His Very First Time

My husband, the Baad Lamb, writes about his very first time. Photos included.....

Tomorrow on Bilerico: "GM Unveils The New 2010 Queer"

Right. We may not live to see the day when GM will name a car "The Queer", but could it sell any worse than the rest of their products? Meanwhile, I've come up with a list of ten features, qualities or improvements that I would like to see in every fully loaded 2010 Queer. You'll find it tomorrow on Bilerico.


Update: It's up. Get on it.

A Better Night in Fort Lauderdale

Tonight I had drinks with Asaf and Eric who are going through their life. We spoke about time and obsession and marriage and movies and where one ought to live. We discarded various constructs and expressed horror at others. We seemed disgusted by similars. Disavowing all fears, I carefully went home.

Straight, Not Narrow

The blog Straight, Not Narrow has picked up on something I wrote on Bilerico. I wonder how many straight married couples secretly agree with the premise that the glorification of marriage is undeserved.

Entertaining the Tourists

He was aggressive without being annoying. All sly smiles and flattery and hands that kept trying to pull me into a dark corner. I didn’t mind, but I was just, as is said, chilling, and watching the crowd.

He didn’t give up. Standing behind me with arms suddenly wrapped around my waist he whispered suggestively into my ear “My name is Rough.”

I shook him off while laughing.

“Yeah right. And my name is Stud.”

“No, really, my name is Rough.”

“You mean your porn name would be Rough.”

“No, no, it’s my real name.”

“OK, if that’s what you want me to believe, fine. You’re Rough and I’m Stud. Actually my name used to be Studmuffin. It was originally German. Schtüdmüffin. But it got accidentally shortened on Ellis Island. The customs agent must have misunderschtüd my grandfather.”

“I’m not kidding.”

“Prove it.”

He handed me a driver’s license from a distant state. In the low light, I had to walk it over to a gas fireplace to read it.  I apologized when the flames quickly curled and darkened the laminate. He wasn’t kidding. 

Nice to have met you, Mr. Ruff.  Sure hope you don’t have difficulty at the airport because of the condition of your ID!

Christmas 2009 Fort Lauderdale

Don't ask.

Attacking the Pope

At last, some video. She's athletic!

I was the deacon at Christmas Midnight Mass for Pope Paul VI in 1976. If she had dared to disrupt my performance, I'd have booted her boney ass out onto the piazza before she had finished her jump over the barricades.

(I wonder how much MSNBC paid for that video!)

Peter Sokolowski has set off my gaydar.

If this guy is single, all you other single guys should give chase.

Watch his video and tell me this guy isn't gay-hot. I mean I don't know, I suppose he could be straight...naaaaah.

It's not like Carpet Fresh, for crissakes.

This section of the New York Times report about the woman who moments ago tackled the Pope demonstrates that either the reporter is a fool or traditional liturgical practices such as swinging a smoking incense pot are unknown to many young adults including reporters who should know better.

Benedict made no reference to the incident as the service started. As a choir sang, he sprinkled incense on the main altar before opening the service with the traditional wish for peace in Latin: ''Pax vobis''

I would not be surprised if it turns out she is an Italian nun. They get very aggressive against the barricades on Christmas Eve.

Tomorrow on Bilerico: "My Marriage is a Stone"

You'll have to go to Bilerico tomorrow to see what I mean by that!

Spa at Chelsea Piers- Ask for Scott

Like most New Yorkers, the Baad Lamb and I have limited space and so we have stopped collecting stuff. Instead, on holidays, anniversaries and birthdays, we are apt to give each other spa treatments, a luxury that is memorable but involves no ongoing servitude and accommodation. We have tried a variety of NYC spas but there is one to which we frequently return. It is located in the Chelsea Piers complex.

You'll have to go to Queer New York for the full experience.

Send JoeMyGod on a cruise.

Please vote for Joe.
He needs to get out of the house.

Susan Gibbs, did you laugh or cry while you typed this mess?

