Lamont Raymond is better known simply as Monty to thousands of Japanese clubbers. After arriving in Tokyo on an English-teaching gig more than a decade ago, he ended up working as the sales manager for Tokyo Classified (the free paper now known as Metropolis). For many years, if you had picked up a copy, you would have seen his mini-mug shot smiling out each week in the staff photographs on the last page. Two years ago, he left to start his own freebie -- a mini-mag called CIA (Club Information Agency).
That is Lamont. Monty, on the other hand, is a night person. Like many foreign gay men before him, he was shocked by the racial discrimination in Shinjuku 2-chome. Many gay bars ban foreigners. Why? "They think we're all dirty and have AIDS," says Monty.
His first reaction was to sue the masters. "But then I realized that their attitude was just ignorance and that the best cure is knowledge."