Instant Disco History #12 Ooo-Wah, Ooo-Wah

Ooo-wah, Ooo-wah. How I hated it. That frenzied, bizarre, dance floor chant that arose during peak moments in gay clubs of the 70's. Ooo-wah, Ooo-wah. Never once in 30-some odd years have I ooo'd or wah'd. Always it would seem to arise during the exact moment of a song I was particularly enjoying, shattering the moment as I gritted my teeth to glare at my partner, letting him know that he was NOT to take part, not ruin my Donna Summer, my Gino Soccio. I still hear it today, on rare occasions, and I still have the same reaction.

Record producers were quick to incorporate the sound, which my straight friends christened the "queer call." Around 1977, it was not uncommon to hear that cursed sound in a half a dozen songs over the course of evening, So despite my enduring distaste for ooo-wah, ooo-wah, here's a trio of hit songs that successfully rode the ooo-wah train to chart success.

Michael Zager Band had the biggest ooo-wah club hit with Let's All Chant, an inane bit of disco puffery with the immortal lyrics, "Your body, my body, everybody move your body." Zager was a one-hit wonder with Let's All Chant, although he had lots of success producing other artists such as Whitney Houston's mom, Cissy. Michael Zager Band - Let's All Chant (Private Stock Records, 1977) #1 Dance, #15 R&B, #35 Pop. (Download. Stream.)


Foxy, a Miami-based trio that included Tito Puente's son on percussion, had a smash with Get Off, which still can be heard ooh-wahing around R&B oldies shows. Foxy frontman Ish Ledesma went on to produce some of the biggest hits of the mid-80's "Miami sound", including Company B's Fascinated (which featured his wife and sister-in-law) and Promise Circle's Be Mine Tonight. Foxy - Get Off (TK Disco/Dash Records, 1978.) #1 Dance, #1 R&B, #9 Pop. (Download. Stream.)


Heatwave gave the world Rod Temperton, writer of many hits for Michael Jackson, Rufus, Brothers Johnson, and many of the other biggest Quincy Jones-produced hits of the 70's & 80's, so for that, I forgive The Groove Line, whose ooo-wah, ooh-wah lingered at the top of the charts for most of the summer of 1978. Plus, Heatwave gave us Always And Forever, providing endless karaoke hilarity for the last 30 years. Heatwave - The Groove Line (Epic Records, 1978.) #1 Dance, #3 R&B, #7 Pop. (Download. Stream.)

Previously on JMG:
Instant Disco History #1: Voggue
Instant Disco History #2: Luther Vandross
Instant Disco History #3: Skatt Bros.
Instant Disco History #4: Karen Finley
Instant Disco History #5: Disco Orchestra
Instant Disco History #6: On Broadway
Instant Disco History #7: New York City
Instant Disco History #8: Disco Lucy
Instant Disco History #9: Morning Music
Instant Disco History #10: Don't Leave Me This Way
Instant Disco History #11: Disco Xmas
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I Could Fall In Love With You

Here's the alternative video for Erasure's new single, I Could Fall In Love With You. I've been an Erasure fan for 20 years and this new song is already one of my favorites. To paraphrase a friend, if somebody asks you what your favorite Erasure song is, it should be a really difficult decision.

HomoQuotable - Harvey Fierstein

"America is watching Don Imus’s self-immolation in a state of shock and awe. And I’m watching America with wry amusement. Since I’m a second-class citizen — a gay man — my seats for the ballgame of American discourse are way back in the bleachers. I don’t have to wait long for a shock jock or stand-up comedian to slip up with hateful epithets aimed at me and mine. Hate speak against homosexuals is as commonplace as spam. It’s daily traffic for those who profess themselves to be regular Joes, men of God, public servants who live off my tax dollars, as well as any number of celebrities." - Harvey Fierstein, in an Op-Ed piece in today's NY Times.

Queer Superheroes Hold First Meeting

Last night I attended the first organizational meeting of the Queer Justice League, where about 100 activists gathered to discuss the purpose, structure, rules and procedures of the group. During an interesting opening exercise, attendees were asked to give their first names, preferred gender pronoun, and a one-word description of their mood about the meeting. Curious, optimistic, hopeful, ready, excited, intrigued, angry, and anxious were the most common responses. Very LiveJournal.

