WATCH: Do on Gay Gang Members LA

Contents:

• STEP-BY-STEP INSTCTNS FOR SHOOTG YOUR SHOT WH GAY GUYS
• GAYS THE GANG
• I WENT TO THE SKETCHIT GAY BAR IN NEW YORK CY AND IT WAS THE MOST HORRIFYG EXPERIENCE OF MY ENTIRE LIFE

STEP-BY-STEP INSTCTNS FOR SHOOTG YOUR SHOT WH GAY GUYS

All that and more are discsed openly and hontly Do D's documentary, Homeboy, an -pth look at the liv of gay gang and former gang you n image, the men, all of whom are Lato and om the Los Angel area, faced tremendo prsure to f to gangland's ultra-macho world, but they also often felt isolated off the streets, too, gay bars and clubs where race and class prent their own the men, and many women, as well, also felt like they had no other optn but gangs.

A fom for gentlemen of the homosexual variety that for some reason want nothg other than to bee fected wh HIV.

GAYS THE GANG

LONG BEACH >> Serg Romero knew would be difficult for his mother to accept that the 37-year-old was gay, but still shocked and hurt him to learn she preferred her son to be an active gang member than to be gay. “For her, I was more of a man as a gang member than beg gay, ” said Romero as he sat a Los Angel ffee shop tellg his story of beg an active member of a notor street gang and gay.

He is one of the men featured a documentary, “Homeboy, ” on Lato gang members who are gay that will be screened this weekend at the QFilm Ftival, Long Beach’s longt-nng film ftival prentg narrative featur, documentari and short films about the lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer (LGBTQ) muny. Gay gang members who are Lato gangs not only have to al wh the stereotypil machismo seen Lato culture, D said, they have to ntend wh the hyper-mascule posturg wh the gang microculture. “Before social media and Facebook, I had to post fliers gay bars orr to fd people willg to talk to me, ” D said.

I WENT TO THE SKETCHIT GAY BAR IN NEW YORK CY AND IT WAS THE MOST HORRIFYG EXPERIENCE OF MY ENTIRE LIFE

Wh an timated 9 ln Amerins intifyg as gay, lbian, bisexual or transgenr, acrdg to a 2011 report om the Williams Instute at the UCLA School of Law, gays are part of nearly every aspect of life, even wh the gang life. However, an exact number of openly gay gang members is difficult to e by sce many do not disclose their sexual orientatn. It took Manuel — he wanted to e only his first name — several years to adm he was gay.

Manuel spent nearly two years Cho Instutn for Men on a dg nvictn the ’90s and said he did engage homosexual activi behd bars but was nial about the fact he was gay.

“I kept sayg to myself I wasn’t gay bee I had a girliend and was only dog that bee I was prison, ” said the 33-year-old man who liv the Inland Empire. While most gay gang members operate wh tradnal gangs, there is a group ma up solely of gay crimals.

The Gay Boy Gangsters are part of a group of prison gangs that have spng up on the sensive needs yards, acrdg to Richard Valmar, a gang expert and retired Los Angel Police Department gang tective. Those yards at California state prisons are signated for mat requirg special protectn, such as certa sex offenrs, rmants and homosexuals.

“What happens is you get the guys on the special needs yards who know how to be gang members and they form the gangs, ” Srrano said, addg that the ma reason Gay Boy Gangsters members formed this alliance is their sexual preference. Manuel has been livg as a gay man for nearly a and is a mted relatnship.

Rs’ and Manuel’s fai ially grappled wh acceptg their sons as gay, but both say they now have great relatnships wh them, pecially their mothers.