{"id":36790,"date":"2016-05-01T10:25:37","date_gmt":"2016-05-01T14:25:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/blind-and-gay-belo-cipriani-on-life-sex-and-why-his-disability-doesnt-define-him\/"},"modified":"2016-05-01T10:25:37","modified_gmt":"2016-05-01T14:25:37","slug":"blind-and-gay-belo-cipriani-on-life-sex-and-why-his-disability-doesnt-define-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/blind-and-gay-belo-cipriani-on-life-sex-and-why-his-disability-doesnt-define-him\/","title":{"rendered":"Blind And Gay: Belo Cipriani On Life, Sex And Why His Disability Doesn\u2019t Define Him"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Blind And Gay: Belo Cipriani On Life, Sex And Why His Disability Doesn\u2019t Define Him<\/b><\/p>\n<div><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com\/content\/docs\/\/2016\/04\/unnamed-6-670x447.jpg\" alt=\"unnamed\" width=\"650\" height=\"434\"><\/p>\n<p><em>Belo Cipriani and his guide dog, Oslo. (Photo credit: Jane Cleland)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&ldquo;People with disabilities, at the end of the day, are just like everybody else,&rdquo; <a href=\"http:\/\/belocipriani.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Belo Cipirani<\/a> tells <em>Queerty<\/em> in an exclusive interview.&nbsp;&ldquo;We have desires, dreams and goals. We also have fears. The only difference is we negotiate life differently, but that doesn&rsquo;t mean that our lives are any less valid.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>35-year-old Cipriani is blind, though&nbsp;that wasn&rsquo;t always the case. Nine years ago, he was beaten in San Francisco&rsquo;s&nbsp;Castro District. The attack resulted in him losing his sight. But he hasn&rsquo;t let that stop him from living a meaningful life or&nbsp;making a lasting&nbsp;impact in the world.<\/p>\n<p><span>Last year, Cipriani was named &ldquo;Best Disability Advocate&rdquo; in the San Francisco Bay Area by <i>SF Weekly,&nbsp;<\/i>and&nbsp;<\/span>had the honor of being selected as a Community Grand Marshal for the 2015 SF Pride Parade&ndash;the first blind Grand Marshal in the parade&rsquo;s nearly 50-year history.&nbsp;Today, he is the author of the acclaimed memoir <em>Blind<\/em>&nbsp;and the book&nbsp;<em>Midday Dreams,&nbsp;<\/em>as well as<em>&nbsp;<\/em>the national spokesman for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.drinkwinehelppeople.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">100 Percent Wine<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Queerty:&nbsp;<span>For people who aren&rsquo;t familiar with your story, you weren&rsquo;t always blind. Can you briefly explain what happened?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Cipriani: Back in 2007, I was at the height of my career. I was working in Silicon Valley. I had just bought my first place in San Francisco. Life was good. I was in my 20s, I was young, I was fit. One day,&nbsp;I came across this group of friends from my childhood. These were other <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/chaturbate.com\/in\/?tour=R2Xc&#38;campaign=hl4zp&#38;track=gfcsb\">gay<\/a> <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/chaturbate.com\/in\/?tour=R2Xc&#38;campaign=hl4zp&#38;track=gfcsb\">men<\/a>. I was happy to see them. They weren&rsquo;t happy to see me. They immediately started verbally attacking me and then it turned into an assault. I got kicked a few times in the head, and that lead to retinal damage, and that led to blindness.<\/p>\n<p><strong>And because it&rsquo;s retinal damage, there&rsquo;s no way to undo it, right?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Correct. It&rsquo;s permanent.&nbsp;I did have some surgeries in the beginning. Each time I would get some vision back, but then it would go away again. The doctor explained that it was because of the scar tissue.&nbsp;The last time I had surgery I woke up and everything was pitch black. I never got anything back.&nbsp;Most blind people have some level of vision, whether it&rsquo;s shadows or light perception. Only about seven percent of people are completely blind, which means they see pitch darkness, and I&rsquo;m among that seven percent. So often when I hang out with other blind folks, I am&nbsp;<em>the<\/em> most blind in the bunch.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span>Do <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/chaturbate.com\/in\/?tour=R2Xc&#38;campaign=hl4zp&#38;track=gfcsb\">gay<\/a> people&nbsp;treat you differently now than when you were sighted?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Definitely. Sometimes people can&rsquo;t tell that I&rsquo;m blind. In a dark club, under flashing lights, in dim rooms, I&rsquo;m just someone else dancing. People often grab me and I ask them who they are and they get defensive like, &ldquo;Who the hell are you? You&rsquo;re not all that anyway!&rdquo; (Laughs.) I have to explain to them that I&rsquo;m blind, and then they apologize for my blindness, which is how people often react to a disability.<\/p>\n<p><strong>By&nbsp;apologizing for it?