Porn stars and strippers and escorts– oh my!  The infamous Black Party saw its 31st incarnation in 2010… but The Black Party Expo & Bazaar, which took place in the hours before the big soiree itself, made its official debut this year.  Can you say “afternoon delight”?!  The packed event, proceeds from which benefited The NYC LGBT Center, featured a seemingly endless list of stars from Manhattan’s after-midnight scene… and seemingly just as endless an inventory of “adults only” merchandise on display.  There was 3-D porn from Dominic Ford (Fuck “Alice in Wonderland”. This was more like “Wonderland in Alex”!), handcrafted leatherwear from the omnipresent Steve Leather, rubber sheets, bottles of “fragrance”, Boy Butter, and much more for sale.   Even the most jaded connoisseur of sex-essories must have been making their wish list for all tomorrow’s parties.  Gender-fucking performer Acid Betty, one of the Expo’s Hosts, threw free prizes ranging from buttplugs to belts into the audience. (Paying some sort of “homage” to a drag artist who shall remain nameless, she told us, “I’ll be throwing this as hard as possible to make sure I hurt someone– and get a writeup in The Village Voice!”… she quickly added, “I’m just kidding!”)  One of the other highlights was a fashion show featuring a parade of models in a retrospective of Black Party themes of the past years.  And, in a sneak preview of what was to come hours later, there were some wild live shows.  I cannot go into detail, but let’s just say that one stacked porn-former did the thing that left the guys in the audience guys saying, “If I could do THAT, I’d never leave the house!”.   Eye candy was everywhere: XXX film star and uber-promoter Mike Dreyden had his own booth where fellow porn stars Dominic Rider and Samuel Colt hung out with leathercub Ryan Moller.  This was the first Black Party for Moller, who concurrently holds the titles of Mr. Rawhide and Mr. Woof.  He told me, “I’m babysitting porn stars.”  Oh really?  Do porn stars have bedtimes?  “They go to bed when I send them to bed– or WHERE I send them to bed!”   Meanwhile, at the Dark Alley Media booth, porn star/producer Owen Hawk and his b-friend Scott hung out with fellow XXX stars (and boyfriends!) Tony Serrano and Marco Cruise.   I ask Serrano, who has just finished a film with Treasure Island Media, if he’ll be at The Black Party later.  He says, “I will be here.  Definitely.  I’m not gonna say ‘with bells on’, cause that wouldn’t fit, would it?” Maybe bells wouldn’t go with the theme of this year’s Party, which was 1940’s Argentina-style glamor– but what little costumes there are don’t ever stay on for very long!  Tony adds, “That’s is fine with me, cause I’d much rather be naked anyway!” Who’d argue with that?

     In addition to the men and the merch, there were also some dedicated community groups in attendance as well, one of them being Harlem United Community AIDS Center.  Their table offered free male and female condoms, dental dams, lube, pamphlets, and free HIV/STD testing.  Aisha Muhammad is Program Coordinator for Outreach Services of the organization.  As the seemingly lone biological female at Roseland Ballroom that afternoon, the perky girl tells me that the response to her table has been good.  “We’re doing a great job.  We have outreach workers not only giving out condoms but also literature, and people are coming to get tested.”  I asked Aisha how she felt with her table competing for attention in a room full of half-naked guys (I mean, come on now: How can you compete with the guys from Rentboy.com, who showed off their, uhm… talents, on a giant bed?!)  She just smiled and told me, “The beauty of this is that it’s about more than one thing.  We have folks that are negative and they’re coming around to get the condoms… or we’ll have someone with a G-string on getting tested.  It’s different, but it’s not more difficult than the ‘usual’ testing event!  It works.  People are having sex.  It’s a reminder that sex is a part of life.  We also have to be safe.. so, condoms are also a part of life too.”    

       It was off to the Black Party after that… which, in the tradition of the event, I’ll refrain from offering any details about.  What happens at the Black Party stays at The Black Party.  But one thing’s for sure… The Black Party Expo & Bazaar will remain a successful annual event for many years to, uhm… come!

     Visit www.BlackPartyExpo.com for more!!!