BijouBlog

Interesting and provocative thoughts on gay history, gay sexual history, gay porn, and gay popular culture.

Pride: You Wear It Well!

Bijou Blog header
By Will Seagers
 

Hi Folks - Will here! This week's endeavor deals with one of the seven deadly sins - Pride. I hope to convey some of my personal thoughts about pride, whether it be personal pride or collective pride - AKA Gay Pride.

Regarding personal pride, I looked to my family in my early years for role models. My mother and father were a stunning couple and took a great deal of pride in the genetic hand they were dealt. On my father's side was a mixture of Scots and Irish. Our family clan - my real birth surname was one of the largest in Scotland. I studied that in my 30s and attended gatherings while living in California. On my mother's side, her mother was second generation Irish and her father was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Graced with good looks, they showed their appreciation by a lifetime of self preservation and preening!

Will as a young person with his parents
With my parents.
 

I noticed a different level of hereditary pride in the generation of my great-uncle (and godfather). He was Irish and was proud enough to burst! LOL. I will never forget when JFK was elected... he was ecstatic! I spent a great deal of time with him and my aunt (my godmother) during my youth. As a child at family gatherings, I was obliged to sing Irish folk songs and dance the jigs! It was fun and challenging, looking back now.

Will's godmother and godfather
My godmother and godfather.
 
Will as a toddler bathing in his godparents' sink
As mentioned in my last blog, here's Water Baby - in my godfather and godmother's kitchen sink!
 

By my teens, I started to notice my hereditary traits were showing up. Like my folks from generations past, I took pride in them and made the most of them in later years (wink!). It was not an easy journey in high school, however. I was gay and knew it. I didn't flaunt it. Nor did I try to mask it by "fitting in" and hiding anything. That was my form of pride that never wavered throughout the rest of my life. Being myself.

Views of the mountains and water at San Gregorio beach
Teen idol and local celebrity gardener in a New Jersey newspaper.
 

I was never a fan of forcing my beliefs on anyone. I felt it set up two battlefields: 1) making someone else uncomfortable and 2) not taking into consideration whether the other person(s) had the intellectual capacity for that kind of difference. As a result, I made a broad spectrum of friends throughout my life. With my straight friends and in various work situations, I always liked to inject self deprecating humor to keep things light. It never bothered me to place myself as the butt of a joke... I knew better!

Enter living in gay communities. I was always drawn to NYC because of my close proximity in northern NJ. And, NYC was a great testing ground for living in a gay community. Mine was the West Village and the Upper West Side. It wasn't so much acceptance as it was a feeling of no one caring about me being "different." Living in NYC was a great lesson. You could observe all sorts of people together without conflict. People thrived on and were proud of their differences.

1970s in a Man's Image modeling photo of Will at the NYC piers
Christopher Street pier daze.
 
Candid photo of Will sitting beside flower pots on Fire Island in the late 1970s
And let's not forget this gay community, Fire Island Pines! Me, comfortably perched in front of the flower shop.
 

Then onto living in a gay ghetto. When I moved to San Francisco in 1976, I quickly learned that there were distinct neighborhoods. My first was The Castro followed by South of Market. It was a double dose of concentrated gaiety, to say the least. What had seemed eccentric and outlandish were quite the norm in these neighborhoods. I really liked how much I was learning about the "culture" in my first few years. And, it fit like a glove! However, I did bring along my own form of pride, as mentioned earlier. I figured the best way for the whole town to get along was not to force a lifestyle down anyone's throat. Be accepted by not being obnoxious. It worked for me, and once again in work situations, too.

Four of Will's photos from the San Francisco's 1977 Pride Parade, featuring drag queens, dykes on bikes, a bathhouse float, and a sign that says The Right to be Human
Part of my photo essay on the 1977 San Francisco Pride Parade.
 

I am proud of who I am and what I have accomplished over the decades. I have done everything from bringing home boyfriends for my parents to meet (regardless of their reactions) to getting legally married to my current spouse. I also have pride in the work I've done in adult media. It was a colorful and wonderful decade, where once again I didn't want to force any ideas. My point was to be as “sex-succesful” as possible. As you can see, I have had nothing to hide and plenty to share. So, whether it's a Giorgio Armani suit or chaps... I have tried to wear it well!

Dual image featuring Will in an Armani suit next to will in leather chaps with another man

Double-breasted suit or birthday suit?

 

Bio of Will Seagers:

Will Seagers (also credited as Matt Harper), within his multifaceted careers and participation in numerous gay communities across the country in the '70s and '80s and beyond, worked as a print model, film performer, and DJ, just to name a few. He made iconic appearances in releases from Falcon, Hand in Hand, Joe Gage, Target (Bullet), J. Brian, Steve Scott, and more, including in lead roles in major classics like Gage's L.A. Tool & Die (1979) and Scott's Wanted (1980). He brought strong screen presence and exceptional acting to his roles and was scene partners with many fellow legends of classic porn.

Will Seagers, present day image

Will Seagers, recent photo


You can read Will Seagers' previous blogs for Bijou here:

Welcome Matt/Will | What's For Dessert? | On and Off the Set of L.A. Tool & Die | Wanted, Weekend Lockup and Weekends in Hermosa Beach | Honeymoon in the Palms | Birds of a Feather | The Stereo Maven of Castro Street | The Pass Around Boy | The Ecstasy and the Agony | Fitness and Fantasy | Chasing the Boys and Chasing the Sun | Becoming Invisible | The Reverse Story of Dorian Gray | Pin Money | One Organ Leads to Another! | The Wheels of Steel | Feast and Famine | An Alphabet Soup of Powders and Pills | Merry Christmas (and Getting Re-Organized) | Now and Then | DEEP INSIDE THE CASTRO: The Badlands | DEEP INSIDE THE CASTRO: Moby Dick Bar | DEEP INSIDE THE CASTRO: "Just Another Stroll Down the Castro!" | Diving Into SoMa/Folsom: Hamburger Mary's | Diving Into SoMa/Folsom: Long Live the Stud! | Diving Into SoMa/Folsom: Club Life..."Hit me with your Rhythm Stick!” | A "Split Ticket": SoMa/Folsom and The Haight!Staying Vanilla in a Flavorful Culture | A Little Secret Recollections of the 1977 S.F. Gay Pride ParadeLife's a Beach | Flora & Fauna | Once Is Just Not Enough! | A Love of Cultures – A Knack for Languages! | For the Birds | It's About Time! | The Perfect Storm | Hello Chicago/Adieu Fire Island Pines! | Sex in the Woods! | My Life at the Gym | The Last Picture Show | Cumming Attractions! | The Peter Pan Syndrome | Valentine's Day Reflections | The “Idus Martias” and a Peacock! | Taxing I.M.H.O. | Nope...This Sure Ain't Kansas! | The French Connection | Water Baby

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Friday, 04 July 2025
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