OutBoise Magazine December 2015 | Page 26

26  |  OutBoise Magazine  | NEWS OutBoisemag.com | Issue 13 | December 2015 Hanging out in Queens, I had a disorienting feeling. I was suddenly reminded of my first gay bar when I was coming out ten years ago – the one where I met all the friends who made me feel normal when I had been feeling like a complete freak. Believe it or not, this Romanian bar on the other side of the planet had much the same vibe as that one and seemed to fill much the same role in people’s lives. In a place like Romania where gay people are nearly invisible, the company of those like you must be a huge relief, as it was to me when I first came out. Community, at its best, is reinforcing.