Yesterday I staggered into the Bean Counter, ordered a coffee, and found that I’d left my money at home. A kind stranger paid my bill. So in the interests of “paying it forward,” I’ll try to emulate that generosity of spirit while recalling the fiasco of one year ago today, the Mr. Heterosexual Massachusetts competition.

The idea was to create a pageant for the Culture Wars, a rally for straight guys who get their kicks fantasizing about being persecuted for their sexuality. It was held at Worcester’s grand Mechanics Hall, and there was talk of Mr. Hetero contests sweeping the nation.

The event was a fiasco, neither entertaining nor galvanizing. It was sparsely attended. A year later, the only trace of Mr. Hetero is a he-said-she-said lawsuit over who asked for an expensive police detail to guard the hall. Even the mrhetero.com domain name has reverted to a placeholder page.

Photo of Tom Crouse hosting “Mr. Hetero,” artfully cropped by Buck Paxton.

Other links:

• My description of the event at Indymedia
• Kevin Ksen covered the protests at Indymedia
• Post-mortem at Pie and Coffee

Demonstrators outside “Mr. Hetero.” Photo: Worcester Independent Media Center (Kevin Ksen).