Two Guys Kissing

There is something preciously sweet seeing two guys kiss. There exists this wonderful juxtaposition between their masculinity and the gentle and endearing qualities of the very act itself. As Eve Glicksman once said, "ancient lovers believed a kiss would literally unite their souls," and we tend to agree. Here's a wonderful gay video of guys kissing for your voyeuristic pleasures...enjoy!

Gay-Hating Gay Hypocrites: History Repeats Itself

The Republican Party has quite a few closeted queens. They might consider themselves straight, they're married with children, but at the same time they seem to like dick, and I don't mean Cheney. Now, whether they're gay or bisexual doesn't matter, what does matter is that while they'll back home telling their constituents they're against gay marriage, they're pro-family, and that they're all for any anti-gay legislation, they're out at nights in the Capital looking for a quick sexual encounter with another guy.

You remember Republican Congressmen Mark Foley of Florida, when last year his provocative, evocative, instant messages to a young male page were disclosed, and found to contain very sexual language. Naturally, these homoerotic IMs caused his downfall.

Just last week, Republican State Representative Bob Allen, a foe of LGBT rights in Florida, was charged with offering a cop $20 for oral sex in a washroom at Veteran's Memorial Park in Titusville. The fact that he's a co-chair of John McCain's presidential campaign in Florida is a salient piece of information. Again, another gay-hating gay down for the count.

"Out" of the Beltway, and on a local level, who can forget Jim West, the Republican Mayor of Spokane (Washington), who was caught IMing and trying to pick up a 17 year-old guy online. Again, even though he was very anti-gay in his dealings as mayor, like proposing a ban on gays from working in Washington's schools, he was caught.

The fact is Foley, Allen, and West are gay-haters who, themselves, are "somehow" gay. They've contributed to making laws that are anti-gay, but think nothing of going out in search of a little hook-up with some guy. Further, they give fodder to those gay-haters who think all gay men are out for is nothing more than picking up some young hottie and having sex with them.

These gay-hating gays are not the first to get caught, there will be more, as there has been in the past, going back to when men first started making laws against homosexuality.

Take for instance John Atherton (1598-1640). Atherton came from a wealthy family in England, went to Oxford, and then became a priest in the Anglican church. Rumor has it he'd been fooling around with other guys since his school days. Atherton left England to move to Ireland, where he became Lord Bishop of Waterford and Lismore in 1636. In his role as Lord Bishop, he successfully campaigned for the passage of an act that instituted the death penalty for the vice of buggery, you know, anal sex. Well, within four years, Atherton became one of the first men accused under this statute, and was subsequently hanged for the very gay-hating law he himself had enacted.

Let this be a lesson to those closeted Uncle Toms of the gays who work to undermine gay equal rights; you will be found, caught, and your lives ruined. Either come out of the closet, or stop your anti-gay politics; being versatile doesn't always mean having it both ways.

Gay Humor: Giving Head

A dumb, blond twink goes to the counter of a drug store and asked the clerk, "What can I do to get rid of my boyfriend's dandruff?"

"Simple," replied the clerk, "give him some Head & Shoulders."

The twink raised an eyebrow, "how do you give shoulders?"

Rita Booke: Sodom, Gomorrah, and the Gays

Resident drag queen and answerer-of-all-questions Rita Booke is asked:

Hi, Rita -
I've heard that the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is not really about homosexuality, but something to do with hospitality. I'd love to use this in an argument with some of my homophobic family members who refer to it, but need elaboration. Can you help?

Honey, this story in the Bible has been used against us time and again. The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed not because the inhabitants were gay, but because they were inhospitable to Lot's visitors at a time when it was usual practice to help out travelers and strangers. In the time of Lot, if you had a long journey, people in other towns or cities would easily take you into their house, feed you, even let you sleep the night if need be. This goes back to, "do onto others as you would have others do unto you." It was considered the right thing to do. Not being welcoming to Lot's guests, who were actually angels in disguise, and being downright inhospitable to them, was what did Sodom and Gomorrah in.

Secondly, babycakes, many people make the mistake of believing that whenever the bible says "to know" someone that it means to have sex. Our Puritanical history is such that although many ultra-conservative religious folk have this disgust towards this wonderful thing God has given us, at the same time they have this unnatural fascination with it, especially gay sex. Therefore, any time they see in the Bible sentences like, "and they wanted to know them," they think it means "and they wanted to have sex with them."

Most Biblical authorities believe this is not the case, and that in most instances, when you see the bible saying, "to know," it means just that. So, when the men of Sodom asked Lot to bring out his friends so that they can know them, they were really just wanting to get acquainted with them, and to make sure they weren't spies from some other city-state in the area. However, this doesn't excuse them, and they were still a mob that was being mobbish, inhospitable, and acting very aggressively towards Lot and his guests.

At some point, the mob becomes so unruly, that Lot actually offers his daughter as a sex-toy to them, to save his guests from harm (women were considered property and sex-toys anyway). So, here's your best argument: if Lot had lived in this city for so long, one would think he would have known they were all gay, so why the hell would he offer his daughter to them? Remind your relatives this was the same daughter who he later had sex with...ahem!

