Sunday, December 06, 2009

Being gay in Trinidad and Tobago

About a week ago, the following brief email arrived in my inbox:

hi there i find it difficult to find gay parties in trinidad am a in the closet guy and will like to have as much gay sexual contacts with men but i cant find anyone i want to be touched and explored by another guy i like adventure

I got the impression that this guy might have felt he was risking a lot by emailing me, so I felt that I should help him if I could. Luckily, a good gay friend of mine comes from Trinidad, so I asked him if he could draft an answer for me. This is what he said:

It can be difficult to find a gay party in Trinidad. But, it does happen nonetheless under a huge cloak of secrecy and last minute planning. This is to ensure the authorities don't have much time to react and either lodge complaints or have the police organize a raid.

Because I have been out of the country for a few years well many things have since changed. In my day I used to network among my circle of gay friends and that is how I found out about the rare secret parties that used to be held in the capital Port of Spain. So, it is a good idea for this writer to start by doing some networking among his gay friends. In a small country as Trinidad, word of mouth can go a long way.

In this age of social networking I've noticed that a good amount of the parties have started to take shape in this medium. Social websites such as Facebook and MySpace would be a good start for this reader. I know for a fact if he does a search for two of the main gay party planners and ask for a friend confirmation he will be on his way to a party fairly soon. I suggest the writer join:

1. Paradise People
2. Poolside Crew
3. Maximum Crew
4. Caribbean Pride

I also recall going to a few drinks at a club in Port of Spain called Sky Bar located on Ariapita Avenue. From my last visit and backing up with a Google search, the club is still running. My advise is to proceed with some caution as certain days/nights are designated gay. It is simply not profitable or wise to run a club in Trinidad as strictly gay!

The writer sounds inexperienced so a good dose of social networking should find him in a few gay groups/circles in Trinidad where he can start making friends and going out to parties. I know from experience that if he plays his cards right he can find exactly what he's looking for at the parties - just remember to play safe!


If any other readers are from that part of the world, it would be good to get your views too.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Roughly a decade ago, a young white Trini was responsible for a brilliant bit of social organizing. Using whatever tag ends of names and contacts of local gay kids, he sent out invitations inviting everybody to simply show up some specified sunday afternoon at a rum shop with a large out door drinking area.

It wasn't a queer party. It just happened that everybody there that day and that time was. As I remember being told about it, there never was an organization, but more meetings were called.

The kid, whom I never met, became a cultural hero for me. You can read his version of the story at
http://seldo.com/weblog/2008/10/09/10_things_i_wish_people_knew_about_me

or just go to his web site, Seldo.com and look up the September 10, 2008 post. It's still a thriling story.

Anonymous said...

25/01/10
Hey
I live in London and am from Trinidad and go back home regularly. I was just there in Christmas 2009. There is a very active gay scene in Trinidad although clubs and bars change regularly. Apart from frequent private gay parties, the current clubs are Sky Bar on Ariapita Avenue and Hedonism in St. Augustine, with possibly another in Chaguanas that I have never been to. There are also two gay-friendly bars: Studio on Ariapita Avenue and Drink! on Mucurapo Road.
Enjoy and be safe!

Unknown said...

Hey am from Trinidad email me when u get time......pablosmith357@gmail.com.....

Unknown said...

Hey I was wondering are there any gay bars close to POS?