ARTBeat, May-June 1998

              May-June 1998
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AH EXPERIENCE OVER THE RAINBOW
THE RSVP JUBILEE TRIP
EC
Tave you ever wondered of what it feels like to live in a
Lgay world? Of course, most of us definitely have. At
last, my partner, Luke and I and many others had the
opportunity to live in a small gay world first hand for the first
time.
Years of waiting had finally ended. It was the week of
March 14-21, 1998. Luke and I packed our bags with the
necessities and flew to LA for our one-week RSVP Jubilee cruise
to the Mexican Rivera. In LA we joined with over 1,650 other
gays and lesbians for our new exciting adventure.
People came from all over the United States and from many
other countries. They were the rich and the not so rich, the blue
collar and the professional. They were from all walks of life.
Some were tall and others short, some thin and others fat, some
were attractive and others not so, some were young and others
older. You name it. There were all kinds of people on this
cruise; the good, the bad and the ugly. Some people wore very
colorful clothes to attract attention; some wore tight jeans to
show their rear ends; some wore tight shirts to show their
physiques, while others were just casual. I wore a basic rainbow
shirt to show my support and enthusiasm.
Everyday started with good food, more food, and much
more food. There was aerobics every morning. That wasn't for
us. We got enough exercise just from walking up and down the
stairs and along the decks of the huge ship. (You could picture it
as a big 12-story resort hotel floating on the water.)
The days were full of fun and games. The ship had Las
Vegas style gambling where people lost more than they won.
There were brain teaser games (where people had good laughs at
others misfortune), a newly wed game (where half the ship
learned about players' private lives, especially the details of their
sex lives), and bingo games (which some won big, and where we
did not.)
The nights were just a blast; from terrific comedians Danny
Williams and Sabrina to the great singer Gloria Gaynor. The
fun did not end here. There was one party after another from
underwear to leather with heart pumping music. There was
even a swimsuit contest which almost was a "who could get
naked" contest to the point of "Too Much Information!" from
some of the contestants.
At each port of call, several city tours were offered. We
took advantage of the tour and went sight seeing. At each port,
ARTBEAT, volume 12, issue 3
we had the opportunity to see the richness and the poverty of
Mexico. First, we visited the beautiful city of Puerto Vallarta
where we toured the city and saw some of the sites made famous
by the movies and their stars. Next stop was the large industrial
city of Mazatlan which is known for its shopping and beaches.
Last but not least, a very short slop at Cabo San Lucas with it's
beautiful blue bay and a dockside market for some good
bargaining and nice gifts.
During the cruise, we had the opportunity to talk to the
Captain of the Jubilee; the President of RSVP, Charlie Brown;
the Playgirl Man of the Year, Derrick; and lots of other
interesting passengers.
We had the wonderful experience of sharing lunch and
dinner with several fellow passengers at our assigned table. Our
table mates were Ken and Fran from Phoenix, Fred from San
Francisco, and Elke and Zora from Germany. The group
consisted of a computer consultant, an engineering manager, a
teacher, a coach, a salesman, a professional photographer and
an editor of the national German magazine "MARE". We were
the only couple at our table in a long-term relationship. By the
end of the trip, we had become fast friends.
Elke and Zora were busy preparing a chronicle of the cruise
for publication in "MARE" on their return to Germany.
All of us at the table were included as a part of their
article.  Luke and I contributed a special part to their
story since we were the couple whom they used to
represent a long term gay relationship on the cruise. We
; were also fortunate to be included on the 15-minute
special documentary of the RSVP cruise.
In   summary,   this   was   quite   a   blessed
experience for us and for many others to see and
to live with people of the same dream and goal of
being free to be ourselves.     As gays and
lesbians, we are good people too.  Our jobs is
to help educate people around us to  better
understand our community and our values
such that one day in the near future we
will be able to live and enjoy life
in a gay accepting world, not
just on a gay cruise.
John Doan  and Luke  Jones
04/26/98