kitsch goes gay
Have you ever been to a nightclub:
- that is so mind-numbingly boring you'd rather spend your Saturday evening having your teeth cleaned?
- where all the other patrons were anachronisms of various sorts? (i.e. yuppies, men with unbuttoned shirts that reveal their chest hair (circa 1972), men with pick up lines so played out they're practically endangered species?
- where people (pour les raisons qui sont dehors de ma compréhension) flock to the dance floor whenever the DJ starts playing monotonous techno songs? (not to be confused with peaches, MIA or gay boy techno).
- Or where, the music is such a bore that you have to down half a bottle of rum just in order to start dancing?... yet it takes 20 minute to place a drink order?
Well, if not, welcome to Kitsch. Situated in a shopping complex roughly 10 minutes drive from my rental house, Kitsch is the preferred club venue for wealthy Mauritians, European travelers, and people who'd rather shake their booty to techno than Shakira).
After making a biweekly pilgrimage to Kitsch during my first months on l'Ile, I finally laid down the law and swore off the place. in favor of Enigma.. a club that spins Sean Paul on the regular and is only a stones throw away from my house in Quatre Bornes (Enigma 2, Kitsch 0).
Nevertheless, two Saturdays ago when I returned to Kitsch for the first time in months, the club had a little "je ne sais quoi." Which is to say, for one night only, Kitsch transformed into a hopping gay bar. This was significant for several reasons. First off, it put me in touch with le Collectif Arc-en-Ciel, a human rights NGO that up until then I hadn't caught a glimpse of... no telephone listing, no email address, no nothing. And even more comically, whenever I tried asking Mauritians for info about the group, they usually feign non-comprehension wit statements such as "The rainbow collective? The organizers of the first -ever Mauritian gay pride march? Nope, sorry, never heard of em").
Secondly, the night offered an incontrovertible counter to the assertion that homosexuality doesn't exist in Africa, Asia, or say, any country besides the U.S. and Europe. Kitsch was packed.. 300 to 400 persons easily, with boys dancing with boys, girls dancing with girls, a splattering of boy/girl couples and people fanning outside of the club to get relief from the overcrowded dance floor.
Finally, the fact that 300+ Mauritians traversed the Ile to attend Kitsch's big gay party debunks the notion that homosexuality is something that you can wish away or that the Bible or the Vedas can cast out of you. (Does a certain U.S. minister -- cough cough, haggard-- come to mind?). Somethings are so obvious, you wonder why debates continue.
Alas, here are some conclusions from the night:
1) Big gay dance parties at Kitsch are infinitely more enjoyable than straight yuppie dance parties at Kitsch
2) Wearing jeans and sneakers to a party as a woman automatically makes you butch
As well as some unresolved questions.. namely, what happens to LGBTQ Mauritians every other day of the year?
Although I didn't take any photos from the night, there's nothing better than wrapping up a big gay post with a big gay video from comedian Margaret Cho. Enjoy!
