Monthly Archives: March 2014

Mic, Banker, Paris

photo by Kevin Truong

Mic, in his own French words: “Pour moi, gay est une personne normale qui vit sa sexualité : la sexualité est privée et doit être épanouie. Il faut savoir se découvrir soi même.
Je pense que ce n’est pas un choix et qu’il faut vivre sa vie telle qu’on la ressent ; c’est aussi vrai pour son travail.

(les chalenges) Ne pas en parler à mon travail sauf à mon assistante ; ce n’est pas facile dans une banque alors qu’il y a autant de gays dans les banques que dans les autres entreprises.

(La communauté gay a Paris) Il y a le Marais et le reste de Paris : suis plutôt du reste de Paris où il y a aussi de nombreux gays que je connais et avec qui je dialogue, partage, sors, …

(l’histoire de ton coming-out) Avec ma famille, tout a été naturel et même ma mère a demandé à mon “mari” de s’occuper de moi. Avec les parents et les frères de mon “mari”, aucun souci
Avec mes ami(e)s, ils ont adoptés mon “mari” et inversement j’ai été adopté par ses ami(e)s.
Avec mes voisin(e)s et entourages et nos compagnons de voyages lointains, aucune discriminations ; nous avons de très bonnes relations et qui durent.

Kyle, Writer, Montreal

photo by Kevin Truong

Kyle, in his own words: It’s a little strange for me participating in a photography series called the “Gay Men Project” when I don’t really personally use the term gay to refer to my own identity. Back in 2008, after taking a series of undergrad courses in feminist theory, particularly looking at how race and class influenced gender or sexuality, I started using the term queer to prefer to a political that better represented the aims of my writing and activism, that better represented self-inflicted and external threats to my ability to thrive as the kind of person I wanted to be.

That being said, I was drawn to the project because the images I saw were not only aesthetically pleasing, but appealed to my own writing project that is currently ongoing, a project that has been informed by a series of tumultuous events in my own life— including repeated incidences of homophobia, including a severe assault in New York City’s West Village back March 2011 that required reconstructive surgery. Queer Embraces, the name of the project, refers to the way in which my identity and my movement through cities informs how I define what it means to belong—to other men, to those cities, to the ways in which my being visible is an act of personal transformation with political possibilities.

For me, The Gay Men Project matters because of the fact that despite all of the reforms in terms of LGBTQ rights, so many of the men, myself included, face day-to-day struggles simply by being on the streets. I actively choose to wear a lot of thrift store clothes that are designed for women, which has lead to backlash in virtually every city I have traveled. When I write about HIV/AIDS, sexual health, or what it means to hookup with other men in the age of phone and Internet apps, I still face discrimination, even from gay men who are supposed to be part of the same community I belong to. All of this to say that for me, being visible and honest about who you are remains as important today as it was during the Compton’s Cafeteria riot or Stonewall because so many inequalities exist.

I’m not really sure exactly what my participation, my being photographed, will do. But I hope that it is, like my creative writing or journalism, a testament to the public life I lead and the struggles that I have to remain visible and not actively silence my desires.

Support Kyle’s HIV/AIDS History Project, Viral Legacy

Eric, Clarinetist, New York City

photo by Kevin Truong

Eric, in his own words: “In my study of music, I struggle to rid myself of a lifetime of fear and constructions in order to build a real connection with others. In the same way, I feel like all people, no matter what identity, struggle to break down these same walls in an effort to be themselves.

I struggle with societies definitions of masculinity and of homosexuality. After I came out, I didn’t want to identify with any definition. Participating in this project is special to me because for the first time, I feel like I am contributing to the larger gay experience and connecting to a community by simply being myself.

My career has given me the opportunity to travel and make music in many parts of the world. I feel thankful to be able to live here, freely, as myself. Expressing myself the way that I need to, striving to live the way I want to and being able to love who I want to.

I grew up a Mennonite in central Pennsylvania. My 86 year old grandmother is a conservative Mennonite and grew up immersed in dogmatic Christian theology. When she found out I was gay, it was difficult, but our relationship has come a long way since. She voted for the first time in her life, for Obama, in part for her change of heart on gay rights issues. The love of my family astounds me. Even when they don’t agree or understand where I am coming from, everyone is open to conversation in an effort to reach common ground. This is a beautiful thing.

A favorite quote of mine:

“In a word, we must create our own essence; it is in throwing ourselves into the world, in suffering with it, that – little by little – we define ourselves.”
– Satre”

THE GAY MEN PROJECT

The visual catalog of gay and queer men around the world.

Monthly Archives: March 2014

Mic, Banker, Paris

Kyle, Writer, Montreal

Eric, Clarinetist, New York City