![]() Even though the Gayborhood, where Uncles was and U Bar is, wasn’t the safest place back then. TL: Yes, and I felt safe in Philadelphia. PGN: Well, the media portrays big cities as the only place to find us. For some reason, I thought there were no gay people in West Virginia. I knew I was gay and wanted to go someplace where I could find other gay folks. We had to sing that in grade school and junior high. TL: Of course! “Almost heaven/West Virginia/Blue Ridge Mountains/Shenandoah River … ” John Denver. We had our own little station and I would play music and DJ. TL: I was active in radio communications. PGN: What were some of your interests in school? She passed away from breast cancer when I was 13, but her friends would all come to the house and I remember them cooking all sorts of traditional meals and playing Thai poker for fun. My mother had a lot of Thai friends there. PGN: Was there much of a Thai community in Wheeling? I made some good friends too while I was here. I didn’t have a vehicle, so I loved the transportation system and I enjoyed just walking around people watching. ![]() TL: I was stationed in Philadelphia for two years when the shipyard was still open and I fell in love with the city. TL: I lived in Wheeling, W.V., until I was 17 and then I joined the Navy to get out of there, but yeah, I still have a trace of the accent. PGN: You definitely spent your formative years below the Mason-Dixon line I can hear a little Southern lilt in your voice. TL: No, but my aunt is planning a trip to Thailand next year and my younger brother is planning a trip to Hawaii the year after that. PGN: Have you been back to Hawaii or Thailand? That’s where my father is from and we moved there when I was about 7. But I actually spent most of my formative years in West Virginia. PGN: Don’t suppose you had any precocious, also biracial, future presidents in your class, did you? We were stationed in Hawaii and I went to school there for a couple of years. ![]() We moved to the States when I was about a year old. The result was my sister and then I came a little after. My dad was in the Army and my mom used to clean his bungalow and they fell in love. My mother is from Sattahip, Thailand, which is where I was born. TL: It’s German/Irish, from my dad’s side obviously. ![]() The handsome former military man has been a staple for 15 years at U Bar (originally known as Uncles) and can be found pouring libations Wednesdays through Sundays. Well, if you are in the mood for the queerest fancies or some cold ale, make your way over to Locust Street and see this week’s Portrait, Tony Lantz. ![]()
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