So there was this little theater boy that I went to high school with. We used to sing “La Vie Boheme” from rent in the hallways and go to the various incarnations of Portland’s infamous youth nightspot The City Nightclub. (Perhaps I romanticize a bit here. We may not have gone together until it moved and started its romp through the name game). But now it seems that he hails from West Hollywood. And I found out my using my remote control. Seems he landed a spot on CBS’s The Amazing race. Now hes a newlywed as per the province of Ontario in a highly publicized Canadian ceremony.
But Alex Ali and new hubby Lynn Warren have been getting plenty of press lately and I really don’t need to add to the media frenzy. But there are a few barely touched upon aspects of this reality stardom and sponsored wedding that I feel need to be highlighted.
Firstly, I want to express my condolences that Alex has been disowned by his rather strict, Egyptian father (though how he could not have seen what all of us saw at 14 I do not know). In light of this sad addendum to an otherwise wonderful ride the Amazing couple has been I am hesitant to make commentary. And yet I must.
Coming across this Ottowa Sun article brought the corporatization of gay culture to the forefront of my mind. I had no idea what was going on inTorontos City Hall at present but I certainly wouldnt want to serve as a distraction in a charged political climate. I would certainly think twice about promoting stores for free engraved rings and tailored wool suits.
But I understand the lure of all this attention and I dont mean to pick on Mr. and Mr. Ali-Warren. But increasingly I feel queers are used to market, as well as asked to buy, many products that are far from having our best interests at heart. One place this is apparent is the increasingly consumer happy Gay Pride. My gay pride is not about beer advertisements, expensive cheap jewelry in rainbow colors, or forking over a fiver to get into a waterfront celebration that aims to get me to buy these and more, while excluding all sorts of queers that should also be able to enjoy pride. So I encourage you to check out and join in some of the discussions surrounding Gay Pride. San Francisco and New York have begun an alternate version theyre calling Gay Shame. And while I know this June I will be celebrating queer life in Portland, Im not sure Ill fight my way behind a fenced off and homogenized waterfront
