Endings & Beginnings, A Timely Piece All Around

We have a lot to cover so I am just gonna jump right in. Despite months of trying to "make it work"  Khloe Kardashian began divorce proceedings against Lamar Odom. The paper work had been filled out for months but Khole was holding out hope that all of Lamar's hard work would help them move forward. One reason she seemed so ready to file now verse waiting is that Boy About Towns's favorite Kardashian was photographed heading to the gym with baseball star Matt Kemp. I guess having a new one waiting in the wings makes it easier to jump ship. I truly wish I learned that lesson a few weeks ago. But of course Khloe is saying she is just to heart broken to even think about dating. Ummmm, ok!?  But anyway, on some truly amazing news, Red Carpet Refugees has officially become a small biz! Boy About Town spent the other day in LA running all over town filling out the stack of papers that made everything legit! So watch for some exciting news coming your way in regards to guest bloggers as well taking RCR on the road in the upcoming year!      While in LA you know Boy About Town had to catch up with some of the Hollywood set. And who better then actor Bruce Hart. This hottie, hey people I am not blind I am just unlucky in love, sat down with me over coffee to talk about the amazing year he has been having. Not only

Boy About Town & Bruce Hart

did Bruce get the green light on season 3 of his show "Old Dogs & New Tricks" , which btw just released seasons 1 & 2 on DVD, but is working on the series "Boystown" in which he plays a adult film producer with questionable morals...I wasn't aware there was any other kind of producer! And Bruce got to kiss Olympian Greg Louganis while filming their "wedding" scene.  But the icing on the cake has got to be his SAG Award Nomination for Best Guest Star. I am so excited that at least one of the nominees is  such a nice & yes good looking guy. Did I mention Alan Cummings is also nominated, yeah, okay. The only thing that could make it better was if Bruce were to invite Boy to the big night. Just saying....
Stay Fabulous!
Boy About Town!

Back To Boy's Roots!

Well after such a preachy posting like the one I did the other day on Bauard Rustin (btw, thanks for all the re-posts & emails you sent me, you all are fabulous)!  I thought I would lighten the mood and return to my roots...That's right folks I am gonna do some good old Hollywood gossip! It's time resurrect Boy's Buzz Box...
Now as many of you may know I have had spotty relationship with the Kardashian clan. Kim has stood Boy up for 2 interviews & her "PR Man" Jonathan Cheban has been flat out rude.  Guess pretending to be straight is really taking a toll on him...Anywho, I am glad to say that the very sweet & kind Khloe Kardashian continues to reach out to her estranged husband Lamar Odom. The past few days Khloe has been using social media as away to profess her love as the equally kind Lamar struggles with his disease of addiction.  The couple has been trying to save their relationship but is also taking time to honor themselves. Lamar, who owns & operates the clothing line Rich Soil, has been doing everything he can to mend the relationships he damaged.  This includes today's pleading "no contest" to his DUI arrest as well as spending the past two weeks of strenuous workouts with renowned trainer Rob McClanaghan. Lamar is back on his A-Game and is awaiting word on the next step in his NBA comeback. So with his legal drama coming to an end (three years probation just a little bi-product of that), his NBA career back in focus, a loving, understanding wife & sometime with his wife's family (poor bastard) Lamar Odom is due to start being a shinning example of "living in the solution"...Quick shout out to my girl Kelly Rowland. 

Kelly Rowland & Boy About Town

She has been shy of late with her left hand...Could it be that the rumors of her engagement to her manager Tim Witherspoon are true?!  Well even I could not pry the deets from Ms Rowland, and you know I tired! But if anyone deserves to find happiness in love it's the hardest working girl in showbiz! Now about my invite to the wedding?!?!? In a throw back to the golden age of Hollywood  Boy About Town's personal stylist, the very special Elias Luna (blush), recently had dinner the world renowned fashion designer James Galanos. 

Boy About Town & Fashionista Elias Luna

This pioneer of America's fashion movement, that took over the world, has dressed the likes of Roslyn Russell, First Lady Nancy Regan and Heidi Klum!  How's that for a motley crew?! To read about this evening between two powerhouses of fashion visit Elias's blog at EliasLuna.com
Stay Fabulous!
Boy About Town!

A Hero Amongst Us....Bauard Rustin

King At The March Which Mr Rustin Put Together

For a while now I have wanted to write about people that I feel have effected the world in which we live but have failed to grab the attention of the mass media.  So every now & then I will be posting under the title "A Hero Amongst Us".  You folks have never been shy about emailing me your thoughts, both good & bad, so if you know of someone that might fit this mold please let me know RCRNewsBlog@gmail.com
We live in a world where people are still judged by the color of their skin, who they love, or where the worship. But for the most part the world today is a lot more tolerant place then it was years ago. Our President is half Black, TV shows like Will & Grace or Modern Family with characters that are openly Gay have been widely embraced by the American people, and our former Anglo Saxon dominated culture now reflex's the growing number of non Christians amongst us. Now image being a Gay, Black man in the middle of one largest civil rights movements the world has ever seen. Now image all this happening in America during the 1940’s, 50’s and the turbulate 60’s. This is the world that Bayard Rustin braved as he helped set in motion events that are still changing today's landscape of civil rights in America.

