Dallas Bragg describes how older men in the meth scene use money and status to hook younger gay men on drugs, then watches their lives collapse. He admits doing it himself, seeking validation through Grindr, and argues the community needs honest talk about why loneliness drives people to Tina instead of judgment.
I hear a ton of stories and references about older men in the Tina scene exhibiting predatory behavior when it comes to younger guys. And many young guys tell me they were introduced to the drug by an older man who has the financial means to take a week off if they want to, to recover, or they have a business that affords them the space to disappear for a few days. While the younger man has— they may be a server, or maybe they're in college, and whose life begins to deteriorate due to the meth use. Because I was one of those older guys who came out late in life and I realized that my shelf life had expired in this mainstream gay community that I waited all my life to get into, I empathize with the desire to feel wanted and connected and make up for lost time. And that bag of Tina magically made these hot young things answer me on Grindr when normally they would ignore me. I'm not here to defend predatory behavior, but I am inviting us to zoom out And look at the issue as a cultural problem, an issue we have in our gay community that seems to flare up even worse during Pride Month and events like that. I hear more and more men who feel isolated and ignored during Pride than any other time during the year. Our community is perpetuating meth use, and it is time we talked about it openly, without stigma, and begin finding the solution in the way we treat one another. Aren't we supposed to be standing for equality, inclusion, and love?
