“People say, ‘We square danced in eighth grade and it wasn’t fun then, so it won’t be fun now,’ ” Dexter said, dismissing that objection.
![pictures of gay men square dancing pictures of gay men square dancing](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/lpmcKuGHafq9EjUWx_GIBVkMNmA=/0x0:2328x1416/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2328x1416):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/21974020/WSD_Club_Photo_Grad_Nite_Dec_1982.jpg)
Members of the Golden State group, for instance, get together for dinners and movies, and often travel together to dance at other clubs’ events.ĭexter, who became a square dance convert five years ago, now serves the role of evangelist, trying to entice other gays and lesbians into joining the group. In square dancing, there’s a new team of eight people built every 15 minutes.”įor many gay square dancing clubs, dancing is the core activity around which others grow. “By interacting with each other, that’s what builds team cohesion. “Square dancing, by its nature, is a welcoming activity,” Waters said. Occasionally there is initial reluctance-particularly from some of the straight dancers-but once the music starts and calls begin rolling, the uneasiness dissolves. Waters, who is a caller for both straight and gay groups, said he has witnessed little dance-floor tension or rejection. Waters says gay square dancing, whose members early on attended mainstream dances as well as gay dances, “was at the leading edge of the interaction of these clubs with their straight counterparts.” In that era, which came on the eve of the AIDS epidemic, gays formed running clubs, community choruses and other groups to pursue their interests without worrying about ostracism from mainstream groups.īut in recent years, as public acceptance of homosexuality has increased, many gay groups have moved closer to the mainstream groups. “Prior to then, almost the only social outlet that existed were the bars.” “This is very typical of gay society in general, in that in the early ‘80s there was an absolute explosion in the number of social groups,” said Waters, 46, who first became involved in square dancing in 1972 as a Thousand Oaks high schooler. Over the next several years, dozens of gay square dancing clubs formed across the country, part of what dance caller Paul Waters of L.A.'s Valley Village neighborhood sees as a broader movement among gay men and lesbians to create social structures outside the sometimes infamous gay bar and bathhouse circles. But it was a lot of fun, so it continued and, before you knew it, we had, like, three squares of eight people.” “It was supposed to go over like a novelty or a joke. The theme was country-western, so they figured you can’t get any more country-western than square dancing,” Phillips said. Gay square dancing got its start in Florida in January 1977, when Phillips and some friends organized the dance to promote the local gay bar. A lot of people just drop out and they won’t tell you why, and I don’t know if it’s whether they don’t want to hurt your feelings.” “That may be the reason people give, but I don’t think it’s the reason.
![pictures of gay men square dancing pictures of gay men square dancing](https://images.thestar.com/gt-jtTzVdvu5tq4MsClWsxReRFQ=/1086x869/smart/filters:cb(1562872371389)/https://www.thestar.com/content/dam/thestar/news/world/us/2019/07/11/gay-square-dancers-add-new-spin-to-centuries-old-dance-style/PAMR202-73_2019_181957.jpg)
#PICTURES OF GAY MEN SQUARE DANCING CODE#
“We’ve relaxed the dress code and now you can wear a prairie skirt and regular blouse if you want, and you don’t have to get all these fancy outfits and that stuff,” said Shepard, who drove with his wife from Nashville to the Anaheim convention. Shepard, though, says the code isn’t that rigid. Dexter, for example, plans to wear shorts and a T-shirt to dance at the convention, then slip on a layered skirt for the mainstream dances.
![pictures of gay men square dancing pictures of gay men square dancing](https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/15116066/2019/07/square-dancing.jpg)
The gay clubs follow a “dance as you are” dress code.
![pictures of gay men square dancing pictures of gay men square dancing](https://paloaltoonline.com/news/photos/2017/february/24/56341_original.jpg)
Given that conformity, many young would-be dancers opt for a different forms, such as line dancing, enthusiasts say. “Parents have kids in sports and that sort of stuff, and it doesn’t leave much time for other activities.”īut some see the roots of the decline in the straight groups’ tradition-shrouded approach, which includes a dress code: frilly, layered dresses with petticoats for women and long-sleeved shirts or dark suits for men. “People just have so much going on,” said Shepard, noting such distractions as surfing the Internet.