La primavera da sus primeras señas y las personas se lanzan a las calles. Por primera vez en meses lucen camisetas o delgados sacos ante un sol que se levanta saliendo de su letargo. La gente pasa respirando un aire primaveral en el que Filadelfia vuelve a la vida sobre el barullo de los carros que transitan por Broad y Chestnut Street.

I had to escape the mid-day sun of Los Girasoles in Santo Domingo so I stopped at a corner bar at a busy intersection in the middle of town.  And as the Presidentes started to kick in the room came into focus.  It's a typical corner bar, the kind you find all over the Dominican Republic--large, jukebox blaring, open patios on both sides.

In the US, the days before Stonewall are mostly behind us, but this is not the case in much of Latin America. In some countries there is overt harassment and repression by the state itself, often under the guise of violating morals and decency laws. 

Take Honduras, for example.  In the 1990s there were over 200 murders of gay and transgender sex workers that were not investigated by police.  In 2002 the President of Honduras enacted the Social and Co-Existence Law, giving police the right to arrest people they suspected of being LGBT, and to raid gay gathering places. In 2004 the mayor of San Pedro Sula, Honduras authorized a raid on Boyz, the city's only gay bar, which resulted in the arrest of twelve patrons and workers.  Does this sound like a place where it's ok to be gay?

One day, when it was time for David's nap, daddy said "OK David, it's mimi*-time."

My boy is huge.  Hairwise that is.  David is 11 years old with hair that measures 8 inches.  As you can see, his hair is bigger than his head and bigger than the football helmet he wears.  He sports a curly Angela Davis -type afro.  It covers his eyes at this point, reminding me of Cousin Itt from the Addams Family.  He loves his hair and so do I.