Of course, your evil family members will come up with arguments like gays can convert, so it's possible to have sex with a women, but tell them that argument is not good enough, and demand again, if Lot knew he was in a city full of homosexuals, why would he offer them his own daughter? My stars, even Jesus knew it was a story of inhospitality, cited in the Bible when he told his disciples, "If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town." Also remember that not once in the Bible did Jesus ever mention anything about homosexuality.

Remember, though, that people like this are never convinced, but at least you may have gotten them to think. As each of us has our own personal religious beliefs, tell them to believe what they want, but that you believe the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is about people who are inhospitable, unwelcoming, and not accepting of others to the table of God, and then ask these relatives which neighborhood in Sodom they're originally from.

Good luck, sweetie, you're going to need it!

Rita

Gay Cops Have an Agenda, and a GOAL

It was a Fall evening in 1981, when a retired NYPD detective and an NYPD sergeant got together for dinner. The detective, Sam Ciccone, presented sergeant Charles Cochrane with the idea for creating a gay fraternal organization within the NYPD. The name of the organization would be Gay Officers Action League, and would represent gay and lesbian members of police service and would receive the same recognition, rights, benefits and privileges accorded to the more traditional fraternal groups. These groups had for many years influenced and dominated criminal justice agencies across the country. Lesbians and gays in the department had no such advocates.

A month later on November 21, 1981, Sergeant Cochrane, a 14 year veteran of the NYPD, created shock waves by testifying before a City Council hearing in favor of a gay rights bill. Following on the testimony of a Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association Vice President who denounced the bill and declared he didn’t know of any homosexual police officers, Cochrane stunned those present by announcing, “I am very proud of being a New York City Police Officer, and I am equally proud of being gay.” There was no turning back.

On April 19, 1982 Cochrane and Ciccone proudly signed their names to the legal and public documents that incorporated GOAL. By this action the Gay Officers Action League, Inc. became the first official police fraternal society in the world to represent lesbian and gay people within the criminal justice system.

It was not an easy start, and through the 1980s and into the 90s, GOAL continued to push for recognition and support of LGBT officers, sometimes having to bring lawsuits against the the PBA and city. Their efforts paid off, and GOAL attained full recognition as a true fraternal NYPD organization.

Since then, GOAL chapters have been created in every section of the United States. For more information on GOAL NYPD, Click Here. For a list of Gay/Lesbian Criminal Justice organizations, including GOAL chapters, Click Here.

(As much of this text is derived from NYPD GAOL's website, it remains Copyrighted 2006 - Gay Officers Action League)

Reparative Therapy: Psycho, Psicko, Psychiatrists

You know how they say what comes around goes around? Well, in an interesting development, the American Psychological Association next week will discuss "Reparative Therapy," you know, the therapy that allegedly makes gay people straight (read "back in the closet"). What's ironically beautiful here is that there was a time when any attempt to turn gays straight was accepted by the APA. That changed, though, in 1973, when the APA finally agreed that being gay was merely another aspect of human sexuality--basically saying, "if you're gay, you're not a psycho."

In 2000, the APA Assembly and Board approved a statement saying they were concerned about the use of reparative therapy on gays and lesbians. However, the statement being discussed next week would directly confirm that reparative therapy is misleading, damages young gays and lesbians, aggravates internalized homophobia, and depresses those in therapy, pushing them deeper into states of self-loathing. So, now we come full circle, in that the APA will be discussing the idea that so-called psychiatrists who apply reparative therapy are, themselves, the psychos, and not the gays they're attempting to "cure."

Of course, the gay-hating religious organizations like Focus on the Family are declaring this as an anti-Christian ploy by the pro-homosexual lobby, and that Christianity is being unfairly targeted. Again, what comes around goes around, and it's delightfully delicious to have these right-wing, Bible-thumping, gay-haters on the defensive. There is a God.

Rowing: Don't Neglect that Machine

In your gym, and almost always neglected by you gym bunnies, is the rowing machine. You know, there's a reason why we sigh, gasp, and ogle after those guys who belong to a crew, because their bodies are usually very cut, hot, and sexy! On top of working many of your core muscles, the cardio alone is a major benefit, burning about 800 calories an hour. You'll find few machines in the gym that have such a unique combination of cardio and muscle training, working arm, back, shoulder, and abdomen muscles. A few tips:

• Keep your grip loose.
• Bend forward at the hips.
• Don't risk injury by overarching your back.

However, if you're lucky enough to live in a major city, there's a good chance there's a gay rowing club in your city, and during the summer months get outside, and do the real thing. For more information, check out the Gay and Lesbian Rowing Federation, or Gaycrawler's list of gay rowing clubs by Clicking Here.

Don't Blame UPS, Blame New Jersey Assembly

Okay, so UPS isn't offering its gay unioned couples the same benefits they offer straight married employees, and by unioned we mean those who belong to a "workers" union, though of course they would still be required to be "civil" unioned by the state of New Jersey. See how confusing things are when state assemblies choose civil unions over marriage when it comes to same sex couples?

