Jan 30, 2009   | COMMENTS     

Many Americans go to the Bahamas to escape but for 22-year-old Joey Gaskins, it was the opposite. Gaskins grew up in Freeport on the Grand Bahama Island and found life there oppressive to the point that coming out wasn’t an option. The decision to go to New York’s Ithaca College was made so Gaskins could “get as far away from home as possible.” He came to the U.S. at age 17 in the summer of 2003 and stayed. How was the change? Gaskins says amazing. “I was excited to be gay,” he says. “I was excited to be myself finally. Growing up on an island is like growing up with cameras around all the time. Everybody knows your business. I was tired of sneaking around to talk to boys on the phone at night.”

After realizing Ithaca was nowhere near as close to the Big Apple as Gaskins had hoped, he relocated to Washington in May 2006 for an internship program at the Human Rights Campaign where he stayed after finishing college. He’s the gay rights organization’s diversity student coordinator and works with historically black colleges on gay issues. Gaskins is single and lives in Shaw. He likes clubbing, reading, blogging, fashion, travel and shopping. He got into the black gay house family experience popularized in the movie “Paris is Burning” and has four (non-biological) gay children and a “mother” here in D.C. Gaskins plans to go to graduate school in London next year. He ultimately plans to get a Ph.D. and teach. (Blade photo by Henry Linser)

How long have you been out and who was the hardest person to tell?

Coming out for me is not so much an event as it is a process. Growing up in the Caribbean and being gay is not easy. I’ve told some family members and friends and I’ve completely avoided the conversation with others. In some cases it’s just better and even safer to just let things be.

Who’s your gay hero?

There are so many LGBT people that I look up to and admire. There are the historical giants like Alain Locke, Bayard Rustin, Bruce Nugent and Langston Hughes. There are also the pop icons like Tom Ford, Karl Lagerfeld and Rachel Maddow. But it’s the LGBT people I see every day who are working and surviving — my coworkers, the students I encounter, my gay family and friends — that give me inspiration to do great things.

What is Washington’s best nightspot, past or present?

I loved the Southeast clubs, before they were leveled to make way for the new stadium. The Edge and Wet, specifically. They were the first black gay clubs I’d ever been to and there is nothing else that has been able to outshine them since.

If gay marriage were legal, would you tie the knot?

I think all loving relationships should be given equal status under the law and if the right person came along, I’d be all for it. I’d probably wear Tom Ford.

What non-gay issue are you most passionate about?

Neo-colonialism and Third World economies would probably be my focus if I wasn’t a LGBT rights activist. Coming from a former colony and a Third World country, I see on a daily basis how countries like mine are taken advantage of by “capitalism” and the world economic system.

What historical outcome would you change?

At the risk of sounding blasphemous, I’d re-write a few portions of the Bible. I think its misinterpretation has been the bane of humanity.

What has been the most memorable pop culture moment of your lifetime?

It would have to be the election of President Barack Obama.

On what reality TV show would you fare best?

It would probably be the first male housewife on “The Real Housewives of New York.”

What item of clothing has been in your closet since high school?

There’s nothing in my closet from high school. I’ve gone through so many style changes over the few years I’ve been out of high school.

If your life were a book, what would the title be?

I need a few more years to answer that one.

If science discovered a way to change sexual orientation, what would you do?

I’d like to think I would opt to stay just how I was made. I think as gay people, we’re gifted with special powers because of our different perspectives and experiences.

What do you believe in beyond the physical world?

I believe in love as an amazing power that can transform things. I believe that there is a ...