"West 40s": Gay Sex In Middle Age; Brendon Urie Is Bisexual; Bear Week In Provincetown

West 40s: Gay Sex In Middle Age

This looks interesting.

Get ready, folks, because the hotly anticipated new web series West 40s is finally making its debut later this summer.

The series follows five gay men in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen gayborhood on their various quests for sex, love, and companionship while at the same time navigating what it means to be gay in their 40s.

Here's more, with a trailer. This one was funded through Kickstarter. I have to send a link to my friend Harvey who lives in Hell's Kitchen. 

Brendon Urie Is Bisexual

Here's another coming out story that's not quite so shocking. 

Panic! at the Disco singer Brendon Urie has come out as pansexual.

The emo-rock singer, who earlier this month donated $1 million to help LGBT kids in US schools, said it was “just people that I am attracted to.”

Here's the rest. 

Bear Week In Provincetown

I've never actually been to Bear week in P'town, but I hear it's a lot of fun. 

Provincetown might have held its very first Pride last June, but the popular location in Massachusetts isn’t new to the LGBTI community.

An all-time LGBTI favorite, the very tip of Cape Cod is famous worldwide for its Bear Week. Back for nine days of pool parties and other fun activities in the sun, the annual celebration of bears starts Friday 6 July.

You can read the rest here.  Tony and I used to go to P'town in the summer, during Halloween, and for New Year's Eve. It's a lot of fun and sometimes I miss it. But now that we go to Palm Springs there's not much time left for P'town. If you've never been there you'll love it. 

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Ohio State Wrestlers and Sex Abuse; Trans People Having Enlisting Problems; Unprotected Sex With An HIV+ Person

Ohio State Wrestlers and Sex Abuse

I've seen this story all over social media this week. The focus is on Republican Rep. Jim Jordan allegedly ignoring the abuse.

“I remember I had a thumb injury and went into Strauss’ office and he started pulling down my wrestling shorts,” he said. “I’m like, what the f— are you doing? And I went out and told Russ and Jim what happened. I was not having it. They went in and talked to Strauss.”

Here's the rest.  It's highly editorialized, though, at this link. 

Jordan is denying all accusations. This link gives the facts. 

Republican Rep. Jim Jordan is denying a report that he turned a blind eye to alleged sexual abuse at Ohio State University when he was an assistant wrestling coach.

Trans People Having Enlisting Problems

Here's another update on what's been happening with trans people in the military. 

The newest ban states: ‘Transgender persons with a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria — individuals who the policies state may require substantial medical treatment, including medications and surgery — are disqualified from military service except under certain limited circumstances.’

Here's more.  It's very eye opening. One person was denied because of knee surgery they had as an infant. 


Unprotected Sex With an HIV+ Person

Here's something about how HIV stigma is still alive in the LGBT community. 

 Only one in five gay, lesbian and bisexual people would feel comfortable having ‘unprotected’ sex with someone living with HIV.

If you don't know anything about this, I suggest you read it in full. It talks about people who are HIV+, are on effective treatment, and are undetectable.  

Here's the link. 

In Their Prime by Ryan Field

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Amazon: Amish Indiscretion

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A PG Rated Gay Romance

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Altered Parts: Limited Edition

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The Problem With Scarlet Johansson Playing A Trans Man; Tom Brady On Salad Tossing; Teen Starves and Terrorizes Gay Man

The Problem With Scarlet Johansson Playing A Trans Man

There has been a lot of discussion about this on social media. Some are outraged and offended that Johansson is playing a trans man, and others who support her just don't seem to get it. The supporters believe that it's very plain and simple: she's an actress she should be able to play any part. But there are problems with that mind set that go much deeper. It gets complicated. Could she also play Rosa Parks? Is there a double standard when it comes to marginalized groups of people? And this article I'm linking to now gets into it all far better than I can.

In 2015 I attended a screening of The Danish Girl, a film that stars cisgender actor Eddie Redmayne as Lili Elbe, the first transgender woman to successfully medically transition. It's a pretty terrible movie, a glossy representation of a woman through the lens of cisgender male objectification, relying on Redmayne's gifts as a physical mimic to carry a narrative that views Elbe as little more than a man in a dress replicating the mannerisms of women, even if apparently empathetic to that faulty perception. It's a film that means well, but it's poorly researched and cynically cast to perpetuate a trope that transgender identity is a form of crossdressing performance, a pseudo-sexual kink that deserves sympathy but no further understanding.


Here's the rest. It's well written. And I think this entire discussion in general is just about to explode. 

But we see you, Rupert. We see you, Scarlett. And we won't let you erase us so easily.


Tom Brady On Salad Tossing

This is pure fluff, but it's funny, too.

New England Patriots quarterback and proof that good things really do come in big packages Tom Brady has slipped a revealing truth about his private life into an unassuming Instagram comment.

Here's more. 


Teen Starves and Terrorizes Gay Man

This is not so funny. 

Here's an odd, scary story about a US teen and a 50 year old gay man. 

A Massachusetts teenager has been charged with assault and hate crimes against a 50 year-old gay man.

Jackson Sugrue, 19, pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault, witness intimidation and committing a hate crime.

There's more, here.  It goes into a lot more detail, with some back story.  

In Their Prime by Ryan Field

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Smashwords 

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Amazon: Amish Indiscretion

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A PG Rated Gay Romance

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Altered Parts: Limited Edition

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Tom Daley Attacked On Twitter; Facebook Group Bans Blacks and Asians; Gilbert Baker's Memoir: Creator of Rainbow Flag

Tom Daley Attacked On Twitter

I couldn't go with anything resembling the actual clickbait headline with this link. It's just too serious for clickbait. So I went with the truth...that Daley really was attacked on Twitter by some very ridiculous, vicious people with a political agenda. It's just another example of more hate toward gay people with kids.

