BY NATASHA BARSOTTI – First there was celebration over
the participation of the first black African contestants in the Mr Gay World
competition set for April in 
Johannesburg, South Africa.
Fear and flight of Mr Gay World Africa contenders
Natasha Barsotti is originally from Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean. She had high aspirations of representing her country in Olympic Games sprint events, but after a while the firing of the starting gun proved too much for her nerves. So she went off to university instead. Her first professional love has always been journalism. After pursuing a Master of Journalism at UBC , she began freelancing at Xtra West — now Xtra Vancouver — in 2006, becoming a full-time reporter there in 2008.
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