on maternity leave so it's not like I'll even be going after someone else's spot!

A few spots overlap with the official pro-gay pro-Detroit Supergay Slate, so you could consider voting for:

Best Restaurant (overall) : Atlas Global Bistro

Best Gourmet Market : Zaccaro's

Best Blog : Supergay Detroit!

Best Furniture Store : Mezzanine

Best Florist : Blossoms or Blumz
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Idiots everywhere I turn

The above-the-fold headline in today's Detroit News: AIDS RATES DOUBLE FOR MICHIGAN YOUTH.

Do not be fooled - it was not tucked away in the "Health" section.
Idiocy right on the front page.

So I would have expected that 25 years into this epidemic any reasonably intelligent person - such as a newspaper journalist or editor - would be clear on the difference between HIV and AIDS. HIV is the virus. People with HIV don't necessarily have AIDS. AIDS is a syndrome caused by the effects of virus. They are not the same thing. It's pretty elementary.

AIDS rates have not doubled - as a matter of fact they have plummeted since the mid-1990s. It is HIV infection rates that are found to have doubled.

It's an excellent sensationalist headline though. So I guess, nice job, Detroit News. Be proud.

WSGD - Supergay Radio

Did I tell you guys about the last time I was on the radio? I can't even remember. Anyway, I am going to be on Detroit Public Radio again tomorrow, for those of you who are interested in finding out just how nasal my voice is on the radio.

I'll be on during the "Detroit Today" program, reading a piece I wrote about weddings. It's expected to air around 10:40AM on 101.9FM here in Detroit, or streaming at www.wdet.org. I believe there will be an archive of the show in the "Detroit Today" section of the site.

Tune in!

[Edit: Here is the link to the story.]