Actually, UPS offers its non-unioned unioned employees more benefits than you can imagine. According to a UPS statement, these include "health care, medical leave, pension rights, funeral leave, relocation and transfer benefits." According to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), UPS does a pretty good job at equality for gays.

On October 25, 2006 The Supreme Court of New Jersey gave New Jersey lawmakers 180 days to rewrite the state's marriage laws to include same-sex marriage, or create a new system of civil unions for them. Sadly, they chose the latter, and thereby set confusion, and inequity, into motion.

Tonight: Gay Animation - Rick and Steve

Rick and Steve are allegedly the "happiest gay couple in the world," which to premise an animated show is hysterical from the get-go. The American gay channel Logo's new show, aptly titled "Rick and Steve," debuts tonight (10pm EST), and is a must-see.

With twinks and daddies, lesbians and gays, the show looks to be off to a good start. Look for Rick and Steve's discussion about doing a three-some, and who they'd want to be the third (and it ain't Brad Pitt). Laugh as their conversations about their cat "Pussy" include loads of double entendres.

Puppets with sassy, gay dialogue is fun, but add the list of actors doing the voices, and it's even more fun. From Peter Paige (Queer as Folk), to Margaret Cho (herself), to Wilson Cruz (My So-Called Life), to Alan Cummings (himself), the cast is strong, funny, and very gay! For a preview, click the arrow below. Enjoy!

Gays, San Diego Padres, and the Lord

Religious groups in San Diego have their panties in a bunch, as the Padres hosted an LGBT day at PETCO Park. It was also a day that free hats were being given to children under 14 years of age. Some of their outright stupid, idiotic remarks include the following, as always, with comments from My Small Gay World:

According to the California Catholic Daily, Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Law Center commented, “In my opinion, this confluence of events is not a mistake. The Padres are playing the part of the Pied Pieper leading unsuspecting children into accepting the homosexual lifestyle as normal. Children should not be subjected to the ‘in-your-face’ antics of these radical groups. The Thomas More Law Center wants unsuspecting parents that hope to get their children a free hat and maybe allow their children to run the bases at PETCO to know that they are also walking into a modern day scene of Sodom and Gomorrah.”
What a gay-hating schmuck. Again, right-wing, conservative religious folk erroneously connect gays to "converting" children to being gay. Further, Sodom and Gomorrah was a story in the Bible not about homosexuality, but intolerance and inhospitality, a biblical message Richard Thomson needs to learn.

Thomas More's director of communications, Brian Rooney, stated, “These so-called ‘gay pride’ events are often debauched affairs of gross and inappropriate displays of public affection.
Right, Brian, baby, it's okay for two straights to walk hand-in-hand in public, but God forbid two loving, partnered gays should do the same. Maybe you need to join the 21st, century, and realize times and attitudes change, or, as Thomas More himself once said, "To be educated, a person doesn't have to know much or be informed, but he or she does have to have been exposed vulnerably to the transformative events of an engaged human life."

J.D. Loveland, development director of Set Free Ministries, an El Cajon-based Christian organization had this to say, as reported by signonsandiego.com, "Homosexuality is a sin, and promoting it with a Pride Night when thousands of kids are also going to be (at the ballpark) is wrong. So we took a moral stand. We're not anti-gay. We're anti-anti-Christian.” What a twit! As we've warned readers before, the minute you hear "we're not anti-gay," you can bet your pink, bottom dollar that they are. What bothers us the most is that she first says homosexuality is a sin, and then suggests that our very existence is anti-Christian (why else would she feel the need to qualify herself as "anti-anti-Christian?). Right, she's not a gay-hater at all!

Although these religious nuts tried to have a boycott, even standing at the gates warning people as they went in about the "evils" that lurked inside, official attendance for the game was 41,026, just short of a capacity crowd for the 42,685-seat ballpark.

(Of course, that hottie you see above is none other than gay former San Diego Padres player Billy Bean. Click Here for more on Bean's wonderful story.)

Four Gay Sons

Four men went golfing together one day; three headed to the first tee and one went into the club house to take care of the bill. The three men started talking, bragging about their sons. The first man told the others, "My son is a home builder and he's so successful that he gave a friend a new home - for free."

The second man said, "My son was a car salesman and now he owns a multi-line dealership. He's so successful that he gave a friend two Cadillacs."

The third man, not wanting to be outdone bragged, "My son is a stock broker and he's doing so well that he gave his friend an entire stock portfolio."

The fourth man joined them on the tee after a few minutes of taking care of business. The first man mentioned, "We were just talking about our sons. How is yours doing?" The fourth man replied, "Well, you know my son is gay, and although I'm not totally thrilled about it, his last three boyfriends gave him a house, two cars, and a stock portfolio."

A Love Story: The War Hero and the Prince

It was a love blessed by God. Their souls were bound together, and they loved, and lived, and laughed, and cried together. One was a war hero who had proved himself again and again in battle, and the other was a young prince, ready and willing to ascend his father's throne.

