Memories of the Castro part one

30 years ago next month on the 27th will be the thirtieth anniversary of one of the darkest days in the history of San Francisco's gay community. It was a tragic time when a strange darkness hung over the city. To me being a young man of 19 years who was coming to terms with who he was it was a true stunner.

This was my first Halloween in San Francisco as an adult. I had not been there for Halloween since I was a small child. So when my friend Lori suggested we go I said sure. The only problem was she was having car problems and I had a new car and I could not yet drive a stick shift all that well and I was not going to even attempt to drive it to the city with all of those hills.

So Lori said she could drive a stick so she drove my car and I got to go for a ride. A ride that changed my life.

It was really quite amazing we went too all of the neighborhoods, Polk Street the Haight Ashbury the Tenderloin and the last stop on our Halloween tour was the Castro. Now what is funny is I kept getting this feeling that I had been there before. I did not realize that the Safeway on Market Street was the one we used to shop at when I was a small child. We used to live in the upper Haight Ashbury off of 17Th Street. We moved when I was 5 years old to the east bay just three short years before The Summer of Love .

The city was so full of life and laughter that night only to be stripped away a few short weeks later by the senseless act of bigoted man. I remember the news reports and the announcement that Diane Fienstien made to the city and the world. I remember that she was grief stricken and unsteady on her feet.

I met Senator Dianne Fienstien the summer I was 15. That summer held allot of memories most good and some bad. What I do recall about her was that she was very nice. She spoke at a event that one of my mothers groups was holding. Who would have thought that 4 years later she would be the Mayer of San Francisco after the Mayor George Moscone and Harvey Milk were assassinated.

I remember the candlelight marches and the rallies and the trial of Dan white. I remember the riots after the verdict was read. I remember the disbelief that draped across the city. The burning police cars, the anger and the shock and the just plain sadness by so many. Harvey Milk was a legend in his own time and he is anchored in the history of San Francisco.

So much so that there have been several documentaries about him and now a feature film starring Sean Penn as Harvey Milk. This movie has a all star cast and it had its premier at the Castro Theater just the other night. There is even a bar named after Harvey Milk in the Castro. Harvey’s was formally the Elephant Walk and it was raided by the police after the white night riots. I never met Harvey Milk but I met allot of people who knew him. They were the leaders of the neighborhood when I started to hang out there. The Castro had a true sense of family and you felt safe there. You could truly be yourself.

San Francisco was really different back then when I was 5, the Castro was not the Castro district it was the Eureka Valley and Noe Valley but that all seemed to change in the sixties and the early seventies. The neighborhood changed when all of the original families started to move out and there were all of these old Victorian homes left to be subdivided into flats and rented out. Then came the "gays" to make a once almost derelict neighborhood something fabulous. The rents were cheep and the places were big and you could have several roommates to split the cost.

I was going to dance clubs Like the Trocadero Transfer and Studio West and the Endup and the I-beam because I loved to dance. These clubs just happened to be predominantly gay but it did not matter to me or my friends. And anyway all of the best places to dance were in the city back then. I was not out of the closet just yet . But I made friends at the clubs and we all would do things together. One of them was the Castro Street Fair in 1979 it was the year after Harvey Milk was assassinated and the White Night Riots and it was a surreal event. We went to a friends place who was having a party. He lived in the middle of the block above a store on Castro Street. I was a great vantage point to watch all of the goings on 3 floors below on the street.

It was amazing to see all of the out and proud gay people celebrating the day. There were speeches and music and hot men. This was the height of the "Castro Clone look" and they were out in force. It looked like a lumber jack convention. There were hot guys in short shorts which were in back then and drag queens and it was just to much to take in. We ventured out into the fray and went bar hopping and had a great time. I was still to young to drink legally but we got into the bars anyway. I would be old enough in a month.

This was the beginning of a love affair with a neighborhood and its people.

to be continued.

This is Elmysterio and I'm out

Happy Bitrhday Wishes and Happy Halloween

As a few of you might know today is the birthday of the super twink of the new millennium. Yes people he is 22 years old and he appears to be coming into his own. Who would have thought that through all of the misguided ventures and false starts that he would be on the edge of great success. Congratulations Brent Corrigan for you perseverance and the ability to stay in the fight. So we light a candle to help you celebrate 22 years.

I also want to wish you all a happy Halloween because we all need to be happy right about now. I would also like to take this time to announce that I am going in a new direction with my blog. It was starting to look like a blog that was only about Joe and Harlow or porn . That was not my intention for this little place on the Internet.

It would appear that over the years that I have been writing this blog I have made more enemies than friends but that is OK. The friends that I did make I will value forever and they know who they are. It would seem that my opinions on certain subjects has caused a great deal of debate amongst my detractors. With some very interesting comments made in regards to my motives.

Now I am not going to sit here and explain my motives behind anything that I said and I did because I did them and that is enough for you all to know. If you have an issue with what I say you can voice your opinion, will I listen to it well that is a different matter all together. With all of the back stabbing and behind the scenes shit talking going on I find it funny that none of you really have a clue as to who is really manipulating the truth.