Although the meeting got bogged down in the discussion regarding rules and procedures, including a hearty debate on the nature of Robert's Rules Of Order, the room was alive with a sense of bottled-up impatience, a palpable need to these folks to become part of something bigger than themselves.

Longtime activist Ann Northrop suggested that the meeting was a reflection of "Our need to reclaim our self-respect and our place in the world." Larry Kramer concurred, saying, "There is an enormous amount of interest and energy out there. All eyes are on us." As this was the first meeting, most of the time was eaten by discussion of the purpose of the group, with questions about a mission statement, tactics, structure, outreach to non-activists, and the group's relationship to ACT-UP among those raised.

The next meeting of Queer Justice League takes place Thursday, April 19th at 7pm in the LGBT Community Center.

RELATED: I left the QJL meeting after ninety minutes to catch the end of the New York Boys Of Leather (NYboL) taking place in the basement. The tiny NYboL meeting had decided different tenor than the one upstairs, with discussion about car washes, beach parties, fundraisers, Folsom, IML, and a safer sex conference. Then the boys voted to extend the lease on their basement meeting space because they dug its "dungeon feel."

Morning View - Second Avenue Subway

The Second Avenue subway, the long-awaited, often-started but never finished subway line down Manhattan's East Side had its fourth groundbreaking this week. (My "morning view" pics are usually my own, but I grabbed this one from the NY Times.) The tunnel shown was sealed up in the 70's during NYC's big financial crisis and has sat empty since. I can't imagine that I'll still be on the Upper East Side when service begins in 2013, but I'm still excited by the project, which will create a station right near the end of my block. And the new line will be called the "Q".

CORRECTION: Here's a map of the new line, which shows an extension of the Q train from Times Square to the UES (handy!) and the route of the new complete line, to be called the "T".

Kurt Vonnegut, 84

Author Kurt Vonnegut has died at the age of 84. Like most high school and college students in the '70s, I worshipped Vonnegut, whose Slaughterhouse-Five added fire to the anti-Vietnam War movement. I also rather liked his funky sentence structure and punctuation, something I thought I saw reflected somewhat in the writing of John Rechy, author of my favorite novel ever, City Of Night. I've got a copy Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle somewhere around here. Time to dig it out again.

212-Screw U

So I finally have a landline, after six years in NYC with just a cellphone. And very surprisingly, I have a highly prized 212 number, which even shocked the Time-Warner digital phone guy who installed the line, telling me it was only the second 212 he'd ever put in. Even though I haven't given anybody the new number yet, I have gotten four calls on it. And ALL four came from a scam outfit calling themselves "the New York Fraternal Order of Police", soliciting donations for "needed safety equipment." As most New Yorkers should know, the state police never solicit public donations.

Although these phone scams piss me off, at least I knew about them before the calls started and was able to give those con artists a few choice words before they hung up on me. However, I am more than a little pissed at Time-Warner, whom I presume immediately added my new number to some list they sell. Grrrr.

Reminder: Queer Justice League Tonight

There will be a meeting of the Queer Justice League tonight at NYC's Gay Community Center at 7:30pm, which is billed as "a space for long-term ACT UP members and new young activists to come together and discuss the future of the fight for LGBT equality." Please consider joining the next generation of gay activists. You can subscribe to their listserv here.

Your Car Is Gay

Today's NY Times has a feature story about automotive marketers' attempts to reach out to gay consumers and the perception in the market that some cars are "gayer" than others. Old news to us gay folks, of course, who have always known that the Mazda Miata, for example, is just about as gay as gay can be. Sadly, there is no mention of discontinued gay favorites like the Cabriolet, the gayest car of all time, or of the Suziki Samarai, favored budget transport of many gay boys in the 80's. Hey, how do you double the value of a Samarai? Fill up the tank!

Pulling Balls In Hell's Kitchen

Porno Bingo turned out to be a lot of fun last night, the Ninth Avenue Bistro was packed to capacity. One of my own peeps, Little David, won a big goodie bag of porn including memberships to several of those dirty online streaming video sites, which by total coincidence happens to be one of David's favorite pastimes. Also in the house were Manhattan bon vivants Aaron and Richard, who were grumpy that they didn't win anything.

