Scott Schmidt, aka Boi from Troy, is hanging up his keyboard and has stopped blogging.
I got the message in my RSS feed last week and was surprised that I was a little upset. I've at least scanned the boi's headlines every day for almost two years now, and I liked his site. He has one of the larger California queer blogs, and one of the older queer blogs out there, so he'll be missed.
There's an interesting little interview with him in The Advocate, and one of the qualities I liked about him shined through: he was a gay Republican who wasn't obsessed with talking about the oppression of Republicans or congratulating himself for not being left of center. I don't know if he'd like me to describe him that way, but I call them like I see them.
In fact, the author seems to be egging Scott on in the interview with:
Often considered a black sheep of the gay community -- whoever heard of a gay, sports-loving Republican
and:
Your opinions don't always walk the same line as the majority of the gay community
Scott's response was right-on:
One thing I have learned while blogging is that none of us fit nicely into compartmentalized boxes -- even into those boxes we define ourselves with. As a gay, Republican USC football fan, my readers would get crazy when I talked about other passions I had, like Georgetown basketball, some boy, or obsessively racking up frequent flier miles. We are all individuals, and we should not hold it against folks who don't fit the predefined community molds.
Indeed. Not all LGBT liberals agree, and not all LGBT conservatives do. It's not that complicated.
His retirement shows how the LGBTQ blogosphere is changing. Since I started here at Bilerico, Daily Dose of Queer, Scott-o-Rama, Queersighted, and now Boi from Troy all ended, and they were all fairly large in their own ways. Pam's House Blend changed servers once, and might change again. Queerty changed editorial control two times (that I know of). Bilerico changed from a small, Indiana LGBT blog to what it is today. And a whole slew of new blogs have started up.
He seemed like a genuinely good person, and Boi from Troy will be missed. Good luck in everything you do, Scott.
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2 Comments
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I wish him well. He's a long-standing part of the queer blogosphere.
Bil Browning | January 9, 2009 10:11 AM
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I suppose I'll have to become my own queer sports fix from now on -- hrmph!
Marla R. Stevens | January 9, 2009 1:32 PM
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