Bauard Rustin

Born in 1912 in Pennsylvania into a family heavily involved with the beginnings of the Black civil rights movement. At the age of 24 a young, hopeful Bayard moved to the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. If you were a Black man in the 30’s Harlem was the place to be. Mr. Rustin earned a living in nightclubs in this mecca of the Black community while also remaining active in the movement which was beginning to take on a more defined shape. Working in the nightclub biz to help pay the bills also allowed Mr. Rustin to travel around America and helped form a network of people that would prove very helpful in the years to come. During a trip to California Mr. Rustin was arrested on a vague “sex charge”…think George Michael. This term was used freely at the time to hunt down Gays. What no one knew at the time was that this arrest would later come back to haunt both Bauard as well as the civil rights movement as a whole.
In the 50’s Mr Rustin became more active in the movement and went to Alabama to help with the Montgomery bus boycott. This is when two strong, smart, determined, Black men crossed paths & formed a partnership that would redirect the course of American thinking on the terms of equal rights. Mr. Rustin meet Dr Martin Luther King Jr & became one of his trusted aides & advisers. Between 1956 -1960 Mr. Rustin worked tirelessly to raise Dr Kings national profile. Clearly his years of hard work paid off because not only are we still talking about Dr King today but even the closed mined, racist fools of yesteryear sat up and took notice. The Black civil rights movement had arrived in the hearts & minds of the American people and Bauard Rustin had played a key role in getting it there! But Mr. Rustin’s sexuality opened King and other leaders in the movement to criticism from people such as Senator Strom Thurmond. This ELECTED OFFICIAL (sorry for the caps but this upsets me) represented South Carolina from 1954 until 2003. First as a Democrat and, after 1964, as a Republican. He switched because of his opposition to the Civil Rights Act. And as is the case with most crazy right wing nut jobs he jumped up and down calling Mr Rustin a sexually pervert and applied untold pressure to Dr King to get rid of this hard working, smart man. Bauard offered to resign from Dr Kings inner circle and to his shock Dr King accepted! This started 3 years of estrangement that ended with one of the greatest moments in American history.

2 Great Men Changing The World Together

In June of 1963 planning for “ March On Washington” had started. The plan was to bring the largest protest in American history to the nations Capitol demanding that legal discrimination in America come to an end..This clearly would entail a massive effort from many different sources and would require the leadership of someone of great inner strenght as well as a great deal of patience. That man was Bauard Rustin. After being asked back into the fold by leaders of the Black community Mr Rustin had just 2 months to pull off the moving, housing, feeding & organizing over 250,000 people! Well, we all know what happened next don’t we? Please tell me you do.... People came, King made his now famous “I Have A Dream Speech” and the tide began to change. Slowly at first, then in a tidal wave. But for some reason Bauard Rustin & his life’s work seems to have been lost to the sands of time. Sure President Obama awarded the Presidential Medal of Honor to Bauard Rustin on November 20, 2013. But by then Bauard had been dead for 16 years!  Shame on the Black community for failing to look past it's homophobia. Shame on the Gay community for failing to look back and remembering those that fought to get us where we are today. And shame on all of us for failing to see….A Hero Amongst Us!

Stay Fabulous!
Boy About Town
“The Gay community has a moral obligation to continue the fight…..” Bauard Rustin

The Ghost Of Thanksgiving Past

I don't make a habit of talking about my past. Mainly because so much has been said about it in the "lower press".  And most of it has not been very flattering.  But I can deal with people saying things about my past, it saves me the time. But what has never been talked about, by anyone, is the family that help create the fabulous mess that I am.  Years ago I was a soft spoken, awkward, upper middle class boy living in Littleton, Colorado.  I went through hell everyday for being the fag....You would think a family could see a teen in distress and ask themselves what they could do to help. That was not the case and 20 years ago on Thanksgiving everything came to a nasty, painful head with my Mother & Father.  They knew something was up and thought 30 mins before sitting down to dinner and giving thanks for a wonderful life they would confront me on their suspicion that I was indeed Gay. Ummmm, suspicion? I spent my free time in my room working on my Vogue rountie!!  Anyway, that day marked the end of my relationship with my Mother & Father and began my journey to find my chosen family.  Through 4 countries, 3 continents and endless love affairs...ENDLESS....I have been truly blessed  to find some of the most amazing people that have loved me and allowed me to love them and share there joys & sorrows with them!  These people are my family. If you find yourself in a situation where your "family"  is not giving you the love and support that it is in the job description of FAMILY, well then you just make your own.  I have now been separated from my Mother & Father and in turn my brother longer then I knew them and after so long away they are strangers.  With the "death" of the family of my childhood years so began the birth of my new, loving & supportive family.  For which I am very thankful!

