Revelers party durg the Circu Ftival's Water Park Day Vilassar Mar, Spa, Augt 2016. Josep Lago/AFP via Getty ImagWhen ronavis rtrictns threatened the Whe Party, an annual circu party held Palm Sprgs, California, the anizer, Jefey Sanger, cid to move the ftivi to Jalis, Mexi. Gay partygoers om around the world scend on the small astal state for the New Year’s Eve bash. Stars om Ru Pl’s Drag race ma appearanc, and even some doctors and nurs, h off their first COVID-19 vacce dos, got on the actn. The social media backlash was swift. Mexi, at that time, had one of the hight mortaly rat – measured as aths to s – the world. Others poted out that the flux of tourists uld stra existg hospal rourc. Above all, the partygoers seemed to embody the arrogance, privilege and excs of people who prrized a good time over a global health emergency. While other gay events have also been occurrg durg the panmic, this one particular party seemed to strike a nerve wh the gay muny. For five years, my lleagu and I have been attendg the circu parti to terview atten. We’ve sought to better unrstand the posive ways the parti fluence gay culture, along wh some of the problems they n prent. To me, Sanker’s nt bash – held the thro of the ronavis panmic – epomized a growg divi gay culture. On one si, there are those who ntue to ph the polil boundari and, so dog, embrace the legacy of muny-buildg that emerged om the post-Stonewall era of LGBTQ activism; on the other, a group which seems to reject any notns of solidary nor exprs any sire to know more about the history and polil implitns of their actns. Early parti center on solidary The circu party emerged the late 1980s and me out of the unrground gay club scene tablished by Black and Lato men livg Chigo and Detro. The name “circu” was affixed to a particular branch of electronic dance mic party due to the style of hoe mic, dubbed “circu hoe,” that played almost exclively at the gathergs. Early circu hoe enthiasts subscribed to the valu of P.L.U.M. – Peace, Love, Uny and Movement – though the “M” would later be replaced wh an “R” for “Rpect.” The circu soon me to simply refer to the work of unrground nightclubs where gay men uld dance together. The spac also fostered solidary among gay people, helpg them feel ls stigmatized and normalizg some of the issu they faced, whether was HIV/AIDS or rejectn by fay and peers. As one 45-year-old gay male man told me, the early parti were “small, timate affairs. We were all lookg for a way to nnect wh each other, and we didn’t have many optns, so the circu beme a space for to belong and a place where we uld be ee.” The circu be expensive and exclive For LGBTQ people, this qut for belongg hasn’t gone away. A 2013 Pew survey reported that LGBTQ people still felt high rat of discrimatn excln om tradnal stutns such as the fay, church and the workplace. A 2019 survey of LGBTQ Southerners found that participants felt an attachment to LGBTQ cultural spac like gay bars and neighborhoods. For all the progrs that has been ma, the enclav rema some of the only spac society where gayns is the norm. Broar civil rights gas have cid wh technologil advancements, wh the ter and social media dramatilly changg human teractn and llective anizg. A whirlwd of dizzyg social change driven by lik, views and shar has led to greater feelgs of what soclogists ll “anomie” – a French word ed to scribe feelgs of disnnectedns and a lack of muny. Circu parti are not immune to this change. No longer do dividuals attend the circu to make a polil statement; stead, the culture of the circu seems to be foced almost exclively on celebratg and seekg hyper-mascule and heteronormative standards of bety. For partygoers, this often means buildg a mcular ame, havg risky sex and g dgs. They’ll also engage what’s been scribed by other amics as “body fascism” – the excln and policg of how partygoers are supposed to look. This cut, mascule ial is also reflected ads for the events. Thoands of gay men gather at the Palm Sprgs Conventn Center for the 2004 Whe Party. J. E Flor/Corbis via Getty Imag Today, circu parti have bee large-sle ternatnal productns stg hundreds of thoands of dollars, leadg to an crease ticket and travel sts. This has ma the events more exclive and also ls racially diverse, sce men of lor tend to have ls disposable e to attend the events and n also be the target of racial slurs and send-class treatment. “This is no longer a polil event,” one 50-year-old male party promoter told me. “This is a mic ftival, and we have to make as much money as possible.” When subcultur get -opted by pal One of the greatt strengths of the gay rights movement has been s abily to be activism wh fun. However, as my rearch shows, unls there’s an tent to prrize polil agendas, group solidary n easily be erod. Sanker has noted that as his events have bee more profable, they’ve faced ls opposn om public officials and nservative groups. But this profabily has meant scbbg ntroversial polil msag om the events to make them as palatable to as many ctomers as possible. Somethg, clearly, has been lost. Soclogists are keen to note how cultur – along wh subcultur – often emerge as a way to alleviate feelgs of isolatn and sufferg. However, cultural events often bee -opted by prof motiv. When this happens, they bee ls about rg for one another, buildg a sense of muny or celebratg the posive aspects of humany. Instead, wh pure profabily and pism ont and center at the Whe Party, ’s no wonr that the health of the atten – along wh that of the lols – was shgged off. [Insight, your box each day. You n get wh The Conversatn’s email newsletter.]This article is republished om The Conversatn, a nonprof news se dited to sharg ias om amic experts. It was wrten by: Christopher T. Conner, Universy of Missouri-Columbia. Read more:How the New York media vered the Stonewall rtsHow much cred should rporatns get for the advancement of LGBTQ rights? Christopher T. Conner do not work for, nsult, own shar or receive fundg om any pany or anizatn that would benef om this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliatns beyond their amic appotment.
