The Dooryard

What I saw at the Log Cabin convention

This past weekend my eyes were opened to the good work of Log Cabin Republicans. I spent two days and nights at their annual convention in Denver and really loved it. I had never clearly gotten a sense of what LCR's mission was. Members had explained it to me (or rather tried to explain it) before, but it never sunk in. Listening to the speakers and talking with the convention-goers, I finally have a personal understanding of it: LCR's mission is to change how the Republican Party handles gay issues.

Many readers of this blog will be happy to know that I was just about the most conservative person at the convention, from what I could tell. On issues of hate-crimes legislation and abortion, it seemed everyone I talked with was to the left of me. But one of the themes of the weekend was part of Reagan's legacy: If we agree 80 percent of the time, you are not my enemy. It's something so many have lost sight of.

Former Senator Alan Simpson (R-WY) spoke Friday and was fantastic, telling stories, mostly humorous, and really attacking the religious conservatives who have wielded so much power in the GOP in recent years. It struck me as odd that someone would attack members of his own party so vehemently. But, there is a battle for the heart of the GOP right now, and it's oddly encouraging to see.

The most wonderful part of the event was the handing out of their Uncommon Courage Award, presented to three Republican state legislators - Michigan State Representative Lorence Wenke, Wyoming State Representative Dan Zwonitzer, and New York State Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward - who stood up for gay rights in the last year. It's pretty great stuff when (mostly) straight Republicans stand

The Colorado Springs Gazette quoted me from something I said about gay people leaving the Republican Party in a break-out session Friday morning.

I was invited by LCR President Patrick Sammon (above) to speak Saturday at the convention, introducing John Amaechi and talking about the state of gays in sports. The thrust of my talk was that there has been great progress for gays in sports, and there has been. Interestingly, a lot of people came up to me afterward, appreciated what I said, and said they had been longtime sports fans.  One of them was Frank Ricchiazzi, known as the Godfather of LCR, who is a long-suffering Buffalo Bills fan; he's a hoot.

Some of the other great people I met this weekend were Scott from BoiFromTroy; Luke from Arizona; Tommy D, a fun, sports-minded guy from SF; Andy from L.A.; Phil & Drew from South Carolina; a guy named Bobby Bottoms (no joke!); Frank, an Outsports member, from Denver; and a whole bunch of other folks.

I'm committed to getting more involved with LCR; now I just have to figure out how.

Geography: Roatan

It sounds like some fabled land from The Lord of the Rings. Instead, Roatan is one of the hidden jewels of the Caribbean - a long island off the coast of Honduras that I hadn't heard about until last week.

What makes Roatan special is the barrier reef - the second largest in the world, after Australia's - that lies just 100 yards off shore. For a SCUBA diver like me, that is very tantalizing. The beaches are also, by many accounts, to die for; The temperature is always wonderful (it's south of Jamaica), and there seems to be lots to do (hiking, butterfuly and nature gardens, kayaking, swimming with dolphins).

It's also quite appealing because Continental has direct flights from Newark, and it's rather inexpensive (it is, afterall, part of Honduras). We have found a number of two-bedroom houses that rent for under $1,500 per week.

We, along with a couple friends, have decided to head there over the winter, and I can't wait.

Geography: Saba

We have been looking for a nice place to go SCUBA diving this winter; and I may have found it. Saba is a little island east of Puerto Rico that is considered the last untouched jewel of the Caribbean. It claims to have incredible diving and a beautiful rainforest. It may be a little quieter than some of the other places I've been in the Caribbean (the island has a whopping 1,500 residents on 5 square miles), but I have read several pieces that say it is very gay-friendly. I don't know as we'll end up here this winter, but it's a place I've never heard of before that I hope to see a lot of at some point.

Montreal's Outgames: Incredible

I got back this weekend from an incredible week at the First World Outgames in Montreal. I had been to Montreal two years ago in May and I hadn't been impressed. This time around, I was blown away. Not only was the city great, but the event was so well-organized and so fun. And it blew Chicago's Gay Games out of the water. My final grade for it was an A- while Chicago got a C+ (and even that was, after Montreal's event, too generous). I'm now really looking forward to the next Outgames in Copenhagen in 2009.

One thing I saw, though, did get to me: 77% of Canadians did not agree with the prime minister's support for Israel defending itself. In Israel and Lebanon, you have a terrorist organization that has been constantly attacking Israel and kidnaps Israeli soldiers. Israel responds with no less force than any other sovereign nation would respond, and Candians think the prime minister should sit on his hands and be quiet. There is certainly a time for not picking sides; but this one is so obvious and clear. I'm just constantly amazed by how many people don't understand the roots of the situation in the Middle East involving Israel.

