The AARP in real life is not a militant group. They are a seniors' advocacy group that works primarily through litigation and lobbying and provides special non-profit services to its members.

If Trey Parker and Matt Stone had done a little more research, they may have found a perfect target for their satire: the Gray Panthers.

In case the name doesn't say it all, the Gray Panthers are retirees' answer to Huey P. Newton. I couldn't freaking believe it when I came across it. I mean, who ever heard of militant seniors, particularly when their founder was quoted suggesting that since women often outlive men by eight years on average, elderly widows should look to each other for sexual pleasure.

Notwithstanding the personally unpleasant mental picture drawn by such a statement, I applaud the Gray Panthers. While the AARP is a decent enough organization, it's good to see that the spirit of resistance is not lost in the older generations.

Furthermore, my pleasure with the Gray Panthers comes from (and for those who have read Unite the Activist Front, this will come as no surprise) the fact that they adamantly believe that all social justice movements are inseparably linked. As such, they affirm their solidarity with movements in support of youth, ethnic, racial and cultural minorities, peace, LGBT liberation, civil liberties, the poor and the working class.

Granted, some of their statements may seem outrageous and controversial to the general public, but what good is free expression without using it to search for new ideas? Old lesbians may not do it for most people, but if it makes them happy, what's the harm? Which does go to highlight the question: shouldn't we all be free to explore our sexuality at our own pleasure?

In conclusion, I salute the courage, attitudes, values, vision and assertiveness of the Gray Panthers. May they continue to valiantly defy ageism, and may we all stand by their side! You can visit their site at http://www.graypanthers.org/

In my personal opinion, the shots came out rather well, especially considering that I wore no makeup apart from a simple black eyeliner.

The idea was to look "real", as if I could plausibly be in a real war zone.

Some of the photos from this shoot can be viewed at the NCMG Ning site:

http://noctiscultus.ning.com/

Have a look, and join the site while you are there!

GO USA!

~NN.

It was all about pregnancy and women who have written books.  Hello?  Several things happened.

I learned some stuff.  One thing I learned is that I have, for the past 13-15 years been pronouncing the name of one of my fave feminist presses totally wrong.  "Cleis" does not rhyme with "mice."  If I remember correctly, it is pronounced "CLEE-is."  Or something like that.  I also learned that I've been pronouncing the name of the woman who coordinates most if not all of the family stuff at the Center wrong in my head all along, as well.  That's what happens when a girl spends too much time with her nose in books and blogs, instead of talking with real people.

I started a little peeved and flipped to relieved.  The panel included some really cool people, none of them non-bio co-moms.  There was the fabulous and pregnant Karin Cook, author of the novel What Girls Learn. The honored one at the event was first-time memoirist and funny grrrl, Andrea Askowitz, author of My Miserable, Lonely, Lesbian Pregnancy. Not only was her book funny, but I was impressed with her self-promotion skills.  She had set up an entire book tour on her own.  I guess when one raises a kid on her own, setting up a book tour isn't so tough. Linda Villarosa, co-author of The Black Parenting Book, was amazingly gregarious and funny.  Also on the panel was a woman who works at CNN, whose name escapes me.  And the beautiful Louise Sloan, also an author of Knock Yourself Up, a How-To for the single mamawannabe.

I'm sure the organizer took great pains to make the panel representative.   It was racially and sort of situationally.  Yet, none of the women on the panel represented the women who would be the audience of my book.  I know it was about pregnancy, so I can't get too picky, here.  BUT the partners of the partnered members of the panel were in the audience.  So when the questions opened up, we did get to hear from them.  Karin Cook's partner, Robin, was achingly honest about her insecurities during Karin's first pregnancy and their early motherhood.  I wish I'd had my tape recorder.  I got to mention my book and people seemed excited.  I felt, however, coming away from the event, that we had left the position of the co-mom in a bit too much of a negative light.  Even though another woman raised her hand and said she had the exact opposite experience of Robin's and the CNN woman's partner said being the non-bio mom was a "great deal."