However, the prince's father didn't take too well to his son's partner, not because they were gay, but because the great war hero, his son's partner, was getting more attention than the king.

The king arranged for one of his daughters to marry the war hero, and told the hero, "I guess this makes me your father in law twice," referring, of course, to his son, the war hero's "other" spouse.

Still not happy, the miserable king forces the hero into exile with a bounty on his head, and gets so pissed off at the prince, his son, that he calls him a faggot in a brilliant rage.

The war hero and prince secretly meet, however, and love each other, and promise they will always love each other to the very end. And they did.

This story is brought to you courtesy of the Bible, and tells the story of the love between David and Jonathan. For more information about this biblical, same sex love story, Click Here.

Thank God for Fridays...and Eye Candy!

Okay, it's Friday, and so let's get down and boogie with a little eye candy, and gear up for a fabulous weekend! Just click the arrow below.

Gay Cowboys and Washington D.C.

Rugged, butch, and riding, gay cowboys have gotten a lot of attention since Brokeback Mountain was introduced in movie theaters two years ago.

Though there are gay rodeos annually throughout the United States and Canada, and all under the auspices of the International Gay Rodeo Association (IGRA), one in particular takes place right in Washington D.C.

The Atlantic States Gay Rodeo Association's (ASGRA) annual Atlantic Stampede, held this year September 7-9, is sure to entice those with even the most modest interest in cowboys, country western music, or just plain having fun, and "fun" is the active verb.

"First, you do not have to be a cowboy to come to the rodeo," says Patrick Hunter, ASGRA's PR Chairman, "because although the participants might be gay cowboys and cowgirls, most of the people in the stands are there to take in the excitement." People come from as far north as up-state New York, and as far south as Atlanta, Georgia to ASGRA's rodeo, and participants come from even farther. Events include your regular rough-and-tumble bull riding, calf roping, and barrel racing, but there are also "camp" events, like Goat Dressing, were two teams race to put a pair of undies on, you got it, a goat.

Hunter says that even though the rodeo is the center event, running on Saturday and Sunday, the parties and "saloons" that take place during the weekend's nights are tons of fun, with two-step dancing, camp-performers, Rodeo Royalty, and hundreds of boot-wearing, tight-denim baring broncos, all out to have a great time.

Hunter tells us, "the night events are a lot of fun, and people within the D.C. area, even though they may not make it to the rodeo itself, come to these parties." These events include Friday night's Stampede Saloon, and Saturday's not-to-be-missed Harvest Moon Ball.

You gay parents, uncles, and aunts might want to introduce your kids to rodeo at ASGRA's Stampede, because the event is not only "Family" friendly, it's family friendly, including a number of newly added children's rodeo events; the Stick Horse Race, where kids race around the arena on stick horses and the Piggy Back Flag Race, where an adult piggy backs a kid; retrieves a flag from a bucket and tries to place the flag in another bucket accross the arena in the best time. Winners in each event will receive $25.

"This year, we want to get some of those folks who bring their youngins not only watching the rodeo but also involved as well." Hunter says. "Both these events are a fun safe way to give them the opportunity to really be part of the rodeo excitement inside the arena."

The rodeo's host hotel is the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill, and ASGRA has worked a discount room rate for those rodeo-goers who want to take in the full weekend. For more information on the Stampede gay rodeo, Click Here!

Photos copyrighted by and courtesy of
Adam Kirkpatrick.

Happy Forth of July!

Today the United States celebrates Independence Day, and what better way to celebrate than wrapping oneself in your favorite flag, and celebrating your own independence by making fireworks with your boyfriend, partner, trick, or yourself!

A Literary Coming Out

If you are gay, and have not read any of Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City books, you are missing a big part of being gay. To be at a cocktail party, and not be able to say you've read Maupin is admitting that you're a troglodytic heathen, with no sophistication or intellectualism. Start by reading Tales of the City with its adventures of main character, hottie Michael (Mouse) Tolliver, but don't miss the others, because they are full of beautiful gayness...and no, watching the episodes on Logo don't count; reading Maupin's words colors things that celluloid cannot.

To give you a taste, when the closeted-to-his-parents Michael learns that his folks in Florida are supporting Anita Bryant's anti-gay "Save Our Children" crusade, he finally comes out to them in a letter that is powerfully moving, greatly back-boned, and to this day generates more requests for reprint permission than anything Maupin has written. Read every word, and relish the righteous anger that guides Michael to come out to his parents:

Dear Mama,

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to write. Every time I try to write to you and Papa I realize I'm not saying the things that are in my heart. That would be O.K., if I loved you any less than I do, but you are still my parents and I am still your child.

I have friends who think I'm foolish to write this letter. I hope they're wrong. I hope their doubts are based on parents who loved and trusted them less than mine do. I hope especially that you'll see this as an act of love on my part, a sign of my continuing need to share my life with you.

I wouldn't have written, I guess, if you hadn't told me about your involvement in the Save Our Children campaign. That, more than anything, made it clear that my responsibility was to tell you the truth, that your own child is homosexual, and that I never needed saving from anything except the cruel and ignorant piety of people like Anita Bryant.

