You Can't Be Gay -- You're Latino

Miguel no longer hides his sexuality from anyone -- not even from the straight Latino immigrants he works with at the Bagdad Cafe. "The guys in the kitchen might not always want to see it, but gay Latinos do exist," he says. "We always have."

With his camera rolling, Gustavo pans from the decrepit New Mission Theater marquee to the sidewalk below and cues a drag queen to walk into the shot. Gustavo is directing a 15-minute student film, using the Mission Street location to make his statement. By having the queen walk under the "New Mission" sign -- on a busy sidewalk in bright daylight -- the filmmaker is trying to create a symbol of a new attitude among gay Latinos. Like the old sign, homosexuality has been around a long time. But being openly gay is still a new concept, and a daring one.

"If two women walked through the Mission holding hands, there would be a lot of stares," says Debbie. "If it were two men, they'd get beat up."

Gustavo certainly would like to change the taboo -- and the physical risk -- that goes with gay life in a Latino setting. But he knows that will take awhile, and until that change comes, Gustavo remains a player in an old and dangerous game.

In the Mission, there is still subtlety, and a mystique, that Gustavo has learned to enjoy. He finds that being gay in a Latino culture does offer one seldom-mentioned consolation: the thrill.

"It keeps you guessing and on your toes. You make eye contact with a cute boy on the street, and you don't know if he's gay. You have to be clever, and figure out if it's worth getting robbed or killed to come on to this guy.

"It can be," Gustavo says, "kind of hot.