It's been a long time since I've had to wallow through gibberish this thick. In case you've fogotten, the archdiocese of Washington threatened to deny social services in DC if gay marriage passed. With today's vote, it will most certainly become a reality, so the archdiocese has released this ridiculous, hilarious and pitiful bit of caving-and-face-saving. Enjoy.

Legalization of Same Sex Marriage in the Nation’s Capital


Archdiocese Remains Committed to Serving Poor




December 15, 2009




Today the District of Columbia joined a handful of states where legislatures or courts have redefined marriage to include persons of the same sex. Since this legislation was first introduced in October, the Archdiocese of Washington opposed the redefinition of marriage based on the core teaching of the Catholic Church that the complementarity of man and woman is intrinsic to the definition of marriage. However, understanding the City Council was committed to legalizing same sex marriages, the archdiocese advocated for a bill that would balance the Council’s interest in redefining marriage with the need to protect religious freedom. Regrettably, the bill did not strike that balance.


The Archdiocese of Washington and Catholic Charities are deeply committed to serving those in need, regardless of race, creed, gender, ethnic origin or sexual orientation. This commitment is integral to our Catholic faith and will remain unchanged into the future.


Religious organizations have long been eligible to provide social services in our nation’s capital and have not been excluded simply because of their religious character. This is because the choice of provider has focused on the ability to deliver services effectively and efficiently. We are committed to serving the needs of the poor and look forward to working in partnership with the District of Columbia consistent with the mission of the Catholic Church.






Contact:
Susan Gibbs
Director of Communications
301-853-4517
gibbss@adw.org

Update: Listen to her voice. Just as I suspected: young, caffeinated, smirking, unconvinced of her own words. 

How he loves New York

My husband, the Baad lamb, has delivered an ode to the city he loves complete with a tour de force video combining his original music and photography.

See it and hear it on Queer New York.

A Queer New York Christmas Greeting

This is for anyone who might be longing for a cheerful New York Christmas moment.

Yesterday, on Fifth Avenue.

Mitchell Gold - A Queer New York Video Interview

Please head over to Queer New York for my interview in Miami with furniture and decor guru Mitchell Gold. You'll get 2 minutes about his new book, "The Comfortable Home" and 5 minutes of bold criticism for the current leaders of gay advocacy groups who are failing more often than winning the battle for gay equality. I was impressed.

Inadvertently Christian Fort Lauderdale Municipal Signage

This sign appeared on the beach earlier this week. I'm quite sure it is a municipal attempt to be religiously neutral. The beach is patrolled constantly by gliding pelicans who suddenly drop into the shallows for fish. 

Yes! Let's show a pelican in a Santa cap!

Actually, the pelican is an ancient Christian symbol of self-sacrifice. Supposedly, the pelican will gouge its own breast to feed its young with its own blood. (Whenever anchovies are not plentiful, I guess.) The crazed Saint Thomas Aquinas called out to Jesus "Pelican of mercy, cleanse me in they precious blood!" (Yuck.) Slightly more palatable is Shakespeare in Hamlet where Laertes says 

To his good friends thus wide I'll ope my arms,

And like the kind, life-rendering pelican,

Repast them with my blood.

"It's marvelous" said Bishop Egan with institutional pride.

“It’s marvelous,” he said, “when you think of the hundreds and hundreds of priests and how very few have even been accused, and how very few have even come close to having anyone prove anything.”

A Christmas Eve Call to Catholic Action

Will you please consider sending this call to Catholic action to all your Catholic friends and relatives?

Did you know that the mistreatment of women, married men and gay men by the Catholic bishops is really the same issue?

I began to realize this while thinking about why the struggle for gay equality in America seems to be failing.

Recent losses in California, Maine and New York have left gay activist leaders arguing about what exactly went wrong. Those battles have, however, made clear the identity of an aggressive enemy of the gay community, the bishops of the Roman Catholic Church.

To please the Pope, the American Catholic bishops have pooled financial resources to overcome marriage equality. They have threatened the cessation of social services and have bound their flock to the belief that God demands that marriage be exclusively between one man and one woman. They have mandated the taking up of collections to support their battle against marriage equality.

