In Hollywood, they call it counter-programming. But in West Hollywood, it was an amusingly ironic accident that the Gay Men's Forum was held on the same weekend as the White Party in Palm Springs.
Nonetheless, the all-day event on Saturday drew 175 gay men with a range in ages and coming out experiences, all hungry for depth, direction and a sense of community.
"Gay men occasionally need to step out of the LGBT space and focus on the needs of the gay male community," said West Hollywood Mayor John Duran, who orchestrated sponsorship from the city.
The venue itself was haunting: the Fiesta Hall auditorium in Plummer Park where Louise Hay held her "Hay Rides" and offered a safe space for gay men dying of AIDS in the 1980s to come together in a kind of desperate intimacy.
The idea for the event came after a series of forums on the crystal meth epidemic revealed a secret longing for a spiritual, emotional, and psychological connection between and among gay men.
"We have transitioned from dark smoky bars through sexual liberation, an epidemic into weddings and family planning. It's important to stop, reflect and think ahead," Duran said.
The forum - called "Where We've Been, Where We Are, Where We're Heading" - allowed the gay men to honestly share their stories (using the microphone as a "Talking Stick") about their fear of intimacy and how to re-create the sense of community many experienced during the heady days of Gay Liberation and the angry, grief-laden AIDS crisis.
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