Stay Fabulous

Boy About Town

patric henn 

Boy's Guide To Raising A Child Star

 

Boy & Lori of Gucci Fame!

Elias Luna, one of Santa's freaky elves & Boy About Town

 So before we kick off our indepth coverage of "Child Actors", that very statement is an oxymoron, let me tell ya about my fabulous weekend. Not only did I discover a hot new designer Elias Luna but this hunk with vision had tickets to a tickets to one of this winters hottest parties...Miracle On El Paseo. So of course I invited myself right along!  Held on glamours El Paseo (also known as the Rodeo Drive of the desert) benefited BIGHORN BAM which has raises over $770,000 for  Cancer Charities here in lovely California! The event was built around a Holiday-themed.The evening had it all it! The 60-foot El Paseo Christmas Tree was illuminated, the Valley’s top restaurants and wineries all threw free food & booze down our throats (special thanks to the staff of Wolfgang Puck's)  but most important to Boy About Town was the fact that the event encouraged stores like Gucci, St.John, Bottega Veneta, Ralph Lauren and Optical Shops of Aspen to throw open their doors & host evening shopping with the added perk of everything from music to special deals...quick side note, Lori at Gucci told Boy they are hosting a private sale this Friday night, so if I am MIA you clearly know where I can be found! Stay tuned for more from the effervescent Elias Luna!

  

From This.....

To This.....

CHILD ACTORS WHAT GOES INTO BEING A STAR
*Subtitled Disney Menopause, thanks Phil for the help* We all have heard the jokes about stage mothers. Ya know the Mom’s that drag their kids from one audition to another around LA or NYC just KNOWING that their little angel is the next Shirley Temple when in fact the kid is more Honey Boo Boo! Well for the thousands of families that do live and breath by a casting agents whim there are those that make a living in show biz and very good one at that. Rico Rodriquez of ABC's "Modern Family" earns $20,000 per episode, and the kid is 15 years old. Clearly not every kid will land on one of the funniest & highest rated shows on TV. But what does it take to land the commercial for Cheerios that will lead to a call for a movie that will lead to a Disney tween sitcom and that will lead to rehab? BUT, before all that happens there is a lot of work that goes into making a star. And like everything that requires work it also requires a good deal of money. So this the behind the scenes story of what it takes to bring a kid from the Christmas pageant in the Midwest to the silver screen. So lets track the story from the beginning.
You have a feeling that little Susie would be a instant hit on stage. And she does love to preform. So what do you do with your little nugget? You find true professional to guide you through the process. You will need headshots…not taken at home by Dad with his webcam, but real honest to god headshots. Shop around. This will set ya back a few coins but if you are unwilling to take this easy and least costly of the many steps in front of you might as well stop right now. An agent is a must! They will want headshots but while interviewing several different true agents they maybe able to steer you towards a photographer that will know what you need. With quality headshots in hand an agent’s job is to find your little bread winner…uhhh, I mean little sweetheart, the right auditions. If ever an agent promises you a set number of jobs or a guaranteed income then you are dealing with a con-man. An agent gets his or her clients into castings and then does everything in their power to land them the gig. The agent only makes money when your little star makes money. That fee is somewhere between 10-15%. And if you bring in a manager there goes another chuck of your kids college/rehab fund. At times managers have been know to charge outrageous fees so state of California passed a law which requires that all child actors paychecks have 15% taken off the top a deposited into a trust fund , known as the Coogan Account, that is off limits until the child turns 21 years of age. And when Leno Helmsly said “only little people pay taxes” she was not talking about the Gary Colemans of the world. The tax man will be taking some of that hard earned income.
But this only matters if the kid in question has the chops to woo the casting agent and gets a job. And lets face people there are only a few places in the world that matter in the world of entertainment…New York, Las Vegas and of course right here in Hollywood. So what do you do if you are in the middle America? Well L. A. is not coming to you, so you gotta move the future mega star to California (or NYC or wherever you are trying to find work). It is not uncommon for a family of four, 2 parents & 2 kids, to split the family down the middle for a while. One parent & the actor will come to Hollywood, rent an apartment and start pounding the pavement with the clear goal of landing a spot that will enable the whole clan to relocated and live the Hollywood dream. And while all this is going on the other parent is back home working to support this dream while also carpooling, running the other kid to baseball practice as well dealing with the upkeep of the lives that the two adults had managed before. The whole team has to be on the same page while the “child actor” goes from one casting call to another. And lets face it people most of the time the answer is no. Add the fact that they are in a strange city and this is a true business where time is money, well for a kid that wants to sing & dance or make people laugh or just wants to be the next Hannah Montana this can all become a bit much. Lots of kids burn out. Some parents burn out before their child does. Sometimes the lack of funds and/or stress on the relationships takes its toll and everyone goes home with some great pictures and an amusing story.
But if everything works in FABULOUS fashion and our mini Brad Pitt lands a job, or two, well then the work really starts. There are laws dealing with the amount of hours a child can work and laws requiring education to be seen to for all child actors. Then there is learning lines, setting up the shots and then the actual work of filming or shooting and don‘t forget promoting yourself & your projects. So a kids day may begin at 4 am but with all the leg work that is involved a day may last 16 hours from start to finish. Have any of you dealt with a kid after they have been up for that long?!? Not cute! Child acting is not kids play. If you think you can hang and believe your little angel can as well then come on out to Hollywood.

