sweet thing

They want buckskin and face paint, drumming, songs in languages they can’t understand recorded for them but with English subtitles, of course. They want educated, well spoken, but not too smart. Christian, well behaved, never question. They want to learn the history of the people, but not the ones that are here now, waving signs in their faces, asking them for clean drinking water, asking them why their women are going missing, asking them why their land is being ruined.

They want fantastical stories of Indians that used to roam this land. They want my culture behind glass in a museum.

Shane, 35

“Everything is thrifted: Kapital denim overall that's too big for me to wear as overalls, but work really well as denim chaps when cinched at the waist with my belt. The belt is made by myself. My jeans I found in a thrift shop with no name or tag attached – but clearly made with a lot of love. The top is a Kapital indigo dyed kimono jacket. The shoes are Onitsuka Tiger. I've been a preschool teacher for the last 5 years, and I take a lot of inspiration from the kids themselves and a little bit of Magic School Bus. I try to combine making fuctional wearable art with things that make the kids in my school smile and feel inspired to be a little weird and out there. I used to show up in suits and ties – and then one day one of my students showed up in a full Clifford outfit and it shook my core. What was I even doing, haha? So now I try to stretch imaginations with a lot of thrifted pieces or handmade things by my wife and I.”

The documentary includes a brief clip of a 1954 televised newscast about the rise of homosexuality. The host of the program interviewed psychologists, a police officer, and one “known homosexual”. The “known homosexual” is 22 years old. He identifies himself as Curtis White, which is a pseudonym; his name is actually Dale Olson.

So I tracked down the newscast. According to what I can find, Dale Olson may have been the first gay man to appear openly on television and defend his sexual orientation. He explains that there’s nothing wrong with him mentally and he’s never been arrested. When asked whether he’d take a cure if it existed, he says no. When asked whether his family knows he’s gay, he says that they didn’t up until tonight, but he guesses they’re going to find out, and he’ll probably be fired from his job as well. So of course the host is like …why are you doing this interview then? and Dale Olson, cool as cucumber pie, says “I think that this way I can be a little useful to someone besides myself.”

1954. 22 years old. Balls of pure titanium.

Despite the pseudonym, Dale’s boss did indeed recognize him from the TV program, and he was promptly fired the next day. He wrote into ONE magazine six months later to reassure readers that he had gotten a new job at a higher salary.

Curious about what became of him, I looked into his life a little further. It turns out that he ultimately became a very successful publicity agent. He promoted the Rocky movies and Superman. Not only that, but get this: Dale represented Rock Hudson, and he was the person who convinced him to disclose that he had AIDS! He wrote the statement Rock read. And as we know, Rock Hudson’s disclosure had a very significant effect on the national conversation about AIDS in the U.S.