LGBT Match Up Monday's at Iguana's
LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Transgender) Speed dating and couples games as well, every Monday at Iguana’s 1083 West 37th Norfolk, VA. Drink and food specials start at 6pm, games played from 7pm-9……
Daily Archives: September 11, 2014
Appeals Court Upholds N.J. Ban on 'Ex-Gay' Therapy
Appeals Court Upholds N.J. Ban on 'Ex-Gay' Therapy
A federal appeals court agreed with a lower court’s ruling that banning the use of such therapy on minors is appropriate.
Trudy Ring
www.advocate.com/ex-gay-therapy/2014/09/11/appeals-court-upholds-nj-ban-ex-gay-therapy
The Journey Home
The Journey Home
I suppose that, as it is with most stories, it’s easiest to start at the beginning. Our story so far has been simple. Our story moving forward? Probably less simple.
You see, up to this point, my biggest contribution to the world, my defining moment, has probably been a lawsuit. In college, after being the victim of a hate crime, I sued my school to start a gay-straight alliance, and that lawsuit ended up being taught nationally as case law. I’ve been sent textbooks in the mail, and just after Roe v. Wade you’ll find Romeo v. Seton Hall. I’ve been able to travel the country and talk to kids about the coming-out process, creating allies, living authentic lives, and being whole people in a world too full of characters.
I met my husband Dominic almost 10 years ago. We moved in together in 2008 and married in 2012. He’s a teacher, the hardest worker I know, doing one of the most important jobs I can think of. He holds the promise of tomorrow in his classroom and works hard to get past the glazed eyes and iApathy of a post-millennial generation hell-bent on instant gratification. Dom teaches students the same way we were taught: thanklessly and tirelessly. He’s a good, good man, and he isn’t just the significant other; he is significantly my other. And outside the kitchen, where Dom is the only one of us who can leave the space without fire alarms being set off, ours partnership is probably like many of yours. Us is the best part of who we are.
And, like you, we’ve always imagined our lives intersecting in a world where we would have so much love for one another that we’d want to make our tiny family a little bit bigger.
We’re ready to be dads.
I’ve done some writing in the past that talked about our aching “brovaries,” as one fellow Gays With Kids writer called them. And in the nine months of gestation that my brain has done since releasing that piece, my husband and I have decided to take the plunge.
And we’ve decided to take that leap together, with all of you. You see, I’m joining the writing staff at Gays With Kids so that we can document our adoption process, from start to finish, from dreams to placement, from two men and a cat to two men, a cat, and a baby. It’s a tiny-bit-sparklier version of the American dream, no?
Over the course of the time we’ll spend together, faithful readers, I hope to present the story of two men who want to make tiny dreams come true. We know there will be happy stories to tell, and we know those will be easy. We also know there will be harder stories to share; I promise to include you every step of the way.
The road ahead isn’t covered in sequins and rhinestones. Good. That’s never been our style anyway. Smarter folks than I have intimated that it takes a village to raise a child. I think that’s true. But why not include the village from the get-go?
So, if you’re willing to hop on for the long haul, you’ll be able to see two men go through a process with which many of you are already familiar. But this time you get to be passengers, or, as we hope you’ll be, backseat drivers.
It’s rare to leave readers at the beginning of a story, but that’s all we can do here. If you’re willing to travel down the road with us a bit, from these very first few whispered words together, I hope with all my heart to leave you happier and fuller at the conclusion. Through whatever twists and turns our journey takes, we’re in it together.
This piece originally appeared on Gays With Kids and marks the beginning of the adoption process for Anthony and his husband, covered step by step in real time.
Follow the adoption process as it unfolds by “liking” Gays With Kids on Facebook and following Gays With Kids on Twitter. You can also read Anthony’s posts as they’re released here, and by following him on Twitter.
Encontro de Lindberg Farias com o setorial LGBT do Partido dos Trabalhadores
Encontro de Lindberg Farias com o setorial LGBT do Partido dos Trabalhadores
These Are The Top U.S. Cities For Couples, According To Rent.com
These Are The Top U.S. Cities For Couples, According To Rent.com
Living in a big metropolis like Manhattan, Los Angeles or Chicago can an awesome experience for young lovebirds. But there are plenty of other smaller, lesser-known cities that have a lot to offer.
Rent.com recently compiled a list of the best U.S. cities for couples based on factors such as a high percentage of married adults, a low percentage of divorced couples and a variety of dining, entertainment and other activities available nearby. Find out if your city made the list below:
1. Newton, Massachusetts
2. Staten Island, New York
3. Edison, New Jersey
4. Fremont, California
5. Arlington Heights, Illinois
6. Sunnyvale, California
7. Troy, Michigan
8. Irvine, California
9. San Mateo, California
10. Bellevue, Washington
11. Woodbridge, New Jersey
12. Columbia, Maryland
13. Newport Beach, California
14. Farmington Hills, Michigan
15. Torrance, California
Rent.com considered cities with populations of at least 75,000, where more than 25 percent of households are rental properties and where the crime rate was lower or equal to the national average. All stats and demographics were provided to Rent.com via Onboard Informatics, a data and technology company.