These bishops also believe that women are not good enough in the eyes of God to be ordained priests. These bishops also believe that married men are not good enough in the eyes of God to be ordained priests. These bishops also believe that gay men are not good enough to be ordained priests (a particularly curious belief given the huge gay portion of their own ranks).

Now is the time for Catholic women, married men, gay men, and all their Catholic friends and relatives to band together and to end this nonsense. You have the ability to gain your rights if you will realize that these bishops no longer speak for God in this matter. They have gone astray and are misleading you. In your hearts you know this to be true.

You can rectify this situation by holding back your financial support until women, married men and gay men all have equal access to the Catholic priesthood. Do you understand how critically important your financial support is to the life of the Roman Catholic Church in America? Do you understand what would happen if, as a group, you turned off the financial faucet? There would be a panic among those bishops and soon they would find a way to announce that the Holy Spirit has revealed a new truth; that women and married men and gay men deserve equal places in the church and are all worthy of the priesthood. The threat of bankruptcy can be a fast route to holy wisdom.

I am suggesting that on Christmas Eve, all Roman Catholics in America refrain from giving money when the collection basket is passed, and that you continue that restraint until your God-given rights are granted.

I am also suggesting that you consider placing a small pebble in the collection basket as a clear message to your bishops. Your priests who are torn between believing in your equality and their sworn obedience to the bishops might send those pebbles to those bishops just as they do a good portion of the money you routinely give them. And remember, those bishops have already cast the first stone. All you would be doing is politely returning it to them.

The Roman Catholic Church in America is at a crossroads. There will soon be either a healthy enlightenment or a rapid withering. Catholic women, married men and gay men who understand that their bishops are speaking for the Pope rather than for Jesus Christ in this matter will save their Church if they act together. Christmas Eve is the perfect time to start.

I am urging you to refrain from financial support as an act of love for your church. I do not want to see the Catholic Church destroyed by a generation of bishops who are confused and in need of your intervention. They will someday thank you for doing what they could not do.

Will you please consider forwarding this call to Catholic action to all your Catholic friends and relatives?

Miami Drive By

I have developed a fascination with these ubiquitous second story psychics.
Great book title, no? "Second Story Psychic".

Surgery

The operation took four days.
113 posts ( 600 print pages) were removed.
The organs have been harvested.
All the sexy and good stuff is gone but will reappear elsewhere.

Art Burn!

Over on Queer New York, you'll find my video of this totally delightful event.
I met El Celso, and I also met c-monster. My husband, the Baad Lamb, reads her much more often than he reads me! He drags me to everything she lists for which I am ultimately grateful. He is green with envy that I have made her acquaintance in Miami while he is toiling in the cold of yet another approaching winter.

Here is one mysterious pic from Art Burn. Behind the BBQ pit, and beyond the "art pyre" and on the far side of the metal fence looms the "North Miami Pain Management" sign. It seemed to make the whole arrangement feel like a crucifixion at dusk, or, it sometimes recalled the eyes of Dr. T. J. Ecklesburg.

Here's a full set of Art Burn pics.

Queer New York

If you go there now, you can say you were there on Day One.

Queer New York is a magazine-style assemblage of some of the best queer LGBTQ NYC voices I know. (About two dozen, so far. Their names will appear as they sign in over the next few days.)

Expect opinions, action alerts, news, reviews, pod casts, party photos, essays and a little bit of everything New Yorkish from queer writers who love and live New York. We will be finding our voice in the weeks to come. Don't hesitate to comment or to make suggestions.

DOMAnagrams

I lifted this from Will who also lifted it:

Top Ten Anagrams for "Defense of Marriage Act"

10. Free! Free! Satanic dogma!
9. America's negated offer
8. Fanatics referee dogma
7. Fear of Satanic emerged
6. Farce of a disagreement
5. I fear act of same-gender
4. Deceit of free anagrams
3. A farce of it: same-gender
2. A. Gore fancies mate Fred
1. Fear decrease of mating



I wonder if these are computer generated or does someone have more time than I.