Mallory Dock

This was the first time I'd been back to Cape Cod and didn't make a stop at 80 Queen Ann Road in Harwich, where I grew up; my parents left a couple months ago for Maine. I did, however, make another sort of pilgrimmage this past weekend - to the Mallory Dock in Hyannis. Outside of Provincetown, the Mallory Dock is the only gay bar on the Cape. When I was a kid, jokes about "fags" centered as much around the Mallory Dock as they did around Provincetown.

Arriving on the Cape around 10:30pm last Friday, I convinced Dan to head with me to the bar to see what it was like, as I had never been. It was about what I had expected. While all of the patrons we talked to said it was uncharacteristically slow that night, 10 people were all I was expecting to see. We had a drink (a steal at $7 for a vodka/soda, and double the size of any cocktail served in Chelsea), played some pool, met a couple guys (one of whom lived in my hometown), and then headed off.

It felt oddly warm to be there. Nice to stop by. Everyone seemed to know everyone else (except for Dan and me, which is probably why we got plenty of glances, being the fresh meat in the bar), which is nice - to visit.

BTW, how much do I love that on Fridays they give AARP discounts. Perfect!

Rehomo 2006

I've joked since my football league's inception that we're a group of alcoholics who happen to play football together. About 30 of us who went to Rehoboth Beach for Memorial Day weekend proved me right. It was an awesome weekend of incredible weather (85 on Saturday), late nights, parties, drag queens, straight chicks, chicken wings, and an introduction to Grotto Pizza.

The best part is, I can't wait to hang out with these guys even more. I feel blessed that the most incredible group of gay guys in New York have found their way to the football league, and I just want to hang out with them more and more after this weekend.

More photos after the jump

Geography: Heard Island

I'm starting a new series of geography lessons on this blog, as I have long been incredibly interested in the places I'll go (and those that I won't). Today I stumbled across one that I head never heard of before: Heard Island. It is located southeast of Madagascar and is nearest to Antarctica. The mountain that is an active volcano rises up from the sea so majestically.

It was not even known to exist until the 1830s. Soon after, sealers invaded the island and nearly wiped out the seal population there. Now, it's protected land belonging to Australia.

It seems like a beautiful place and one I'd like to visit - for about six hours. Being so close to Antarctica, it's essentially a barren rock covered with snow. Still, there's something alluring about an island virtually no one has seen (or heard of, for that matter) sitting by itself in the middle of the Ocean.

Beautiful Aspen

Aspen has been just gorgeous. What a magical place. We've been staying at the beautiful ranch of a friend's parents since Saturday. The ground has been covered with snow since we got here, the skiing has been great, and the food has been, to quote our friend's stepmom, fabulous.

Skiing Aspen Highlands on Monday, I hurt my quads, which have now tugged on my ligaments long enough that I was unable to ski today (which was fine, because I've heard that Aspen Mountain is one of the two worst of the four mountains here).

The highlight of the trip for me so far was our lunch yesterday in Ashcroft, a small former mining town that some may call a ghost town now. The crowning glory of Ashcroft is the Pine Creek Cookhouse, a topnotch restaurant set back in a valley that no cars are allowed to drive into. To get there, it's a stop in Ashcroft and a one-mile cross-country ski trek or sleigh ride. We went for lunch and the food was amazing. The sweet potato soup was the talk of the table. A very special part of the trip.

We haven't partaken much in the Gay Ski Week activities, though I've run into a few people who were nice and cordial. There's some kind of cowboy party tomorrow which we'll venture to. Just to make an appearance, you know.

Playa Del Carmen

It's been six weeks since Dan and I got back from our week in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, so I figured it was time I posted some pics from the trip. It was just great. Playa is a (growingly touristy) town about 40 miles south of Cancun. It has a lot of the charm of a small-town village, but many of the luxuries and traps of a tourist destination. We had heard that it was gay-friendly - and it is. I don't think anyone would stop you from doing just about anything there (though nudity on the beach and the use of many drugs are illegal; there is a nude gay beach about a 45-minute walk north of the main beaches).

We went with our friend Jason, who was a great travelling companion. His only request for the trip: go to Tulum at some point - and it was well worth the $40 rental car and hour-long drive.

The SCUBA diving was also great (even if the snorkeling was downright bad). We saw about a dozen sea turtles on our first dive of the trip, and that was a thrill. We also saw many baracuda, a nurse shark, coral galore on our one-day trip to Cozumel, a puffer the size of a dog, tarpin (a school of 20 of which swam right through a group - a scare and a thrill) and I even watched an eel and a crab fight for a crevice.

I'd love to go back - heck, it was my third trip to the Carribean in the last year, and I'm falling in love.

Congress is paving the way to allow commercial space flights. You couldn't pay me enough.