Will Clark was a quite the animated host, channeling Rod Roddy all night. And as with most rugby-related events, there was some chanting and some wanton removal of clothing. Fun night, even though Grampaw here had a hard time reading the tiny writing on the gumball-sized bingo balls. And some for some Hell's Kitchen realness, I got panhandled in front of the bar three times. TOP PIC: Gotham Knights. MIDDLE PIC: Will Clark and David. BOTTOM PIC: Porn director/reviewer/gossip Vincent Lambert (NSFW) and Grampaw.

Open Thread Thursday

My baloney has a first name. Sometimes you feel like a nut. Here's the tricky part. Everybody doesn't like something. If you've got the time, we've got the beer. You can trust your car to the man who wears the star. Oh, Fab. I'm glad.

I miss catchy advertising jingles. All I hear anymore in ads is old pop songs. Sometimes the ads can be cute-ish, like the Chip's Ahoy ad using Human League's Don't You Want Me. And sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised, like with the M&M's ad that uses The The's obscure but fantastic This Is The Day. But usually, I'm just annoyed, particularly when advertisers use a song I used to enjoy.

What's your favorite old school jingle? To refresh you memories, here's some golden oldies from the food & beverage industry.
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Misery Extension

Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced today that effective immediately, the 146,000 U.S. soldiers in Iraq will have their tours of duty extended from one year to 15 months. Admitting that our forces have been "stretched" by the conflict, he denied that the tour extension is the result of poor stateside recruitment efforts. With troop morale in Iraq already said to be low, this news will no doubt be a crushing blow to our guys there, not to mention their families at home. Can you imagine thinking you are days or weeks away from getting the fuck out of Iraq, only to be handed this latest pile of shit?

Ruling By Fear

Food Emporium, 1st Avenue, Tuesday 8pm

A small boy is running in circles around a produce display, unspooling about 50 feet of plastic bags.

Young Mother: You had just better start behaving right this minute or tomorrow morning I'm getting on the phone and calling in Mean Nanny for the rest of the week. Do you want that? Do you want to spend the rest of this entire week with Mean Nanny? Do you?

Small Boy (stopping dead in his tracks): I'll be good.

I think I'd like to meet Mean Nanny. I bet she rocks.
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HomoQuotable - Howard Bragman

"I think there are four kinds of gays in Hollywood. There's the openly gay; the gay and everybody knows it but nobody talks about it; the married, closeted gay who doesn't talk about it; and the screaming 'I'll sue you if you say I'm gay' person. In other words, the no closet, the glass closet, the cast iron closet, and the closet you get buried in." -Howard Bragman, CEO of the PR firm Fifteen Minutes, to Out Magazine. (Via - Rex Wockner.)

Sanjaya En Español

You know, this whole "vote for the worst" thing isn't going to be very much fun if Sanjaya turns out to be, you know, good. Dial Idol has him placing 5th out of eight.

John Edwards Wants You

Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards has begun aggressively courting the gay vote, releasing the names of 25 prominent LGBT Americans who are supporting his campaign. Edwards: "I am honored to have the support of so many well-respected LGBT leaders. They work hard every day to make our country a better place and I am proud to join with them to fight for equal rights for all Americans." Most notable on the list is David Mixner, former Clinton advisor, who famously broke with the Clintons over DADT.

Reminder: Porno Bingo Tonight

Tonight I'll be calling numbers at Will Clark's Porno Bingo, which will benefit NYC's Gotham Knights gay rugby club. The event begins at 9PM in Hell's Kitchen at the Ninth Avenue Bistro. What does one wear to porno bingo? I have a feeling that by the end of the night, I'll be a little tipsy. "Beeee-ssssheven!"

Morning View - Legally Blonde, The Musical

Legally Blonde, The Musical has begun previews and officially opens April 29th. I'd totally make fun of this, but I'm eagerly waiting for Young Frankenstein, The Musical, so I have no room to talk.

Rosanne Steps In It

Rosanne Barr, for many years a staunch supporter of the gay community, made some rather surprising remarks on the radio yesterday. Sitting in as guest host, during an interview with black lesbian activist Jasmye Cannick, Rosanne said:

"Never once in my 54 years have I ever once heard a gay or lesbian person who’s politically active say one thing about anything that was not about them. They don’t care about minimum wage, they don’t care about any other group other than their own self because you know, some people say being gay and lesbian is a totally narcissistic thing and sometimes I wonder. I’ve never heard any of them say anything except for 'accept me cause I’m gay'.