Today on Bilerico: "Go Ahead. Step Over That Line"

My response to this will appear this morning on Bilerico:

Dear FT,

About 10 years ago I met a guy.  He was in on business from another state and asked me out.  We went out a few times before he went home, and we had incredible chemistry.  Things didn't work out, and he broke it off with me.  I can't help it, but I still think of him from time to time.  I got married to another man, and had 2 children.  I love my husband, but I feel I am falling out of love with him.  It's lack of communication, and everytime we do talk, it escalates into an argument.  I always feel I have to walk on eggshells around him.  

Recently I contacted this old flame.  I know I shouldn't of, but I did.  He is starting to flirt with me, giving me that attention I crave, and I like it.  He has mentioned me coming out to see him, and I have thought about it-that is if I could get away with no problems, which is impossible.  I sometimes feel the only way I can find true closure is if I sleep with him.  I feel these thoughts are really corrupting with my life.  I know I should just break it off, but deep down I don't want to.  I have so many mixed emotions.  Please help. Tani

Marriage Equality Fails in New York

Today the New York Senate voted down gay marriage 38 to 24.

I think gay activists need to regroup and study what happened not only in New York but in California and Maine. It isn't simply a matter of more money and better ads. The entire battle needs to be reframed and recast. Losing may be enlightening.

Turn a Roll Down Gate into a Thing of Beauty

The NY Times invites its readers to spruce up these two roll down metal gates. Twenty minutes later I sent them these two "afters" to their two "befores":

Update: Here are some of the ones the NYT has chosen to highlight.

World AIDS Day vigil in Wilton Manors Florida

At The World AIDS Day candlelight vigil in Wilton Manors earlier tonight, Broward County's recently selected first openly gay mayor, Ken Keechl, who lost his first companion to AIDS, addresses the crowd.

Today The Ocean Said

The Cupboard is Bare

Last week, I took this picture of the kitchen next to my office to illustrate for my husband the temptation I am up against on a daily basis in my delightful one-week-per-month workplace.

Alas, that temptation has been removed. The boss had a Friday afternoon chat with me about the budget for the coming year. A budget in which I do not appear. Part-timers are always the first to go in a time of tightening fiscal constraints.

Our discussion was cordial and sentimental. I reaffirmed that I have enjoyed every second I've spent at this office. I reminded him that I had not been looking for work when the offer was made and that his guess that I have a full life outside of work is more than mildly accurate. The office holiday party next month will be my last day with the finest group of folks one could imagine as co-workers.

This curious little boutique blog was the reason for that job. Could it happen again? Be forewarned all ye who have need for a writer/editor. I am fond of bouncing back and forth between NYC and Fort Lauderdale with tidal governance. I don't much cotton to wearing a tie. Most of all, I am a man who is extremely conscious of time and the setting of good priorities and the expedient and diplomatic solving of the problems of others. Also, I tend to make what I do look easy, so I'm a pleasant au revoir when you decide you can do without me.

Have you chocolate? Let's talk.

I am amazed that I have had my part-time NYC job for two years. It felt like five minutes.

First Place

The Baadlamb's brother, my brother-in-law, takes first place in the annual Hilton Head 10K.

Pre-Holiday House Cleaning

I find that some things have gone unreported. Among them are these moments:

We attended the XXXX birthday edition of His Erudition, and if you are not reading his singularly reformated blog you are missing some fine writing and thinking. His approach sets him apart from others who write first and think second, if at all.

A guest who I am assuming will want to remain headless.

Chris, the BaadLamb, JMG and ELeven:


Earlier that day, I helped the talented Baad Lamb install a sign he had designed. I helped by staying out of the way.


That same day, we had a delightful rendezvous with John Shields (Bilerico alumnus) Dave Badash (Bilerico contributor) and Justin Elzie (hot New Yorker).


