Month: April 2018

Digital Pride A Huge Success; Letting Your Bulge Breathe; New Yorkers Protest Against Gay Purge In Chechnya

Digital Pride A Huge Success

This is something I’ve liked from the start. As we all become more digital…whether we like it or not…things like this will only have more of an impact.

We created Digital Pride so anyone around the world – including people who can’t usually access Pride – can take part.

All this week, you’ve been joining us as we celebrate with music, films, art, dancing and culture.

And it can only get better from here.

Here’s the rest.  Just the impact alone from LGBT digital books has made a hug difference to people who cannot get access to any other LGBT material. I get letters from people all the time letting me know how much e-books have helped them. That’s why it sometimes bothers me when the people who only read print books slam people who only read e-books. The print book people never take into consideration how e-books have opened up the world for so many. All they seem to care about is how old musty books smell.

Letting Your Bulge Breathe

I’m a big fan of Jeffrey Scott designs, and I think what he’s doing is excellent for all men. He specializes in tights for men, and he’s a perfect example of someone who truly loves what he’s doing.

‘When I began wearing tights regularly for family functions, they didn’t think twice of it. My father was the one that suggested I start a business to see where it took me. My business is regular conversation at family parties and holidays. It is the same to them as if I manufactured shoes.

You can read more, here. There are some excellent photos, too. I also like the fact that his designs tend to be more gender neutral and it gives everyone a choice.

New Yorkers Protest Against Gay Purge In Chechnya

Here’s more about what’s happening to gays in Chechnya. I’ve been posting information about this since it began, but I haven’t seen much lately.

The non-violent march was led by the organization Voices4, founded by LGBTI activist Adam Eli. Voices4 is demanding humanitarian visas for those in the LGBTI community who escaped Chechnyan persecution.

There’s more, here. There are photos of the rally, and a good deal of back story.

A PG Rated Gay Romance

Altered Parts: Limited Edition


In Their Prime by Ryan Field

Frat Boys and Homophobic Racist Behavior; Racist Sorority Sisters Offending Everyone; UK Dude Rapes 4 Grindr Dates With Spiked Tea

Frat Boys and Homophobic Racist Behavior

This is about the homophobic, racist, anti-Semitic remarks made by the Syracuse University chapter of Theta Tau that was caught on video.

“I solemnly swear to always have hatred in my heart for n*****s, sp*cs, and most importantly, the f*cking k*kes,” one frat boy can be heard pledging in a video to thunderous applause.

The videos also include simulations of oral sex, masturbation, glory holes, and drug use, and cracking homophobic jokes: “Get together and [talk] about their significant others while drinking different wines and talking in gay girly accents!”

Here’s more. You can watch the video. It’s pretty bad. I could understand a bunch of guys just joking around about blow jobs, because that’s what guys do, but some of the things they say are about as bad as it can get. If you’re the sensitive type, you will be offended big time. I find it sad and embarrassing for them.  

According to this piece, these guys are claiming that they’re terrified for their lives now that the video went viral. 



Racist Sorority Sisters Offending Everyone

Here’s another one. I guess some people will do anything for attention, even if it makes them look like idiots. 

A week after a fraternity at Syracuse University was suspended when video surfaced showing its members shouting racist and homophobic slurs, more videos featuring racist college trash have sparked outrage on social media. This time, it’s two white sorority sisters from William Patterson and Penn State University.

You can read this one, here. It’s a long piece that goes into more detail about where they go to school and how the schools feel about their behavior. 



UK Dude Rapes 4 Grindr Dates With Spiked Tea

Here’s another scary story from the hook up app world.

A British man is accused of raping several men he met on Grindr, inviting them to tea and then spiking their drinks before taking advantage of them, Metro reports.

Here’s more. Seriously, if you guys are out there on any hook up apps, be careful. 




A PG Rated Gay Romance

Altered Parts: Limited Edition


In Their Prime by Ryan Field

How The New York Times Covered Gay Culture and AIDS; HUD Shuts Down Gay Nightclub In Buffalo; Texas Man Uses "Gay Panic" Defense For Killing Neighbor

How The New York Times Covered Gay Culture and AIDS

Actually, they didn’t cover either topic very well in the 80s. But no one else did either. I was very young, but even I remember how it was ignored.

The New York Times had a spotty record of covering the AIDS epidemic in the early 1980s — and gay culture in general. Times staffers reflect on the paper’s past, and what we can learn from it today.

They go on to discuss what they can do to make it better now. Here’s the rest. 

