ERIC ROSENVARD A.K.A. CHON LOVE
Living in Winnipeg, openly gay, plus doing drag 24/7 put me a lot farther out on the limb than I knew. At that time it was not safe for most of us in the Gay Community. If you were gay or in any way perceived as being gay (by the way you looked, acted or who you associated with), you could be in trouble, which I was about to learn first hand.
This is the true story of what happened to me one day in June of 1991 and how it affected me and the impact it still has on me today.
One afternoon I was walking home from a rehearsal for a special show I was part of. The show was dedicated to a special member of Metropolitan Community Church of Winnipeg; we were planning to perform the show two times on a Sunday, once at the church and then at Club Zoo. I felt very honoured to have been asked to be part of this show; but I was not fully aware of the risks.
I was walking home that afternoon; when I got about halfway I passed ten people who were partying and drinking. As I was passing them the name-calling started. Then a beer bottle went whizzing by my head and hit the ground. I could hear footsteps running behind me. They were still yelling and saying shit like "faggot" and I did not have the right to be living. I was a "pervert" and I was "sick". Those were just a few of the things they were saying. In Winnipeg it was very 'normal' to have this happen to you if you were openly gay. I was getting very good at blocking it out because it had happened many times to me before. Then things escalated rapidly.