Enough Said!

If not, well that is why you tube was invented…and just look at Justin Bieber!!!

Stay Fabulous!!

Boy About Town

Chipping Away At Roe v Wade

In 1973 The Supreme Court issued one of it's most controversial & far reaching rulings.  In this landmark decision the Court struck down state laws that banned abortions. Freedom over reproductive choice became the law of the land. From that day forward a woman's right to choose has slowly but surely been chipped away.  City by city, county by county, state by state those opposed to Roe v Wade have launched a grass roots battle to reverse the long standing Court ruling.

This freedom of choice has been around longer then Boy About Town has so I have always known a United States in which a female of lawful age can exercise her constitutional right to ended her pregnancy with a legal, safe & clean abortion.  I have had many friends who have exercised this right to terminate & never looked back.  I have also had friends who have regretted the decision whether it be within days of the abortion or years down the road. My favorite group of people is those who have had abortions themselves but, for whatever reason, feel that the same freedom should not be afforded to other women.

During 2013 alone more then 300 abortion restrictive measures were introduced in state legislative sessions throughout America. These have included everything from banning abortion after the 1st trimester, requiring parental notification and this one is a real fun one folks.....making women view photos of fetuses.  How any health care "professional" could force a young, scared woman to stare at photos of a pinhead size fetus and then try to browbeat them into changing their minds during an already painful & scary time is beyond me.  But that is just what some of our fearless leaders on both the state level as well as the federal have attempted, and in some cases succeed, to do.

The Men Deciding A Woman's Furtue

States such as Alabama, Oklahoma, South Carolina & Texas (come on folks we all knew Texas would be on this list) have taken steps to undo what the Court did 40 years ago.  But what concerns me is why the tide seems to be turning away from this watershed moment in the women's right movement and returning all of us, and it truly is all of us, to the dark ages.  Is it, as some people think, that the anti-choice or pro-life forces have at last focused their energy and resources on their mission?  Is it that we as people have decided that abortion is not for us, although still fight sex education in schools, condoms being given out to teens and the morning after pill is a whole can of worms that gets people foaming at the mouth? Or is it, as Boy About Town believes, that we have forgotten where we came from.  People don't recall that women died at the hands of "dirty doctors" in back alley abortions that were not fit for animals.  People forgot that full term babies were thrown away at a rate that can still not be charted.  When you see rich, middle age white men in Washington D.C. making laws that directly effect poor, black girls in Detroit you have to ask yourself....how did we get here?!

Stay Fabulous

Boy About Town!

A Word From Boy About Town

My name is Kat and both work with Boy About Town as well as count him as a good friend.  Boy has been very ill & has been unable to do much of anything. Despite some online rumors he is not dead nor is he going to die.  He will return very soon. He asked me to send you all a message. And given the massive amount of email asking about Boy we came up with this idea to post.
For those of you that he has not contacted or followed through on things, he will do so as soon as he is on his feet. B.A.T. is so afraid some of you are mad or hurt.  He wants so badly to call/text/email/blog and just raise hell in general but we are making sure he is up to any of that first.
Boy says that you all are FABULOUS and thanks you all for everything!