HUD Shuts Down Gay Nightclub In Buffalo

We see a good deal of gay clubs and gay businesses shutting down these days, but for reasons other than this. 

The Underground Niteclub, a beloved haunt for members of Buffalo’s gay community for much of the past 40 years, will close Sunday after the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development denied the property owner’s application to renew the bar’s lease.

The decision not to renew the bar’s lease followed multiple noise complaints from tenants of the Touraine Apartments at 274 Delaware Ave., a HUD official said. The bar has operated as the Underground or Buffalo Underground on the ground floor of the federally subsidized apartment building since the early 1990s.

This particular bar has been around since the 1970s with different names. 

Here’s more. 

Texas Man Uses “Gay Panic” Defense For Killing Neighbor

I’ve posted about the “gay panic” defense before. In short, it means that straight people can kill you and use it as a legal defense, and then claim they were acting in an irrational manner because of unsolicited “homosexual advances.” I’m not joking. This is an actual defense. If you go up to a straight guy and ask him out to dinner, he can kill you and get away with it because you put him in such a state of panic he didn’t know what he was doing. 

Here’s an example.

James Miller of Austin, Texas was found not guilty of manslaughter and murder by a jury after killing his neighbor, Daniel Spencer. After Miller used the “gay panic” defense, claiming Spencer made a pass at him, the jury found him guilty of criminally negligent homicide and sentenced him to 10 years of probation.

You can read more about it, here. 


A PG Rated Gay Romance

Altered Parts: Limited Edition


In Their Prime by Ryan Field

How The New York Times Covered Gay Culture and AIDS; HUD Shuts Down Gay Nightclub In Buffalo; Texas Man Uses "Gay Panic" Defense For Killing Neighbor

How The New York Times Covered Gay Culture and AIDS

Actually, they didn’t cover either topic very well in the 80s. But no one else did either. I was very young, but even I remember how it was ignored.

The New York Times had a spotty record of covering the AIDS epidemic in the early 1980s — and gay culture in general. Times staffers reflect on the paper’s past, and what we can learn from it today.

They go on to discuss what they can do to make it better now. Here’s the rest. 

HUD Shuts Down Gay Nightclub In Buffalo

We see a good deal of gay clubs and gay businesses shutting down these days, but for reasons other than this. 

The Underground Niteclub, a beloved haunt for members of Buffalo’s gay community for much of the past 40 years, will close Sunday after the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development denied the property owner’s application to renew the bar’s lease.

The decision not to renew the bar’s lease followed multiple noise complaints from tenants of the Touraine Apartments at 274 Delaware Ave., a HUD official said. The bar has operated as the Underground or Buffalo Underground on the ground floor of the federally subsidized apartment building since the early 1990s.

This particular bar has been around since the 1970s with different names. 

Here’s more. 

Texas Man Uses “Gay Panic” Defense For Killing Neighbor

I’ve posted about the “gay panic” defense before. In short, it means that straight people can kill you and use it as a legal defense, and then claim they were acting in an irrational manner because of unsolicited “homosexual advances.” I’m not joking. This is an actual defense. If you go up to a straight guy and ask him out to dinner, he can kill you and get away with it because you put him in such a state of panic he didn’t know what he was doing. 

Here’s an example.

James Miller of Austin, Texas was found not guilty of manslaughter and murder by a jury after killing his neighbor, Daniel Spencer. After Miller used the “gay panic” defense, claiming Spencer made a pass at him, the jury found him guilty of criminally negligent homicide and sentenced him to 10 years of probation.

You can read more about it, here. 


A PG Rated Gay Romance

Altered Parts: Limited Edition


In Their Prime by Ryan Field

LGBT Celebrities Abandon Kanye West; Openly Gay Richard Grenell Makes Gay History; Troye Sivan Lied About Grindr Age, and Older Gay Men

LGBT Celebrities Abandon Kanye West

Here’s something that is definitely a sign of the times, especially if you know anything about the way social media works.

West posted pro-Trump tweets and rumors immediately made it appear as if he’d lost one third of his followers…but it was all rumor like most things online.

But because West supports Trump there was backlash, allegedly.

According to Cosmopolitan Australia, a whole host of famous LGBT people and allies have unfollowed West in the aftermath of the rappers’ Twitter storm.