It’s just, it’s screwed. It’s no different than the evangelicals, it’s the same mindset. They want you to accept Jesus and you guys want us to all believe it’s ok to be gay. And a lot of us, a lot of them, I do, I don’t give a damn who anybody has sex with, as long as they’re not underage and an animal. I don’t give a damn, it’s none of my damn business. I’m just sick of all the divisiveness, it’s not getting any of us anywhere."

The Human Right Campaign and the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund were quick to condemn the remarks, with the Victory Fund calling for an apology. The Victory Fund works to get LGBT candidates elected.

I think Rosanne's condemnation of gay folks who suffer from single-issue-itis is valid, but ironically she clearly doesn't know that most major gay rights orgs have been heavily criticized by some gays because of the coalitions they've built with other progressive causes. I see gay rights groups regularly align themselves with environmentalists, immigration rights, unionists, etc, only to suffer bitter attacks from within the LGBT community who scream at them, "Stay on target! What do the working conditions of tomato pickers have to do with GAY RIGHTS?"

Rosanne is right that gay people should be part of the broader progressive coalition. She's right that we should see past our own gay noses and work for good causes that don't directly affect us. But she is dead wrong that we don't. And those gay people who get angry at gay rights organizations for supporting other progressive causes are even more wrong.
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Federal Hate Crimes Vote On Thursday

The bill to include LGBT people for protection under the federal hate crimes law comes to a vote on Thursday. I know I nagged you good people to write your representative on this issue just a few weeks ago, but please do so again, particularly if your Congressperson has not yet signed on as co-sponsor. The Human Right Campaign has an easy to use site for you to make your representative know how you feel on this vital issue. Do it right now, be assured that our enemies are at DefCon 1 on this.

Somethin' For The Fellas(That Like The Fellas)

New Yorker Jonny "The Gay Pimp" McGovern's new song, Somethin' For The Fellas (That Like The Fellas), is loaded with wailing divas, strutting queens, and lots of boy-on-boy action. Therefore, totally NSFW. Catchy track, the line "my mussy's on fire" made me laugh, and but my favorite McGovern track is still 2005's Soccer Practice.

Divine's Last Interview

In response to last week's post about Divine, superstar reporter Rex Wockner has posted his 1988 interview with her, the last one she did before her untimely death two weeks later. Go read it, it's fascinating stuff. Thanks, Rex!

Morning View - School Of Interior Design

The New York School Of Interior Design, located on the Upper East Side, is a private, not-for-profit college. The school motto is "We're just not feeling this window treatment."

Right now the school is having an exhibit on the history of "prefabricated housing". Since I live just down the block, I think I'm going to stop in and revisit my North Carolina trailer park roots. Did you know that the double-wide is considered one of the most revolutionary innovations in the history of American homebuilding? My dad used to say that all the time, so it must be true.

You may also be surprised to hear that I always notice what appears to be lots of young gay men going in and out of the School of Interior Design. Isn't that cuh-razy?

My Crankypants Mantra

Have I complained about the weather yet? Have I complained about the radiators in my apartment making more noise than the annual Ghosts of Christmas Past convention? Have I complained lately about the miserable chattering pigeons in my airshaft that wake me up at 5am every morning? Have I complained about the guy upstairs who just got a new monster sound system so that he can enjoy the Explosion Channel in 5.1 surround all day? Have I complained about the 15 hospitals at the end of my block and their fleet of 500 ambulances? Have I complained about the mysterious unseen bagpiper that practices nightly on a rooftop down the street? Have I complained about the woman next door and her air-raid siren alarm clock?

No, I haven't. Because this is New York City and you just have to suck it up, bitch. Everybody says that and I believe them. I am not complaining. This is New York. I am not complaining. This is New York. This is New York. This is New York.

Hoodies And Dockers Safe Again

"Oopsie. Here's your foreskin back. Keep it in a warm dry place. We'll be happy to take it out of your hands later, if you are among the millions suffering from ESPS (Excessive Sexual Pleasure Syndrome.)"

The New York Department of Health issued a statement today saying that the New York Times had "misrepresented" its response to the recent UN/WHO plan to encourage male circumcision in order to reduce the incidence of new HIV infections.

Recent media reports misrepresent the Health Department’s response to recent studies showing that circumcision significantly reduces HIV transmission in some contexts. We do not yet know what impact circumcision could have on HIV transmission in New York City, and we have not suggested or planned any initiative or campaign. Quite to the contrary, I indicated in an interview with the New York Times (the source of the misrepresentation) that I very much doubted that even 1% of men at high risk in NYC would undergo the procedure.