What Happened To House

DJ Jeffrey Jacobs

DJ Scott Mann

Once upon a time there was a magic world called Circuit. And in this world boys & girls, but mainly boys, gathered in cities around the globe to dance in great big groups at parties where they would spend the weekend enjoying the local culture, amazing music & each others ummm, company!? The driving force behind all this merry making was House Music. The sound of House came out of the clubs in New York & Chicago. It tends to be upbeat, vocal music that lends itself to a tribal feel amongst its fans both on the dance floor & off. In this ongoing series “What Happened To House” we will be looking into the state of the dance scene in different cities. And Boy About Town will be doing tireless research for you, my fabulous readers. I will be chatting with the hottest DJ’s, hitting the hottest clubs & some of the not so famous ones to find out where we are and where we are heading as we take to the dance floor! Our first stop is a nod to my summer spent in South Florida as we check out Miami’s famed nightlife as well as Ft Lauderdale’s quiet, yet very fierce attempt to become the king of the south! 
me set the scene, the tiny dance floor is packed with big hairy muscle men, a few leather Daddies & their boys (some Daddies are hunting for a boy or two but that is for my other blog) & girls that have packed themselves into Ramrod in Wilton Manors, Florida. Located just down “The Strip” as the Wilton Manor Dr is known to everyone in the know. This tiny bar bills itself as a Leather & Levi bar. And it is, where else could you buy a Bud Lite in a can and a 12 inch dildo all at the same place? But tonight the crowd is focused on the tiny DJ booth located just inches above the dance floor. In that booth , while not greeting his many friends & followers, DJ Jeffrey Jacobs takes the crowd on a trip with many peeks & valleys as he reads this group of hardcore music

fans. DJ Jeffrey Jacobs who hails from NYC came to SoFla (South Florida) about 10 years ago with a simple mission….bring the action! Well mission accomplished! You see while Ft Lauderdale has the largest Gay population percapata in the USA and a very upwardly mobile straight group as well there are very few true dance clubs. And those that try fail in spectacular fashion. So DJ Jeffrey Jacobs and his fellow Leather DJ’s , Scott Mann & Herbie James, countine to be the DJ’s that saved our lives in a tiny bar right off “The Strip”. Make sure to watch for DJ Jeffrey Jacobs on an upcoming segment of “In Bed With Boy”! Do you all see the lengths I am willing to go for you? Something that Ft Lauderdale has made big inroads into is the afterhours scene which at one time belonged solely to it’s neighbor to the south Miami Beach. Torpedo Afterhours offers a mix of all genres. While a bit off the beaten path it is the only game in town & worth the trip. But people, take a cab if you’re even thinking of partying hard because it is located right next door to a police station. And Broward County is no place to run afoul of the law.



DJ David-Tort

About 10 or 15 years ago South Beach was THE place to go if you wanted to sun yourself during the day & dance to big name DJ’s in super huge venues. Well sweet readers those days are behind SoBe. Now the clubs are packed with a weird combo of Jersey Shore wannabe’s & teenage rappers that still live with Mommy and work at Blockbuster. So Downtown Miami, once a dead zone, has stepped into the void with surpising results.  has given birth to great art galleries, shops, café’s & yes nightclubs! Most famous among them is Space. I remember when Space open way back in the late 90’s and my group of party friends & myself dragged ourselves across the Bay to the party that kicked it all off! We being SoBe boys & girls gave the place 6 months tops (it is worth keeping in mind that most of us worked in clubs on the South Beach, Boy at Liquid, Justin at Score & Robin whenever she could pick up work) Well many years later Space in all it’s hugeness is still there & if the night I went is anything to judge by it is doing fine! There are 2 dance floors with enough room on each to play a game of football. And an outdoor area that while it does have music the vibe is much more chill. The crowd had plenty of the clueless, messy when partying crowd but there was also a lot of fun loving, crowd hopping party people that made one remember the glory days of house. The DJ that saved Boy’s life that night was David-Tort. He read the crowd like a dirty paperback romance novel & then like a true man left me wanting more! I swear I needed a cigeratte after his set. The hours of Space go hella later then most any other clubs in SoFla so make sure to bring your sunglasses for when you stumble out into the blinding Florida sun in the morning.

While House Music is no longer the celebration of life, love & diversity it once was these mix masters are leading the tribe back to solid ground & we should all keep our eyes on them…and it is not because they are all very hot men! Well maybe it is a little! So next time we visit the majic land of circuit it will be a bit more…well fabulous! In the meantime boys & girls play nice!  And if you have been enjoying the background music for this posting...no folks it's not all in your head...visit the Mix Master himself DJ Jeffrey Jacobs.

Stay Fabulous!
Boy About Town
 

The Great White Plague

 
Heads Up To My Many Fans...All 2 Of You!
 
Tina, tweak, speed, glass, ice. Whatever you know it as it is all the same, Crystal Methamphetamine. Once a drug used by bikers & streetwalkers these little white crystals have made their way into mainstream culture in a big way. And they show no signs of leaving. Now before we go any further along lets get something outta the way. Yes, your very own Boy About Town has had a very public battle with Ms Tina though the years. And yes I have at times slipped in my long, never ending road to recovery. That is what makes this posting personal, painful & necessary.

