For clarity…
Gryphon is not my given name. I am no longer sure who does and doesn’t know this. Beyond coworkers and my family, no one I know uses my given name. Gryphon started as a totem used only by myself. Then, while in Arizona, it became my name of leather, which was a common practice in that circle at the time. A few years later, I considered the idea that Gryphon was a better fit for my erotic images than my very Anglo given name, so it grew into my pseudonym as well.
When I met my last partner at IML, he met me as Gryphon in the vendors’ market. When I moved to KCMO, he just introduced me to everyone as Gryphon and no one local even knew otherwise until my mother was visiting during chemotherapy and corrected everyone that called asking for Gryphon… ‘Oh! You mean Jeff…? He’s right here.”
LOL
There you have it.
Jeffrey Martin Gibbs
That is my full given name, although I have somehow succeeded in getting most all official papers to list me as Jeff M Gibbs, which is my preference. Even my driver’s license.
I say this because I joined the ranks of Facebook. I did so under my given name. I know I could have used my pseudonym, but I want to make use of the networking of Facebook for purposes including activism. And I feel a bit *ick* doing so not with my real name.
I realize that the various circles of my past are about to coming crashing into each. Throw the current cast of fabulous gayness into it all for a delicious cataclysm. *g* And through it all, I am still breathing. Evenly. I am still wanting to disclose my HIV status, but I will consider that over more time. I don’t wish to invest time in the part of my past that never moved forward into the world. That is a part of why I left them behind…
gryphon's hole 