So... if the woman who came up to me afterwards and asked for my name and I gave her my blog address is actually checking this blog, I have to follow up with this: being the co-mom does often rock.  Though we may be very sympathetic or empathetic to our partners, it is far more comfortable to be the one who does not have cracked nipp1es from learning to breastfeed, the one who does not have heartburn for 3 straight months.  I have a strong memory of going out for margaritas (while my partner was home with morning sickness-- I'm a bad girlfriend) to celebrate the fact that I would be a mother soon.  If your partner has a c-section, you actually get to hold the baby before she does.  And you get to sleep for those fifteen minutes the baby stops crying in the night because he's on the bo0b.  You partner does not.  Most importantly, motherhood is motherhood.  If you are the kind of person who is cut out for parenthood, biology doesn't matter that much.  Especially after the first six months.  Once you get to feed that baby when he or she is hungry, there's really not much more that limits your experience as a mother, biology or not.  This seems like a kind of random and weird list of reasons why being the co-mom rocks.  But I will be eight months pregnant in two days, so I'm playing my pregnancy card for the right to write random and weird lists.  That's how my brain works these days.

The organizer, Terry Boggis (does not rhyme with fog-iss), said that they had tried to organize several support groups for non-bio moms and it always ended up being one lonely mom sitting there waiting for others to show up.  It took me a while to get over that image.  The more I think about it, the more it makes sense, though.  Co-moms, at the time they need the most support, are the least able to go hang out at the Center.  I needed a support group when my honey was pregnant and before Cakie started to eat solid foods.  Guess what?  I had my hands full.  Before he was born, I was busy trying to force-feed my honey healthy food and keep the house from falling into complete ruin. (I didn't do a stellar job with the keeping-house-from-ruin part.)  After he was born, I was busy bringing burp clothes and pillows to my honey; holding Cakie and trying to remember the words to lullabies; changing flying poop diapers; hogging the stroller from my honey; trying to keep my eyes open at work and trying to keep them shut, at least for a few minutes at a time, during the night.  I had no time for support when I needed it most.

It is always a treat to meet fabulous dykes.  This was  special in both an  internal and external way.  It gave me  pause to reflect on my book a bit, it gave me a little networking opportunity, and it  gave me a night out of the house!  All-in-all, not a bad way to spend a Tuesday evening.

Orgia była, i owszem, ale gdzie indziej: w trailerze drugiej serii Skins, do którego nawiązuje zakazany poster. Sęk w tym, że emisja serii dobiegła końca miesiąc temu i o tamtych materiałach promocyjnych nikt by dziś nie pamiętał, gdyby nie ASA. Zresztą, z tej perspektywy nic złego się nie stało: zwiastun był artystycznym majstersztykiem, zatem fakt, że dzięki medialnemu szumowi obejrzy go teraz więcej osób, to prawdopodobnie dla marketingowców Channel 4 powód do świętowania...

Tymczasem na deser, w roli teasera, kilka fragmentów pierwszego odcinka drugiej serii, składających się na krótki moralitet z zaskakującą pointą:

From the BBC:

The Pope's chief astronomer says that life on Mars cannot be ruled out.

Writing in the Vatican newspaper, the astronomer, Father Gabriel Funes, said intelligent beings created by God could exist in outer space.

Father Funes, director of the Vatican Observatory near Rome, is a respected scientist who collaborates with universities around the world.

The search for forms of extraterrestrial life, he says, does not contradict belief in God.

The official Vatican newspaper headlines his article 'Aliens Are My Brother'.

...

Just as there are multiple forms of life on earth, so there could exist intelligent beings in outer space created by God. And some aliens could even be free from original sin, he speculates.

Asked about the Catholic Church's condemnation four centuries ago of the Italian astronomer and physicist, Galileo, Father Funes diplomatically says mistakes were made, but it is time to turn the page and look towards the future.

Science and religion need each other, and many astronomers believe in God, he assures readers.

To strengthen its scientific credentials, the Vatican is organising a conference next year to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of the author of the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin. (article here)

...