First a science lesson. Anyone that watches the hit show “Breaking Bad” knows all about this part. Meth is a man made drug. There is nothing “all natural” about it. In other words you will not find it in your local Whole Foods. Meth is made up of many different ingredient's including but not limited to, nail polish remove, lithium, hydrochloric acid, red phoshorous & our friend sulfuric acid.  After taking the drug the user experiences a sudden "rush" of pleasure or a prolonged sense of euphoria. Think of it is as a really long orgasm. The price of this high becomes painfully expensive to ones life after awhile, but in the meantime the user keeps coming back for more of this feeling.  Lets face it people, if it didn't feel good at first some many would not become addicted.


Boy About Town In His Addiction

Now for the street level part of our journey. Crystal is sold in different amounts & done by many methods. The smallest amount you can buy is “a quarter” which retails for about $25 here in California but in places like Florida can sell for up to $60. Mostly our insidious little friend Ms Tina is made in the deserts of California, Arizona or down in Mexico. Supply & demand, so that explains that. Donald Trump would be proud! Anywho, the prices go up from there. About $200 for an eight ball in Cali ($500ish in the crystal starved places). An 8 ball (not the type you play pool with) is made up of 14 quarters. You all are smart enough to break it down from there, this is not meant to be a how to guide. The most popular ways to do crystal is snorting it like the cocaine in “Boogie Nights”. Smoking it out of a glass pipe like Whitney & Bobby. Or injecting it also called “slamming”. This last method is the most hardcore and is favored by porn stars & meth cooks the world round….And by the end it was my norm.
How you do it is up to you and the effects differ from one form to the other but what remains the same is the results. Poor decision making, wreckless behavior & a sometimes slow, sometimes fast slide into an oblivion that is hard to get out of. In all fairness my road to ruin was long & at times fun. Come on people I would not have spent years doing this if the high was not wonderful. But what dawned on me, slowly at first, then VERY quickly was that the price I was paying was becoming just to great. They say jails, institutions & death are all that await you if continue on this road. Well that may not be true for everyone it was clearly my truth. I had the first 2 down pat and the last on scared the bejesus outta me.


With the increase in meth use in America so to has come a spike in the number of crimes to fund the habits of these new addicts. There has also been a BIG increase in new HIV  & HEP C infection rate. This is seen to be true in places that for whatever their reasons refuse to see the writing on the wall. With meth use comes those piss poor choices to have sex, lots of meth driven sex, while not even thinking about any type of protection. And where needle exchanges are not allowed due to out dated laws, needle sharing is very common. I am not passing judgement on anyone, let’s face it I have no room to. But if you put all three of these things together you have my story in a nutshell. And my story is being played out over & over again all across the richest country in the world. Listen, I know we all make choices and have to live with the fallout from those choices but at a certain point there has to be a way out of the darkness. There has to be someone, somewhere that says “hello people, we are paying no attention to a growing problem”….And we are. So while meth heads continue to lock themselves away from the world & destroy their families, communities & dental plans we will look everywhere but at the situation. That is until it comes in our homes.
Stay Fabulous!
Boy About Town



Bullying On The Bus

By now everyone has heard some heart wrenching story of childhood bullying. Some kid that for whatever reason does not fit in with his or her “peers”. Maybe it’s that they are “geeks” or “goths“ or it is thought that they might be Gay. Sometimes those stories play out in dramatic fashion like they did in Littleton at the now famous Columbine High School. Or in California, where Larry King, was gunned down by a fellow teen for giving him a Valentine's Day card. These CNN worthy stories are without a doubt awful but rarely, if ever, focus on what the far reaching effects of bullying have on the people that endure it.

Your very own Boy About Town went through this hell all during high school, which should shock nobody that has ever met me. I don’t fit into any of those groups that define high school life. Hell I still am a square peg in a world of round holes, that did not sound so dirty in my head…anywho! What many of you do not know is that I too grew up in Littleton, Colorado just a few short miles away from where 2 young men gunned down helpless students in the middle of the school day. And while I in no way condone or agree with what happened that day I do understand the environment that lead to feeling so hurt & alone that those 2 young men struck out at those that they thought had wronged them. At my school, Arapahoe High, the issue of being different was a non-issue. It did not happen. At school we had about 2000 plus kids running around this lily white suburb of Denver trying their hardest to NOT stand out in any way. And I played along. I DID TOO! I wore the right clothes, my family lived & (and still does) in a very respectable upper middle class neighborhood and I played the right sports. Not well, but I did play. But even then my inner diva was starting to shine though. And this was where trouble started. There were 3 main guys that wet outta their way to make my life a living hell. Allan Blood, Chris Weed & Tom Wilson. These 3 caused so much pain & drama in my household that 20 years later I have still not spoken to my Mother or Father. Crank calling the house, egging the house and the teasing in the hallways! It was outta of control. Last heard Allan Blood was in Africa spreading the book of Mormon & doing his best to ensure that we have lots of new little closed minded morons running around. Chris Weed was living up to his last name & was bouncing from one dead end job to another. And Tom Wilson was living with his BOYFRIEND in Denver. Come on folks, there had to be at least one in the group. Yes these are their real names & please boys threatened to sue, please I could use the press! After leaving school & Littleton behind and never returning for more then minutes at a time I truly thought I had left all that in my rear view! I went to school in Chicago & London. Partied my 20’s away with everyone who was anyone on South Beach. And now, after wrestling my demons, have returned to my life in Hollywood where while not at the top of the heap I am a player. Everything is golden. And then I met a little girl.