Keep in touch! Check out HuffPost Weddings on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.
Frankie Grande cuddles his way into Big Brother final five with hunky Cody Calafiore
Frankie Grande cuddles his way into Big Brother final five with hunky Cody Calafiore
The gay and presumably straight houseguests bond in bed as they reflect on their summer of competition
gregh
Nick Jonas Reveals He’ll Be Nude And Possibly Gay In His New Series
Nick Jonas Reveals He’ll Be Nude And Possibly Gay In His New Series
Never let it be said that Nick Jonas doesn’t give the people what they want. Following a recent evening of flashing his abs in gay bars, the entertainer stopped by Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live to share some exciting news. Jonas revealed he’ll be naked in his new DirecTV series Kingdom and the storyline revolves around homosexuality, causing Andy Cohen, like the rest of us mere mortals, to mark the days in his calendar until the show’s premiere.
Jeremy Kinser
First Person: #WhyILeft What I First Thought Was a Consensual Leather Relationship
First Person: #WhyILeft What I First Thought Was a Consensual Leather Relationship
#WhyIStayed and #WhyILeft have gone viral on Twitter since the Ray Rice domestic violence revelations. Our friend David M posted his story of surviving domestic abuse on Facebook earlier today and has given Towleroad permission to share it.
I was helped by several wonderful people when I was a homeless boy, discarded by my LDS family. There was Jim, the leatherman who introduced me properly to the leather scene, the man from whom I earned my first leathers. And there was Miss Gladys, the Black trans sex worker who took me in and gave me a home for a time, who was to me like a mother, and who made the best fried chicken I have ever had.
Then there was Paul. He gave me a place to live, too. But it came at a price. He beat me, raped me, abused me emotionally and financially, and lent me out to his friends. All under the guise of a BDSM relationship, which I wanted desperately. He taught me I had to start out living as his slave if I wanted to be in the scene. I was young and stupid and I believed him. I thought it was normal. And I was afraid of being back on the street, where I was already being raped and abused, anyway. That’s #WhyIStayed, far too long. But one day I found the courage to leave.
We were watching tv downstairs by the pool. I locked him into the room, went upstairs and threw my clothes into a bag, and walked out the door. I had no money, no friends, nowhere to go. But I walked out. I walked 50 miles to Tampa where I knew there was a leather bar and other leathermen. That weekend, I went to the local bar, and I started telling people my story. I met Jim, who I mentioned earlier. Jim was an old school (some would say Old Guard) leatherman. He gave me a place to live, and this time there were no strings attached. I would have slept with him; I was used to sleeping with men for food or shelter. But for the year I lived with him, he never touched me. He taught me how to have a healthy, consensual leather relationship. He taught me the difference between BDSM and abuse. But back to the story…
A few months after I had left, I was at the bar, this was the 2606 in Tampa which some of you may know. Jim was not with me, so I was alone when Paul walked in and tried to get me to leave with him. After being afraid of him for so long, I wasn’t afraid any longer. I yelled at him; I told him I was going nowhere with him.
The music kept playing, of course, but all around me men went quiet and turned toward us. The pool games stopped. The tension in the room was palpable. Paul grabbed me by the arm and began to pull me toward the door. And suddenly, something magical happened. The leathermen in that bar closed ranks in front of us. And all around us. Tampa had a small leather community, just the one bar, so I already knew these men, and they knew my story. They knew who Paul was and why he was there. As ethical leathermen, they stepped up to protect me.
Paul didn’t really understand what was going on, but for the first time I saw fear on *his* face. I experienced a sudden realization of how small and pitiful he really was. I pulled my arm from his grip. I was shaking not with fear but with anger; I leaned in close to him and I told him that these were my friends, that this was my bar, and that he was not welcome here. He should leave, and never come back. He never did.
To this day I still ask myself #WhyILeft. But I really don’t know. Why was it that one day I suddenly had the courage that I had never had before? I don’t know. I’m just glad I did. I wish I had done it much sooner.
David M. is now married to his longtime partner. He teaches and mentors young men entering the leather scene. He says the most important thing he teaches them is how to tell the difference between healthy BDSM and abuse. He recommends consulting the site Kink Abuse for more information on the topic.
From time to time Towleroad runs first person stories spotted on social media we think will be of interest to the broader community. Hat tip to Jim Landé for spotting this one. If you come across a particularly timely, moving, amazing or otherwise worthy post, please let us know through our contact form or drop us an email at tips at towleroad dot com.
Previously in this series:
How Three Restaurant Workers Restored a Gay Man’s Faith in Humanity [tlrd]
[image kyle pierce – wikimedia commons]
Michael Goff
Head of Chicago Archdiocese equates LGBT accomodation with forced sharia law
Head of Chicago Archdiocese equates LGBT accomodation with forced sharia law
Head of Chicago Archdiocese equates LGBT accomodation with forced sharia law.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSeOy5zgbjU&feature=youtube_gdata
It all Started the Night of the Prom
