A Victim No More

Ricky Rivero has a secret. He is attracted to guys. Neither his fundamentalist Christian parents, nor his fundamentalist boss at the Christian bookseller know of his unwanted attraction. Although he has tried hard to "pray the gay away," he finds himself working in the gay neighborhood of Philadelphia, and so finds his way to a gay bar "occasionally." He meets Mark Murphy, who he finds attractive, but then is repulsed by his promiscuity. Ricky leaves the bar after drinking...
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Ricky Rivero has a secret. He is attracted to guys. Neither his fundamentalist Christian parents, nor his fundamentalist boss at the Christian bookseller know of his unwanted attraction. Although he has tried hard to "pray the gay away," he finds himself working in the gay neighborhood of Philadelphia, and so finds his way to a gay bar "occasionally." He meets Mark Murphy, who he finds attractive, but then is repulsed by his promiscuity.

Ricky leaves the bar after drinking just a wee too much, and his old nemesis from high school, Billy, who is waiting in the darkness to bash some poor unsuspecting gay man, catches Ricky by surprise. While the bashing is just getting underway, someone springs out of the darkness, beats the crap out of Billy, rescues Ricky and takes him home to heal his wounds.

Amazed that his newfound friend, an aging drag queen, could overwhelm a strong young man like Billy and send him running, Ricky learns about a gym where he can learn self-defense techniques and build his physical strength.

Thus begins Ricky's journey into the gay community, into self-defense, self-respect, and, best of all, into the last thing he expected: Finding true love in the world, among friends and chosen family, and best of all, a man to call his own.

A Victim No More should be the life journey for every gay man who feels alone against a world stacked against him, alone where nobody seems to understand or even care about his pain. This story of empowerment can be every gay man's story who has been taught that his sexuality is a stain, a curse, when, in fact, it can be the greatest blessing ever bestowed upon a man born to love his way through life.