ABSTRACT
Another dispersed community is the circuit community-gay men and their allies from across the country who dance together at annual weekendlong spectacles called “circuit parties.” The circuit has its origins in the disco culture of New York and San Francisco of the late 1970s. Large numbers of gay men who participated in that culture died from AIDS during the 1980s, and the scene was almost wiped out. Circuit parties began with charity events to help the stricken. Many of these, such as the Philadelphia Blue Ball, DC Cherry, Miami Winter Party, and Chicago Fireball, are fund-raisers.
