I’ve been many places around the world, but nowhere on earth, at least nowhere I’ve seen, is quite like West Hollywood. WeHo is a gay city, run and cared for by a gay community, and I love it here. It is a place that embraces individuality, diversity and self-expression. Where else can an accountant by the name of Daddy Don celebrate all that he is and run a thriving accounting business at the same time?

Side note: I have a number of friends who hand their taxes over to Daddy Don each year and totally swear by him.

But I digress. West Hollywood has, of course, developed a number of stereotypes. The most consistent of all being that all the men here are so perfect they are not only inaccessible and unattainable, but their entire motivation for being seems to be the maintenance of their perfectly tanned and toned physiques. The male versions of Pamela Anderson, as it were. But so what? Who cares? This is LA, after all, and I for one would rather be surrounded by pretty people. Does that make me shallow?

But seriously, WeHo is a place where so many young men, who grew up in small-minded families surrounded by small-minded towns, first get a chance to truly be themselves and live in a city that fully supports their endeavors to be all that they can be. In other words, seeing a drag queen walk down Santa Monica Boulevard at 1:30 on a Wednesday afternoon is about as remarkable as seeing Mickey Mouse at Disneyland.

And so, I will continue to be filled with a sense of giddy gratitude every time I walk down Santa Monica Boulevard and see that Gay Flag right next to The Stars and Stripes.