As a result of rigorous studies, we now know that circumcision reduces risk of female-to-male spread of HIV by about 60%. There is some evidence, but no proof, that circumcision may reduce male-to-female transmission. There is also some evidence, but again no proof, that it may protect men who engage in insertive anal sex from male-to-male transmission.

Our goals are the following:

• Inform the community of the facts regarding what is known and what is not known about circumcision’s effects on HIV transmission;
• Promote discussion among community groups and health care providers to explore how circumcision may be relevant in New York City;
• Increase access to circumcision for men who want the procedure.

The need for new effective prevention methods is urgent. But even if circumcision is as effective in preventing male-to-male transmission as it is in preventing female-to-male transmission, it does not by any means eliminate the risk of becoming infected with, or spreading, HIV. Any new approach, including circumcision, needs to be seen as an addition to our existing portfolio of proven HIV prevention strategies, including reduction of unsafe sexual encounters and consistent condom use.There will be a community forum in the next few weeks to discuss these issues and we hope you can attend.

Damn, And here all the mohels were looking forward to all that freelance work. FREELANCE, get it? Meh. (h/t: Blabbeando.)

HomoQuotable - Jennifer Crisler

"We were proud to join the many diverse families attending the White House Egg Roll this year. For the second year in a row, gay and lesbian-headed families participated in a great American tradition. Despite the cold weather and freezing temperatures, gay and lesbian families came and made their presence known, making our existence real to millions of Americans." - Jennifer Crisler, head of Family Pride, an advocacy and activist organization that works on behalf of gay families. Photos of this year's Egg Roll are here.

Ted Haggard Is Completely Heterosexual

Let's start the week out with a self-satisfied snicker, via political troubadour Roy Zimmerman. Wait for the super-clever line around 2:30, I laughed so loud I kicked my speaker plugs out. Seriously, I've been laughing like Mutley all morning. And thanks very much to the faithful reader who sent this in.

UPDATE: Check out Roy Zimmerman's other, equally hysterical songs, in which he rips on Ann Coutler, Jerry Falwell, creation science, marriage "defenders", and other deserving targets. Zimmerman is a genius, check out his tour dates which include two NYC shows next week.

Eight Shows A Week. Plus One.

Sunday, 11pm, Christopher Street, West Village

I'm on my cellphone, leaning against a tree. A handsome young man comes running up the sidewalk at me. His jerky gait on the broken cement suggests he's trying not to break his mother's back. Or maybe trying TO break it, I can't tell. He's shouting something, but I can't make it out with my friend chattering away in my ear. When the guy gets about 20 feet away, his yelps gel into discernible words. "Chicken noodle soup! Chicken noodle soup!" OK, then.

I step off the curb to let him pass, but he follows me into the street to do a manic little tap dance in a circle around me. "Chicken noodle soup! Chicken fuckin' noodle fuckin' SOUP, muthafucka! Chicken! Noodle! SOUP!! " He punctuates each of the last three words with a spastic, but stylish, jazz-hands-ish sort of "ta-dah!" move, then steps up onto the curb for his encore. "Chicken!" (Ta-dah!) "Noodle!" (Ta-dah!) "SOUP!" (big finish TA-DAH!)

And then he looks at me, expectantly. "Very nice," I say, with my phone resting on my shoulder. "You'll be out of the chorus before you know it." The young man beams, takes one of those "You are too, too kind" bows, and skips into a shop across the street, one of those neon-fronted joints that sells hand blown ornamental glass objets d'art, which are sold strictly as decorative novelties, and not for use as smoking devices, officer, sir.

I return to my cellphone, where my friend naturally asks, "What the fuck was all that?" I say, "Sweetie, you only left New York a year ago. Surely you can't have forgotten what happens at this hour on Sunday nights." A pause. Then, "Oh! Right! You know, I always used to wish that Broadway was dark on Sundays instead of Mondays. I could never keep up with those chorus boys on a school night." I console my friend. "Don't worry, nobody's keeping up with that one tonight." And they won't. I watch the young man spin out of the shop and double-step to the corner of Bleecker, leaving uncountable broken-backed mothers in his wake. It's a one-man show in a one-man world, likely playing non-stop until 8pm. On Tuesday.