 

My friends Jessica & Jay have a 8 year old daughter that we are going to call Lady M. Lady M is many things but calm & quite are not on that list. Now a lot of you will say she is an active child & that is normal. True, it is. But at a certain point there becomes a difference between active & performing. I know the difference, I never pay attention to it myself but I do know it! When I first heard about her I thought ADHD! Then one day on the phone her Mom told me that Lady M had not gotten on the school bus in years. Ummm, what now?! It seems that while in the first grade & on the bus Lady M had been the subject of many hurtful, cruel, child like verbal attacks. Kids will be kids, right? Well Mom Jessica pulled her little girl off the big yellow bus & became Lady M’s driver. That was till the other day when The Lady boarded the bus and rode all the way to school sans any bullying! You see the same people that had chased Lady M off the bus years earlier were now her friends. Ahhhh, kids being kids. But I think our Lady M launched a charm offensive that proved she was not going anywhere & she was not a girl to mess with. Enter her inner diva! Now all of the sudden this loud, little girl had a special place in my heart. You see, Lady M and Boy About Town went the same route, granted she is a bit ahead of the curve! We have both said never again. I am different & damn it works well for me! But there are many people that can not get past the fact that at one time, whenever it was, they did not fit in. That awful feeling will creep in to their thoughts and make them second guess themselves. It can lead to addiction issues, acting out sexually and either over achieving in everything one does or floating through life with no sense of purpose. The pain goes on but how one deals with it is the true test.

Boy About Town & Lady M

Stay Fabulous!
Boy About Town

Farewell To Florida

To some it's the Sunshine state or home of Mickey Mouse. Or maybe God's waiting room, amazing fishing or Margaritaville.   How ever you know the state of Florida the fact remains you know it because this state can promote like nobody else.  I have spent the summer here taking care of wreckage from my past & closing the door on a part of my life REALLY needed closing. However, while spending my 3 months bouncing around being fabulous & fun...and yes a bit annoying (I am not blind to myself people!) Boy About Town has found that this little corner of the world seems to be a war with it's self as Florida struggles to find an identity.
We all know that the world loves to flock to the beaches of Ft Lauderdale & South Beach to partake in all the fun both of these places offer, which Boy has enjoyed this summer to the dismay of his dermatologist.  But are most of these fun loving adults aware that Broward County (Ft Lauderdale) & Dade County (South Beach) have rated number 1 and 2 in the nation for new HIV infections?  And with a system that is already overwhelmed with huge numbers of people in need the local, as well as federal, goverments have picked now as the time to cut budgets that help combat this very issue. And these people come to enjoy the sun & nightlife only to find that the famed nightclubs and dance scene no longer the celebration of life they once were. The employment front is not a whole lot better.  The largest employer in the southern most state is non other then the state it's self! And within this machine The Department Of Corrections is the king of the hill.  Which is easy to understand since 1 in 5 adult males in Florida has or will be incarceted or on some kind of supervision.  And that fun fact is easy to understand when you consider that Florida is at the LOW end of the high school graduation scale while at the HIGH end of the drop out rate.

With all this said I have to say congrads to those that fight the good fight both on social issues as well as the dance floor!  Poverello, in Ft Lauderdale, provides life-saving food and basic life essentials to almost 2500 youth, women and men living with HIV/AIDS. This much needed & much loved agency has been backed by the local community, which defines the word diversity, for the past 25 years!  Save Dade is an organization working to defend the Human Rights Ordinance which opposes discrimination, because this is the south & Florida does have it's own ghosts in that area. The Department Of Corrections is in an ongoing and never ending battle with the federal goverment as well as the ACLU over it's criminal treatment of the state's inmates and the EX offenders that find their road to rehabilitation blocked at every turn.  And outstanding DJ's like Jeffrey Jacobs, pictured here with Boy, are leading the way back to the tribal feel of house music at smaller and yet fabulous venues like The Ramrod & Torpedo.  And in all fairness, what was one of the most amazing parties Boy About Town has attended in years was Ryan Salazar's B-day bash this past weekend right off Ft Lauderdale Beach.  So there is hope for Florida & I am praying the good guys win this one....Yes I do pray!