Celebrities including Troye Sivan and Jaden Smith have reportedly unfollowed West on the micro-blogging site since the pro-Trump tweets.
You can check this one out, here. There are more celebrity names listed and a statement by Kim Kardashian who is West’s wife. 
Openly Gay Richard Grenell Makes Gay History
Here’s something that’s also a sign of the times. In a vote of 56-42, the senate just confirmed Trump nominee, openly gay Richard Grenell, as ambassador to Germany. 
With his confirmation, Grenell becomes one of the most prominent openly gay Trump appointees. Grenell’s supporters include Stuart Milk, co-founder of the Harvey Milk Foundation and nephew of the late gay civil rights leader. Milk told The New York Times in March that he believed Grenell’s confirmation would “send an important message” to the LGBTQ community about their place in the Trump administration.
Here’s the rest. Unfortunately, I didn’t see this trending in too many places. But gay history never does.
Troye Sivan Lied About Grindr Age, and Older Gay Men
I find this one interesting because I’ve posted a few things about why I don’t like the way Hollywood normalized a sexual relationship between a 17 year old barely legal boy and an older man in the movie, Call Me By Your Name.
Now Troye Sivan is speaking up about how he felt as a 17 year old kid dealing with predatory behavior. At the time, Sivan was lying about his age with a fake ID on Grindr. And that’s because he was a kid. And you don’t blame the kid. This is what kids do.

There’s actually a song about it on the album called ’17’… Originally the chorus of the song was ‘Here he comes, like he just walked out of a dream, doesn’t care that you’re 17’. And I was like ‘uh, that sounds a bit predatory’, and maybe it was a little bit.
There’s something about this one I find so sad.

A PG Rated Gay Romance

Altered Parts: Limited Edition


In Their Prime by Ryan Field


Joy Reid Once Apologized For Homophobic Comments; More Gay Content On Netflix; Amazon's "After Forever" and Older Gay Men

Joy Reid Once Apologized For Homophobic Comments

This has been a big story all week. MSNBC’s Joy Reid allegedly published homophobic blog posts a while back, and she’s claiming that she didn’t write the old posts and that her now defunct blog was hacked. 

But this article takes things to a new level. This is about an apology Reid made before these allegedly hacked posts started to surface. 

There’s this…

 Joy Reid, host of the weekend MSNBC show “AM Joy,” apologized more than four months ago for homophobic comments she admitted to making on her blog in the mid-2000s.

But now she’s suggesting she didn’t write many of the posts in the first place — that instead she was hacked.

And then there’s this…

Reid did not specify which posts she believed were fraudulent or which offensive comments she allegedly didn’t write. She offered no explanation for why she apologized for homophobic comments in December yet now claims a nefarious person must have hacked her.

You can read it in full, here. 

If you do a simple search you’ll find a lot more about this one. I also found this…

In one post Reid allegedly wrote she didn’t go see “Brokeback Mountain” because “I didn’t want to watch the two male characters having sex.”

I followed a lot of publishing blogs back then, but I never followed Reid’s blog so I can’t comment. What’s interesting is that every blog I ever followed that shuttered was never deleted. I used to follow Miss Snark on Google, daily, and that blog is still up. And if I were to shutter this blog, I wouldn’t delete it. I’d just leave it up indefinitely. Most bloggers who stop blogging don’t delete the entire blog. Besides, it’s pretty much impossible to hide content anywhere on the internet. I hope we hear more about this…one way or the other. 

With all that said, as a blogger with over one million hits who’s been around for almost ten years now, I don’t think I’ve ever written a post that I would be ashamed of. However, I have written a few posts that I probably wouldn’t write today. And that’s because like everyone else I sometimes evolve on certain issues and I feel differently about them as time moves on. Bloggers are allowed to do that, too. 

More Gay Content On Netflix

Here’s the latest announcement from Netflix.

The streaming giant has officially revealed plans to revive Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City.

The TV adaptation of Maupin’s popular book series revolving around queer life in San Francisco originally aired as a miniseries in the ’90s, and will make its triumphant return on Netflix next year.
Here’s more. I’ll be looking out for this one. 
Amazon’s After Forever and Older Gay Men
This is something new that’s streaming now on Amazon. I have to make a point of checking it out. 
So begins After Forever, Amazon’s new micro-series that mediates on the nature of commitment and its boundaries. The show, streaming now, looks at life after the death of an intimate partner.
I’ve known many older gay people who’ve lost their life partners or spouses. When one of my older friends lost his husband he claimed it was the worst day of his life, and then he died a year later. I’ve seen that happen several times. This is not new to gay people (men and women), but it is new to TV with regard to content about gay couples. 
A PG Rated Gay Romance

Altered Parts: Limited Edition


In Their Prime by Ryan Field






Joy Reid Once Apologized For Homophobic Comments; More Gay Content On Netflix; Amazon’s "After Forever" and Older Gay Men

Joy Reid Once Apologized For Homophobic Comments

This has been a big story all week. MSNBC’s Joy Reid allegedly published homophobic blog posts a while back, and she’s claiming that she didn’t write the old posts and that her now defunct blog was hacked. 

