Continental promo
< Back Comments (0)Post a Comment Bookmark and Share   Page: 1 | 2
 

Same-Sex and the City

Known as the gay guy's boyfriend from MTV's The Real World: Miami, Johnny Diaz weaves his own reality with Boston Boys Club.
An Advocate.com exclusive posted May 3, 2007
Same-Sex and the City

Johnny Diaz is experiencing what he calls "first-book jitters." It's exactly one month before the national release of his debut novel, Boston Boys Club, and he stumbles a bit when asked what he thinks about the portrayal of Hispanics--particularly openly gay Latinos--in pop culture.

"Are there any openly gay Hispanic portrayals in pop culture?" he questions, curled over a cup of coffee in a crowded café in the heart of Harvard Square in Cambridge, Mass. How about the younger nephew in ABC's Ugly Betty or even Ricky Martin? "Honestly, I can't think of one portrayal of an openly gay Latino in contemporary popular culture," Diaz explains. "It's like a Latino code of silence. We know you're gay, but it's in our machismo nature not to talk about it."

Diaz says he's determined to depict a multifaceted professional Latino who happens to be gay. "That's one of the reasons why I wanted to write this book." he explains, wearing a short-sleeved shirt during an unusually cold spring day in Boston. He rubs his arms for warmth and jokingly says he feels like a "Cuban popsicle" throughout the interview. "Hispanics are always portrayed as either street thugs, cleaning people, or as the gardener. And the Latin gay guys I've seen are always hot, overly sexualized tricks from Miami."

In Boston Boys Club the former reporter for The Miami Herald and current staff writer for The Boston Globe follows a trio of friends as they search for that perfect guy at an ultrahip boy bar in Boston, the Club Café. While Diaz insists his story is a fictionalized account of his life after moving from Miami to Boston five years ago, the 34-year-old author admits that he intertwines real-life locales (like the Club Café, which is in Boston's South End), events, and yes, people in Boston Boys Club.

"The main character, Tommy Perez, covers Hispanic-related issues at a paper similar to The Boston Globe," he says, adding that his alter ego works at a pub called The Boston Daily. "Tommy lives in Harvard Square, and I used to live near Harvard Square."

There's one character, Kyle, described as the lean, preening model and former reality show star who makes a red-carpet entrance into the club every Thursday as if a swarm of cameras still follows his every move. The acclaimed journalist claims that Kyle wasn't inspired by Dan Renzi, Diaz's former boyfriend whose romance was chronicled on MTV's Real World: Miami more than 10 years ago.

"Kyle is not Dan," he shoots back. "There are a lot of former reality stars out there who want to be models. The characters in the book are all composites of people I've met and known over the years."

Renzi, who has relocated to Miami after spending years in Los Angeles, laughs out loud when Kyle's background is described. "C'mon, how many former reality stars does he know with aspirations of being a model who ultimately becomes a public speaker?" jokes Renzi. "I mean, the name of the show Kyle was on in the book is called The Real Life."

Page: 1 | 2
Baltrusis has worked for MTV, VH1, Seventeen, Newsweek and as a regional stringer for The New York Times. He's currently a full-time freelancer based in Somerville, Mass.

Reader Comments

These comments are reproduced as written by visitors to this Web site. They have not been edited for content, grammar, or spelling. The viewpoints appearing here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or views of advocate.com, The Advocate, or its affiliates.

Be the first to comment on this story.

Back to top

Submit a comment for this story:

*Type your comment here (Required, 1000 characters max. HTML formatting and hyperlinks are NOT permitted.):

*Name (Required): 

*Hometown (Required): 

*E-mail address: (Required, but will not be displayed)

Is this comment for publication? 
Yes   No

Daytime phone number: (Required for print publication only and will not be displayed)

Please enter the words you see in the box, in order and separated by a space. Doing so helps prevent automated programs from abusing this service.

  

If you would like to submit a comment for posting, please fill out the form above. 

All comments submitted via this form are subject to posting or publication. (To send a private letter to an Advocate editor or writer, please use the e-mail button at the top of the page, or use snail mail.) If you would like your comment considered for publication in The Advocate magazine, please include your full name, your city of residence, and a phone number where you can be reached during business hours so that we can confirm your identity. Your e-mail address and telephone number are strictly confidential and will not be shared or used for any purpose other than to contact you about your comment.

See the Contact page for sending comments for reasons other than responding to Advocate editorial and news stories.

Please note that comments sent by fax or snail mail are unlikely to be posted, although they will be considered for publication along with all letters received via e-mail or via this Web page. Comments that chiefly concern Advocate.com content will be considered for posting only on the Web site. The Advocate reserves the right to edit submitted comments for grammar, spelling, obscenities, or libel; we will, however, do our best to preserve the original comment's style and intent. Comments considered for publication in The Advocate magazine may also be edited for length.

More Exclusives
  • View From the Hill: The End of DADT?
    Defense Secretary Robert Gates revealed that lawyers are exploring ways to ease enforcement of the military's gay ban, but cautioned that the law doesn't leave much wiggle room. He need look no further than DOD history for a lesson in altering the policy.
  • Hot Sheet: Week of July 5
    When you get back from that big 4th of July barbecue, unwind with Sacha Baron Cohen's Bruno and your favorite B-movie-mocking, basic cable robots.
  • Hungry Like the Wolf
    A master of viola, ukulele, piano, and harp, Patrick Wolf is a music prodigy -- one who, the night before this interview, spit on a cop and got himself arrested.
  • Soapside: Advocate's Guide to Daytime
    Forbes March talks about playing gay, Otalia fans outraged, update on One Life to Live’s Patricia Maurceri’s firing over gay plot point, Phillip Chancellor III big reveal, and Erica Kane goes to Africa.
  • The Faces of Federal Prop. 8
    With the federal challenge to Prop. 8 moving full speed ahead, Advocate.com sits down with the two couples named as plaintiffs in the suit.
  • Mommy, the Gays Are Coming
    After a year of advancements and celebration for gay and lesbian Colombians, the community takes to the streets of Bogota for the country's biggest pride ever.
  • The Pride of Antwerp
    Advocate.com hits the gay-friendly streets of Antwerp with openly gay police commissioner Serge Muyters.
  • Excerpt: Mean Little Deaf Queer
    In an excerpt from her humorous and harrowing new memoir, Mean Little Deaf Queer, Terry Galloway recalls her early childhood, describing feelings of ugliness, confusion about gender, and being one of the boys.
  • Top Political Blogs
    From Joe.My.God to The Daily Beast, Advocate.com spotlights a few of the best blogs that cover politics, inside and way outside the Beltway.
  • The Diva of French Television
    A hot young screenwriter who has made gay OK for millions of French viewers, Nicolas Mercier sips champagne, dons a feathered hat, and says he wants to see Colin Farrell and Jude Law go at it.