I'm sorry, Mama. Not for what I am, but for how you must feel at this moment. I know what that feeling is, for I felt it for most of my life. Revulsion, shame, disbelief - rejection through fear of something I knew, even as a child, was as basic to my nature as the color of my eyes.

No, Mama, I wasn't "recruited." No seasoned homosexual ever served as my mentor. But you know what? I wish someone had. I wish someone older than me and wiser than the people in Orlando had taken me aside and said, "You're all right, kid. You can grow up to be a doctor or a teacher just like anyone else. You're not crazy or sick or evil. You can succeed and be happy and find peace with friends - all kinds of friends - who don't give a damn who you go to bed with. Most of all, though, you can love and be loved, without hating yourself for it."

But no one ever said that to me, Mama. I had to find it out on my own, with the help of the city that has become my home. I know this may be hard for you to believe, but San Francisco is full of men and women, both straight and gay, who don't consider sexuality in measuring the worth of another human being.

These aren't radicals or weirdos, Mama. They are shop clerks and bankers and little old ladies and people who nod and smile to you when you meet them on the bus. Their attitude is neither patronizing nor pitying. And their message is so simple: Yes, you are a person. Yes, I like you. Yes, it's all right for you to like me, too.

I know what you must be thinking now. You're asking yourself: What did we do wrong? How did we let this happen? Which one of us made him that way?

I can't answer that, Mama. In the long run, I guess I really don't care. All I know is this: If you and Papa are responsible for the way I am, then I thank you with all my heart, for it's the light and the joy of my life.

I know I can't tell you what it is to be gay. But I can tell you what it's not.

It's not hiding behind words, Mama. Like family and decency and Christianity. It's not fearing your body, or the pleasures that God made for it. It's not judging your neighbor, except when he's crass or unkind.

Being gay has taught me tolerance, compassion and humility. It has shown me the limitless possibilities of living. It has given me people whose passion and kindness and sensitivity have provided a constant source of strength. It has brought me into the family of man, Mama, and I like it here. I like it.

There's not much else I can say, except that I'm the same Michael you've always known. You just know me better now. I have never consciously done anything to hurt you. I never will.

Please don't feel you have to answer this right away. It's enough for me to know that I no longer have to lie to the people who taught me to value the truth.

Mary Ann sends her love.

Everything is fine at 28 Barbary Lane.

Your loving son,
Michael

(Now, run out and by your first Maupin book, and enjoy!)

Homophobic Shibboleths

Recently we had the pleasure of giving kudos to a straight blogger and his blog (Steve Likes to Curse) for a wonderful piece he wrote in support of gay marriage--his words were most supportive, and he used words indicative of someone gay-friendly.

However, nothing bothers me more than individuals who "claim" to be okay with gays, but in fact show that they are not by certain shibboleths they use. For instance, there is one key word that is very indicative of someone who is deeply homophobic, despite what they might say to the contrary, and that word is "homosexual." You see, those straight folk who are really on our side usually only use this word when placed next to heterosexual, quoting someone else, or tongue-in-cheek. Hiding-homophobes almost never use the word "gay."

Another phrase you'll see pop up with homophobes who pretend to be okay with the gays is, "I don't care what people do in the privacy of their own bedroom...," and is one of the deepest digs they can give. You see, being gay to homophobes is purely sexual, that's all it is. Being gay to them only means gay sex, and ignores the bonded relationships, love, camaraderie, parenthood, and human emotion that are just as strong as any sexual urges.

Another shibboleth to look out for is the word "lifestyle," because true straight allies know to use the word orientation, understanding that many gays live a lifestyle very much akin to their straight neighbors, and that it's only their sexual orientation that differs.

So, the next time you're listening to someone claiming to be comfortable and okay with gays, pay close attention to the words they use, because if you listen closely, you'll find that they just might secretly be gay-hating homophobes.

American Gays Should Be Nervous

In light of the recent US Supreme Court's ruling that basically rescinded the Brown v. the Board of Education ruling that desegregated the nation's schools, gays in the U.S. have a lot to fear.

As the current, highly conservative court shows it has no respect for stare decisis, a term meaning subsequent supreme courts will respect the decisions made by previous high courts, it is only a matter of time before some bible-thumping state sues to reinstate its sodomy laws, making it once again illegal to be gay in said right-wing, idiotic states--you know, the type that rhyme with shmoklahoma.

As the court has brought us right back to the 1950s on issues of civil rights for blacks, remember what it was like for gays back in the '50s, with the likes of Joseph McCarthy's witch hunts, and which included routing gays from their closets.

Yes, the current supreme court reflects a backward trend in this country, one that was set several years ago when George Bush became president. For those American readers of My Small Gay World who are ex-pats living abroad...stay put, it still ain't safe to come home!

