When I first came out of the closet, I was not good at it.

When I first came out of the closet, I was not good at it. I didn’t have people to go out with, I was clumsy talking to guys and I was clueless what to do with one once I got a couple words in. Because of this deficit, I would meet people that felt I needed a big brother for the night but not a friend for the long haul. This meant that I would inevitably meet people while I was out but they were usually visiting and once they had left to their respective cities, I would be the lonely gay among the straights by myself in Las Vegas. This is not saying anything negatively though about the straights in my life. You are my family and nothing will compare to the relentless nights you’d spend with me at the gay bars until I’d either get to drunk to be there or meet some guy we could drag with us to the straight clubs.

Eventually though, through the miracle of chat rooms, I met someone I could actually go out with, who was gay, and I wasn’t planning on sleeping with. We will call him Greg, with one G, and we always had a blast together. He was a great introduction to the city. Kind of a loaner, he wasn’t creepy and Greg managed to know the right people at the right restaurants so we were already half in the bag by the time we got to the bars. He was one of those people that pop in for a moment in your life, just a moment, have a huge purpose, and are gone just as quick as they arrived. That was Greg and he was able to get me rolling on my gay training wheels perfectly until that right person came along, pushed me down off my Rainbow Bright gay bike into the grass and screamed “I’m going to take those training wheels off and beat you with them if you don’t take them off yourself”

Greg was the original one who introduced me to trashy gay bars. I can’t help it, but I love them. They always happen to be more fun, the people there are always so much more fun to talk to, and the learning experience is by far heightened in comparison to how cheap the drinks are. Well, on this one particular night, Greg and I decided to meet up at the Spotlight. We were into our drinks and before you know it, I’ve got a couple of guys from Seattle who are talking to me, buying me drinks and quickly acting as if they’re my big brothers. I was like the petting zoo for them. “We’ll help out this new gay boy tonight”

I was loving the attention and Greg was tired so he went home and I hung out with the two men from Seattle who were giving buying me drinks and introducing me to hot men. The time was approaching 4 a.m. and I had to work before noon the next day so I was attempting to finish my drink and get home before the sun came up and then BAM!! He walked in the bar and my eyes were uncontrollably drawn to him. One of the Seattle guys caught this and immediately followed by,” You like him? Let’s go say hi” and before I knew it, I was face to face with this cute, short dark hair, strong spoken East Coaster.

“Hey, I’m Gregg. I just moved here from WI”

“Really? I just moved here too. I’m Matt” and then PUSH. I’m in the grass with my bike on its side. I had met that person, a huge influence on how the rest of my life would be and the person who would threaten my life with my training wheels.