In his diaries from 1979, Sean DeLear shared encounters shoplifting gay porn and hustling in LA without shame or pretence. Now, Semiotext(e) has published them for the first time
Funky Cold MedinaDeLear blurred the lines between race, gender, sexuality, and style long before there was any language to describe his life and art.
Whether working as a video vixen, dance-track vocalist, back-up dancer, hostess at LA’s legendary Viper Room, or babysitter for young Frances Bean Cobain, DeLear followed his own star, defining success on his own terms.
“This is the first queer coming of age story that is about joy and pleasure. It’s not that he didn’t have adversity; it‘s that he had a really good attitude about whatever he was dealing with.” As the 1970s came to a close, DeLear revelled in the freedom of being a libertine, whether hanging out with friends at the roller disco or picking up tricks. “There’s nothing that speaks to the ‘morality’ of something bad and it’s so refreshing to read something like that,” says Padilla. “It’s unbelievably honest and the prose in that book is just mind blowing. I keep reading sentences to Michael like: ‘They had a cake for Gina the whore.’ That’s the most perfect sentence I’ve ever read.
Blessed with knowledge of himself from a young age, DeLear embraced his desires without judgement or shame, showing just how delectable life can be when you are ready, willing and able to follow your heart’s desires. He walked it like he talked it, without needing to squeeze himself into a box to meet anyone’s expectations of who he was. “Today there is a rush to identify and label yourself,” says Padilla. “But this book is like, just be yourself and you will form. There’s no hurry.
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