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Exactly. Especially in <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/chaturbate.com\/in\/?tour=R2Xc&#38;campaign=hl4zp&#38;track=gfcsb\">gay<\/a> clubs. I&rsquo;ll be walking with my white cane and I&rsquo;ll have <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/chaturbate.com\/in\/?tour=R2Xc&#38;campaign=hl4zp&#38;track=gfcsb\">men<\/a> come up to me and say &ldquo;Oh, you poor thing. I&rsquo;m so sorry you&rsquo;re blind.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com\/content\/docs\/\/2016\/04\/unnamed-7.jpg\" alt=\"unnamed\" width=\"350\" height=\"537\">What do you say in response?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You know, it all depends on my mood. Initially, going from someone who was a businessman who was well-respected and well-connected in the Bay Area, to someone who the general public doesn&rsquo;t know how to interact with would make me angry. Sometimes I&rsquo;d get snappy with people. Now I usually just say, &ldquo;Hey, it&rsquo;s not necessary, I&rsquo;m fine,&rdquo; or&nbsp;I&rsquo;ll just smile.&nbsp;I&rsquo;ve come to terms with he fact that sometimes when people say things it comes from a lack of experience or exposure. As a society we&rsquo;re not trained how to interact with people with disabilities.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What other challenges have you run into?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I&rsquo;ve had people&nbsp;romanticize my disability. They turn it into a fetish. I&rsquo;ve had <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/chaturbate.com\/in\/?tour=R2Xc&#38;campaign=hl4zp&#38;track=gfcsb\">guys<\/a> at bars say, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always wanted to <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/couples\/?mp_code=akftr\">fuck<\/a> a blind <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/chaturbate.com\/in\/?tour=R2Xc&#38;campaign=hl4zp&#38;track=gfcsb\">guy<\/a>. Let&rsquo;s go back to my place.&rdquo; My blindness is a part of me, but it&rsquo;s not my whole identity.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Does it make you angry when people say things like this?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It used to. And then I realized that it was not being fruitful. I feel that within the <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/chaturbate.com\/in\/?tour=R2Xc&#38;campaign=hl4zp&#38;track=gfcsb\">gay<\/a> community, at large, there&rsquo;s this consensus that if you can&rsquo;t sleep with somebody they&rsquo;re not useful to you. They can&rsquo;t be your friend. They can&rsquo;t be your&nbsp;acquaintance. But I don&rsquo;t believe in that. I believe that if a&nbsp;<a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/chaturbate.com\/in\/?tour=R2Xc&#38;campaign=hl4zp&#38;track=gfcsb\">guy<\/a> is talking to me, I&rsquo;ll treat him with respect, and if I can get a friendship out of that, that&rsquo;s wonderful.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is dating like&nbsp;for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Dating is a lot about putting yourself out there, and letting people know what your weaknesses are and what your strengths are. A lot of people, when they see my blindness, they think it&rsquo;s my whole identity and I have to tell them no, I <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/chaturbate.com\/in\/?tour=grq0&#38;campaign=hl4zp&#38;track=gfcsb\">live<\/a> alone, I&rsquo;m a homeowner, I don&rsquo;t need someone to take care of me. And I think that&rsquo;s the biggest misconception people have about dating people with a disability, that we need a caretaker.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Are you in a relationship now?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I am, actually. I have a boyfriend. He&rsquo;s also blind. We hang out in the Castro in San Francisco a lot.&nbsp;We met through a friend at a party. We&rsquo;ve been dating for seven months now and things are good. When you&rsquo;re going out with somebody who&rsquo;s not disabled, you have to teach them how to be with you, and that takes time. This is the first time where he knows everything &mdash; he knows the etiquette,&nbsp;we both read Braille, we use the same adaptive technology &mdash; and it&rsquo;s so nice to not have that period of teaching somebody. We can just move into the romance.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com\/content\/docs\/\/2016\/04\/51P9iWVaVDL._SX322_BO1204203200_.jpg\" alt=\"51P9iWVaVDL._SX322_BO1,204,203,200_\" width=\"350\" height=\"539\">How has <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/couples\/?mp_code=akftr\">sex<\/a>&nbsp;changed for you?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I had to do a rewiring.&nbsp;What my doctor told me is that the way&nbsp;the brain takes in information is 80 percent through vision and the remaining 20 percent is distributed through other senses. When the vision gets taken away, you go through a process where the other senses fight&nbsp;to take over. What really changed is my sense of smell and my sense of touch. I could feel things very well. So <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/couples\/?mp_code=akftr\">sex<\/a> became more sensual.