The Hostess: How nice of the Vatican to accept the idea of life on other planets, but still not accept the love between two women or two men.

The next Main Line LGBT Happy Hour will be on Wednesday, May 21, at 7:00 PM, at Bordeaux (formerly the New Orleans Cafe), which is at 1 West State Street in Media.

We hope to see lots of people there!

Also, if anyone has any ideas, suggestions, etc. for upcoming happy hours, drop us a line!

mainlinelgbt@gmail.com

From the BBC:

If last week's victory was a squeak, this week's was a roar. A two-to-one win over Barack Obama in a state which - as Senator Clinton has frequently reminded her supporters - no successful Democratic candidate for the White House has lost in nearly a century. And that includes, of course, her husband, Bill.

Her most recent reminder came in a victory speech that was more defiant in tone than the one she had given in Indianapolis last week.

Standing alone on stage, she used the kind of metaphors that might be expected in the Mountain State. The people of West Virginia, she said, knew about "the rough roads to the top of the mountain".

...

For me last night, it was the phone ringing and a call from a friend about something completely different. We had been chatting it up for a while, and I finally said sheepishly..."Listen...sorry about the 'end game' posts I've been putting on the blog about Hillary". She was in fact one of the few people I had told I was voting for Clinton in the PA. primary...she had voted for Hillary also. She laughed and said although she cringed when she read them, she knew that I was all about the Democratic Party...

We went on to talk about getting together soon and that was it, but it got me thinking...

Very recently my mother told me, "Your father was a Yellow Dog Democrat...he'd vote for the devil himself if he was a Democrat." I knew Dad was stubborn...I just thought he was a stubborn Republican.

What I realized from last night is that I'm a Yellow Dog Democrat also, and what my friend helped me realize also, is that not everyone will think in terms of "The Party", but in terms of the two individuals running for president. So with this serious win in West Virginia, Clinton supporters have voiced their continued support for the candidate that they think will be the best.

As I listened to Clinton's speech I heard three things...1) That she wants everyone in the country to have a chance to vote. 2) She will fully support the nominee for president...whomever that may be. 3) Lastly, and most importantly for me, she said that she thought "Our Party" can withstand this competition for the nominee.

I'll take her at her word...and I'll take Obama at his word...and I'll vote Democrat in November.

p.s. Let's go drinking soon, "C". First one's one me...

Não é de hoje que o mercado homossexual vem chamando a atenção das empresas. Além do mais, a maioria dos homossexuais não constituem uma família (esposa/marido, filhos, etc.). No máximo arranjam um parceiro. Ou seja, os homossexuais não têm gastos extras em suas contas. Permitindo assim, que eles gastem, uma maior quantia da renda, com eles mesmos. Fato que, geralmente, não ocorre com os heterossexuais (por diversos motivos).

Enquanto eu pesquisava sobre isso, encontrei a seguinte matéria: "Aumento da publicidade dirigida ao público gay". Eu achei o texto bem interessante. Vale a pena para quem quiser saber mais sobre o assunto.

Mas por quê estou falando dos homossexuais, se o assunto era "O Carro Mais Vendido"? Bem, ontem um amigo me fez a seguinte pergunta (no MSN): "Responda rápido: Qual o carro mais procurado pelo público gay?". Os primeiros que me passaram pela cabeça foram: CrossFox, Idea, Vitara, etc. (rs). E, então, ele me mandou este Link: "EUA: Golf é o mais procurado em site gay".

Pois é, eu estava errado! O meu pré-conceito não me permitiu ver além. Só por quê, na minha opinião, estes carros são típicos carros de mulher (bonito e sem motor), associei-os ao público gay. Mas, na verdade, eles preferem a pontência do motor do que a beleza. Claro que, pelo que dá para ver pela lista, se der para ser bonito também: melhor!

