What do Memory Grove, Sugarhouse Park, and Fairmont Park all have in common? They've all been the subjects of local news stories on cruising, usually during sweeps weeks in the spring or fall.
So who cruises the parks? Ask any of the police officers of the GLBT Public Safety committee and they will tell you that the majority of guys caught with their pants down are married, and often Mormon. They see cruising parks as their only option if they want to stay in the closet.
There are several gay groups in town that are reclaiming the parks as a place where gay men can have fun without getting arrested. Utah Pride is the ultimate example, encouraging participants to come out of the closet and celebrate their sexuality, instead of feeling guilty about it. Flag Football, Pride Softball, Ultimate Frisbee, and other gay sports groups meet at the parks weekly and often draw a crowd of spectators.
This past Sunday, QUAC and The Village held our 2nd annual Bar-B-Queer at Fairmont Park. For the volunteer planning group here at the Village, the purpose was two-fold: strengthen the community by bringing a diverse group of guys together, and promote open discussion about safer sex.
Lube was the theme. We hung lube-themed posters all over the bowery and gave away big bottles of lube (thanks ID Glide for donating it all!) to everyone who participated in lube wrestling. A couple of the volunteers acted out a humorous safer sex skit. We tried to take back the park in a fun, safe and sexy way.
7 comments:
I think the BBQ is a great way to give the community a face in the daylight. Lube wrestling and all. People should have a sense of humor about sex, gay or straight. Keeping it taboo is what drives them to the parks at night.
The BBQ was a splendid idea, and so is reclaiming the park!
The only question I would raise would be this: Is a sexually oriented/charged activity like lube wrestling in a public park the way we want to approach a public conversation concerning safe sex?
While I have a sense of humor, and I definitely think lube wrestling sounds fun... it could be missunderstood by spectators/the public, and you would loose the valuable and important lesson about safe sex.
Just my thoughts though!
Personally I think perceptions are affected by presentation. If you present something as sexy it will be received as sexy. I don't think that having guys in swim suits wrestling in a kiddie pool is promoting antything negative. Are the people who wrestle in Jell-O promoting sex? No, it's fun, it's campy and as long as teh underlying message of safer sex is promonate in the presentation, the intent is harder to miss.
The BBQ and other activities are a great way to reclaim not only the parks, but the gay image as a whole, it's time to come out of teh closet for good. And no matter how careful you are not to step on someones sensabilities, someone, somewhere will be offended. Just a group of gay people talking about the weather would offend someone.
i think the bbq was great and as for the lube wrestling i think that was a good idea there was nothing wrong with it they had more clothes on the most of the women u see mud werstling in the star8 community so there is nothinbg worng with that kinda of fun as long as it is done in good tast as ut was
The message was lost on me. The marketing was great, however. Most guys would pay to watch lube wrestling but would be less likely to donate to a cause such as the AIDS Foundation. Why not just show porn and call it a safe sex demonstration?
AIDS is a serious topic and should be treated with dignity. Gimmicky fund raisers might degrade the image of the organization.
Hey Guys,
Great discussion! Just for clarification, the Bar-B-Queer was a BBQ sponsored by The Village and QUAC and was not a fundraiser.
Its great to see such a variety of viewpoints. Even though the Village is sponsored by the Utah AIDS Foundation, it is primarily volunteer led and organized so your feedback is crucial. Thanks for caring enough to make your voice heard.
Thanks for a marvelous posting! I seriously enjoyed reading it, you can be a great author
Post a Comment