But this article takes things to a new level. This is about an apology Reid made before these allegedly hacked posts started to surface. 

There’s this…

 Joy Reid, host of the weekend MSNBC show “AM Joy,” apologized more than four months ago for homophobic comments she admitted to making on her blog in the mid-2000s.

But now she’s suggesting she didn’t write many of the posts in the first place — that instead she was hacked.

And then there’s this…

Reid did not specify which posts she believed were fraudulent or which offensive comments she allegedly didn’t write. She offered no explanation for why she apologized for homophobic comments in December yet now claims a nefarious person must have hacked her.

You can read it in full, here. 

If you do a simple search you’ll find a lot more about this one. I also found this…

In one post Reid allegedly wrote she didn’t go see “Brokeback Mountain” because “I didn’t want to watch the two male characters having sex.”

I followed a lot of publishing blogs back then, but I never followed Reid’s blog so I can’t comment. What’s interesting is that every blog I ever followed that shuttered was never deleted. I used to follow Miss Snark on Google, daily, and that blog is still up. And if I were to shutter this blog, I wouldn’t delete it. I’d just leave it up indefinitely. Most bloggers who stop blogging don’t delete the entire blog. Besides, it’s pretty much impossible to hide content anywhere on the internet. I hope we hear more about this…one way or the other. 

With all that said, as a blogger with over one million hits who’s been around for almost ten years now, I don’t think I’ve ever written a post that I would be ashamed of. However, I have written a few posts that I probably wouldn’t write today. And that’s because like everyone else I sometimes evolve on certain issues and I feel differently about them as time moves on. Bloggers are allowed to do that, too. 

More Gay Content On Netflix

Here’s the latest announcement from Netflix.

The streaming giant has officially revealed plans to revive Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City.

The TV adaptation of Maupin’s popular book series revolving around queer life in San Francisco originally aired as a miniseries in the ’90s, and will make its triumphant return on Netflix next year.
Here’s more. I’ll be looking out for this one. 
Amazon’s After Forever and Older Gay Men
This is something new that’s streaming now on Amazon. I have to make a point of checking it out. 
So begins After Forever, Amazon’s new micro-series that mediates on the nature of commitment and its boundaries. The show, streaming now, looks at life after the death of an intimate partner.
I’ve known many older gay people who’ve lost their life partners or spouses. When one of my older friends lost his husband he claimed it was the worst day of his life, and then he died a year later. I’ve seen that happen several times. This is not new to gay people (men and women), but it is new to TV with regard to content about gay couples. 
A PG Rated Gay Romance

Altered Parts: Limited Edition


In Their Prime by Ryan Field






The Homophobic Indiana Pizza Joint That Raised 850K Online Is Out of Business; The Viral Rugby Gay Kiss; He's Gay and Christian

The Homophobic Indiana Pizza Joint That Raised 850K Online Is Out of Business

I posted about this pizza place a few times.

This is the very same place that hit the headlines in 2015 because they said they would never cater a gay wedding back when VP Mike Pence who was the governor of Indiana at the time signed that homophobic religious freedom and restoration act.

This just in: Memories Pizza is officially out of business. A hand-written sign in the front window says the “Christian establishment” has been shuttered. No explanation has been given.

I’m very curious about this one.

You can read the rest, here. 


The Viral Rugby Gay Kiss

I know this looks unimportant at a glance. Who needs to prove something like this to the world? But if you look at it as breaking down stigmas and shame, and standing up for what you believe in, it takes on a whole new meaning. In other words, anyone should be able to kiss in public in a harmless way without fear or even a hint of shame.

The back story to this is that a month ago a rugby star posted comments that gay people will end up in hell, and he was not penalized with a sanction.

Simon Dunn, the openly gay bobsledder, decided a photo would be worth a thousand words and shared a “victory kiss” with his partner Felix while dressed in rugby gear. They both play on London’s queer-inclusive Kings Cross Steelers.

You can check that out, here. There’s a photo of the two kissing.