<\/p>\n<p>When I was sighted, sometimes I&rsquo;d look at people and be so focused on the visual aspect.&nbsp;I liked brunettes. Black, Asian, Latino. I thought they were all amazing. When I became blind, that wasn&rsquo;t the big thing anymore.&nbsp;I became attracted to big hands&nbsp;and&nbsp;square jawlines.&nbsp;How I evaluate attractiveness has become more tactile.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What about one night stands?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For me, when I&rsquo;m sleeping with somebody,&nbsp;I&nbsp;need to connect. There&rsquo;s no more of that bam-wham-thank-you-ma&rsquo;am, you know? I have to take my time and really savor every minute of it.&nbsp;As a person with a disability, vision loss especially, you have to sometimes take your time with things. And I think that was one of the biggest lessons for me. I had to learn to slow down. With <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/chaturbate.com\/in\/?tour=R2Xc&#38;campaign=hl4zp&#38;track=gfcsb\">men<\/a> specifically. It was really tough&nbsp;to just jump into bed with someone without getting to know them a little bit.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Is there anything you miss being able to see?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There was a time when I mourned my vision loss. The first two or three years of blindness were very tough, and I did suffer from depression. But as I learned to connect with the world in a different way, I realized that I&rsquo;m not missing out on anything. Right now I can smell the rain before it falls. I can&rsquo;t see the water drip, but I can hear it. I&rsquo;ve found a different way to connect with the world, and it makes me happy. I&rsquo;m content.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span>If you could go back ten years and tell your 26-year-old self who was still sighted one thing, one piece of advice, what would it be?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If I could talk to that person who I was before, I would just tell him that there&rsquo;s always something after the nothing. That&rsquo;s something that has really helped me in dealing with my disability. Gay <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/chaturbate.com\/in\/?tour=R2Xc&#38;campaign=hl4zp&#38;track=gfcsb\">men<\/a>, in general, we have a lot of fears. We have fears of gaining weight. We have fears of getting old. We have fears of not being able to do certain things.&nbsp;All these fears, what they do, is block things out. We&rsquo;re unable to&nbsp;see beyond them. But there really is something after&nbsp;the nothing. And so that&rsquo;s what I would tell the 26 year old.<\/p>\n<p><strong>It doesn&rsquo;t end here.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Exactly.<\/p>\n<div>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/queerty2?a=LKa9tw9LTH0:faZw7ZpAMF0:yIl2AUoC8zA\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/queerty2?d=yIl2AUoC8zA\" border=\"0\"><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/queerty2?a=LKa9tw9LTH0:faZw7ZpAMF0:dnMXMwOfBR0\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/queerty2?d=dnMXMwOfBR0\" border=\"0\"><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/feedproxy.google.com\/~r\/queerty2\/~3\/LKa9tw9LTH0\/gay-and-blind-belo-cipriani-on-life-sex-and-why-his-disability-doesnt-define-him-20160501\" class=\"autohyperlink\">feedproxy.google.com\/~r\/queerty2\/~3\/LKa9tw9LTH0\/gay-and-blind-belo-cipriani-on-life-sex-and-why-his-disability-doesnt-define-him-20160501<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Blind And Gay: Belo Cipriani On Life, Sex And Why His Disability Doesn\u2019t Define Him Belo Cipriani and his guide dog, Oslo. (Photo credit: Jane Cleland) &ldquo;People with disabilities, at the end of the day, are just like everybody else,&rdquo; Belo Cipirani tells Queerty in an exclusive interview.&nbsp;&ldquo;We have desires, dreams and goals. We also &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/blind-and-gay-belo-cipriani-on-life-sex-and-why-his-disability-doesnt-define-him\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Blind And Gay: Belo Cipriani On Life, Sex And Why His Disability Doesn\u2019t Define Him<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2466,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[107],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Blind And Gay: Belo Cipriani On Life, Sex And Why His Disability Doesn\u2019t Define Him - GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/blind-and-gay-belo-cipriani-on-life-sex-and-why-his-disability-doesnt-define-him\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Blind And Gay: Belo Cipriani On Life, Sex And Why His Disability Doesn\u2019t Define Him - GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Blind And Gay: Belo Cipriani On Life, Sex And Why His Disability Doesn\u2019t Define Him Belo Cipriani and his guide dog, Oslo. (Photo credit: Jane Cleland) &ldquo;People with disabilities, at the end of the day, are just like everybody else,&rdquo; Belo Cipirani tells Queerty in an exclusive interview.