Bom, segue a lista dos dez carros preferidos do público gay:

1. Rabbit (Volkswagen)
2. Eos (Volkswagen)
3. Yaris (Toyota)
4. MX-5 Miata (Mazda)
5. A3 (Audi)
6. Jetta (Volkswagen)
7. 9-3 (Saab)
8. Caliber (Dodge)
9. C30 (Volvo)
10. Mazda3 (Mazda)

Fonte: Carsale

Observação: Nos Estados Unidos o Golf é chamado de Rabbit.

Christopher Rice

"That's not what I do. I might be more open to that label if I hadn't introduced ensemble casts of characters. Granted, A Density of Souls is as close to a gay book as you can get. It revolves around a character's homosexuality and others are described in terms of their reaction to the one character's sexuality. In that sense it's at the core of the book. The Snow Garden is about identity. With this book, I'm trying to shrug off the term "gay" author."

Why can't we get over this pigheaded particular/general dichotomy? The author, quite understandably, avoids getting pigeonholed, but can we gainsay the importance of advocating or advancing a particular respectable cause?

My daughter recently had a friend "come out" to her. She said she had tried to tell her mother but that her mother freaked out so she immediately said she was joking.

Did you know that every five hours an LGBT teen takes their own life? And for every teen that actually does take their own life, there are 20 more that try? The suicide hotline says that one of the top five reasons people claim they want to commit suicide is for religious reasons. These people claim there is no place for them and God.

Historically, it has been extremely easy to get people to internalize judgment and condemnation. Also, when people are afraid, they have to find scape goats. If you can scape goat people who have internalized judgment and condemnation, you've got it made and it becomes very easy to use the Bible as an effective weapon. It becomes an excuse to hate.

It does make me wonder - maybe the Romans were right to say that only the few should interpret the Bible - that the Bible, in the hands of the wrong people, would become dangerous.

We leave Thursday morning and I'm beginning to feel a bit anxious. This trip was originally planned as a small gathering of those bloggers that had, or tried, to make it to the Boston gathering last fall. Now, it's been rolled into the annual NYC gathering which historically has been a fairly large group. Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely looking forward to meeting these folks, but I'm a little uneasy in large groups of people I don't, or barely, know.

It takes me a little time to feel comfortable in these situations, kind of like accompanying a spouse to a work gathering, so I live by the rule: "take your own party". Mark will be with me and he's one of the most social people I've ever met yet even he's admitted to a little anxiety but, he's my party, so I'm sure we'll have a good time. Better yet, Tony and Tate will be there and we'll be meeting them for lunch before the main event and that will add to "our party". So, for now, I'm busying myself with the usual travel preparations and trying not to think beyond our lunch with the gurrrls. I feel I know them well enough that we'll fall into comfortable camaraderie in no time.

And...if I don't feel comfortable after the meet and greet that night...I won't have any trouble finding something to do for the next four days. After all...it's hard to be bored in NYC.

From MSNBC New York:

It's called the Healthcare Equality Index, and just over half of 88 hospitals got top marks under this new rating system created by the Human Rights Campaign and the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association, which hope the standards will result in more compassionate treatment of gay and lesbian patients.

Policies addressed in the ratings include patient nondiscrimination, visitation and decision-making rights for partners, diversity training for staff, and nondiscriminatory employment practices.

The hospitals participated voluntarily, and the groups behind the report said there will be no effort to rate hospitals which don't want to respond. Instead, they hope many hospitals will strive for high ratings as the survey recurs annually.

Some responses to the new survey came from hospital networks. Kaiser Permanente, answering on behalf of 31 hospitals in California and Hawaii, said all met the survey’s 10 criteria. They were among 45 hospitals in all with top marks.

University Hospitals of Cleveland, representing 10 Ohio hospitals, said they fully met only two criteria — domestic partner benefits for employees and a patient nondiscrimination policy that includes sexual orientation.

The HRC and the medical association said their goal is to highlight hospitals with high rankings and induce others to abandon inequitable practices.

The healthcare index includes recommendations for hospitals, starting with the forms filled out by patients. It recommends that “transgender” be an option for gender and that relationship status include the term “partnered” as well as “single,” “married,” “divorced” and “widowed.” (full article here)

HRC's website page (here) on the Healthcare Equality Index, has a link to the index where you can check by state which hospitals participated.

