Those rules got me through the “coming out” process pretty dam good without having to be a “bitchy queen” just to “fit in” in Weho.
We were taught that if you followed those basic rules, you could be confident about yourself but at the same time making sure you always looked to “do better”. Always have a job and do the best you can at it, keep your home clean and organized, including the exterior and yard so that you didn’t “run down the neighborhood and affect others property values, and help others in need. We had what I call pretty basic rules of life growing up. That attitude is probably coming from being the eldest of four kids growing up and coming from a pretty strong personality family. I figured if you didn’t like me the way I was, it wasn’t my job to convince you one way or another. Having the strong personality that I did/do, I didn’t follow any of the rules. At the time, for me it seemed like once one decided to “come out” there was almost an unwritten set of rules on how to act/declare your “gayness”. When I “came out” back in the 80’s (here in LA after moving from a small Mid-west town) one of my biggest complaints was what I viewed as “forced” gay acting.
