I had to escape the mid-day sun of Los Girasoles in Santo Domingo so I stopped at a corner bar at a busy intersection in the middle of town.  And as the Presidentes started to kick in the room came into focus.  It's a typical corner bar, the kind you find all over the Dominican Republic--large, jukebox blaring, open patios on both sides.

Except it's all men.  I mean all men.  Specifically, young men who appear to have the same demographic characteristics in terms of age (early 20s) and education.  Not a woman in sight.  This would not necessarily be unusual except for the fact that my gaydar is blasting off the hook. 

The carefully shaved eyebrows (not the gangsta-shaved eyebrows we have here in North Philly), the more fashionable clothes, the absolute comfort with which everyone sat practically on top of each other despite the large size of the establishment, the full body hugs (as opposed to the one-armed / no-kiss / split-second / I-am-not-gay hugs that straight Latino men tend to give each other). 

But yet, all these guys --shaved eyebrows and all-- are at the same time super macho.  I got the feeling that if you called them gay someone would say 'dems fightin' words.'  And that fits in with what I've observed about gay Dominicans here in Philadelphia (NYC is a different story--everybody is gay in NYC). 

Gay Dominicans in Philly and the DR are definitely on the down low. I remember going into the house of a gay Dominican couple.  Liberace could not have been prouder of the interior decorations.  Yet they felt it necessary to have straight porn on the televevision.  Yeah, Liberace had us fooled, too!  

It's different closer to the center of Santo Domingo.  Santo Domingo commercial establishments are surprisingly LGBT-friendly.  Businessmen or men with families may not be able to break out of the conservative cultural climate and expect to secure gainful employment, but it's ok to be gay in or around the clubs.  I was even surprised to find out that there are exclusively gay clubs and establishments (with drag shows and male strippers) and nonprofit gay rights organizations that are alive and doing well. 

I wouldn't say that there is a coordinated gay comunity.  Certainly no gayborhood to speak of or LGBT pride parades on the Malecon.  But there are gay businesses and a good number of safe spaces. 

Publicly, there is plenty of homophobic posturing, but at the same time, there is a good deal of tolerance.  Straight fathers declare that they would never want their sons to be gay but look the other way when it is obvious that their sons are not really that interested in girls--just as long as the sons don't publicly declare they are gay and embarass the family. 

Lesbians have it even better, in a sense, since no one looks twice if two unrelated women live together or spend an inordinate amount of time together. 

The contradictions of Dominican culture with respect to gays are summarized well by an American ex-pat writing on GlobalGayz.com:

"The Dominican Republic is a mixed democratic culture of contradictions and opposing forces. The dancers jump late into the night and watch drag and strip shows.  Across town the Cardinal fumes at such salacious behavior but is ignored by the young.  Homophobia is alive and well as a public posture but privately there is a lot of tolerance and let-live attitudes and bi-swingers.

"Young lesbians seize opportunities to come out and gather at O’Hara’s to organize a lesbian literary publication. I met no one—gay guy or lesbian lady—who walked in active fear of arrest or harassment, but few who would come out publicly. The ancient and modern place seemed to me a reasonably fine place to live an alternative life and find good love and friends. As I see it, gay life will continue to get better as the new generation gets noisier and more filled with justifiable pride to demand recognition and legal protections."

Sounds roughly similar to Latino LGBT life here in Philadelphia.  At least among Latino LGBT people born outside of the United States.