Today’s double-shot is dedicated to the movies I saw as a very young gay guy just coming out and trying to find common ground in a world that evidently hated me and my existence. I first discovered a movie called Parting Glances from Vinny; he lent me a VHS tape and said I would love this movie, and I did. The movie doesn’t really hold up today, but there is a scene in a club (to which I still had never been as indicated a few songs ago) and in it, Smalltown Boy by Bronski Beat plays in the background. When I hear it, even now, I connect to that scary time for guys like me, but in a good way, if that makes any sense. But back then, whenever I’d hear the song on WLIR, sung by openly gay mezzo-soprano Jimmy Somerville, I’d get a feeling of community. A freak among freaks. Then came the film Longtime Companion and the song Do Ya Wanna Funk by disco drag goddess Sylvester. It’s also played while the gays are out dancing and drinking on Fire Island in the early 80s before AIDS took grip and rattled us. This song represents revelry and is forcefully joyous. It’s everything I’d imagine the gay community was just before AIDS killed so many of us and the government stood by watching. Soon after, my friend DJ Donnie would play this at Grand Central and Vinny and I would dance and dance and dance...
From the historical writing archive. Original date: November 26, 2018. Recovered from local source material; editorial review is still in progress.
