Steps to Gay Fatherhood: The Panic Will Pass
Being a dad to twins could incite a panic, but not for the reasons you’d expect.
Lucas Grindley
www.advocate.com/commentary/2015/06/21/steps-gay-fatherhood-panic-will-pass
Category Archives: NEWS
Diane From HR Is Going To Flip Out When She Discovers These Gay Office Romances
Diane From HR Is Going To Flip Out When She Discovers These Gay Office Romances
“Office” and “romance” are two words that when combined make any HR representative flinch and/or cringe (Diane, for instance).
But falling for someone you work with is pretty inevitable — you spend (way too much) time with your colleagues, and try as we might, it’s nearly impossible to stop that rush of excitement you get around a crush once it starts brewing.
Equally inevitable is an office romance crashing and burning. Casualties are to be expected.
So why are they such a good fantasy?
We wanted to hear from guys in various forms of workplace passion, so we asked Whisper to see what they could track down in the ‘ole filing cabinet.
Here’s what they found:
Dan Tracer
PHOTOS: You'll Laugh, Then Cry at These Vintage Pride Photos
PHOTOS: You'll Laugh, Then Cry at These Vintage Pride Photos
Can you find yourself in these mid-’80s Pride photos from Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago? Remember the fun, remember who we lost, and remember the big hair.
Christopher Harrity
www.advocate.com/pride/2015/06/21/photos-youll-laugh-then-cry-these-vintage-pride-photos
I Am The Man My Father Built
I Am The Man My Father Built
“Now, people have their bat kites and their diamond shaped kites,” Dad said to me when I was ten years old, “but the box kite, Mark, now there is the most aerodynamically sound of them all.”
He demonstrated by making a box kite out of balsa wood and brown paper. We took it to the park on the Air Force base where Dad was stationed, just behind the theater where I saw horror movies whenever I could get Mom to provide the parental guidance suggested.
“But it looks so weird,” I told him about the kite. “It’s just a box, Dad.”
“That’s the beauty of it!” he exclaimed, and he let out one of his big laughs, a roaring Santa Clause laugh that shook his whole body. He held the box high above his head, I at the other end of the string, and I ran across the grass, looking behind to see it climb high above the movie theater. The box soared for an hour as Dad stood behind me, explaining the principles of flight through the eyes of a B-52 bomber pilot.
Box kites became his obsession, and he engaged Mom and the family in his quest to build bigger kites capable of higher altitudes. Our next one stood six feet tall, made with wooden dowels and light fabric. Mom and my sister Nancy sewed to Dad’s specifications while the boys stayed in the garage, piecing together the frame with hot glue.
The glue gun seemed invented especially for Dad, who used it liberally for every project. “Lots glue!” he commanded to me and my brother David, hard at work to bring the box kite to life. “You can never have enough glue, boys. Lotsa glue!”
We took the kite – placed atop a Volkswagon convertible – to the spring kite flying contest held in the fields behind Louisiana State University in Shreveport. They had a category for largest kite, and Dad intended for us to win it. One of the entries was an enormous bat shaped contraption made with layers of newspaper and a wing span of at least twenty feet.
“Not aerodynamically sound,” Dad said, eyeing the competition. “Won’t fly. Can’t fly. Shoulda tried a box kite.”
Sure enough, the massive bat kite took one fast swoop upwards and then veered down again, demolishing itself. The contest rules stated that kites had to stay aloft for a full three minutes, and our box kite soared perfectly, winning the King family a sparkling trophy presented on the windy lawn of the college.
It made Dad hungry for more.
“Never worry about making a fool of yourself,” he would say, “if it means taking a risk, Mark.” He would recognize my adolescent need to simply fit in with everyone else and he would deny me of it, locking his eyes onto mine. “You gotta take the risk.”
Over the summer the six foot kite became ten feet, built with heavier fabric and stronger wood. We tried it out on a field on the edge of the Air Force base, and I remember Dad forgetting the gloves that protected him from the slick nylon string, and the kite fighting for higher altitude and the nylon going whizzzzz! across his hands, cutting deep into his palm. He looked at his hands with a shrug and then, predictably, laughed. He had lost his grip in the process, though, and the kite escaped to sights unseen.
We jumped in the car and chased it across the base, both of us with our heads craning out of the car and shouting visual sightings to one another, only to find its taught nylon cord snagged on a nursery school swing set. The box kite had dragged the set twenty feet from where, until recently, it had been embedded into the ground.