UPDATE: I've gotten a couple dozen emails advising me that the Chicken Noodle Soup dance has been a hip-hop cultural juggernaut since emerging at a street party in East Harlem last summer. See that door marked "It"? That's me out in front. I hate being out of It. Stupid inventive teenagers. Hey, have y'all heard about the lambada yet? It's forbidden. JMG reader Eric, who bills himself as "America's First White Jewish Gay Bear Hip-Hopper And Krumper" pointed me to the many Chicken Noodle Soup clips on YouTube. This home vid gets across the idea, some of the others are burdened by typical hip-hop F-bomb overkill. I think the last dance craze I actually enhusiastically took part in was either the Freak or the Bump. No Roger Rabbit. No Running Man. And certainly no Cabbage Patch. There may have been one tragic Electric Slide incident, but in my defense, I ate those brownies accidentally. For real.
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Morning View - Central Park East

OK, so there's no such place as "Central Park East", I don't think, but it seems like an appropriate name for this view across Conservatory Water, where adult screwballs entertain kids with their tiny remote-controlled motorized yachts. I fondly recall the time some guy (who was all hopped up on goofballs or some shit) leaped into the water and started smashing the boats with a whiffle-ball bat while shouting "Remember Pearl Harbor!" It was a good show. The little kiosk is Central Park Sailboat, where Jeff and I recently enjoyed a tepid $8 plastic cup of Budweiser. Behind the trees, the building on the far right is 927 Fifth Avenue, home to Mary Tyler Moore and the most famous non-human New Yorker, Pale Male, who, unlike Ms. Moore, still appears in movies.

The Easter Bunny Hates You

Hipster Foodies

Saturday, 1am, 2nd Avenue, East Village

Stoned Dude 1(pointing): You wanna eat there?

Stoned Dude 2: Thailand Cafe? What kinda food do they have?

SD1: Um, Thai food, dude.

SD 2: Like what?

SD 1: Dude! Like noodles and shrimp. That kinda shit.

SD 2: Fuck that. I don't like Chinese.
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Morning View - Manhattan Mini Storage

You might remember Manhattan Mini Storage's Queer Eye(ish) campaign, mentioned here last year. I love the new campaign too, Mike at Manhattan Chowder has more examples.

Gay Life In Saudi Arabia

This month's issue of The Atlantic features a fascinating article on gay life in Saudi Arabia. The author, Nadya Labi, investigates and contrasts the historical acceptance of gay behavior in Arabic nations versus the emerging concept of gay identity, and how the two are colliding in the increasingly Westernized Arabic world.

In Saudi Arabia, sodomy is punishable by death. Though that penalty is seldom applied, just this February a man in the Mecca region was executed for having sex with a boy, among other crimes. (For this reason, the names of most people in this story have been changed.) Ask many Saudis about homosexuality, and they'll wince with repugnance. "I disapprove," Rania, a 32-year-old human-resources manager, told me firmly. "Women weren't meant to be with women, and men aren't supposed to be with men."

This legal and public condemnation notwithstanding, the kingdom leaves considerable space for homosexual behavior. As long as gays and lesbians maintain a public front of obeisance to Wahhabist norms, they are left to do what they want in private. Vibrant communities of men who enjoy sex with other men can be found in cosmopolitan cities like Jeddah and Riyadh. They meet in schools, in cafés, in the streets, and on the Internet. "You can be cruised anywhere in Saudi Arabia, any time of the day," said Radwan, a 42-year-old gay Saudi American who grew up in various Western cities and now lives in Jeddah. "They're quite shameless about it." Talal, a Syrian who moved to Riyadh in 2000, calls the Saudi capital a "gay heaven."

This is surprising enough. But what seems more startling, at least from a Western perspective, is that some of the men having sex with other men don't consider themselves gay. For many Saudis, the fact that a man has sex with another man has little to do with "gayness." The act may fulfill a desire or a need, but it doesn't constitute an identity. Nor does it strip a man of his masculinity, as long as he is in the "top," or active, role. This attitude gives Saudi men who engage in homosexual behavior a degree of freedom. But as a more Westernized notion of gayness-a notion that stresses orientation over acts-takes hold in the country, will this delicate balance survive?

The article explores in some depth the relationship that Saudi gays have with their families, Islam, the religious police, and the goverment. You must be an Atlantic subscriber to read the article online. This issue is currently on the newsstands. Highly recommended.