I am throwing in some of Boy About Town favorite photos from this summer...enjoy!  Next stop California!

 

 

Sounds Like Love To Me!

We have all seen the late night rerun of "Ozzie & Harriet" or "Leave It To Beaver".  The American family as seen in the golden age of TV.  Dad off to work each morning as Mom packs up the kids for another day of school in which some trouble along the lines of a bad haircut will get everyone worked up. But don't worry folks Wally's crazy hairdo will be back to normal within a half an hour.  But now-a-days a snap of our American clan looks more like a "United Colors of Benetton" ad than those old, yet fabulous reruns.  So Boy About Town has chatted with 3 families of our modern world....by that I mean I bummed rushed them and asked a bunch of really personal questions!


In 1967 the United States Supreme Court heard the case "Loving vs. Virginia".   The short version of the story is this ruling at long last lifted the long standing law which made it illegal for 2 people of different races to marry.  This was 46 years ago!  That is not a long time .  My friend Carrie is an outgoing, fun loving Southern California Gal that is 31 yrs old (sorry Carrie)!  To meet her you would have no idea that her family is STILL at war with it's self over this court ruling, You see her Mother, Sue,  is White & her Father, Frank , is Black.  No biggie right? Wrong!  Her Maternal Grandmother is still so upset by this that she does not acknowledge the fact that Carrie's Father is Black.  She will not even speak his name.   But Carrie & her sister are the "apple of their Grandma's eye".  Makes no sense, right?  So how does Carrie deal with the odd vibe at holidays? Pretend it is not there & waits for things to blow over.  Sounds like love to me.

Some people try to have a family the "natural way".  Enter Ginger & Rich,  Ginger was my "girlfriend" when we were in middle school in rural Pennsylvania.  After the heartbreak of losing "Boy About Town" to another boy, Ginger settled on the love of her life Rich, got married & started right away on trying to make babies....SEX.  They had lots of sex.  But nothing.  Now image knowing you were meant to be a Mother.  Imagine it was your life's dream.  But you cannot produce.  Who's fault is it?  How do we fix it?  So after several doctor visits & even more tests they started trying the not so natural way.  First it was Intrauterine Insemination, also known as IUI. This including non-stop shots & "mating" according to one's body temperature.  After four failed attempts there, they moved onto the more invasive & more costly IVF (In Vitro Fertilization).  After $15,000, which is on the low side of the scale, and years of pressure & stress Ginger & Rich (Boy's replacement) had not 1 but 2 lovely babies.  A boy & girl (proudly pictured above, this is what $15,000. looks like).  Ginger informs me in very clear terms she is done.  No more. But she also made it very clear that she was meant to be a Mom and if this had not worked then she would have done something, anything else to be a Mom.  Sounds like love to me!

Quick fun fact, there are 401,000 kids in foster care in the United States, of those children with no home & no family fit to take care of them, 72% are minority kids.  By this I mean they are not white, heathly, english speaking kids.  This is my definition nobody elses. These children can drift from foster home to foster home for years until they "age out"of the system, which is what happened to Boy About Town but that is a different posting.  Some of the kids get lucky and find a great nurturing foster family that they stay with.  And if you are Zachary, not only are you amazingly cute, but you are placed with Frank & John Duffy! (Please note I have not used anyone's last name until now but John Duffy just has a ring to it, and shy he ain't....just saying)  John Duffy & Frank opened their home in Wilton Manors, Florida to a wee little baby that needed a home.  At the time these two stable, kind, wonderful men had to pretend to be "roomies" due to Florida's rule of not allowing Gay couples to adopt, which was their goal in fostering.  At the time Frank was learning how to heat a bottle and John Duffy found a stroller that matched his shoe's, Florida decieded to make a leap into to 1980's and allow Gays to openly adopt. This epiphany came in September of 2010, which was only 3 years ago.. Frank and John Duffy, not being 100 percent sure of the Florida government and its shifting laws,  fools they are not, still kept the "roomie" thing going until such time as the ink was dry on the papers! Mission accomplished! Family formed.  I am pleased to say that little Zachary, who by the way has a very cool trampoline in his bedroom, is a funny, outgoing, shockingly smart kid of 3 years old that Boy About Town thinks will one day run a major network like CNN, NBC or CBS.....Remember kid Boy About Town loves ya!  Today John Duffy (told ya it has a ring to it) and Frank happily rearranged thier lives around a 2 foot tall CEO in training in the Gayest town in America.  Life moves on at a crazy, yet fabulous pace.  Sounds like love to me!

So, these 3 families are not the families of American yesteryear, they are America's families today. They are America's furture.  They all deal with their stories in different ways, but they deal with them.   Each of these families are based on love....
Stay Fabulous! Boy About Town
Boy is pictured above with THE Zachary with his 2 Dad's John Duffy & Frank.