I don't remember the what or where of this photo. It is from the same day as the above. It may have been from the Xtravaganza House Ball at Irving Plaza. My life is blurred.

Hilton Head, South Carolina

Xtravaganza!

Getting an early start for Hilton Head (highest concentration of heterosexuality in the known universe) for the week. First, here's a few shots of the House of Xtravaganza Ball at New York's irving Plaza,Friday, November 20, 2009. (In the fifth picture are the frosted lucite dress form trophies awarded to the category winners!)






I'll assemble a complete video but you mustn't miss the end of this where he does the "fall back" move from on top of the table! (I don't know much about this dance move, but I am guessing it can be traced to crazed church services in which someone slain by the spirit falls backward onto the floor.) Nobody did this move like this guy did it!

Mixnyc.org because it is bad to take yourself too seriously.

On Friday at midnight we went to a MIX NYC art installation and video show at 125 West 21st Street in NYC. We were invited by Christian and were warmly welcomed by friendly fun-loving faeries. About MIX NYC:

MIX NYC Promotes, produces and preserves experimental media that is rooted in the lives, politics and experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and otherwise queer-identified people. MIX’s work challenges mainstream notions of gender and sexuality while also upending traditional categories of form and content.

I would love to get a copy of the video in which a naked young man staring at a TV with zombie eyes repeatedly droned "I'm an activist. I'm an activist. I'm an activist." There are easily two dozen people to whom I'd like to send that clip.

Here are Christian, The Baad Lamb and Daisy


I met someone named Busy who really wasn't.


The Baad Lamb recumbent.

The Baad Lamb has a history of climbing without hesitance into inviting art installations. This happened two years ago.

And this happened at Exit Art.

Ari Gold's helmet

At last night's Instinct Magazine Leading Men awards bash honoring our Joe, after Ari Gold finished his performance, Dr. Jeff suggested dared me to try on his helmet left onstage.


Ari's manager, probably now regretting the fact that he had just given me his card, ended the arigolden moment.



photos by Dr Jeff.

JoeMyGod honored as one of Instinct Magazine's Leading Men of 2009

And a good time was had by all. Here's the evidence.

I am especially pleased with this:

The dissolution of heterostyle

This is not really news. Anyone with eyes on the sidewalks in New York City would have seen this percolate on the Lower East Side and spill over into Chelsea, Hell's Kitchen and finally the Upper West Side where after a season of being digested and defined in the boardroom of the Gap, it finally appears in their windows.

Why is this important? It makes drag impossible. Old fashioned drag, that is. Once men and women give themselves license to shop in each others aisles, it's all over. There have been incremental baby steps: unisex bathrooms, unisex hair salons, goth make-up and jewelry, nail polish, biker chic, euro-chic, messenger bags, Doc Martins, Converse. And don't tell me you've never walked into a clothing store at the mall and been unable to determine which section was for women and which for men.

I used to try on women's sweaters because their length suited me. It was always a trying experience. Now, it would be a non-event.

Do you have anything at home that was originally designed for the opposite sex? I do. My husband.

As Tim Gunn told me the other night, all fashion is about expressing how you see yourself and want others to see you. All fashion is semiotic.

Tomorrow on Bilerico: "In My Grandmother's Dress"

You'll have to go to Bilerico tomorrow morning to find my answer to this:

Dear Father Tony,

I read what you recently wrote about parenting so maybe you can settle something for me. We are two men raising my five year old son. I want this kid to grow up to be confident, which you correctly noted is so important, and because of that I want him to fit in at school. I don't want him to act loopy or fem or dress "different" when he is young. He will have plenty of time for that when he is older if he wants. Because of this, we are careful to dress masculine at home. We never did drag but I mean that we have just toned down the whole gay way of dressing. We are keeping it "beige" if you know what I mean. I think I'm doing the kid a favor. He can flame out in whatever direction he wants to when he is on his own. My husband says I might be wrong about this.

Triathlete69r

Update: It's up. Get on it.

In which Tim Gunn gives me fashion advice!