He’s Gay and Christian

I’m always amazed that some people…gay and straight…don’t think there are gay Christians. I see it all the time. Well, here’s proof that people like the anti-gay homophobic Christians who won’t serve gay people pizza or wedding cake because it goes against their misguided religious beliefs do NOT have an exclusive on religion or Christianity. There are, indeed, many gay Christians and they are not going to disappear any time soon. 

Meet Marshall Bang (a.k.a MRSHLL). He’s a Korean-American singer from California on mission to conquer South Korea’s music scene as an openly gay Christian K-pop superstar.

Here’s more. 

A PG Rated Gay Romance

Altered Parts: Limited Edition


In Their Prime by Ryan Field



The Homophobic Indiana Pizza Joint That Raised 850K Online Is Out of Business; The Viral Rugby Gay Kiss; He’s Gay and Christian

The Homophobic Indiana Pizza Joint That Raised 850K Online Is Out of Business

I posted about this pizza place a few times.

This is the very same place that hit the headlines in 2015 because they said they would never cater a gay wedding back when VP Mike Pence who was the governor of Indiana at the time signed that homophobic religious freedom and restoration act.

This just in: Memories Pizza is officially out of business. A hand-written sign in the front window says the “Christian establishment” has been shuttered. No explanation has been given.

I’m very curious about this one.

You can read the rest, here. 


The Viral Rugby Gay Kiss

I know this looks unimportant at a glance. Who needs to prove something like this to the world? But if you look at it as breaking down stigmas and shame, and standing up for what you believe in, it takes on a whole new meaning. In other words, anyone should be able to kiss in public in a harmless way without fear or even a hint of shame.

The back story to this is that a month ago a rugby star posted comments that gay people will end up in hell, and he was not penalized with a sanction.

Simon Dunn, the openly gay bobsledder, decided a photo would be worth a thousand words and shared a “victory kiss” with his partner Felix while dressed in rugby gear. They both play on London’s queer-inclusive Kings Cross Steelers.

You can check that out, here. There’s a photo of the two kissing.


He’s Gay and Christian

I’m always amazed that some people…gay and straight…don’t think there are gay Christians. I see it all the time. Well, here’s proof that people like the anti-gay homophobic Christians who won’t serve gay people pizza or wedding cake because it goes against their misguided religious beliefs do NOT have an exclusive on religion or Christianity. There are, indeed, many gay Christians and they are not going to disappear any time soon. 

Meet Marshall Bang (a.k.a MRSHLL). He’s a Korean-American singer from California on mission to conquer South Korea’s music scene as an openly gay Christian K-pop superstar.

Here’s more. 

A PG Rated Gay Romance

Altered Parts: Limited Edition


In Their Prime by Ryan Field



The Benham Brothers On Teaching Teens BDSM; Penis News: Broke His Penis And Wrote A Book; Straight Men Share What Sex Feels Like With A Penis;

The Benham Brothers On Teaching Teens BDSM

Apparently, $400,000 of taxpayer money is being spent to teach teens about sex practices like BDSM, and the very conservative Benham brothers are speaking up about it. 
“They include ‘a sex-positive view of BDSM’ (uh, that means bondage, dominance, sadomasochism, in case you were wondering) and the mechanics of anal and oral sex, how to masturbate and to question your gender.”
“Have we really gotten to this point, America? Teaching a sex-positive view of BDSM?! To our kids?!”
Here’s the rest.  I don’t know enough about the program to comment. And, frankly, kids today seem to know everything anyway. 


Penis News: Broke His Penis and Wrote A Book

Here’s an interesting story about taking a real life bad situation and making the best of it. It’s about a guy who broke his penis, and then wrote a book about it. 
“I think that all men in the depths of their brain know that this is possible. And I will go a step further and say that most men have probably had scares where maybe it bent a little bit, myself included,” Asdourian said.
Here’s the rest.  It goes into a lot more detail, and it’s a really a very interesting story. I love the way he titled the book…Broken Bananah. 


Straight Men Share What Sex Feels Like With A Penis
Speaking of the Benham brothers, this is very heteronormative, but interesting all the same. 
It’s a fact of life. An unbridgeable gap in understanding. It is something that will always come up in hypotheticals, when asked what we’d do if we had a penis for the day or whether we’d rather change sex every time we sneezed or always smell like butter.

Here’s more. Some of it can be amusing. Not much about butt sex, though, which we all know straight men love. 

A PG Rated Gay Romance

Altered Parts: Limited Edition


In Their Prime by Ryan Field