Circu Ftival Barcelona 2022· Biggt ternatnal gay event · Augt 6 - 14
Contents:
- THE UNSUNG HISTORY OF CIRCU PARTI, WHERE GAY MEN SEEK SEX AND FREEDOM
- KEV SPACEY DEFENDS COMG OUT AS GAY AFTER BEG ACCED OF SEXUAL MISNDUCT: ‘I WAS UNR A LOT OF PRSURE’
- THE CIRCU PARTY HARNS: YOUR TICKET TO GAY FASHN STARDOM
- A GAY UPLE RAN A RAL RTRANT PEACE. THEN NEW NEIGHBORS ARRIVED.
- JOURNEYS; ON GAY CIRCU, THE PARTY NEVER ENDS
THE UNSUNG HISTORY OF CIRCU PARTI, WHERE GAY MEN SEEK SEX AND FREEDOM
A circu party is a weekend long seri of events, attractg thoands of gay men, wh a huge fale party on Sunday afternoon. * circuit party gay *
The circu—a loose global work of often weekend-long danceathons, where partygoers (almost all gay men) nvene om around the world to bond spirually, socially, sexually and milly—is one of the most unique phenomena to emerge om queer muni over the past few s.
KEV SPACEY DEFENDS COMG OUT AS GAY AFTER BEG ACCED OF SEXUAL MISNDUCT: ‘I WAS UNR A LOT OF PRSURE’
Article on Whe Party Palm Sprgs, Calif, part of hundreds of gay 'circu party' events that take place around US and worldwi all year round; list; photos (M) * circuit party gay *
Undoubtedly, many younger gay men prefer smaller venu that "bask the bety and openns of queer culture. " Plenty of olr gay men, too, fd the whole ethos of circu parti — glow sticks, remixed diva anthems, lor them, "body fascism"—to be tired figure out the state of the circu 2017, THUMP spoke wh Mickey Weems, a lecturer at the Universy of Hawai'i Manoa who has extensively studied circu parti (alongsi relig, anthropologil and folklore terts). Weems spoke to their past, prent and potential future, explag what role the circu has played shapg queer and gay culture, and what s evolutn says about the same today.
THE CIRCU PARTY HARNS: YOUR TICKET TO GAY FASHN STARDOM
A large, gay dance party, somethg like a gay versn of a rave, but wh a gay-oriented mic selectn (ually pop, progrsive hoe, and tribal). Events are well-promoted, publicized, advertised and anized, are often attend by thoands, n be big chary fundraisers, and are ually expensive to attend. Sce each circu party occurs on a specific weekend and a specific cy once a year, and there are many parti on "the circu", travel and planng are required. Travellg om party to party be part of a circu boy's liftyle of travel, workg and partyg. Some exampl of circu parti: Whe Party Palm sprgs (April), Black Party New York (March), the Black and Blue Ball Montreal (October), the Blue Ball Philalphia (January). The are often all-night and multi-day events, and party dgs such as ecstasy, GHB, ketame and crystal are equently taken by partygoers." name="Dcriptn" property="og:scriptn * circuit party gay *
A gay circu party (Photo via)THUMP: Can you give me a psule history of the circu?
When the Gay Activist Alliance was formed—the first gay rights group, born only six months after Stonewall—they had danc an old firehoe SoHo. And New York, thoands of men began gatherg at Downtown loft spac that began croppg started pourg , wh plac like Flamgo and Twelve Wt, two of the most proment gay male dance spac, full of sweaty men dancg all the same time, Fire Island beme the place for people who uld afford .
The term "circu" me om beg the "need to know circu"—not only diss, but "--the-know" plac the gay muny that even clud, 1980, the Sat opened the East Village.
A GAY UPLE RAN A RAL RTRANT PEACE. THEN NEW NEIGHBORS ARRIVED.
* circuit party gay *
One thg the 2002 documentary When Boys Fly [which followed a group of young gay men attendg the Miami Whe Party] got right was showg someone fallg out [passg out om dg e] was sndalo. Then you started seeg the rise of the ter, which pecially affected the gay datg scene.
A handful of proment gay punds saw the parti as a waste of our energy and rourc. People like Michelangelo Signorile, who wrote about his experience at the Palm Sprgs Whe Party Life Outsi, a book about gay culture at the time, were posg that the parti were crics like Signorile, Larry Kramer and Gabriel Rotello, parti were seen as havens for irrponsible behavr, sex and dgs.
Most of the kds of studi look at the areas of gay culture—like the bathhoe scene, club scene, the app scene—bee they're supposed hot spots for HIV fectn and rampant dg the qutn is: do the people dog the studi unrstand our muny at all? Bee what they're "studyg" is jt what go on regular gay that "regular gay life" has e to mean somethg very different 2017.
JOURNEYS; ON GAY CIRCU, THE PARTY NEVER ENDS
There's no qutn that for gay men, thgs have gotten better. This generatnal divi between gay Boomers and lennials has to fluence how they perceive circu parti—or even if there's still a need for, as you said, the circu reached a nadir earlier this century, has that cle been nstant, or have they ma a eback? And if so, what's the motivatn for younger gay men to attend a circu party?