In my assigned seat on the runway (front row, thanks GMHC!) I had no idea that the cute and friendly guy next to me was a 2008 Nightlife Coverboy of the Year. His card says he is a VP at the bank holding my savings. I am comforted.

I traded air kisses with America's sweetheart, LOGO's Mike Diamond. And no, he's not engaged. A $6 rhinestone from Canal Street.



Here's a photo album of the event.

Watch Mark's List. Possible New Owner of South Florida Blade/411?

This would not surprise me.

There has been an alliance of effort between Mark's List and The South Florida Blade/411 in recent months. I began to notice some co-sponsorship of events I was covering/attending. You could almost smell an impending marriage. Even so, no acquisition is bloodless. If this union is what will infold, I will be interested in seeing what Mark's List does with what they acquire. There will be more than just a name change.

UPDATE: Suspicions correct: Here's Mark Haines' statement.

Thank you, Commenter 320

Joey has informed me that I have been honored by commenter 320 on this post as being FBI worthy.

Following Patty Hearst who became Tanya, I've had to come up with my underground name: Regina Mortis!

Mr. Sitt is sitting pretty.

Go to the very end of this article about the situation with Coney Island to get a lesson in how to makes tens of millions of dollars simply by not doing something.

Tomorrow on Bilerico: "Snap Out Of It."

You'll have to go to Bilerico tomorrow for my response to this:

Dear Father Tony,

I am tired of everything I have here. But everything is just fine. Home, guy, job, money. Car. I just think maybe this is all a mistake and I’m not happy and I could be if I slipped out the back door in the middle of the night.

“Feeling guilty for what I have not done.”

I know he's innocent because

Priests never go keening
For men with dry cleaning.

Always check your spam folder.

Do you realize how heavily Jane Austen or Edith Wharton, if they were writing today, would lean on the "spam folder" as the declaration of love-thwarting romantic doom device that could cause generations of unhappy marriages, regret and erroneous avoidances. And what fun Shakespeare would have had with it. It could replace the sleeping potion in Romeo and Juliet. And, my God, Dickens! He'd have loved it too much.

Ugh. Questo non mi piace. Una cosa brutta.

I am soooo over Zaha Hadid. Is there no civilized corner of the world that she will not degrade?

This looks like an arthritic vulture that crashed after suffering a heart attack in mid-flight.

However and to be fair, I will reserve judgment until I've actually visited the carcass.

NYC Anti-Violence Project Award Winners

Sometimes these award events are actually meaningful. These four great writers, Pam, Andy, Bil and Joe, could have chosen to focus on anything with equal success. The fact that they cover the reality of gay America, reaching into remote parts of the country where isolated gay folks really need what they deliver makes this award significant and well-deserved.

Pam's got the story.

Here is one of Pam's photos. I wish they had all worn just their "work clothes"....

Gay Violence

Inevitable?

Recently Emergent Key West Photos

I love this one.

This is hilarious. (Steve was our host.)

I have absolutely no recollection of this.

Best Waterfront Mansion in Fort Lauderdale

Do you remember what Klipspringer played on Gatsby's piano?

Gay Fathers vs Walmart

I just want to know why they were buying BIC lighters. That should have been the subject of the chat in the detention room.

This week, in the South Florida Blade,

I think I'm sort of saying that we should turn our theaters back into barns? Anyway, I don't write the headlines.

I have to give credit to Jeff Bowen and Hunter Bell for the "donuts for dinner" thing. I don't know if they coined it, but I lifted it from their musical [Title of Show].

My editor decided to axe one line that he felt was unkind. Unfortunately, it contained a phrase of which I was rather proud. It's the last sentence of this section:

I also observe that many gay folks have begun to feel that annual Pride marches and annual gay celebrations are also “donuts for dinner”. With this in mind, I attended the recent “Wicked Manors” Halloween event in Wilton Manors. I had read about its financial woes and was curious to determine its value. I took home the conclusion that a huge crowd of revelers seemed to have a swell time, but if alcohol had been subtracted from the evening, the event would have fizzled faster than the gay excitement at a 7:30 AM Mass in a Catholic church. My overwhelming impression was of the grim and unsmiling face under the heavy make-up of the de rigueur drag-queen-as-emcee who gave the night a tangible “de rigueur mortis”, if you’ll allow me the rare satisfaction of a franco-latin portmanteau.

