7.1.22 QAL Amsterdam #1

I have just finished reading Fairyland. It sooo took me back to those years. The final chapter was very hard to read and I wept often in those last pages. The film, if done well, should be both heartwarming and a tearjerker. I look forward to it, and not just because Adam is in it. I see many ways for the director to use just the two ‘named’ lovers to encapsulate the breadth of that part of the father’s life.

I was a hairstylist in those days and the gay community was a substantial part of my “tribe” in the early 80’s. It was a very sad time and the impact on the boys was incredible…from '81 when they were open and celebratory…owning or ‘inhabiting’ bars and disco’s to totally disappearing from the party scene almost entirely by the late 80’s. The first shock waves hit with the pictures and death of Rock Hudson, then friends started getting ill or losing their partners…then the parties were all wild but no longer public. 5 of my friends shared a large Victorian home and that became the social centre. That home also became a shelter for an out of town young man transitioning but even that scene was pretty much shut down by 1985/6+ as everyone isolated or went home to pass. It was pretty scary. I felt somewhat sorry, [while reading the book] that I worked to distance myself from some of that scene not because of AIDS but because straight men would not come near a woman always with a group of gay men..so as a single woman, that was not good.

Adam has always reminded me of my best friend of those days, Ron…a beautiful young man [inside and out..much like Adam], extraordinarily talented but too gentle and sensitive to survive this tough world. He died in 95, but of Cirrhosis of the liver from the drugs and alcohol he seemed to need to be himself. His funeral was full of all of the old gang that survived the epidemic and that was lovely. I have no idea where or if they are anymore…that is a lifetime ago.

I just felt moved to reminisce as I finished Fairyland. It is worth the read. I look forward to the film.