"I don't want you to trust me, I just want you to touch me"

BoyTech...........where do I begin?

Imagine, if you will, two moderately gay...bi...ambiguous men in unreasonably tight silver spandex leggings (the kind you see in American Apparel and say to yourself "huh...who wears those?) home-altered t-shirts, circa 1980, and each equipped with a set of 20 lb dumb bells pumping iron while belting out some bad techno beats. This does not even begin to describe my experience at Celebrities, one of the more popular gay clubs in downtown Vancouver.

What was supposed to be just a fashion show turned out to be a fascinating social experience as I found myself in a place where the norms for social interactions are completely different. This was no longer just about the clothes, or the fact that the trend of the evening was skinny jeans, high tops and v-neck t-shirts, or even about the fact that a handful of these guys had "lost" their shirts as some point and didn't seem too concerned. There was more to it than that.

Within the walls of Celebrities, men expressed themselves and their affections for their partners and fellow friends in a manner that I can only describe as one of liberation - in that how awesome it must have felt to step inside a place that is not only welcoming of, but expects exuberant and in some cases flamboyant expressions of affection for those around them. To step out of the critical and judgemental world, and into one where YOU are the norm. I suppose it's fair to say that for anyone to be able to feel as part of the "norm" would be liberating - regardless of their sexual orientation.

So maybe the reason why BoyTech was so strange and ridiculous...yes, lets use "ridiculous"....to me was that they were much closer to the norm there than I was. On the other hand, maybe "ridiculous" was what they were going for - if so, they nailed it!!!

"if you got it, hit it!" -BoyTech