Second Asian Boyfriend and Gay Symbols

It was 2001 when I met Peter Le for the first time.  By "met" I mean I bought a Playgirl magazine and he was in it.  He was not the centerfold, in fact there were only a few pictures of him.  He was in there as part of "Men on Campus" series the magazine does every year.  (At least they used to.)  


Anyway, aside from being a hot Asian man, he has a very unique tattoo.  I like tattoos and this one really caught my attention.  I thought it was a cool design, in fact, it even looked like one I might like to have one day. 


So fast-forward several years later.  I am a married "bisexual" man and I sometimes (or is it often?) look through the internet for hot men.  One day I stumble up this.

It's got to be the same guy.  Older, more buff, and the bleach blond was gone, but the same guy.  I remember that tattoo.  I pulled up my digital copies of Playgirl and there he is.  My friend Peter, all grown up.


Eventually I discovered he has a website.  An adult website.  With an lot more pictures of him.  They are actually tastefully done and they look nice.  The site is mostly just him by himself.  As far as I know, there is no actual sex on the site.  Just solo performances.  Is that still porn?

But this is not a story about an Asian bodybuilder with a nude site.  It's about me.


You see, in addition to his paid site, he has a personal training fitness site, a blog and an online store.  In his store he sells mostly clothing items.  Many of them items he wore in various photo shoots.  These seem to sell for a lot  Well he is asking a lot, who knows if they actually sell.   He also has other things.  Hats, t-shirts, jackets, etc.  Most are pretty pricey and all of them have his branding of some kind.


Some of the shirts, are printed with a sketch of his topless, muscled body.  While it looks good in photos, I can't imagine wearing a t-shirt with a huge picture like that.  I mean that is SOOOO gay.


But there are a few things that are more subtle.  Like this:

The hat looks nice.  Recognize the logo?  Yeah, it's his tattoo.  I think that's pretty cool.


I bought one.


It came in the mail this past Saturday and I wore it most of the day yesterday.  Even out to lunch with K, AJ, and the kids.  I don't usually wear baseball hats, but it made me feel good to wear this one.


Why did wearing this hat with the imprint of a porn star's tattoo?  I was thinking it was my first time out in public wearing an identifiable gay symbol.  It's not like a rainbow, but most of this subscribers are gay men and if any of them saw me with it on, they would know I am gay.  It was a little exciting.  I felt like I was coming out more as a gay man in public.  


It's a little like people who put the HRC logo sticker on their car.

 I think the general public does not know what the symbol stands for.  But I also think most gay people do.  By putting it on your car you are saying in a subtle way, you are gay and you want other gay people to know it.


That was me in my hat today.  I looked at people who looked at me today.  Had anyone noticed?  I was looking for signs of recognition on people's faces.  I didn't see any.


I also know that this tattoo is not as well know as the HRC logo.  I have no idea how many people subscribe to his website.  Probably not too many.  In that regard, it also made it more safe.  If anyone asked, I could just say I liked the design and I bought it from some website.  I was putting my gayness on display, but in a safe way.  Even a deniable way.


For now, there is a novelty to it, and I think I will wear it for a while.   Tonight is gay bowling.  I wonder if anyone there will recognize it.  There must be some other rice queens there, right?