In a new thread titled “The mother of Tom Daley’s child”, users vented about the couple’s use of a surrogate.

One commenter wrote: “The baby was both deprived of its mother and abandoned by its mother. That this happened was planned. I consider that to be child abuse.”

Here's the full story. 


Facebook Group Bans Blacks and Asians

This is just one reason why I have never liked any Facebook groups. But this group in particular is pretty bad compared to what I've seen. In fact, I've never seen anything this horrible.

A public Facebook group for gay men is under fire for openly discriminating against people of color, San Diego Gay and Lesbian News reports.

“Muscle Bear” is a public Facebook group for (white) guys who are into hairy (white) muscular men with nearly 20,000 (white) members. When a person first tries to join, they are confronted with a series of questions/statements

There's more, here. 

Gilbert Baker's Memoir: Creator of Rainbow Flag

Here's a book I'll be reading. I know very little about this and I'm curious. 

The highly anticipated memoir of Gilbert Baker, the creator of our iconic rainbow flag, is coming out next year.

Chicago Review Press announced plans to publish Rainbow Warrior in June 2019. Baker began writing the book before his death on 31 March 2017 at the age of 65.

Here's the link, where you can read an excerpt. 

In Their Prime by Ryan Field

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Smashwords 

Smashwords

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Amazon: Amish Indiscretion

In print or e-book

A PG Rated Gay Romance

Here's the Amazon link

Altered Parts: Limited Edition

And here's the Amazon link. 

Nyle DiMarco Is Naked; A Gay Disney Princess; UK's First National AIDS Memorial

Nyle DiMarco Is Naked

Here's some clickbait for you. But there's also an important very worthwhile message.

Artist Cacho Falcon covered DiMarco’s naked body in “I love you” written in sign language to show a message of support to the queer deaf community.

Here's the rest, with photos. I don't mind clickbait like this.


A Gay Disney Princess

I didn't even know this was being discussed. But it is, and according to this link not everyone is happy about it...33% oppose it.

A third of people are still uncomfortable with the idea of a gay Disney princess.

Many people may hope Elsa from Frozen gets a girlfriend but it seems that a 33% of Brits think it would be unsuitable for children.

YouGov asked British people on possible future introductions into the Disney princess canon.

Clearly, I have no problem with it. Here's more.

It's interesting because there's a huge age gap. Younger people support the idea, and not so much older people. Interesting.


UK's First National AIDS Memorial

It's nice to see this happening, and that no one is forgetting. I saw a TV report the other day that talked about how kids today don't know anything about the Holocaust. I'd hate to see that happen with AIDS.

 A group of LGBTQ campaigners have started raising money for the UK’s first national AIDS memorial to be built in London.

The AIDS Memory UK campaign aims to raise £7,500 towards a national tribute to remember those who have died from the syndrome in Britain.

You can read more, here. 



In Their Prime by Ryan Field

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Smashwords 

Smashwords

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Amazon: Amish Indiscretion

In print or e-book

A PG Rated Gay Romance

Here's the Amazon link

Altered Parts: Limited Edition

And here's the Amazon link. 

If Trump Put Peter Thiel On Supreme Court; Nico Tortorella Reads His Own Poetry; Banned Istanbul Pride Has One Street

If Trump Put Peter Thiel On Supreme Court

I'm not sure what to make of this one, and frankly I doubt it will happen, but it's an interesting thought anyway.

Peter Thiel is the wealthy openly gay Trump supporter that makes headlines all the time for being wealthy, openly gay, and supporting Trump. So they came up with 9 reasons why Trump should put Thiel on the Supreme Court.

Nowadays Thiel is just classified as a Silicon Valley tycoon. But he has impressive legal credentials. Thiel graduated from Stanford Law School and interned at the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. Thiel’s law experience may be a bit dusty, but his background is actually solid. And he’s nobody’s dummy.

Here's the rest. The comments are what you would expect. They seem to think this is a joke. 

Nico Tortorella Reads His Own Poetry

I always wonder about these things. Do authors actually go back and read their own books...ever?

Apparently, Nico reads his own book every day. 

I think the greatest way to start learning about yourself is through spiritual practice and that’s what that book was for me. It still is. I pick it up everyday and I’ll read something, and it hits me in a new way every single time. It was a guidebook that I could go back to and be inspired. I wrote that book for myself first.

You can read more, here. Maybe I've been doing something wrong. All these years I've been writing fiction for my readers, and always thinking about what they would like to read. For me it's always been about the reader. 

Don't miss the comments. 

Banned Istanbul Pride Has One Street

Whenever I start to complain about how things are here in the US, I think about how awful things are for other LGBT people on the global front. It sobers me. 

A banned LGBTI Pride march in Istanbul has been granted permission to go ahead by police, as long as marchers remain confined to just one street.

The Turkish Pride march was banned by the city’s governor’s office, late last week, citing security concerns.

Here's more. It goes on to explain what it's like to be gay in Turkey. And in spite of the confinement to one street, there are some excellent photos, with a video.

In Their Prime by Ryan Field

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Smashwords 

Smashwords

Amazon

Amazon: Amish Indiscretion

In print or e-book

A PG Rated Gay Romance

Here's the Amazon link

Altered Parts: Limited Edition

And here's the Amazon link.