GAYLETTER

From the sluttiest dance floors in Hell’s Kitchen, to the craziest performance art raves in Bushwick — I love our little gay world. But there’s no denying it’s changing — events and partygoers defy sexual labels, straight clubs, sports teams and big brands embrace the LGBT rainbow and we feel less obliged to identify ourselves alongside a set of strict ideas of what it means to be ‘gay.‘ This tacit non-scene revolt feels very now, very post-millennium — the freedom to say “I’m not into the scene” is a sign of how far we’ve come from the fabulous ghettos and underground sex that defined 1970s gay life. In the early days, the scene was all there was.

While the AIDS crisis in NYC has been the subject of multiple plays, films and documentaries (The Normal Heart, How To Survive A Plague and Angels in America are all compulsory viewing, children), it’s fascinating and important to look back on what came before that. Joseph Lovett’s 2005 documentary, Gay Sex in the 70’s is a wonderful glimpse into the hedonistic New York scene between the Stonewall Riots of ’69 and the outbreak of AIDS. It was a time when gay men poured into New York to be a part of the sexual revolution and a community that was louder and prouder than ever. Drugs, cruising and sex took place on the streets, in the clubs, on the dunes of Fire Island, and nobody could see the tragedy ahead.

I’m not sure if it’s because of the pain and inequality, but as young gay men we have a tendency to forget or ignore the past. It’s important to know where we came from, and how we got here. Gay Sex in the 70’s is playing this Thursday night in New York, so make sure you check it out. Featuring archive footage and interviews with the men who lived through that trail-blazing age, it’s a must-see.

Gay Sex in the 70’s screens at 7.30pm SHARP at the Bureau of General Services, 83A Hester St. New York, NY. It will be followed by a Q&A with director Joseph Lovett. Click here for more info.