"Here I am," says Colby Melvin, "just a man in his underwear. But I still have a voice, and I can still reach people... It doesn’t matter who your are – what your circumstance is – you do have a voice, and it does matter. You are absolutely entitled to share it. And fight for it." He has come a long way from the young man working in Alabama’s oil and gas industry to the model, advocate and progressive idealist he is today. I had a chance to speak with Colby Melvin recently, on how he threaded the needle from conservative industry to progressive community, and what he has learned along the way.

GC: You have been pretty heavily involved in turn-out-the-vote campaigns recently. Tell us a bit about your big push.

CM: It’s a bigger campaign that we’re doing – there are many facets to it. The overall campaign is called Clickbait. This specific project for it was called ‘I Love to Vote/Fuck’. The whole idea of Clickbait is, nobody voluntarily is, yeah, let’s talk about voting... It’s taking the things that people are spending time [on] when they’re online, when they’re on Facebook – they look at pictures of cats, and hot guys, and stuff like that – so finding a way to make these topics appealing, through baiting them with things that they already like.

GC: Not to be a wet blanket, but it doesn’t look like it worked too well. This was the worst voter turnout for an American midterm election since the Second World War.

CM: Yeah, it was not good. I think, in general, the buzz around this election... people just haven’t been talking about it. I don’t even think the candidates were campaigning as much. That, and everything else that’s currently going on news-wise and in the world, people just get distracted. Or they... feel helpless or overwhelmed by everything else politically.

GC: Do you think a lot of it has to do with voter disenfranchisement too? There is a prevailing attitude that voting doesn’t really change anything.

CM: I think a lot of times people just feel that they’re going to get the short end of the stick no matter which way they vote. Because I do think that our political system has gotten turned into this monopoly, this machine that runs on its own, and people [will say], Okay, I’m going to vote for this candidate because this is what they stand for – this is what they do. Well, they get into office, and all that goes out the window. I think there’s a lot of distrust in the system.

GC: Is that justified?

CM: Oh, absolutely... but I think that...  information is so free-flowing now that people can share ideas, can share these grievances, can talk about these things, and realize that they’re not alone. But when it comes to Washington and politics... it’s not that what needs to get done is getting done. It’s a power struggle. People feel like the government has forgotten that they are supposed to be protecting the people, not just their careers.

GC: It’s pretty well-known that the industry you used to work in – oil and gas – is part of the problem as far as that’s concerned. They have a lot of money that they can, and often do, use to hold lawmakers over a barrel. Did you have to swallow your politics when you first started working in that sector, or did your political consciousness evolve after you left?

CM: I kind of just fell into the industry. I had family connections that allowed me to get my job, and once I [had it] I worked my way up. Now that industry, it’s very dirty. I saw a lot of things and was asked to do a lot of things that weren’t exactly legal, or moral, and that’s around the same time that I also figured out I was gay. So I was going through this sort of identity development of my own, about what I actually stood for, and who I was as a person. It was really challenging my character. And then one day, it was like, this was not me, and this was not the person that I want to be, no matter how much money I’m making. This is not life, because I was miserable! I was surrounded by very toxic and devious people. When I was fired I said... I need to make it my mission to not let this sort of world take over.

GC: Speaking of that, you mentioned in other interviews that you were outed pretty violently by your employers. How did that go down?

CM: The people I was working for found out, and they told me that it was not acceptable. They had... obtained my phone records and text records, and threatened to send it to my family if I didn’t go quietly, that they would out me and embarrass me and my family. You can’t take anything, you can’t work in this industry, you just have to go. And that was it. And after I helped turn that company from a one million dollar company to a ten million dollar company in less than a year. It wasn’t because I wasn’t doing my job. The even more fucked up part is, it’s completely legal. There’s no workplace protection in Alabama. In what world... would it be okay to say, because of who you love, you cannot do this job that you’re good at? That doesn’t sound like freedom to me.

GC: Let’s switch gears a bit. You have spoken before about how you overcome chronic fatigue through physical activity and exercise. How does that manifest every day for you?

CM: Being a professional party boy, if you will, it does take a lot of energy. It’s days and days of high, intense energy, and dancing... it’s a lot. It is definitely a lot different from sitting behind a desk. But I’ve been doing it for so long it’s kind of like stamina training. [I am] constantly active. People always ask me, Oh, I hate working out, I hate cardio, what should I do? Honestly, find any activity that is enjoyable for you...I love dancing. Whenever I do it I can do it for hours and hours and hours. It doesn’t feel like I’m working out – it’s not such a struggle. Now, when it comes to running? I hate running. I have flat feet, and it’s really painful, and it is just not my thing. But... there are so many different ways to stay active and make it still enjoyable.

GC: For those who haven’t seen you in person, what is a Colby Melvin appearance like?

CM: High energy. It’s one of those check the attitude at the door, we’re all here to have a good time type of experiences. It’s about everybody being friends and coming out together. It’s one of those southern ideals that I picked up on growing up. They can expect a lot of crazy fun – I know it’s going to be a lot of dancing, smiles, and probably a lot of pictures.

GC: What do you do that makes you happy?

CM: Surrounding myself with people who are happy, and driven, and motivated in their own regard, but also will be supportive and will encourage me. When I moved to California I realized how little support structure I had. I moved out here and all my friends, behind my back, took a bet about how long it was going to take me to do porn. And, you know, that was really hurtful – that the people that I thought would be there for me weren’t there. And now whether it’s one person, ten people, or a hundred people, I’m a lot more mindful of who I let into my life. It’s not having friends for the sake of having friends, it is having friends for the sake of them actually adding to your life.

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