Tony Lindsey, founder of the Online Imperial Club and Mailing List; specially created the OIC Rainbows page and space for others, and we have left this page up on the website because it is an important building block of the Club's foundation that everything here rests upon. Tony was gay and very unapologetic about it at a time when there was more resistance to it than there is today. The OIC Rainbows faded and dissolved quietly and out of sight of the main body of the Online Imperial Club around 2010. To learn more about Tony, his integral contributions to Imperial history, classic car appreciation and culture; as well as our club's history, please click here.
UNOFFICIAL PRONUNCIATION:
"OH! I see RAINBOWS!"
PURPOSE:
To chat about upcoming events and coordinate visits with
out-of-towners for garage-tours and Imperial rides. This group has
been in existence since November 1995, with membership staying at the
level of a little over ten percent of the main mailing-list (61 gay
households as members as of May 1999).
This informal grouping of gay owners and fans of Imperials has been active in some form or another since 1985. I'm a BIG old leather-daddy with a black '61 Imperial Crown Convertible named "Princess Hyacinth"), and I started gathering Imperial owners together for the Imperial Mailing List (IML), but always kept a separate, manual list called the Gay IMLer Sub-Group.
This allowed gay Imperialists to talk about our husbands, lovers (or desire for one) and domestic lives, or leather escapades in Imperials, without fear of being misunderstood, or attacked by bigoted nitwits.
Now, we have the Rainbows list - It's even better, since it is automatic.
I created the name of the OIC-Rainbows group specifically to make it plain to the non-gay folks who belong to the Online Imperial Club (OIC), and to any new, gay members who didn't know about us, that we exist as a fully-valid and incorporated sub-group.
Our discussion-list is an open environment where gay owners of Imperials can let their hair down around similar folks, without fear of being squelched, bashed or driven away.
Sometimes it seems as if the entire planet is ready to tell us that we don't belong, or don't matter, or don't exist.
The Rainbows List was created to be an open, safe, carefree space where we can share our honest, real selves with light hearts.
- Making plans to meet at car-shows, or travel together, or visit when out of town. In my own case, everyone is VERY welcome to come to San Diego for a garage-tour and a ride in my Imperial convertible!
- Fun, frisky chit-chat about Imperial exploits and adventures
- Self-introductions so that other folks can bond with new members. These may include anything at all - Just be yourself, and you'll be fine.
Discussions may also include salty language, silly, nellie chit-chat, aggressively sexual under-or-overtones, offers for dates, frank discussion of previous events, or whatever else suits the current topics. This is the Internet, and such discussion can be found everywhere.
The ONLY discussions not allowed involve flaming, character assassination, annoying victimhood, or other obvious "peeing in the pool". Think of the RI List as being an ongoing party, where everybody has something in common, but many other experiences that may differ. Polite tolerance is always welcome.
Some folks are in the midst of solidly gay neighborhoods in major cities, and some are in the farthest reaches of the countryside. Tastes and values differ. If a topic of discussion doesn't suit you, please take the time to start a different one that is more to your taste.
Since there is a moderator (meaning me), I have the final word on what is or isn't appropriate. I'm a sweet guy unless the safety of the group or its individual members is threatened. On a pleasant, private list like this one, that's not very likely!
Send us your feedback, and come join the Imperial Mailing List - Online Car Club.
This page was last updated 23 October 2025.