...

On a local note, I checked Pennsylvania and found only one (Pennsylvania Hospital) listed. I'm not sure why more weren't listed, but I know that the Mainline Heath System, which hospitals include: Lankenau, Bryn Mawr, and Paoli have non-LGBT discrimination policies in place, and that last fall, a representative from the Bryson Institute met with the Mainline Health System's Diversity Committee and gave a seminar about LGBT issues regarding patients and employees. So, just because a hospital isn't on the list, doesn't necessarily mean it's behind in LGBT concerns.

By Jeremy Reynalds
Correspondent for ASSIST News Service

 ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (ANS) -- It’s a tragedy that Cheryl Moss Tyler’s book “And You Invited Me In” would be considered controversial in most conservative evangelical circles.

And remember, you don't have to be gay to enjoy it!

Support Guelph Pride 2008.

Read Maggie Cassella's bio here.

Many of the Pagans I know are into polyamory. Personally, I am intrigued by this lifestyle a lot. For my part, I have been involved in a couple open relationships: One in which I and my date were both married to others, and one in which I was dating a married woman while single. Let me put a disclaimer here though. Polyamory is NOT cheating. It's about exploring love with multiple partners. In our cases, our husbands/wife gave us their blessing, and indeed they dated, with our blessings too.

This isn't a lifestyle I would advocate because of all the potential hang-ups, but my experience has been that it can be very rewarding. Even though I am single now, I think an open relationship is a necessity for me to be happy long-term. Outside of Pagan communities, it can be very difficult to find people interested in polyamory, particularly because of societal pressure to conform to traditional standards. However, inside Pagan communities, this idea is very much accepted and many people share loving relationships with multiple partners. Again, though, another disclaimer: Not all Pagans are polyamorists.

BDSM is another thing a few Pagans have in common. It can be a very rewarding experience in its own right, and because Pagans have such an accepting view, most view it without judgment so long as it is between consensual adults. I know of a few that even live 24/7 BDSM lifestyles, and quite happily I should add.

Pagans also tend to be very open to many, many other lifestyles. A Pagan community with hang-ups about LGBT or otherwise queer relationships is unheard of. In fact, one of the Wiccan covens I know of is made up of all lesbians save for one married man and woman. (FYI: Wiccans are Pagans, but definitely not all Pagans are Wiccans.)

After growing up in a Mormon household where I was forced to attend church and regular church activities, learning about Paganism was a huge relief. Here were all these ideas that I had known to be true for years, and I finally had something I could relate to.

Identity can be a tricky thing. Labels rarely fit in their entirely because of how restrictive they are, but the Pagan label is quite loose and all that I believe fits somewhere under its umbrella. Perhaps I'll talk about that at a later date, too.

Thanks for reading! If any of you would like to hear more about anything I've discussed in any of my posts, leave a comment or send me an E-mail. I'll see if I can work it into my next post.

...in my holy water...

Robert Rauschenberg, artist, multi-media pioneer, pop icon, creative giant, visionary everyman, philanthropist, and force of nature, died yesterday at the age of 82.

Critic Robert Hughes described him as

"a protean genius who showed America that all of life could be open to art. ...Rauschenberg didn't give a fig for consistency, or curating his reputation; his taste was always facile, omnivorous, and hit-or-miss, yet he had a bigness of soul and a richness of temperament that recalled Walt Whitman.

From a 2005 NY Times feature, Rauschenberg discusses his signature multimedia pieces, or "combines":

"I really feel sorry for people who think things like soap dishes or mirrors or Coke bottles are ugly, because they're surrounded by things like that all day long, and it must make them miserable," he has said, bringing to mind Whitman's remark, "I do not doubt there is far more in trivialities, insects, vulgar persons, slaves, dwarfs, weeds, rejected refuse than I have supposed."