Gay Commercial: Boy Toy from Hyundai

One of our favorite gay videos comes again from France. It's a commercial for Hyundai, aptly titled "Boy Toy." In it, a middle-aged woman is driving around with her obvioulsly much younger boyfriend. As she's pulling up to stop at a light, she recognizes her husband's car. Pulling the passenger seat lever to hide her boyfriend, she pulls up next to her husband, shows him that she's picked up his shirts at the cleaners, and drives off, using the lever to once again bring her cuttie into view.

However, the video then switches to the car of the husband, where we see his hand reaching for his passenger seat's lever, only to raise his own "boy toy" up and into view. Of course the commercial wasn't allowed to air in the U.S., but received acclaim in the European countries in which it was shown...enjoy!

Gay World News Roundup

A lot has happened this week on the world-wide political scene, and for those who've missed them, here's what happened, with critique and comment by My Small Gay World:

U.K. - Tony Blair Resigns
Announced a few months ago that after ten years as Prime Minister, Tony Blair officially stepped down this week. What's really queer is that despite being best buds with gay-hating president Bush, Tony-baby has been very supportive of gays in England, and in March he became the first British Prime Minister to address an LGBT civil rights group, telling Stonewall that the partnership law gave him "real joy". He said when the first set of ceremonies took place he did "a little skip" in celebration." Skip on, Tony, we'll miss you!

Russia - Gay Hating Mayor Yuri Luzhkov Re-Elected
Luzhkov-the-Terrible was re-elected to his fifth term as mayor of Moscow, just as police dispersed a small group of LGBT activists protesting against Luzhkov in front of the European Union office in Moscow. About two dozen gays were demanding that the EU impose a visa ban on the mayor over his opposition to LGBT rights. Luzhkov's re-election does not bode well for our gay brothers and sisters in Moscow. Hang in their you guys of All of Russia, we're rooting for you!

USA - Bush Plans to Veto Washington DC Budget Due to DP Registry
President Bush says he'll veto budget appropriations for the District of Columbia unless the measure contains language barring the district from using any of the money for its domestic partner registry. For those who may not be aware, the USA's Capital is listed as a "state," but as the seat of the Federal Government, is really a "Federal District," and lacks many of the autonomies and privileges that the States have, and many of its laws and budgets are at the discretion of Congress and the President.

Well, because of this, Bush can use his veto power over the Democratically passed D.C. budget, which included monies for Washington's Domestic Partner Registry, citing that "under Federal law, legal marriage is the union between a man and a woman. Federal tax dollars are not used to extend employment benefits to domestic partners of Federal employees, and D.C. should not enjoy an exception to this rule." Domestic Partnerships are not marriage, but it would take a president with an actual IQ to be able to figure that out. Gosh, 2008 can't come soon enough!

Canadian Anglicans Back-Track on Blessing Same Sex Marriages/Unions
We were all holding our breaths, but The Anglican Church of Canada let us down, and delegates voting Sunday at the General Synod rejected the idea of letting individual dioceses decide whether their priests could perform blessing ceremonies for same sex couples who were married in civil ceremonies.

However, the General Synod did agree that same sex blessings do not conflict with its core doctrine, a decision that paves the way for the practice. Two steps forward, one step back.

Gay Art: Colourist Jean-Marc Plassard

Jean-Marc Plassard was born in Saint Etienne en Bresse, a small village in central France, in March 1961. The youngest of three boys, he grew up in this region and from an early age showed a keen aptitude for art-related work.

Jean-Marc classifies himself as a colourist and describes his artistic motivations as 'Desire, Love & Sensuality '. Generally his paintings depict sensual pleasures of the male physique. A provocative and sensitive view of the male form. Specifically, they are an oeuvre in a modern, figurative style, using light, colour and contrast to create atmosphere and texture.






Jean-Marc's use of color and subject has an almost Warhol feel, that translates wonderfully to his canvas. For more information on the wonderful work of Plassard, check out his website by Clicking Here!
.

Pride Month: The Shot Heard Round the World

June 27, 1969 - Gay customers fight back during police raid on Greenwich Village gay bar called Stonewall Inn. It turns into a riot and marks the beginning of the contemporary gay liberation movement. Yep, tonight is historically the evening that set all of this in motion, when a bunch of queens at the Stonewall Inn gay bar threw down the gauntlet after repeated raids on the bar, and said they were'nt going to take police abuse any more. It created a riot, as other gays, bohemains, and other sympathizers joined the riot, which lasted the next few days.

Take a moment to think about these brave souls, whose actions launched a movement that has, to this day, brought us many good things.

Rumors Abound: Wentworth's Dating Luke

Okay, guys, you know we here at My Small Gay World would walk on our lips before gossiping...oh, who the hell are we kidding!

According to King of Gossips, Perez Hilton blog, hottie Wentworth Miller of Fox's Prison Break fame is dating just-as-cute actor Luke McFarlane.

From Perez Hilton's Blog:

Quote: Wentworth and Luke have been secretly dating for almost six months now,” says an impeccable source close to the pair. “They’ve been very quiet about their relationship, obviously, as Wentworth is not out of the closet.”

Things between the pair are so serious that the couple are talking about moving in together, we hear.

