#56: I am gay, so what?
Posted: November 25, 2009
Filed under: friends, People, stories
Tagged: kevinquan, People
Comments: 6 Comments
Description
This set was taken nearly one year and a half ago. Different with all other set, I had not shown the picture to any one until now. And there is no particular reason why I am posting them now, it is just because I want to share something today.
You can call this guy “Kevin” ; Kevin Quan. Kevin is pretty well known by being the first male belly dancer in Vietnam. At the time, belly dancing was still considered something “sexy”, “immoral”, “not good”…. It is heavily criticized from those old fashioned people and dumb husbands. And when belly dance mostly indicates to women, it is so weird to see a guy in this dance. And that made the name for Kevin.
Even belly dance recently has become a new wave and is widely accepted all over Vietnam. The story about Kevin is still always something pretty interesting.
Kevin was a student from Institute for International Relations, the university where I had attended but he is some years behind me. This is a high – rank and privileged university of Vietnam, lot of people were trying hard to attend to be a student here. But guess what, Kevin quitted the school when he was in second or third year, just because he did not feel like the place “is right” for him.
He started to do things that he really loved, he entered a fashion institute, and he fell deeply in love with belly dance. Despite the fact that being male belly dancer would be so weird and hardly accepted, he just did things he wanted to do.
At first, people screamed and got goose-bumps seeing him dance. What a ridiculous image of a guy: dressing in dress and in half shirt, shaking his boos and hip, eyes winking to the audience. Some thought this would create scandals, so they taped him dance, spread on the internet included with very ill – intended comments. People thought of him as a beast.
So, that is how he became “famous”, famous from being infamous first. Even they did not like him, they still knew about him, and more and more people came to see how this “weird boy” dancing. The thing is that, he did not pay damn attention about bad things people talked out there. He did what he liked, that’s all!
When something keeps happening, even if it was once considered “weird”, “unacceptable”, people start to enjoy and discover beauty in what they are experiencing. Kevin had been invited to big shows by then, he was on newspaper around with positive comments. Until one day, it is no more surprised seeing a male belly dancer. Let say, he changed people.
Kevin is good looking and pretty smart. Rumors spread that he is gay. (Well, gay is still “strange” and creates lot of gossiping all the time). And well, indeed, he is.
And he shows: I’m gay, so what?
Tell you what, I love gay people, they are so talented and kind once they really love you. And I understand gay people quite well, since I have lot of experience with them.
Kevin once was my friend. Well, he was, it is hurt to say. We used to hang out, eat food on street and gossip a lot. He always showed like he knew a lot of people, he had a lot of friends, but I felt something that is not so comfortable being with him for long term, and I knew for sure: deep inside, he is so lonely, very lonely.
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