THE FOUR CATEGORIES OF GAYS

Noting the substantial differences among homosexuals, I established some categories. First there was the dog collar gay. This was the boisterous homosexual who was constantly being arrested at the baths or the beach. As I saw it, the system had provided him with a permanent “collar” around his neck. All the police had to do was hook him by the collar and take him to one of the forced-labor camps. A typical example of this kind of gay was Tomasito La Goyesca, a young man who worked at the National Library, to whom I had given that nickname because he looked like a figure out of a Goya painting; he was a grotesque dwarf, walked like a spider, and had a boundless sexual appetite.

After the collar gay came the common gay. This is the type of homosexual who has made his commitments; who goes to the film club, writes a poem now and then, never takes great risks, and sips tea with his friends. A typical example of this category was my then friend Reinaldo Gómez Ramos. Common gays generally have relations with other gays and never get to know a real man.

Next after the common gay was the closet gay. Nobody knew he was gay. He married, had children, and then went to the baths surreptitiously, still wearing the wedding ring his wife had given him. Closet gays were hard to spot; many times they were the ones who censured other gays. There are thousands in this category, but one of the most typical is the dramatist Nicolás Díaz, who once, in an act of desperation, stuck a light bulb up his anus; this man, who was a militant in the Communist Youth Organization, had no way of explaining how the bulb ended up in that portion of his anatomy. His expulsion from the organization caused a great scandal.

Then came the royal gay, a species unique to communist countries. The royal gay is the one who, because of close contact with the Maximum Leader or especially important work with the state security apparatus, or any similar reason, can afford to be openly gay, to have a scandalous life, and at the same time to hold an important public office, travel freely at home, leave the country and come back, cover himself with jewels and clothes, and even have a private chauffeur. Alberto Guevara is a prime example of this type of gay.