“They spend a lot of time at each other’s houses,” says our mole. “Wentworth has been pretty reclusive since he’s become famous and he’s been even more of a shut-in since he started dating Luke.” End Quote!

We've been hot and drooling over Wentworth for two seasons now, and it would be a coup were he to come out of the closet. Hey, isn't Fox that conservative, right-wing station? Nah, couldn't be!

Gay History: Today's Birthday - Larry Kramer

Sitting on the messy floor of my den is a book whose cover shouts loud and clear "Faggots!" I've only been given it recently, and that's why it remains unread, but I promise to read it, for the shear historic and sarcastic content, context, and most importantly, it's author, who celebrates his birthday today. It is, of course, none other than Larry Kramer.

Kramer was born in 1935 to a professional family in Bridgeport, Connecticut. After receiving his B.A. from Yale in 1957, he joined the Army for a year. When he got out of the military, he entered the entertainment industry, working first for the William Morris Agency and then for Columbia Pictures. His love of words led him to his first screenplay for the 1969 movie adaptation of D. H. Lawrence's Women in Love, for which he also co-produced, and received an Academy Award nomination.

According to Gregory Bredbeck, Associate Professor of English at the University of California, Riverside, "Kramer gained prominence in the world of gay writing in 1978, when his novel Faggots was published. A scathing satire of the gay circuit in Manhattan and on Fire Island, the novel traces the life and neuroses of Fred Lemish, a middle-aged Jewish gay man looking for love in a world that only wants to have sex. The world of fast-lane gay New York becomes the real subject of the book, and Kramer's narrative focuses on the drug and alcohol abuse, the sado-masochism and the promiscuity that he sees as both typical and reprehensible."

Spurned on by the fact that the media and government* were paying little attention to the "Gay Cancer" that was beginning to plague gay men, and which would later be known as AIDS, Kramer co-founded the Gay Men's Health Crisis in New York in 1981. As Bredbeck notes, "Disenchanted with what he perceived to be the lethal dangers of an uncontrollable AIDS bureaucracy, he founded AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) in 1988." Though non-violent, the organization led very provocative protests, doing anything to draw attention to the scurge. Their tactics were seen as distasteful by many, including within the gay community, but their loud voices could not be ignored, and through their efforts, attention started to be paid. Kramer was there, in the front lines, leading the way.

Larry Kramer, it is said, will be best remembered as the man who almost single-handedly began the gay political response to AIDS in America, launching a political activism within the gay community that to this day is reflected in other organizations like the Gay and Lesbian Task Force, HRC, LAMBDA Legal, and many others.

Happy Birthday, Larry!!!

*By the time President Reagan even mentioned AIDS, 36,058 Americans had been diagnosed with the disease and 20,849 had already died.

I Am What I Am...GAY!

I am what I am

And what I am needs no excuses
I deal my own deck
Sometimes the aces sometimes the deuces
It's one life and there's no return and no deposit
One life so it's time to open up your closet
Life's not worth a dam till you can shout out
I am what I am

I am up early this morning, desperately, carefully, attentively selecting what I'll wear today, and going through a number of boxes looking for my chain of rainbow rings, which I think will look nice against my black muscle tee. These are not my only preparations, and I feel comforted that I am not alone, as an estimated 1.2 million GLBT folk in the New York City area are doing the same this morning. Today is Gay Pride in NYC, and we'll once again turn the place into one big party!

I like to correct my friends who call it a parade. I can understand their belief it's a parade, with floats, all the colorful people, and the celebration of all that we've gained in our fight for equal treatment, rights, and respect. However, it was started, and continues to be, a march for the rights and respect we must still fight for.

There are many forces working against us, and we must never forget their dark, mean-spirited presence. However, today is a day we can let go, and celebrate who we are, how we are, and what we are, individually and collectively.

One of my friends assigns various ring-tones to each of his friends, and has mine set to the tune "I am What I Am," originally from musical hit La Cage aux Folles, and made popular by Gloria Gaynor's dance remix of the same. Who couldn't love this piece, especially on Pride Sunday, where each of us can celebrate and say, I am what I am.

Greek Gods, Twinks, and This Bud's for You

Okay, guys, maybe you don't yet know the Greek myth of Ganymede, but we'll briefly go over it.

Ganymede was this young twink way back in those "Grecian" times. He was unbelievably beautiful, with a nice body and bubble-butt to boot.

Ganymede's beauty was such that one day, Zeus noticed it, and instantly fell in love with the young man. Zeus wooed and flirted, and tried every line in the book, but Ganymede wasn't biting (holding out for the Rolex, no doubt). Well, it came to the point that Zeus had enough playing around, he was a god after all, and so swept down in the form of an eagle, and snatched the lad up, brought him back to Mt. Olympus, and made him water bearer to the gods; read poolboy.

