“I work in high-end gastronomy, so I have to look very professional, very clean,” András Németh said. Nail polish and piercings are off the table. “You have to look respectable and normal, which I very much enjoy,” he added. “But in my free time, I like to live out this creative side of me.”
Our paths crossed on a Monday in June in the Castro district of San Francisco, where Németh, 21, seemed unsure of which way he was headed. In fact, he was in the city only because of a missed flight connection: What started out as an unplanned layover turned into a decision to stay for the month to experience San Francisco Pride.
Németh was born in Hungary and grew up in Germany, but he spent time all over the continent. His clothes were a representation of his pan-European experience: His trousers were found in Milan, his fishnet top in Strasbourg, France. Of the two rings on his left hand, one was a gift from his younger sister, while the other belonged to his mother. But he didn’t seem bothered by dressing for both roles in his life.
“My mother was always very liberal, very queer,” he said. “I never had this fight to come out of my shell. I could always be who I wanted to be.”
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