West men return home

OutWestMen will return to the Junction Hotel, Newport, this weekend. The hotel has re-opened under new management.
The last few months the social night for gay men living in the western suburbs has been held at the Vodka Locker in North Melbourne.
OutWestMen organiser Neville Flegg said the monthly event attracts between 50 – 60 men and around 240 people are signed up to the email list.
“Every event, we have around 30 new faces and about 20 regulars,” Flegg said. “We welcome everyone, whether they are young or old, fat or skinny. We’re pretty laidback, we just have a few drinks and a few laughs.”
Flegg said the night, which has been running for three years, has remained popular because gay men in the west don’t have the same easy access to gay bars as their inner-city cousins.
“Now that I live in Laverton I go to the Laird once a month, when I would have gone every Friday,” he said.
“We’ve found people just want somewhere to go to have a drink, have a chat and relax with other guys that’s not too far away.”
OutWestMen runs other events and recently took a group of 20 on a wine tour around the Geelong area.
The next gathering at the Junction is on this Saturday, October 17 from 9pm. There will be a pre-Christmas get-together on December 5.