&nbsp;&ldquo;We have desires, dreams and goals. We also &hellip; Continue reading Blind And Gay: Belo Cipriani On Life, Sex And Why His Disability Doesn\u2019t Define Him &rarr;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/blind-and-gay-belo-cipriani-on-life-sex-and-why-his-disability-doesnt-define-him\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-05-01T14:25:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com\/content\/docs\/\/2016\/04\/unnamed-6-670x447.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"GayFriendschat.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@gayfriendschat\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@gayfriendschat\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"GayFriendschat.com\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/blind-and-gay-belo-cipriani-on-life-sex-and-why-his-disability-doesnt-define-him\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/blind-and-gay-belo-cipriani-on-life-sex-and-why-his-disability-doesnt-define-him\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"GayFriendschat.com\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/181913201d50f65b9bba7437f822a17f\"},\"headline\":\"Blind And Gay: Belo Cipriani On Life, Sex And Why His Disability Doesn\u2019t Define Him\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-05-01T14:25:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/blind-and-gay-belo-cipriani-on-life-sex-and-why-his-disability-doesnt-define-him\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1683,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/blind-and-gay-belo-cipriani-on-life-sex-and-why-his-disability-doesnt-define-him\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com\\\/content\\\/docs\\\/\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/unnamed-6-670x447.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"NEWS\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/blind-and-gay-belo-cipriani-on-life-sex-and-why-his-disability-doesnt-define-him\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/blind-and-gay-belo-cipriani-on-life-sex-and-why-his-disability-doesnt-define-him\\\/\",\"name\":\"Blind And Gay: Belo Cipriani On Life, Sex And Why His Disability Doesn\u2019t Define Him - GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/blind-and-gay-belo-cipriani-on-life-sex-and-why-his-disability-doesnt-define-him\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/blind-and-gay-belo-cipriani-on-life-sex-and-why-his-disability-doesnt-define-him\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com\\\/content\\\/docs\\\/\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/unnamed-6-670x447.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-05-01T14:25:37+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/blind-and-gay-belo-cipriani-on-life-sex-and-why-his-disability-doesnt-define-him\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/blind-and-gay-belo-cipriani-on-life-sex-and-why-his-disability-doesnt-define-him\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/blind-and-gay-belo-cipriani-on-life-sex-and-why-his-disability-doesnt-define-him\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com\\\/content\\\/docs\\\/\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/unnamed-6-670x447.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com\\\/content\\\/docs\\\/\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/unnamed-6-670x447.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/blind-and-gay-belo-cipriani-on-life-sex-and-why-his-disability-doesnt-define-him\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Blind And Gay: Belo Cipriani On Life, Sex And Why His Disability Doesn\u2019t Define Him\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/\",\"name\":\"GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com\",\"description\":\"LGBT BLOG\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"GayFriendsChat.com\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/Logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/01\\\/Logo.jpg\",\"width\":243,\"height\":96,\"caption\":\"GayFriendsChat.com\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/gayfriendschat\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/181913201d50f65b9bba7437f822a17f\",\"name\":\"GayFriendschat.com\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/42a0cb75ed5dd34c6dc3e0aa48adf030c1c38a2c9dc59146f4afdf18e4bdf1d4?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/42a0cb75ed5dd34c6dc3e0aa48adf030c1c38a2c9dc59146f4afdf18e4bdf1d4?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/42a0cb75ed5dd34c6dc3e0aa48adf030c1c38a2c9dc59146f4afdf18e4bdf1d4?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"GayFriendschat.com\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gayfriendschat.com\\\/socialblog\\\/author\\\/gayfriendschat-com\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Blind And Gay: Belo Cipriani On Life, Sex And Why His Disability Doesn\u2019t Define Him - GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/blind-and-gay-belo-cipriani-on-life-sex-and-why-his-disability-doesnt-define-him\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Blind And Gay: Belo Cipriani On Life, Sex And Why His Disability Doesn\u2019t Define Him - GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com","og_description":"Blind And Gay: Belo Cipriani On Life, Sex And Why His Disability Doesn\u2019t Define Him Belo Cipriani and his guide dog, Oslo. (Photo credit: Jane Cleland) &ldquo;People with disabilities, at the end of the day, are just like everybody else,&rdquo; Belo Cipirani tells Queerty in an exclusive interview.