By Marke B
Bring Black Back to the Castro !! from STOP AIDS Project on Vimeo.
Does the title of this post shock you? It shocks me and I wrote it! That’s because, if you’ve visited our faery-tailed gay wonderland of late (like, the past 30 years), you may have noticed a somewhat shocking lack of color on the streets and in the bars. Well, StopAIDS has been aiming to remedy that with OUR LOVE, a pretty rad outreach program to black gay men, which celebrates its 10th anniversary with, what else, a party this Sunday afternoon at the Cafe called Church — drinking, dining, dancing, and general carrying on are on the menu.
OUR LOVE has been bridging the gay color gap with a number of cool things, including a roaming Blackout party, the last installment of which (viewed above) took place at the new Toad Hall — an interesting choice, if anyone remembers the history of controversy between owner Les Natali and some members of the black gay community. Also: an upcoming “Black Men of the Castro” 2010 calendar, and a soon-to-be-launched social networking site for gay African American men, tentatively called Welcome to My Neighborhood. There’s also a “procott” planned (as opposed to a boycott), which will bring masses of African American gay men to visit business in the Castro. Plus: A mess o’ more.