As far as the Joe and Harlow case goes I will admit that it was not too smart to get involved in it. I have to say the same thing about Sean and Grant. There is also the whole Mason Wyler thing as well. But the one thing that I will not back down from is my belief that you should get involved in something that you believe in. So to those of you who think that my motives for getting involved revolved around the fact that I was in love with Harlow or that I thought he was hot, or that I have an affinity for porn stars and the winner is "because I was a victim", you are fucking idiots. As far as to what my motives for getting involved were, I wrote about it but I guess y'all did not care to read that part.

As far a my opinion of who was involved in the murder of Bryan Kocis, I still have my beliefs as to who was involved. Some seem to think that I can not have an opinion and I should agree with the Cobrakiller rants that they are screaming about. The fact that they have said that they were not involved in this case and had no connection to any of those involved not withstanding they are on a serious crusade to clear the name of this one witness of any wrong doing. So I guess in the world of opinions there is a double standard.

As far a statements I made on other blogs and threads I said them and if I did not want them to comeback to haunt me I should not have said them. This post is not an apology to anyone and it is not and admission of anything. it is just me having my say on how I feel with regards to all that has happened over the last year and a half.

To the family of Bryan Kocis, I regret your lose and the way you allowed your grief to impact the lives of so many. While I do not agree with your actions I will say that you are entitled to your opinions. So take the money that Bryan made off the backs of young men who risked their lives and live a happy life.

This is Elmysterio and I'm out.

Happy Halloween bitches

The reasoning behind proposition 8 is flawed.

The idea that gay marriage will destroy the family structure is wrong. A man and a woman are not the only thing that makes a family. The family dynamic is based on love and trust and compassion. With more single parents raising children now and most of them are doing an excellent job I might add does not bode well for those who say that gay marriage will destroy a family.



Just like I do not believe that a man should be able to tell a woman not to have a abortion. I do not think that someone should be able to tell me who to love. The basis behind this proposition is to change the Constitution of California and to allow this group of people to legally discriminate. What is wrong with this picture.


The facts are clear why so many are opposed to gay marriage. They feel threatened by gay people and the fact that two people of the same sex can love each other disturbs them. Most people think that being gay is about sex. They also think that being gay is a choice they could not be more wrong. Why in gods name would anyone want to go against what they are taught from day one? To be different? Different is dying your hair blond when you are a brunette or getting a Mohawk hair cut or a tattoo.



Gay is not a choice or a life style. We just are, so I guess the rest of the world will just have to deal with it. The definition of a family is not as clear cut as it was once thought. If there is love and compassion that makes a family.The idea that two gay people would raise a gay child is as absurd as the notion of denying us the right to marry is.The fact is most gay children come from heterosexual families and that can not be denied.Gay people are gay because they are born that way. We are not made gay and you can not make a person gay.



Sex with a person of the same sex does not make you gay it just makes you adventurous or super horny. I really don't get the big deal about gay men wanting to have sex with straight men. What is the point? Don't get me wrong I love men, I find them sexy and fun but the idea of a straight guy is not a big turn on for me. I want a man who is as much turned on by me as I am by him so that pretty much excludes straight men because they want woman and I appreciate them for that.



I say keep the church out of the constitution and let the state deal with the laws. If you want to get married in a church that's fine but the church should not try and set public policy. The laws are written by the state and they are set in place to protect us and they should not be there to segregate us. I say equal rights for all citizens and I do mean all of US. Protect civil rights and vote no on proposition 8


This is Elmysterio and I’m out.

Shelter

I was surfing the Internet the other night checking to see what was new in Gay cinema and I ran across a movie trailer for a film called "Shelter". It looked interesting so I did a little research on it and found a website with a clip from it. I did not even watch the whole clip because I did not want it to ruin the movie for me. Just watching 1 minute of that clip made me want to see the whole movie. This indie flick is made by Here TV. It was written and directed by Jonah Markowitz, who I must say did a excellent job of fleshing out the characters and getting stellar performances from the cast of highly capable actors. This is a great movie and it left me wanting more.

Zach (Trevor Wright) is torn between what he thinks is his duty and what he really needs and wants from life and the choices he has to make for his own happiness while dealing with the off and on relationship with his high school girlfriend Tori (Katie Walder) and his needy selfish sister Jeanie (Tina Holmes) who is a single mother and his nephew Cody (Jackson Wurth). Now I am not much for kid actors because they can be annoying but this kid was great. When his best friend Gabe ( Ross Thomas) who is a total surfer dude is back in town from school for the day they hang out. When Zack goes to Gabe’s parents beach house to retrieve his surf board he runs into Gabe’s older brother Shaun (Brad Rowe). Shaun is a writer and he is staying at the empty beach house until his new place in LA becomes available. Now I don’t want to give away anymore of the movie because it is just so well done.

The play between the characters is so subtle that it is hard to believe they are acting but acting they are and doing a damn fine job of it. From the urban setting of San Pedro to the beautiful beaches of Laguna and Malibu with scenes of surfing and crashing waves, great sunsets and a wonderful soundtrack this movie makes you want to be there. All I can say is that you should rent this or buy this movie because it is great. It does not play on stereotypes and it shows you that true acceptance begins with yourself and the only definition of a family is love.

So go see it and Vote no on prop 8.