Mike Binis - outside Urge in 2006 Here's our intimate interview with a community leader you thought you knew a lot about! WARNING: Some topics discussed may disturb. You're from Buffalo, New York, and arrived here in the late 80's. Why did you pick New Zealand to travel to, and stay in? I worked in Buffalo radio for 9 years. It was my first Radio job, and I worked my way up from Production Assistant (Gopher) to the Production Director. Then came the mid 80's, and the US economy crashed. I worked for what was the #1 AM/FM combo in Buffalo for many decades... then they sold out, down-sized, and I was made redundant. All other stations did the same, so Radio work in the US was scarce. One of the DJ's also made redundant saw an ad for 2XS in Palmerston North in R I'll jump in front of a camera or microphone at the slightest provocation. I have 'Top 40' brain: I can talk about anything for 90 seconds and sound brilliant. That's it. He's reserved, intellectual, won't talk about or even engage in crap, but find the right obscure author or latest IT development, and he knows more than the experts. We've lived apart, and together, three times each. I'm sure that's destined to repeat many, many times over. You have a son by two NZ lesbian mums. Can you tell us the story of how you met them, and how it was arranged? A former friend of mine from Buffalo, a 6+ foot diabetic woman with coke-bottle glasses and a speech impediment, once told me she would never have kids to pass on her bad genetics. "But Michael" she said to me, "you should, even though you probably won't. Your family lives forever!" I read a classified in the gay newspaper for two lesbians looking for a donor in Wellington. I replied, we met, and in April of 1994, a son was born. We met, and (the bio-mom) gave me the third degree. My grandmother and granduncles all lived to 100+. She liked my make-up (and I don't mean Max factor!) and so she and her partner met me and mine. It was strictly the 'hand over the plastic cup' technique from my boyfriend and me to her and her girlfriend to deal with later! My parents in the US are just thrilled, as, me being openly gay, they never thought I'd be the first one to give them a grandson! (My siblings are younger, so they haven't done it yet) They shower him with goodies, and I see him when I can, even though I'm not listed as the father. I am proud of his mom and him, as he is mature and well versed and wonderfully content and articulate. (I would say that as a proud dad, but it's true!) I believe it's because he is the product of parents who really WANT him despite the odds, and did everything right to ensure that he'd be loved, wanted, and protected... making Gay parents far better than straight parents who fall into the back seat of the Holden and end up with an unwanted kid 9 months later! Think about it. Straights get drunk and have sex, and then have to deal with a kid. Gays get no sexual gratification from producing a child; they do it because they want the end result, not the process of getting there. Gays have the good sense to see sex as an appetite to be enjoyed... quite separate from procreation, which should be thought through. In every sense, we are far more responsible. Mike's first beard in 1986 How long since you last shaved your face? I have never shaved my upper lip. Never. Now, I didn't start shaving until I was 20, having a dweeby little whisp of a moustache at 19, no sideburns at all, and six blonde hairs on my chinny-chin-chin. I moved here at the age of 31 and still looked 12. (I think that's why I always looked at guys who had beards, hairy forearms, and hairy chests all through school... because I wondered what it was like. I now know that it was because I was gay!) I always had a fu-man-chu or handlebar mo. I grew my first beard at nearly 30 because it was the first time I could, the sides still didn't connect to the hairline, and it was sort of blonde-to-ginger. It didn't last. I tried again in the early '90's in Wellington with more success, and then again in the late '90's when it went blonde-to-white and I had a ZZ-Top beard down to my belt. The colour change was so obvious that it was a mess, and I shaved it off. I felt naked at not having it, and from that day started growing it back. I've been Santa Claus ever since. I've never coloured my hair, but I have my beard. I think it's time to hit the Grecian Formula now. (My Dad was silver at 28, and white at 35. He's 80, and still has a full head of white hair, and runs management seminars speaking across the US.) Tell us about your time as an escort. Not many people know about that. In fact, I've never told anyone, and the only people who knew were those who had a hand in it! I worked with two girls who, one day, both complained about their flatting situations. I chimed in too as I wasn't happy either, having just moved to Wellington. We decided we three should get a flat together. One day one of their girlfriends who had been 'moonlighting' on the side as an escort, and said to me "Binzi, you should give it a go. The agency is looking for guys, and they'd love you!" It was a buzz I couldn't ignore, so I went in. It was short-lived, as I wasn't really ready to live a double-life. But for a very short time, I did well. Having a sexy motorbike and the leathers to go with it helped! That, and liking dick. What is 'ball weight-lifting'? Ball weight-lifting... tying up your gonads and hanging weights from them. I've had a concrete block and six half-pound lead weights hanging from mine on show at a Devotion Party in Wellington. It's not as amazing at it sounds, although either you like having someone grab your balls and yank, or you don't. The idea is to grab the scrotum ABOVE the testicles to stretch, not crush the balls! My goal is to suspend myself to hold my own weight... but that'll never happen as long as I keep gaining weight, as one does when one gets older! Are you still pierced? Where? I like the phrase 'still pierced' as though one can undo a piercing! Yes, both nipples have bars, small discrete bars that pass airport detectors (usually) and one huge PA (00 gauge, 10mm Prince Albert). If you don't know what that is, look it up. If you know me, you already know what it looks like! You're a TV newsreader these days aren't you? The newsreaders on Triangle TV are all volunteers; we do it as support for a community channel, and in my case, to get 'on-camera' experience to augment my radio work. Typically, I do the news headlines from 6:55 pm Thursdays and Fridays. I voice radio ads and TV Infomercials, but fronting to camera is where I want to go... even if it means taming the beard! Happy birthday Mike, from all the team at GayNZ.com. Matt Akersten - 12th October 2006