The air force police would soon arrive to inform us that our “craft” had been picked up on base radar and was a “menace to aviation.” Dad (or “Colonel King” as the uniformed men called him) sheepishly explained and then laughed with the cops as we carefully pulled our menacing craft, foot by foot, back down to earth.
The following year the Kings would risk it all, creating what would become the mother of all box kites. We built it in the driveway for a couple of weeks, using yards of nylon material and cord strong enough for a box kite approximately the size of a Winnebago. We transported it to the annual contest by securing it to a chartered flat bed truck, and the driver – after taking the monstrosity across the Jimmy Davis Bridge to the university – swore he could actually feel the truck lift a little as the kite fought to respond to invitations from mighty spring breezes.
The fabled hush fell over the crowd as the kite was driven onto the contest grounds. Three eight foot box kites – all larger than our original entry – were brought along, and the crowd stood incredulously as each of the three were launched into the air. Then we secured the cords of the three airborne kites to the top of the Mother Kite, and the crowd watched aghast as the King family coordinated their efforts, releasing thick rolls of nylon cord, until the massive kite lurched off the ground and up to stronger winds that would carry it back and forth above the riveted, gasping spectators.
For two minutes and twenty seconds.
Later, on the evening news, Dad would stand amid the wreckage of a violent descent, knee deep in plastic, wood, nylon cord and innumerable remnants of hot glue. It looked like the aftermath of a commuter plane tragedy.
“And how do you feel, Mr. King,” the reporter would ask my Dad, “about your creation not flying for very long. Are you disappointed?”
“Of course not!” Dad replied in the midst of a belly laugh already begun. “Didn’t you see it? It was a spectacular crash!”
Those days, and that glorious moment, are lost to time now, and so is my father. Not long after our kite flying adventures, our personas traded places. I embraced my sexuality and my misfit charms, while Dad struggled to understand a son who was turning out to be more different than he could have imagined. Worst of all, he was made to contend with a teenager who saw him as something abhorrent: typical.
We had many years, later, when our outlooks merged again and we reveled in his various projects and my work as an outspoken gay man. Ultimately, Dad raised exactly what he valued, a man who steps up and asks stupid questions and knows that to soar you must risk the occasional, spectacular crash.
On my best days I live happily as the man my father built, writing and living as an HIV positive queer for all to see and never afraid to take a risk. And on the worst of days, my mind’s eye conjures up a hearty laugh coming from nearby, maybe the garage, where something is being cobbled together that will solve absolutely everything.
Usually it’s a box kite, crafted from unlikely supplies and fatherly magic, that carries me far, far away.
Mark
feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/mqSwialyWIw/i-am-the-man-my-father-built-20150621
WATCH: Colin Farrell Discuss Historic Marriage Win in Ireland
WATCH: Colin Farrell Discuss Historic Marriage Win in Ireland
The actor was particularly vested in Ireland voters endorsing marriage equality.
Neal Broverman
Justin Bieber And Ruby Rose's Friendship Will Make You Instantly Jealous
Justin Bieber And Ruby Rose's Friendship Will Make You Instantly Jealous
It looks like there’s one less lonely girl and one less lonely Bieber in the world.
Justin Bieber and the Internet’s newest crush, Ruby Rose, appear to have a budding friendship if a recent Twitter exchange is any indication. Biebs tweeted at Rose about a picture of her sitting at a piano adorned with a certain pop star’s face on it and things just got cuter from there:
@RubyRose nice piano pic.twitter.com/TJp22KKzTO
— Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) June 18, 2015
@justinbieber you’re welcome to use it anytime.
— Ruby Rose (@RubyRose) June 18, 2015
@RubyRose gotta keep the plates 🙂
— Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) June 19, 2015
The friendship seems like fate. Rose has been compared to Bieber, a joke that made it on to the new season of “Orange Is the New Black.”
Since the show premiered in June, everyone everywhere has been clamoring about the Australian model and singer. Rose recently told The Huffington Post that she “was not expecting” the viral fame. But if she is going to be friends with Bieber, she should probably get used to it.
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
Five Amazing Off The Beaten Path Prides To Check Out
Five Amazing Off The Beaten Path Prides To Check Out
With so much focus on the world’s major pride celebrations this month, it’s easy to see why everyone’s getting so excited. Los Angeles Pride went off without a hitch (and even an impromptu dance from Channing Tatum and Matt Bomer), and San Francisco and New York Pride are both just a stone’s throw away.