Whitman counseled veterans in hospitals during the Civil War, and - poetic symmetry - Mr. Rauschenberg did the same for draftees and soldiers with acute combat psychoses during World War II. This, he told the art writer Calvin Tomkins years ago, was when he "learned how little difference there is between sanity and insanity and realized that a combination is essential.

It always amazed me that Port Arthur, Texas gave Janis Joplin and Robert Rauschenberg to the world. I've often used that fact as an argument to the shortsighted assholes that toss off comments about "red" vs. "blue" America. Granted that talent and creativity don't always flourish in the place of their genesis, and that Joplin and Rauschenberg had to leave in order to fully achieve their greatness, but no one can ever know where genius and beauty, usefulness and value, might come from, the totality of experience and locale that might create such American masters like these two. This idea that we can just write off huge portions of this country as lost or blighted is the epitome of dulled, cynical tunnel vision. It's the same kind of thinking that couldn't grasp the genius and soul in Rauschenberg's inspired assemblages of found or discarded materials, the combines of the mundane, the humble, the weedy and rusty, the stuff of life right there in front of our eyes, under our feet.

Photo: Pilgrim (1950)

Related:
31 Flavors - Ngo
31 Flavors - Carlos Freire
31 Flavors - Ibrahim Baaith
31 Flavors - David Gandi
31 Flavors - Rameriz Allender
31 Flavors - Thiago Ruffinelli
31 Flavors - Fernando Sippel
31 Flavors - Marco da Silva and Anthony Kaye
I Think I'm in Love

According to Wikipedia, Rambo wrote over 2500 songs including stellar church athemns "He looked beyond my faults and saw my needs" (recorded by Andrae Crouch) and "We Shall Behold Him" (recorded by Vickie Winans) and "I go to the rock" (recorded by Whitney Houston).

GCM Watch extends condolences to the family of Dottie Rambo.

You may be wondering what this has to do with gay christianity. As we have reported before, the lines between the gay church and the "mainstream" Christianity are being erased quietly by those in the religious music industry. Their websites never list their gay church engagements. While reading on the life of Dottie Rambo, we came across the following exchange on the Soulforce message board. Yes, that Soulforce.

I had to tell ya'll about my experience this past weekend in Long Beach, CA. My partner and I have only been out a little over a year to our friends and family, and we have gotten involved in a GLBT [gay] church in Houston, TX. They make an annual trek to Long Beach every year for this conference, and I was amazed and astonished at the people they had for speakers One was Peggy Campolo, who unabashedly supports gay rights and has for years. Her husband, Tony, does not however. They had Don Milam, a Christian publisher, who over the past 10 years or so, has been brought to a deeper understanding of God's grace and how the church has failed in showing it to gays and lesbians. His granddaughter came out about a year ago, and he was put into contact with the pastor( Sandy Turnbull) of Glory Tabernacle Christian Center in Long Beach, where the conference is held, and she helped him come to grips with his granddaughter's lesbianism. Since then, he has written and spoken about his revelation of God's anointing of gay Christians. Last but certainly not least, Dony McGuire and Reba Rambo-McGuire and their children, Destiny and Israel, provided the praise and worship. I remember Reba Rambo singing with her parents Buck and Dottie Rambo in my teens. For her and her husband to sing in a gay church, and conference was astounding. The most moving and beautiful things at this conference was Saturday night, when Dony McGuire and Reba Rambo invited all the pastors of gay churches that were there, to come up on the stage, remove their shoes and he and his wife, personally washed their feet apologizing for the years he and his wife, and the Christian church at large had thrown stones , maligned God's work in Gay churches, and had excluded and thrown out these pastors and their congregations. He and Reba wept as they washed and kissed the feet of these pastors. He said that over the past year, his church has gone through some tough times because he has invited gay people to come in and welcomed them. Several members have left and he has caught a bunch of flack (sp?) because of his inclusion of GLBT people into his church. Needless to say it was a wonderful experience, and I left with hope that maybe the straight churches are slowly coming around and seeing that God is moving mightily in gay churches.