Tomorrow on Bilerico: "Backyard Swings, Not Slings, For The Kids."

You'll have to go to Bilerico tomorrow after 11:30AM EST for my response to the following:

Hey FT, we are not looking for your advice, sorry. We are a gay couple 10 years strong and curious about what you have to say about displaying or hiding our sexuality in front of our kids who are 7, 9 and 14. Wanna go there?

Rex & Reg

What Maine tells us

If there is any consolation to be had, it is that the closeness of the vote might mean that we are just one election cycle away from a popular vote somewhere in the country coming in pro-gay. It is easily within reach.

I suspect that an analysis of the Maine vote will show that older Mainers voted anti-gay and younger ones voted pro-gay. Older voters tend to die off. At most, we are one generation away from being rid of the oppression of god-fearing homophobes.

Tomorrow on Bilerico: "Superman Never Looked This Good!"

You'll have to go to Bilerico tomorrow afternoon for my review of Nightlife and my interview with its author, Dale Lazarov.

Mike Diamond

LOGO's fabulous Mike Diamond firmly believes that he looks better in motion than in still photography. Here he states his case.

Island House, the friendliest place in Key West

Here's Island House bartender Paul offering to stir our drinks.


Here's Island House staffer Vinny checking our plumbing.


The satisfied guest in apartment 419.


Island House provides a signature sarong for wandering about the lush premises. We model them here and here. (Remember the strictly enforced rules of flickr: no reproduction of these without permission.)

The Queens of Key West

Steve Smith is with the Key West Business Guild.

Kate Miano is a "freshwater conch" and a former Fantasy Fest Queen.

These folks are the real Key West which is a wildly delightful blend of people who have decided to allow their lives to be great fun.

This interview was conducted at the seriously accommodating Gardens Hotel on Angela Street.

Olivia and 1200 lesbians invade Key West

My favorite food pornographer

If Tate Hunt is this good with food, imagine what he'd be like if he turned his lens on you.

Curmudgeon-by-the-Sea

Before you proclaim your favorite JMG-in-Key West-pic, consider these.

Key West - Not So Straight Afterall

Go here for Joe's account.

Here are just a few pics:



I haven't quite mastered the moped. Pray for me and all who traverse the roadways.

Here is the Curmudgeon-By-The-Sea:

Island House Key West

Joe and I are at the Island House in Key West.
They have given us an apartment.
This is THE place to stay.





I was delighted to see old friends who had been our house guests maaaany years ago in Montreal. Ken and Tony, now local Key West guys.
Joe has just arrived. Must prepare for the Coronation Ball!

Hard work

Tomorrow, I will drive to Key West where I'm to be the guest of the travel and tourism types who will show me the town's charms and pamper me with food and drink. It is their expectation that I will describe it to you, and I gladly oblige, for long have I longed to visit Key West.

Beyond showing up and enjoying all that Key West has to offer, my main responsibility consists of sharing splendid quarters with JMG.

I've traveled with JMG many a time. He is not difficult en hoof. I think I can manage this.

Making Light of it.

He was unruhly.

Language Alert: Is the President Economically Queer?

A few minutes ago, on Good Morning America, a man with a southern accent, referring to Obama's impression that we may be in a depression, said "Oh that's just the President in drama queen mode."

You know a phrase has come full circle when an economist on mainstream TV calls the President an enthusiastic homosexual without even knowing it, and when no one raises an eyebrow.

