Supportiveness

[gilhooly]

The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations by members of the gay community against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. They are widely considered to constitute the single most important event leading to the gay liberation movement and the modern fight for gay and lesbian rights in the United States.

Previously, on threads, I told you I had fallen in love with Tom Bolenbaugh on 6/21/68. Tom knew I was happily gay and had come out in 1956. I announced to everyone that I was 10 and in love with Jimmy Joseph, the proud great great grandson of Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce indian tribe. I was a proud member of the Irish tribe that ran NYC politics.

At the age of 4, I looked under the curtain of the voting machine. If you voted Democratic I handed you a dollar and smiled at you. I thanked you for voting Democratic.

Pretty soon I was invited to my Uncle John's apartment to meet and greet visiting dignitaries. Some were nice and I sat on their lap. I really liked Mayor Wagner and Paul O'Dwyer, the Manhattan Borough President. I used to watch and learn how politics for the City of New York was conducted. Elected politicians were friendly to the public but they all took their orders from my Uncle John. I loved politics.

I visited every precinct house and said "Hey guys, line up alphabetically I want to see who the winning cops are this week. The cops milled around and they loved me when I gave them envelopes of cash.

I was regarded as a good Roman Catholic boy but that was not true. I had been raised to be a proud Irish pagan which is my religion to this day.

Everyone knew I liked boys since I was 10. Everyone knew I always had a good looking boy on my arm growing up. There was Ronnie, Lenny, Marty, Peter and a few others. At that point I was spreading my love around among other boys my age. I worked hard to organize in my neighborhood of Washington Heights. I was the only white boy on a first name basis with Malcolm X. He would smile at me and say "John, thanks for the help you have given to the Black Muslim community. Say Hi to your mom, she sure is funny. You got a nice family, John, you must be proud of them." "Thank you, Mr. X, if you need our help you can count on it."

I was a very good organizer so in the summer of 1969, Tom asked me if I was going to support the gay movement at Stonewall. I reminded Tom that I knew everyone of the cops that were involved. One by one I told Tom which cops had been raped by Christian Brothers or priests. I told Tom that most cops became homophobic because they were raped by Bro. Bernard, Bro. Casimir and a whole bunch of infallible priests who claimed the right to rape young boys in the City of New York. I told Tom I wanted to lead a riot against the Catholic Church who promoted violence in Ireland and the raping of boys in NY.

I was known as an extremely truthful guy. I had the ability to memorize anything I saw. I was proud of the fact that I could walk around and tell jokes to strangers and make them laugh. I was a straight shooter. If you pissed me off, I could shoot a cigarette from your mouth and grin while I did it. I knew how to scare people if that were appropriate.

I told Tom that NY didn't need gay riots, it needed to be told the truth. Cops were homophobic because they had been raped. Tom looked at a nasty cop at Stonewall and asked me if I knew him. I said Tony was raped by Bro. Bernard. He had been thrown on a car and forcibly fucked. I told Tom that Tony's brother was Marty, a gay kid I knew. Tom, Tony loves his little brother and he would kill anyone who hurt his gay brother. Tony and Tommy and all those other cops are still angry at being raped by the Catholic Church. They know I never raped anyone. They like me because I am a sweet guy and try not to make trouble. They also know I can kick their ass in a fight. Tom asked me what I was going to do.

I decided to see all my old friends in the Democratic Party. I said the problems gays were having was caused by the homophobia of the Catholic Church combined with the rape of young boys by that church. I can still hear the doors slam. "John, we love you but the Democratic Party will never denounce the Church for raping boys. We will never support an openly gay guy like you. The Republicans and Democrats in tis town get heir marching orders from Wall St. Wall St. will never tolerate an openly gay man in politics.
Please, John, pretend to be straight. Marry some girl and father a baby. We will support you immediately. You and Tom can continue to be in love just don't let anyone know you are gay.