The poster continued:

Reba Rambo is the daughter of Buck and Dottie Rambo, who were Southern Gospel music giants. They were popular among that crowd of people who enjoyed that music. It is not surprising that a lot of people don't know who they are. The only reason I know who she is, is because I grew up listening to her parents' music, as well as a lot of other Southern Gospel singers. Reba married Dony McGuire, another singer in that genre, and they more or less left that genre, to pursue a more evangelistic ministry and now have a church in Nashville, called The River.

When I heard that she and her husband had begun a minsitry to GLBT people, it floored me because of her roots. Equally, I was floored to see that Cynthia Clawson and her husband, Ragan Courtney, ( Christian singers and songwriters) support GLBT rights. I told Reba at the conference that my parents had not spoken to me since coming out, and she cried. The foot washing she and her husband did was in no small way one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.

Apparently, Rambo's daughter and son-in-law have been increasingly pushing the false gay christian doctrine. What's interesting is that the Rambo's church site (The River) claims that it is a place for people who have been "ousted" from other churches. That seems to be a coded for people who dont want other people to tell them the truth about their sin. The Rambos are under the "covering" of the International Communion of Covenant Churches once headed by Earl Paulk.p>

...

Stir's website

New videos this week:  movie  trailers for 1) 9 Dead Gay Guys (a really funny movie), 2) The Trip (so sad I cried), 3) Cowboys and Angels, 4) No One Sleeps and 5) a short story called "The Burning Boy."  Plus we have some eye candy from guys on Waikki Beach, Hawaii.

Our good friends from JRP TV (Caracas, Venezuela) has uploaded videos from 2008 Miss Gay Global Beauties, 2007 Gay Caracas & Monica Naranjo performing at Miss Gay Carribean & Global 2008.  A big shout out to Jose who has been a strong supporter - we hope to meet you some day in Caracas.  Thanks for the videos!!

New from Click Click Expose (Gay Entertainment Media) - we travel back in time to the longest running cabaret show in Atlanta, Georgia - Charlie Brown's Cabaret Show - where we see some short performances from Raven and Lauren Masters.  Also don't forget to check out the trailer for the 2008 Miss Duval Plus Pageant held at Club Metro in Jacksonville, Florida.  The big girls turned it out with the winner being India Damore - CONGRATULATIONS INDIA!!

More videos coming soon.  DON'T FORGET...leave a shout out, leave your comments and join our community.  HAPPY VIEWING!!!

Thomas

No flowers this time around. Instead, I called Mom up and spent some time talking on the phone. I tried to tell her that she did a wonderful job raising me. I tried to say that she shouldn't think she failed as a parent because her son is gay and HIV+. I'm not sure if I was successful in that regard.

I tried to impress upon her that life is not a competition. It shouldn't matter what you end up doing or where you're going so long as you're happy, so long as you're a good person or at least try to live a good life. And since my mother is one of nine children on Antonia's side of the family, I have a million cousins. I have so many cousins, it's not funny. I bet even the dust bunnies in my apartment have cousins. Most of my cousins are married and most have or plan on having kids.

My mom once lamented to me that she was looking forward to being a grandmother. Well, that's not going to happen. I seriously doubt I'll adopt, or that I'll meet a partner who will want the same thing.

She should cease comparing my life with everyone else. It really doesn't amount to a hill of beans. I can only focus on now and what might come after. I can't spend all of my life worrying about the past. Should've, could've, would've. That path doesn't lead anywhere. Life happens; you move on. I may think of the choices I've made and the things I've done, and perhaps as I grow older I'll be more contemplative. I have so much to live for and so much more that I'd like to do. I know which direction my eyes face. I choose to live.

My mother refuses to accept the notion that a man can love another man and still have a loving relationship. She says it's not natural. She uses the word "homosexual" without thinking that the word causes pain. She says I can say 'gay' but she'll continue to use 'homosexual'. Sometimes I wonder if I'm speaking to my mother and not a homophobe.

Another Mother's Day come and gone. I don't know if we'll ever see eye to eye on most things. We have a complicated relationship. We're still talking, and perhaps that's what counts.