Allow Me to Introduce Myself

This is my very first post on the Gay Place Blog. I'm excited to be here. Allow me to introduce myself:

I'm Steven. I've lived as an artist of one sort or another all my life. I spent the '80s and '90s (my 20s and 30s) in New York studying painting, playing in bands, writing songs, singing, making theater. I grew up in Indiana, and, besides New York, I've lived in Nashville, San Francisco, the Utah wilderness, and for two years in a camper on the road. Austin has been my home for 3-1/2 years now.

I'm 48. I came out in 1979. I caught the tail end of the wild years before HIV rewrote the script. I was a member of ACT UP and Queer Nation in the mid-80s. My political consciousness was forged in opposition to the threats of that dark time: Reagan, Jesse Helms, the Moral Majority, and the rest. Lately, I find myself pretty far outside the mainstream of the LGBT movement, politically-speaking. I can get adamant. I try not to be strident, and I love it when smart people disagree with me. I love the conversation. There's nothing sexier than being persuaded.

All that said &ndash though my thoughts often run to politics lately if only because we live in such a fascinating era, when all the structures we have relied on and railed against seem to be shifting and crumbling at breakneck speed &ndash I'm interested in many other things: art, movies, books, sex, love, old musicals, porn, comedy, weird stuff, bad stuff.

I'll stop now &ndash I'm hoping we'll get to know each other better over the long haul. (And if you're curious to know more about me, my opinions and interests, check out my personal blog, Go Like Water. Be warned, I have a wicked Judy Garland fetish.)

I'm thrilled to be invited to the Gay Place. Please let me know what you think.