&nbsp;&ldquo;We have desires, dreams and goals. We also &hellip; Continue reading Blind And Gay: Belo Cipriani On Life, Sex And Why His Disability Doesn\u2019t Define Him &rarr;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/blind-and-gay-belo-cipriani-on-life-sex-and-why-his-disability-doesnt-define-him\/","og_site_name":"GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com","article_published_time":"2016-05-01T14:25:37+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com\/content\/docs\/\/2016\/04\/unnamed-6-670x447.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"GayFriendschat.com","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@gayfriendschat","twitter_site":"@gayfriendschat","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"GayFriendschat.com","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/blind-and-gay-belo-cipriani-on-life-sex-and-why-his-disability-doesnt-define-him\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/blind-and-gay-belo-cipriani-on-life-sex-and-why-his-disability-doesnt-define-him\/"},"author":{"name":"GayFriendschat.com","@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#\/schema\/person\/181913201d50f65b9bba7437f822a17f"},"headline":"Blind And Gay: Belo Cipriani On Life, Sex And Why His Disability Doesn\u2019t Define Him","datePublished":"2016-05-01T14:25:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/blind-and-gay-belo-cipriani-on-life-sex-and-why-his-disability-doesnt-define-him\/"},"wordCount":1683,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/blind-and-gay-belo-cipriani-on-life-sex-and-why-his-disability-doesnt-define-him\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com\/content\/docs\/\/2016\/04\/unnamed-6-670x447.jpg","articleSection":["NEWS"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/blind-and-gay-belo-cipriani-on-life-sex-and-why-his-disability-doesnt-define-him\/","url":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/blind-and-gay-belo-cipriani-on-life-sex-and-why-his-disability-doesnt-define-him\/","name":"Blind And Gay: Belo Cipriani On Life, Sex And Why His Disability Doesn\u2019t Define Him - GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/blind-and-gay-belo-cipriani-on-life-sex-and-why-his-disability-doesnt-define-him\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/blind-and-gay-belo-cipriani-on-life-sex-and-why-his-disability-doesnt-define-him\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com\/content\/docs\/\/2016\/04\/unnamed-6-670x447.jpg","datePublished":"2016-05-01T14:25:37+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/blind-and-gay-belo-cipriani-on-life-sex-and-why-his-disability-doesnt-define-him\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/blind-and-gay-belo-cipriani-on-life-sex-and-why-his-disability-doesnt-define-him\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/blind-and-gay-belo-cipriani-on-life-sex-and-why-his-disability-doesnt-define-him\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com\/content\/docs\/\/2016\/04\/unnamed-6-670x447.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com\/content\/docs\/\/2016\/04\/unnamed-6-670x447.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/blind-and-gay-belo-cipriani-on-life-sex-and-why-his-disability-doesnt-define-him\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Blind And Gay: Belo Cipriani On Life, Sex And Why His Disability Doesn\u2019t Define Him"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/","name":"GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com","description":"LGBT BLOG","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#organization","name":"GayFriendsChat.com","url":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Logo.jpg","width":243,"height":96,"caption":"GayFriendsChat.com"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/gayfriendschat"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#\/schema\/person\/181913201d50f65b9bba7437f822a17f","name":"GayFriendschat.com","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42a0cb75ed5dd34c6dc3e0aa48adf030c1c38a2c9dc59146f4afdf18e4bdf1d4?s=96&d=blank&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42a0cb75ed5dd34c6dc3e0aa48adf030c1c38a2c9dc59146f4afdf18e4bdf1d4?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42a0cb75ed5dd34c6dc3e0aa48adf030c1c38a2c9dc59146f4afdf18e4bdf1d4?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"GayFriendschat.com"},"url":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/author\/gayfriendschat-com\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2466"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36790"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36790\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}