GantPants' Gay Life

Red Party: First Night

2011-02-22T17:21:00.000-08:00

Red Party

2011-02-09T11:54:00.000-08:00

I have decided to start using this blog to post my comics. I'll also be self-publishing them in little zines.

A "Red Party" is a theme party that was made popular in the "circuit party" club culture of the nineties. Red Parties were huge rave-style parties where in order to attend, and in addition to a cover, you had to wear some article that was red. This comic, as well as subsequent chapters, is based on my true experience. Most "circuit parties" ceased in the last decade, but some, like the White Party in Miami, Southern Decadence in New Orleans, still go on and are very popular. They are a lot of fun, but also hold the potential to be incredibly dangerous. The Wikipedia entry on circuit parties is very good, and certainly holds true to what I observed in my short lived time in clubland.

One of the comics I am writing is called "Red Party." It is about my coming of age on the fringes of clubland. I say on the fringes because Club culture in this form was on its last legs in DC and Baltimore and I never really got super involved in any of the drug culture or the sexy decadence that was so central to the culture's mythos. I hope you enjoy the stories, all of them are true.

Gantpants wants a baby.

2011-01-17T13:46:00.000-08:00

David Furnish, Elton John, & Child (with a nod to Van Eyck)

I want a baby. I have dreamed of being a dad ever since I was about thirteen. I even remember playing 'family' with my brother, putting on my blue blazer and emulating our own father in our room while we were supposed to be tidying up. This is a role I feel called to; something I was born to want. And I believe fatherhood and parenting goes well beyond passing on a DNA structure, but instead passing on values and a way of living. I want to inspire and help to form a young person into a healthy and admired adult.

Being gay instantly makes parenthood political. Most people probably don't think about this, but it is difficult and expensive to adopt a child as a homosexual, and completely illegal in many states, even in 2011. Add to that the stacks of 'evidence' against us and our 'wayward' and 'alternative' lifestyle and it can take years a lot of court dates to adopt a child and create a family. Unless of course you are Elton John and David Furnish, who I'm sure had to deal with their own fair share of red tape. Good luck to you both as parents. And know that I envy you, not only for the relationship you have with each other, but also for the good fortune of being parents.

Until I am blessed with a stable and loving companion - that isn't a pug - and before I can even begin to really think about the prospect of fatherhood, I get to bask in the warmth that is being an uncle. Because my sister and brother-in-law blessed our family with a perfect little girl named Eliza. I am beside myself. I hope she will love me the same way I instantly loved her. Dear Eliza, I can't wait to watch you grow up. In a way that you may never know, you saved my life. I will always be in your debt.

In the long run, I know I will be a father someday. There are a lot of battles for me to fight before that can be a realistic prospect. I am twenty six. My career is only a few steps out the starting gate. And there is still that issue of nabbing a good boyfriend. Evidently, they are hard to come by. But I still want a baby.

A Goth Comic Tribute to my Comical Goth Past

2011-01-10T04:50:00.000-08:00

click to enlarge

Ideal Qualities in a Man - Manners

2011-01-06T10:39:00.000-08:00

A good man always writes his hostess a thank-you note raving about her tasteful throw pillows.

Captain Owen Honors. Have we missed the point?

2011-01-03T09:52:00.000-08:00

M*A*S*H's Cpl. Klinger

Recently, it has been broadcast on the news about these stupid videos that Capt. Honors made to entertain his crew. It is also said that they were made to cover common issues aboard the ship, like proper bathroom behavior (conserve water, don't use too much toilet paper blah blah blah) and with some humor. They're cheap videos, and obviously an immature attempt at immature humor. They were reported on by the Norfolk Va newspaper The Virginian-Pilot on the first of this month and have since made the rounds, labelled as "raunchy," "vulgar," and "offensive" as well as "anti-gay."

The videos are a (lousy) attempt at humor to keep people entertained, that much is obvious. I laughed while watching the one that The Advocate has hosted in its article. I was not personally offended by this video. If anything it sort of reminded me of the silly skits we used to perform in summer camp. Sex, be it homosexual or heterosexual, has been comedy fodder for generations. For example, I would love to hear the opinions from the folks shouting "discrimination" on this issue on such comedy classics like "Blazing Saddles" or the TV series "M*A*S*H." I make the comparison only because a large part of the issue here has been left out. Namely, the real reason why the videos are actually offensive.

So I laughed at the video I watched, but I'm not in the armed forces and struggling with DADT enforcement, which would easily make watching this material hurtful and alienating. My main issue with these videos being a news story is that the real issue of why they are offensive is glossed over. It isn't the videos that are the problem, it is the overall truth behind them, of alienating behavior that our culture at large encourages. This is not a naval issue, or one that is confined to our armed forces. It extends to dinner parties, politics, pundits, family friends, schools, and anywhere where people refuse to accept that homosexuals deserve the same universal respect that heterosexuals have always been granted.

When we have the respect we deserve, and as a community we have been allowed to shed our insecurities as second class citizens - that is when the rest of the world will have earned the privilege to have fun at our expense the way that friends can. Until then, it will wound beyond intent.

Ideal Qualities in a Man - Culture

2010-12-29T19:33:00.000-08:00

Fluency and an ability to articulate one's thoughts concerning fine arts and the humanities are absolutely ideal and very impressive qualities for a man to own.

Makeup

2010-12-21T11:26:00.000-08:00

I have always loved makeup. When I was young I used to swipe my little fingers across just about anything that I could pretend was a compact or a cake of powder. One afternoon when I was 7 years old my mother was driving a friend of mine home.When we got to his house my mother got out of the car to chat with his mother in their front yard, leaving me in the front seat with access to my full imaginary makeup vanity.

Sliding my forefinger across the radio dash, I transformed from a little boy into a movie star. The radio tuner turned into cream foundation, which is important in erasing blemishes and signs of old age. Radio preset seven was the dark shadow that went in the crease over my eyes - that helps define your lids and gives you the illusion of full luscious lashes. After that came a highlight just under the outer corner of the brow, found by pushing the eject button on the tape deck. Blush - or the air conditioning controls - was very important to define facial bone structure. This was particularly crucial, since six year old boys generally don't have defined cheekbones. Finally it was time for lipstick.

Lipstick can set a mood - it alone can change your entire "look". Naturally on this occasion I took plenty of time in the car looking for that perfect shade to complement my mood - which was "fabulous." Looking around the dashboard for my lipstick choice I pulled out the cigarette lighter. She shape was just right, and the way it lay in my hand was oh-so-similar to my mother's actual lipstick. In addition, the coils were exactly the shade of red I was looking for. It was almost the same color as Judy Garland's lips in "The Wizard of Oz." Needless to say, I was pretty sore after putting on that lipstick, and you can bet that mom drove me home as quickly as she could. There's a parable somewhere in there, about growing up gay in straight America.

My relationship with makeup did not end that day in the car. When I was in high school and dealing with the emotional chaos that is adolescence I rediscovered makeup as a quasi-goth. But it was at art school that I had my most torrid, and final affair with makeup as my drag alter ego Veronica Rockitt.