Move over Mean Girls – Regina George, Gretchen Wieners, Karen Smith and Cady Heron. This guy takes the whole pink thing on Wednesdays to a whole new (and kind of fabulous) level.
Last month my friend Sheraz Salahuddin posted an interesting article on his Facebook page from the Accidental Bear blog, Sexual Racism: When does your preference become racist? The full article written by Scott Roberts (@scottjsroberts), former news presenter on Gaydar Radio and editor of Pink News can be read on the UK blog, GMFA, here.
Roberts opens with “No Blacks and no Asians please”. A line if uttered anywhere – let’s say at a department store, on public transit or in a school – would (rightly so) result in a public uproar. However, in the world of gay online dating, phrases like this are almost commonplace and dismissed because it is perceived as sexual preference rather than a form of racism.
Roberts writes, “By writing “no Blacks, no Asians” on a profile, a person is basically announcing that they believe these two racial groups of people should be avoided sexually. It is their personal opinion, but when displayed in a public setting it constitutes prejudice, regardless of the context.” And I wholeheartedly agree.
I understand that physical attraction is a complicated thing and there may be many people who simply aren’t attracted to specific characteristics or physical attributes, but there are exceptions to every rule. Perhaps those who write such blanket statements are unaware of how such narrow-minded statements reflect upon them? I have similar issue with men who tell me they aren’t into femmes and nellies but that is a post for another time.
I recognize that the world of online ‘dating’ is often all about finding Mr. Right Now rather than Mr. Right – but what does it say about a community that struggles to end both legal and social discrimination if we can’t treat each other as equals – let alone common decency?
Has conservative US representative, Aaron Schock, had his glass closet shattered? This weekend journalist Itay Hod’s Facebook post caused quite a stir when he wrote, “here’s a hypothetical: what if you know a certain GOP congressman, let’s just say from Illinois, is gay… and you know this because one of your friends, a journalist for a reputable network, told you in no uncertain terms that he caught that GOP congressman and his male roommate in the shower… together.” You can read more on Towleroad here.
Schock has made a career of repeatedly taking aim at the gay community but does he deserve being outed? If the accusations have merit, I say without reserve – absolutely.
Boston’s Alliance of Gay, Lesbian, Transgendered Youth (BAGLY) has recently expanded its program and office space and is open 5-days a week, providing a larger scope of services for LGBTQ youth.
BAGLY is looking to everyone in the community to help them name their new space and I wanted to encourage readers to get creative. To offer a name for their new space link here, www.bagly.org/name.
BAGLY’s naming contest closes on February 1, 2014
ABOUT: BAGLY is a youth led, adult supported social support organization, committed to social justice, and creating, sustaining and advocating for programs, policies and services for the LGBTQ youth community.
HBO’s newest series, Looking, may make Sunday nights a lot more interesting. Two weeks from tonight at 10:30 pm on January 19th Looking will premiere on HBO. According to the series website, Looking, offers the unfiltered experiences of three close friends living in modern-day San Francisco. The trio’s stories intertwine and unspool dramatically as they search for happiness and intimacy.
I find myself drawn to gay-themed movies and stories and hope that HBO’s track record for making entertaining hit series extends to Looking. I’ll definitely be tuning in on the 19th.
Don’t look at me that way. It is time to get up. Enjoy the day guys.
Despite the cold and more than 14″ of fresh snow, Guerrilla Queer Bar (GQB) is hosting their takeover of The Estate tonight starting at 9PM. If you are looking for something fun to do, check out this overly social and very welcoming bunch.
Last week I referenced DNA Magazine’s article that said redheads were the best comeback trend of 2013. I was surprised by how many guys commented and shared my post so I thought I’d start the year off with a ginger themed Furry Friday.
Did you miss the post? You can read it here: Best ‘Comeback’ of 2013: Redheads.
Thanks to a lot of work on the part of the LGBT community and their allies it became a lot harder to pass or uphold homophobic legislation in 2013. The Human Rights Campaign has set up a rather inspiring page called Best of 2013.
I modified one HRC infographic and included it above because even though I am concerned about many issues that impact the LGBT community here in the US, marriage equality has been a rallying cry for our community ever since it was first made legal in Massachusetts in 2004. With the ten year anniversary of that landmark decision approaching this May and many other states contemplating legalizing same sex marriage no other LGBT issue will be more discussed this year.
When states like Utah start performing same sex marriages (as they did in December 2013), you know you’ve hit the tipping point. It should be interesting to see how other states with marriage bans fare in 2014 and what other strides and accomplishments will be made. I know I’m greatly encouraged by the progress, and I hope you are too. If this sort of thing is of interest to you, be certain to check out some of the other ‘accomplishments’ on the HRC page, Best of 2013.
Happy New Year
Last week DNA Magazine wrote on their blog that the best comeback trend of the past year was the reemergence of redheads / gingers. I hadn’t quite thought of it that way but it is hard to deny that many gay blogs and magazines have been featuring gingers with more frequency. I know I enjoy Sean’s Ginger Men feature posts on his blog Just A Jeep Guy.
Above is a former Furry Friday post from my blog a few weeks ago and below are a few guys I featured earlier this year.
If you happen to be a redhead or perhaps you just find ‘gingers’ handsome you may be interested to learn that earlier this month in London there was a photography exhibit by fashion photographer, Thomas Knight, entitled Red Hot. You can check out photos from the exhibit on the Facebook page, here.
Poor Ms. Coco Peru is a bit tense this time of year and is all out of her Celestial Seasoning’s Tension Tamer Tea. Is her shopping expedition successful? Watch her video below.
I recognize that our society is obsessed with all things pop culture. Exhibit A: Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty – Otherwise known as some hick from some backwater town who happens to have a show on a second tier cable channel garners more than his share of outrage from mainstream media and gay blogs for quoting the Bible and essentially saying he dislikes gays.
–Shocker–
Perhaps we might want to stop obsessing over what quacks like Phil Robertson say and start focusing on countries identified as ‘allies’and demand they stop imprisoning, castrating and killing men and women because they happen to be gay. If even half the mainstream news and gay blogs focused on these stories I think we could say we are making progress and affecting change.
When we do that – then I’ll know America truly is energy independent. It is no coincidence that these OPEC nations Qatar, U.A.E. and Saudi Arabia are given a pass for such atrocious human rights violations while America blusters about some racist, homophobic hick.
BosGuy 