rolls around, have public sex in various parts of the building. ( This year's party will take place on Saturday, March 19.)įor three decades, the party has been a raunchy high point of the gay calendar in New York, and a throwback to the most hedonistic aspects of pre-AIDS gay culture. But as the night progressed, my attitude went from excitement to discomfort to utter revulsion - and I began to wonder, did I even belong here? I had come here to confirm several of my long-cherished beliefs about sex and gayness: that sex in all of its forms was awesome, that gay men's permissive attitudes toward it were much saner than the straight community's, and that events like this one were a healthy celebration of the most transgressive elements of gay life that had preceded me. Like most gay guys, I spent my late teens and early 20s making up for the chastity of my high school years.