Contents:
- GAY UNSELOR'S FIRG BY INDIANAPOLIS CATHOLIC SCHOOL PERMTED BY FERAL APPEALS URT
- KEV SPACEY DEFENDS COMG OUT AS GAY AFTER BEG ACCED OF SEXUAL MISNDUCT: ‘I WAS UNR A LOT OF PRSURE’
- THE UNSUNG HISTORY OF CIRCU PARTI, WHERE GAY MEN SEEK SEX AND FREEDOM
- GAY PRIS 2023 AND 2024
- GAY CIRCU PARTI DURG COVID SPARKED A “CIVIL WAR.” CAN ANYONE W?
- JOURNEYS; ON GAY CIRCU, THE PARTY NEVER ENDS
- GAY PARTY CIRCU R CARNIVAL 2024
- HOW THE GAY PARTY SCENE SHORT-CIRCUED AND BEME A MONEYMAKG BONANZA
- FIRG OF GAY CATHOLIC SCHOOL TEACHER ULD TT LATT SUPREME COURT LG
GAY UNSELOR'S FIRG BY INDIANAPOLIS CATHOLIC SCHOOL PERMTED BY FERAL APPEALS URT
Circu Ftival Barcelona 2022· Biggt ternatnal gay event · Augt 6 - 14 * gay circuit *
WASHINGTON – A feral appeals urt has led that a Catholic high school Indianapolis was ee to fire a gay guidance unselor bee she performed at least some relig duti, the latt legal setback for LGBTQ+ rights when they nflict wh Fzgerald had worked for 14 years as a guidance unselor at Ronlli High School when school officials disvered she was married to another woman. Kev Spacey has addrsed his ntroversial 2017 statement which he me out as gay rponse to Anthony Rapp’s accatn of sexual misnduct.
KEV SPACEY DEFENDS COMG OUT AS GAY AFTER BEG ACCED OF SEXUAL MISNDUCT: ‘I WAS UNR A LOT OF PRSURE’
Details and event dat of all major gay pri ftivals around the world. From Madrid to Sao Plo and om NYC to Amsterdam we have all gay events 2023 * gay circuit *
He said some members of his team disagreed wh the urse of actn but they took a vote and ultimately released a statement which Spacey revealed he was gay. “The gay muny had been prsurg me for a very long time about g out, ” he said. 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.
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 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. * gay circuit *
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. 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.
GAY PRIS 2023 AND 2024
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) * gay circuit *
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.
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?
GAY CIRCU PARTI DURG COVID SPARKED A “CIVIL WAR.” CAN ANYONE W?
Gay clubs and circu parti, disver where to go durg R is a very lively nightlife for the gay crowds R. * gay circuit *
H ave the parti themselv evolved to meet the challenge of a changed landspe for gay/queer culture a post-liberatn world? " We create a gay space on the dance floor of mastream parti.
EDC enurag ongog cricism is that the parti reprent only one small segment of gay men. Although there's a looseng up about attus toward gay people, the societi are still very tradnal. CIRCUIT GAY (Pri 2023) - Sgle.
Circu Gay Pri 2023. Gay Pri 2023 (São Plo) - Sgle.
JOURNEYS; ON GAY CIRCU, THE PARTY NEVER ENDS
* gay circuit *
A Gordon von Steer-directed mic vio dropped alongsi the song, settg the ter ablaze for s heady pictn of a sticky, sexy, very gay summer.
GAY PARTY CIRCU R CARNIVAL 2024
His srlet templ suggt he’s eher taken a big ol’ huff of the poppers his song oh-so-cleverly referenc, or he’s the thro of homosexual exultatn (anal). The image remds of the work of Peter Hujar, specifilly Orgasmic Man, 1969, a photo that was recently repurposed for the ver of another gay cultural artefact, the Hanya Yanagihara novel A Ltle Life.
The mic vio for “Rh” is a gay men’s mag e to life, as if Andy om Toy Story kept a stack of XY the rner over Woody and Buzz. A reference to the XY chromosome found blogil mal (a tad sentialist, but we move) XY magaze was a youth-foced gay magaze found Wt Hollywood 1996, and featured chiselled lads edorials full of brash, primary lours. It’s homoerotic and ’s goofball-d, like sports fans who get dnk at the Euros and ci to moon and slap their iends’ bums until the blood vsels burst at the surface.
It’s got all the trappgs of a Caravagg patg – the drama, the dynamism, light and sha, pretty gay boys. Caravagg was, of urse, a gay man himself, so ’s not too far-fetched to suggt they’d slip the reference . Party Favorz is thrilled to return wh our annual Pri Edn for 2023, steppg back to the limelight wh the most heart-poundg Gay Pri circu anthems that are takg center stage at ftivals and gay events last offerg of an unfettable llectn of circu anthems was durg our 2023 Sprg Edn.
HOW THE GAY PARTY SCENE SHORT-CIRCUED AND BEME A MONEYMAKG BONANZA
This giv you ample time to lve to our diversified, gay-themed offergs.
Immerse yourself the buoyant spir of the season, perfect to kickstart any Pri an exhstg marathon of curatg some of the most credible Pri sets, I mt adm I'm slightly gayed out.
I extend my scert wish to all of you for a fantastic Gay Pri celebratn. Jennifer Coolidge - Please The Gays (Extend Mix)24. Circu parti are a huge part of gay culture.
FIRG OF GAY CATHOLIC SCHOOL TEACHER ULD TT LATT SUPREME COURT LG
Circu parti are weekend long seri of events, attractg thoands of gay men, wh a huge fale party on Sunday afternoon. It’s today’s answer for gay men to rave events of the 90’s. Circu parti typilly attract middle class gay whe men, 30-55 year old.
Circu parti are not all about sex and dgs, but is pretty empowerg to flnt your body among thoands of hot, sweaty gay men.