Bay Windows - July 7, 2005
Rudy Kikel

Name: Alan Arthur Chiras

Birth date: May 26, 1961, which meant that when I was a Boy Scout in my youth I had to march in Memorial Day parades on my birthday.

Sign: Gemini. My astrological sign holds no significance for me.

Current residence: Worcester, Massachusetts, near WPI's football field.

Ethnic roots: Half French-Canadian, half Lithuanian. My father was Lithuanian, which is a good thing because my mother's name was long (Supernault-dit-la-fontaine); my father's last name had only six letters and so was too short to Americanize and kept its original meaning when they came over.

E-mail address: AlanChiras@aol.com. I also have a web page about the Worcester gay scene. That's www.gayworcester.info

Occupation: Retired. For the past 9-1/2 years I was the Deputy Director of Central Mass. Life House, Worcester's equivalent to the Boston Living Center. That job was ending on July 1 due to funding cuts from the Dept. of Public Health.

Religion: Lifelong atheist. My parents attempted to raise me Roman Catholic, but I never believed.

Points of origin: I was born in Northbridge, Massachusetts, but spent much of my childhood in Prince Edwards Island, Canada.

School was rough for me. I was physically and mentally tortured by both the students in my classes and my biological parents.

I suffer from having a high intelligence but low education. And at 44 years of age am just finishing my Associate's degree at a local college, with the burden of having had full-blown AIDS for the past 9-1/2 years.

I always considered Worcester as where I wanted to live, and during my last two years of high school (Northbridge Junior/Senior High School) I also attended college at WPI (Worcester Polytechnical Institute) at the same time. (WPI is considered by US News & World Report to be among the top 50 colleges in the nation.)

Once I escaped Northbridge and moved to Worcester my life dramatically improved. And now I live with two wonderful older gay men in an emotional but not sexual relationship for the past 12 years. The two of them have been lovers for 20 years.

So you're their little boy. Even though I wasn't of the age to be adopted, I essentially was by them. They work hard to refine the coarse edges of my personality and lifestyle. And are both brilliant men in their fields of work. One is an historian; the other, a nurse for critical care patients and an organist.

How did you meet them? I met them in Provincetown, on Commercial Street, where they own a condo.

Were you a member of the leather scene already? I was at the tail end of my full-time activism in the leather community when I met these two. They had their condo in P'town until they sold it because of difficulties with the condo association.

What actions were you involved with? I was finishing four years of volunteer work as executive director of Leather Force 2000, the nation's largest and world's second largest AIDS service organization dedicated to HIV prevention among leather folk. After my work was over with this organization, I was awarded the Leather Journal's Pantheon of Leather Man of the Year Award for Community Service.

I took a hiatus from activism in the leather community for several years, but now work with the New England Enforcers Leather Club that fundraises for various HIV charities, and as part of that work am announcing my candidacy for the position of Mr. Boston Leather 2006.

How many candidates are there? With this interview I will be the only announced one.

What will be your rights and duties if elected? With this position I will increase my activism for the leather S/M community. To march in various gay pride parades; to judge leather contests; to be a public voice for the community. I have previously written the "Sane Sex Column" for Drummer magazine, and was the youngest person ever to appear on their masthead. I participate in many HIV clinical trials held at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston.

Can I play devil's advocate for a moment? Some people think that if you catch HIV/AIDS now, this late in the game, you are asking for it. I practiced what I preached when I ran the organization, Leather Force 2000, but you can never be quite sure about what is happening to you from behind. I'm not going to get on a moral high horse. I'm pretty positive I got AIDS through anal sex.

Hobbies? Free time? Spending way too much with my Macintosh computers. We have three in the house, all wirelessly connected. Our property is a hotspot.

Do you have a partner? Not right now, but both of my previous major partners were both artists and I guess I lean towards that type of person for longer relationships. I really consider my partners to be the two gay dads in my life.

What attribute of yours do people most comment upon? My honesty.

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