How homoerotic can you get, right? Well, not enough for Anheuser-Busch, it would seem. In the early years of the last century, the beer company used the story of Ganymede and Zeus to market Budweiser beer. If you look at the ad above, you'll see that Ganymede is holding a nice cold bottle of Budweiser! As the Anheuser-Busch logo is that of an eagle, it's no surprise they'd use the story, but the fact that it's based on the homoerotic story of a male god falling in love with a male human, that does come as a surprise.

As a side note, and not to give A-B a free plug, but if you look at most LGBT events throughout the US, you'll see Bud Light as a sponsor, so maybe they've always been after the gay market, even way back when.

Early Acceptance of African Americans to Gays

“To compare civil rights with gay rights is to compare my skin with their sin." Dwight McKissic, President of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s Pastors’ Conference.

"I'm offended that they're comparing (gay rights) to civil rights. Marriage is not a civil right, and the struggle of gay and lesbian people cannot be compared to the struggle of blacks." Reverend Jeffrey Brown, a Baptist minister from Massachusetts .

Any attempt to parallel the gay marriage movement with the African-American struggle is "offensive," declares Reverend Jesse Lee Peterson, the civil rights movement is "not about sex."

These words are most offensive, and we have seen many quotes by African Americans declaring their disgust that equal rights for gays is oftentimes compared to the equal rights of African Americans in the United States.

However, keep in mind these words come from so-called men of the cloth, and that there are many, many African Americans who support equal rights for gays. Gay African Americans are working hard to convince their straight counterparts that the similarities for the struggle for equal rights are strong, though their detractors are holding strong.

However, there was a time when blacks and gays (of both races), looked forward to mixing, dancing, and partying. At the height of the Harlem Renaissance during the 1920s and 1930s, African Americans in Harlem not only tolerated gays, but accepted and welcomed them into bars and clubs.Of course, many of these African Americans were gay themselves, like eminent poet Langston Huges, as well as many of the top performers of the day who performed in these speakeasies like Gladys Bently, but the majority were straight, albeit progressive.

Further, there's a strong connection between African Americans' early acceptance of gays, and their own continued struggle for equality, and this connection is reflected in a gay black man named Bayard Rustin. Rustin came of age during the Harlem Renaissance, and lived openly gay throughout his life.

Rustin became so politically active on behalf of the push for civil rights for blacks, that Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. put him in charge of the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the 1963 March on Washington (where King gave his famed "I Have A Dream" speech). The early acceptance of gays by African Americans gave Rustin the strength and acceptance of himself to push for equality.
Now, it is true that on a societal level, we can say that this inter-mingling and support was a paradigm of the time. After all, it took place in New York, and a few other major cities , but it is clearly indicative of a support and acceptance of gays by African Americans.

So, the next time we hear African American leaders denouncing the comparison of gay civil rights to the struggle for the civil rights of blacks, let's recall that there is still strong support for gays among African Americans today, and that support goes back well over 80 years.

Log Cabin Republicans: Victory in New York

Yes, another post about Gay Marriage...this one I couldn't pass up, because as you readers well know, My Small Gay World isn't really supportive of the Log Cabin Republicans, and so this is more about them, than gay marriage.

Yesterday the New York State Legislature assembly passed a bill that would make same-sex marriage possible. Of course, a lot of this was voted on party lines, with most Republicans voting against it. However, with a heavy lobbying effort on the part of Log Cabin Republicans, they were able to get four Republicans to vote for the bill. No easy task, but it did make New York the first state to pass a same-sex marriage act with bipartisan support. Although California's assembly and senate have both voted for gay marriage (later to be vetoed by Arnold), not a single Republican in California voted for the measures.

So, although we're still a bit leery about the efficacy of the Log Cabin Republicans, in this case they've proved themselves well, and we wish them tons of luck working with the NY Senate's Republicans...they'll need it!

Same Sex Marriage, Massacusetts, and Straight Supporters

"The people of the United States don’t want same-sex marriage. Whether this is true or not doesn’t matter; on civil rights issues, what the people want is irrelevant. Opponents of gay marriage attack the Massachusetts SJC decision as judicial activism, but name me one significant civil rights victory in the last century that wasn’t the result of judicial activism. We celebrate the anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, not the anniversary of Congress or the people of Kansas voting to end segregation. The Supreme Court of the United States didn’t leave the question of segregation up to the people; it decided for itself that it was unconstitutional and had to be abolished. Thirteen years later it was another Supreme Court decision, Loving vs. Virginia, which outlawed anti-miscegenation laws, finally guaranteeing the right to interracial marriage. Does this mean the courts always ought to overrule the people? Of course not. But in matters of civil rights, when the legislature or the people are clearly unwilling to take on the work of reform themselves, the court must act."

This is from essayist Steve Shives, who modestly claims not to be "especially intelligent or eloquent." Steve's a handsome, straight, baseball-loving bearded dude who is, in fact, very intelligent and eloquent, and writes about a whole slew of topics. This was from an article posted on his website just this afternoon, and already picked up by American Chronicle. You can read the rest of Steve's article (and we suggest you do), by going to Steve's website, wonderfully named, Steve Likes to Curse.

Thanks, Steve! And although you're playing for the other team, it's good to know we have you rooting for us!