The Blue Power Ranger Dates Fred and Matt

Fresno, November 1995

David grew up in Montana and Iowa, where gay people were assumed not to exist, except as monsters conjured up by the minister at church.   He was 14 when Rock Hudson died of AIDS in 1985, and he heard all sorts of horrible things about the movie star: "filthy diseased pervert,""should have been shot,""burning in hell."

He thought "that's me they're talking about!  They think I should be shot!  They think I'm going to hell!"

He spent his high school years praying, reading the Bible, and working out ferociously, trying to rid himself of his "evil thoughts."  He became an accomplished gymnast, and won state and regional awards. But no amount of prayer or exercise could keep him from remembering that, deep down inside, he was a filthy diseased pervert who deserved to be shot.

In college David discovered dramatics.  Creating a character, becoming a whole new person!  Surely that could shield him from the monstrousness of his evil.  He performed in college plays, and two days after graduation moved to Los Angeles to become an actor.  After only three months of auditions, he was cast as Billy, high schooler turned superhero in  Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1993-96).

Each of the power rangers was a superhero, but they could also combine into the giant robot Megazoid, losing their individual identities for the greater good.  David wished he could do that in real life, dissolve into an ocean of life where male/female, black/white, gay/straight didn't matter.

He wasn't out at work, but he must have had the Mark of Cain on his forehead, since the jokes and slurs started almost immediately.

 "Why don't you have a girlfriend?"
"You looking at my butt, fag?"
"Don't you ever worry about the kids watching you prance around like a little faggot?"
 "Why are you the Blue Power Ranger?  Shouldn't it be Tutti-Frutti?"

David didn't participate in the gay world at all.  He never set foot in a gay bar, never picked up The Advocate or Frontiers, never dated, just an occasional hookup to relieve the pressure, mostly from Power Ranger groupies and sleazy older guys.  Once he accepted a date with Eddie Mekka, Carmine on Laverne and Shirley, but then he found out that Mekka was married, cheating on his wife, and called it off.

That only confirmed his belief that gay life was tawdry and sinister, that gay people were disrespectable, lurking in public restrooms, preying on kids.

He prayed a lot, and went to church, trying Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Baptist, Mormon, Pentecostal.  Plus Buddhist meditation and New Age past-life regressions.

A hookup told him about an actual gay minister, out to his congregation. His name was Fred, and he lived in Fresno with his partner Matt.  They talked several times on America Online.

One Saturday in November 1995, David drove 3 1/2 hours north to meet them.

Th full story, with nude photos and explicit sexual content, is on Tales of West Hollywood