But don’t let these gay mecca events fool you — there are some absolutely incredible prides coming up that you might not always think of first. They’re every bit as amazing.
Here are five pride celebrations coming up that will rock your rainbow:
Sitges sits a brief 45 minutes south of Barcelona and one of Europe’s gayest — and largely undiscovered — gems. Sitges Gay Pride is always a flamboyant affair, and the 2015 event will be no different. Expect colorful outfits leaving little to the imagination, lots of drag performances and some of the best dance parties Spain can offer. Most of the activities take place on or near Sitges Promenade.
Twin Cities Pride – June 26-28
Deborah Cox, Peaches, and oh, did we mention Lily Tomlin?! With a lineup like that, we’d go anywhere for a pride. Luckily this one is in Minneapolis, which is quite charming this time of year. And maybe it’s just us, but when we hear Latrice Royale is going to perform, it makes us want to hop on over to the midwest. Other highlights are the pool party and the nautical-themed Hey, Sailor!
Amsterdam Pride – June 28-July 2
No city parties quite like Amsterdam, and Pride is no exception. Crowds pack the narrow streets as pride floats actually float by in the canals. It’s a sight to behold. Expect wild parties everywhere you turn.
Reykjavik is dynamic, cosmopolitan and increasingly open minded. In 2010 Iceland became the ninth country in the world to legalize same sex marriage. Icelanders like to party late, so be sure to take a disco nap before going out, and feel free to stay out all night long. Laugavegur Street is the epicenter of pride.
Austin Pride – September 29 – October 4
The downtown warehouse district is the home to a number of gay bars and a few gay bars and clubs are sprinkled around town. The numerous universities and the city’s strong tech industry make for a young vibrant crowd and it seems like there are people from everywhere here. Add this to the fact that Austin is the gay capital of Texas and you’ve got the makings for one epic pride.
Dan Tracer
The Evolution of Men’s Hats: GQ Breaks Down 400 Years of History in 3 Minutes – WATCH
The Evolution of Men’s Hats: GQ Breaks Down 400 Years of History in 3 Minutes – WATCH
Ever been curious about how we got from some of the more fanciful and flourishing millinery styles en vogues hundreds of years ago to the simplicity of the baseball cap today? Thanks to GQ you can wonder no more. The men’s magazine has put together a video timeline that chronicles the evolution of men’s hats over the past 400 years, all in a matter of 3 minutes. GQ also enlisted the modeling services of handsome and popular YouTube vlogger Jim Chapman.
Which hat do you wish would make a come-back?
The post The Evolution of Men’s Hats: GQ Breaks Down 400 Years of History in 3 Minutes – WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.
Sean Mandell
The Evolution of Men’s Hats: GQ Breaks Down 400 Years of History in 3 Minutes – WATCH
Smallest Nation on Earth Now Has Marriage Equality
Smallest Nation on Earth Now Has Marriage Equality
A gay wedding may be in store for this country of 56 people.
Neal Broverman
MSNBC's Thomas Roberts Tears Up Covering Charleston Vigil
MSNBC's Thomas Roberts Tears Up Covering Charleston Vigil
MSNBC reporter Thomas Roberts couldn’t contain his emotions Friday while covering a vigil outside the Charleston, South Carolina, church where nine black churchgoers were massacred last week.
While the bond was being set for Dylann Roof, the 21-year-old white man accused of the June 17 shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Roberts described the scene outside the parish when a mass of people showed up to join the vigil and tried to hold back tears.
“Can we look over here right now,” he said, his voice cracking. “It’s kind of heartbreaking. They’re singing and a whole flood of people showed up at the same time.”
Unbeknownst to Roberts, that crowd was likely thanks to conservative political commentator Glenn Beck, who flew down to Charleston and asked people to join him in prayer at the church. He can be seen in the background of Roberts’ segment.
“You can see the outpouring of support for his community,” Roberts continued after pausing to gather himself. “It goes all the way down the street of people who showed up at the exact same time that this arraignment was going on.”
Roberts apologized when he started to tear up again and another man stepped in to help continue the report.
During Roof’s arraignment Friday, which took place at the same time as the vigil, some of the victims’ relatives forgave the accused gunman.
“Hate won’t win,” Alana Simmons, granddaughter of victim Daniel Simmons, told Roof. “My grandfather and the other victims died at the hands of hate. Everyone’s plea for your soul is proof that they lived in love and their legacies live in love.”
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
