In just five years, Chad Bush has turned Fort Lauderdale’s Pig Week into the country’s preeminent bacchanalian event for gay men. But you’ll never guess what game Bush plays in his down time.
Where did you grow up? In Akron, Ohio. What do you miss about it there? Swenson’s Hamburgers. The Galley Boy hamburger, specifically. How long have you lived in South Florida? Off and on my whole life, but 12 years now for this last stint. Why did you move here? Because I hate the cold. What part of South Florida do you live in? In Wilton Manors. What do you like most about living here? I love being in a community that supports each other. What South Florida venue do you miss that’s gone? Blue Marlin. What’s your favorite naught venue in South Florida? Well, Ramrod. What’s your claim-to-fame? Besides raising my son, starting Pig Week and having it grow to be the largest party of its kind in the world.
ADVERSTISEMENT
When did you start Pig Week? I started working on it in 2014, and the first one was in 2015, so this is the fourth one. Why did you create it? Because there was nothing like it here in the USA. What’s important about Pig Week? It brings together all genres of men. Leather men, twinks, bears, muscle men, and jocks. All men can be “Pigs.” Which one of your old jobs least prepared you for what you do now? Cleaning the parking lots of shopping malls in Akron. If God were to take you tomorrow, how would you like to be remembered? As a man with a vision. Do you believe in an afterlife? I believe more in afterbirth. I have seen that. Do you think that this is the most amoral time that’s ever existed? No. I think the worst was the early 80s when the government did absolutely nothing to research HIV and let millions of gay men die from aids. That was the worst.
What do you want to live long enough to see? For Broward County get a vote-count right. Will you ever retire? I thought that I already had. What’s the last thing that you looked at online? How to spell “Blue Marlin.” What’s the best place that you’ve visited? Waipi’o Vally, Hawaii. Who would you like to be for a day? My dad asked me that when I was 11, and I told him Grace Jones. He knew then that I was going to be the boy that could not throw the ball. Who or what is the greatest love of your life? My son and Ralf Vidal. What talent would you most like to have? To see the future. What’s something that you learned in life only when you got older? That after you get grey hair and you’re dying your beard, it’s easier to go blond than it is to go brown.
What did you learn from your parents? Everything. They are amazing. Who’s your favorite performer? Nina Hagen, Nina Flowers, and Nina Simone. Ok, well, somebody named Nina. What’s your best characteristic? My ability to laugh. How do you enjoy spending your time? Playing duck, duck, goose. What celebrity do you have a crush on? Jason Statham, if he gained 50 pounds. Who do you admire? Barney Frank. If you could bring one person back from the dead, who would it be? Rosalind Russell. Where would you go in a time machine? Well, first kill Hitler, then invest in Apple, and then tell Grace Jones that I want to be her. What would your last meal be? My grandmother’s gumbo and spoon bread. What do you worry about? My thigh. It itches.
What are you afraid of? This bug that I just found on thigh. If you were a musical instrument, what would you be? Zamfir’s pan flute. Are you more like a sheep or a wolf? Is pig an option…? Who depends on you, and for what? My family, and for love. Who are you closest with? My Boyfriend, Ralf. What would your autobiography be called? The Making of Babylon. Ghost written by Mark Brandon, and available in May of 2020. What’s on your bucket list? A mop. This place is filthy. What’s your greatest regret in life? Smoking cigarettes. What’s something secretive about you that people don’t know? That I’m an artist. Where can we see you? Every weekend behind the bar at Ramrod, or everywhere during Pig Week.
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