It was bad enough that the scuffle at last month’s “Strapped in Leather” fashion ball at the New City YMCA made the papers. But then the Y’s central office used it to close the door on Michael “Skeet” Horton, one of New City’s most popular employees. “Skeet’s the heart and soul of the New City Y,” says Mark Ballogg, a volunteer who oversees its community youth baseball league. “Without Skeet, New City’s not much more than a glorified health club.”
“I asked him what type of setup would he need,” says Horton. “He said, ‘We’re going to have people dress up, and they will come out of the locker rooms.’ It never occurred to me to ask if it was going to be a drag show. I thought, here’s a guy trying to do something positive. I thought we were supporting his dreams–plus making money for the Y.”
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Horton says he and Weider knew there was also a youth swimming meet on the 19th that started around 8 AM, but they didn’t think it would conflict with the fashion show. “Based on what Escada told me, I had no reason to think that anyone would see something that would turn people off to the Y,” says Horton. “I thought some of the parents might even like the designs and ask for his card.”
At around 6:30 AM, parents and swimmers started showing up for the swim meet. “We could see young kids looking through the glass doors into the gym,” says Escada. “Again, this was not meant for kids. We never billed it as anything but an adult show.”
Horton says he didn’t really want to leave the Y. He only hoped to protect Weider, figuring that if he said he would resign the Y wouldn’t fire Weider. He certainly didn’t think anyone would accept his resignation. “I hadn’t done anything wrong,” he says. In retrospect, he realizes he was naive. “It sounded to me that they wanted heads to roll, whether or not that was deserved,” he says. “I told Greg, ‘If anyone’s going to suffer I’d rather it be me than you.’ He said, ‘No, do not resign.’”
Kelly says Metro hurt New City by accepting Horton’s resignation, because he bridges the gap between blacks and whites in that part of town. Horton grew up in the area when it was a black working-class community, and as a child he lived in an apartment that was demolished to make way for the Y when it was built in the 70s. He’s been running sports programs at New City since 1998, teaching basketball to hundreds of boys and girls (including mine) of all races. He also oversees a weekly men’s league that has some of the area’s best players and a Saturday youth league that’s refereed and coached by volunteers he recruits. “Skeet knows everybody in that community,” says Ballogg. “I can’t believe they’re letting him go.”
Horton says he wants to come back, but one Y insider says it will be hard to get Metro officials to reconsider: “It’s an ego thing now. They don’t want to admit they made a mistake.”