I gave up on politics in New York City. No party will openly support a gay politician. I did not give up on all politicians. My favorite lunch date was Jackie Kennedy Onassis. She told me to run for anything and she would campaign as hard for me as she did for her husband. I was brighter than the Kennedy men but a lot more funny and well read. She reminded me that if she came out for me "You are dead in politics, John. The Catholic Church hates me even more than you. I married Onassis and currently live with a Jewish guy named Templeman. They will boil you in oil and perform a ritualistic rite of cannibalism on you. The Catholic Church doesn't play fair with anyone, John."

I loved Jackie. She was truthful.

Recently, I saw Chris Matthews on msnbc. He turned pink, purple and blue. He yelled "I can't believe there is a BOY in this story about Sandusky. What kind of country are we becoming if public universities are showering with young boys. This story is AWFUL. There is a BOY involved.."

He smiles warmly at the camera. "I went to Catholic schools in Philadelphia. I went to Holy Cross, a Christian Brothers university. We never heard of any nasty stories concerning boys in Philadelphia."

Matthews is the same age as me. Why didn't he drive up to New York and keep Christian Brothers from raping cops when they were young boys. We could have avoided that incident at the Stonewall. When I was a kid, Catholic priests blessed the rifles being sent to Ireland to kill the English and Protestants in Ulster. The rifles were hidden in Catholic Churches all over Ireland. I had neat handwriting, I wrote the shipping labels for those shipments.

I wonder why I never truly liked Ireland. I wonder why I despise the hypocrites who run the Catholic Church. I wonder why I despise both political parties.

I hate to say this out loud, there are a lot of homophobes still on the loose. Someday people will learn we must support homophilia. Men must be taught to love each other without fear. I loved my father until the day he died,. He supported from birth to death. It never occurred to him to be embarrassed about me being gay. He even adopted Tom Bolenbaugh as his son on St. Patrick's Day in 1969. Tom knew wrote the most beautiful eulogy for my dad when he died.

I still enjoy being gay. You must expect to be shit on after you come out. But you will always know who your real friends are. I was rich in friends and disappointed by the ignorance gays are subjected to. Hang in there guys. We may have a new beginning on our hands. A lot more young guys are sticking there necks out. I wish gay marrage and adoption were practical when I was growing up.

Keep pushing forward guys. The future looks better than the past. WARNING: Don't forget the past or you will condemned to repeat it. One Stonewall was enough. One Anita Bryant was too many. One Harvey Milk was too few. IT is nice to surprise guys. Ihad a four year affair with a cute Chinese guy in San Francisco. I was 29, he was 32. I was a foot taller at 6'2" and a hundred pounds heavier. I looked like a healthy marine from NYC. He was a cute guy from Macao. He had never considered sex with a guy and seemed to fear penetration by me. I smiled and said "Your girlfriend makes fun of you for having a small dick. I never make fun of a guys dick. Pretend you want to climb the Matterhorn and I will be Heidi and blow your horn." God bless me. He took the challenge. He thought my ass was a lot tighter than his girl's vagina. Harvey Milk developed our photos at his store in the Castro. He said, "I'm glad a guy from Washington Heights was improving relations with China. Who took the pictures?" "Danny was mortified when I asked a guy walking by the beach in Muir Woods to snap a few shots of us. Danny blushed. I loved how easy it was to embarrass him. Danny never gave up and worked on me for 4 years.

Tom had a great job in NY after I moved to the Catskills. He worked for David Dinkins, the first black mayor of NY. Tom called and explained derivatives to me around 1992. I told Tom, derivatives were a ponsee scheme. Go to Washington and explain to Barney Frank how dangerous they are. Explain them in English and people will ban them from the stock market. Tom did. He came to see me upstate and said that Barney and all the Democrats still think you are crazy. They will never deny Wall St. anything they want. I had fun telling people the Democrats could have prevented the destruction of the markets under George Bush. Can't be done, guys. Politicians would have to consider you and your loved ones more important than rich guys. A large oligarchy now rules the world and there are no gay members.

By the way, I had many fun experiences in Canada. Since we never had a nuclear war with Canada, I think American guys should have sex with Canadian guys. Every little bit helps. Lousy terrorists never have sex. They fly planes into large buildings and make every one angry. Homosexual acts are calming and refreshing to those of us who participate.

MAKE LOVE NOT WAR