I'm guessing that this phrase - very definitely gay in origin - moved into the straight community through hairdressers who used it in conversation with clients. Mothers with improved hair might go home and use it on their young tantrum-throwing children. This is where their husbands first heard it. Concurrently, it infiltrated the workplace where it was first introduced by gay employees much to the delight of their straight co-workers. (I know this to be true. I was one of the carriers.) Initially, the gay co-worker would sanitize the phrase by using it to refer only to a female co-worker who might be acting out. Soon enough, whole offices would be using it to refer to men and women alike.

I knew the phrase had come almost full circle when, a few years ago, in a meeting with my female boss, she accused me of being a drama queen. Because, as administrators, she and I very carefully suppressed all elements of "gay" in our workplace, I knew that she didn't have a clue about what she was really saying.

Note, in gay parlance, the drama queen is never to be confused with the Broadway queen or the musical comedy queen or the theater queen. They are different critters, and Obama, soon after becoming President, managed to take his wife to New York for dinner and a show without becoming any of them. I fully expect the mainstreamed confusion of all these queens to soon unfold.

Remembering the Party

This is what it looks like to remember the party. Thirty years later.

Diocese of Wilmington Declares Bankruptcy

And so it begins.

What is most interesting in the letter of Bishop Malooly is his feigned chagrin that creditors won't be getting the money owed them by the diocese. Your Excellency, they don't call it Chapter 11 PROTECTION for nothing. You used a legal mechanism to wiggle out of paying debts that you don't want to pay. Could you pay them? Certainly. Sell stuff. Close parishes. Work longer and for less pay. Cook your own meals. Buy less scotch. Sack cloth and ashes in reparation for what those child molesting priests have done would have been the right response rather than the safety net of bankruptcy. Funny, isn't it, that Rome didn't bail you out. I guess they also don't think that Wilmington is worth pawning the jewels for. Shame. Shame upon shame.

Thugs in College Point say it wasn't a hate crime

Look into the faces of the friends of jailed attacker Danny Rodriguez. Read their comments on Joe's post. Listen to the words of Marisa Ragonese about the value of education. If it takes a village to raise a child, all it takes is some concertedly negligent parenting to produce stupid and hateful children. These young thugs know only their street corner, plus an occasional trip to the prison on nearby Riker's Island.They are pitiful and pitiable.

The following video will show you the positioning of the two groups and includes some of activist Brendan Fay's passionate statement.

A Mother, a Sick Son and his Father, the Priest

A Mother, a Sick Son and his Father, a Priest is sure to take the wind out of whatever whallop the American bishops thought their Pastoral Letter might have in Maine. It is an amazing story. I disagree only with the reporter's aside, speculating that as much as 20% of the clergy are conducting sexual affairs with women. That presumes an awful lot of heterosexuality for which I see little evidence. Especially delicious is the fact that the guy was a seminary rector. I doubt anyone has done a study of this, but seminary rectors are among the most sexually active of the clergy. I got stories.

A Lethal Love Letter from the Catholic Bishops of the USA

Got Catholic friends in Maine? Send them this. I suspect the final draft of the Pastoral Letter on Marriage was deliberately leaked to coincide with a certain situation in Maine.

A Love Letter from the Roman Catholic Bishops of the USA from tony adams on Vimeo.

New FTC rules for bloggers

Interesting.

It doesn't come into effect until December 1.

I suspect I will not be impacted because I make no money from this blog. But anyone who receives ad revenue may be subject to some disclosure requirements.

The Cactus Cuties

Not since Whitney Houston have I heard it sung so well. And their ages are 6-8! I wouldn't mess with the one in the middle. Annie wouldn't be big enough for her. She could out-diva even Miss Ross.

Tomorrow on Bilerico: "Advice for a Gay Roman Catholic Convert""

You will have to go to Bilerico tomorrow after 10:30AM for my response to this:

Fr. Tony,

Hello, my name is Steven. I was viewing the Bilerico website and saw your blog. I have a question in hoping you may assist me. First of all, I am a Roman Catholic and have been for over two years now. I love the church and do attend mass; however, I am a 45 yr old gay man. According to the church, gays are not allowed to practice their lifestyle. I thought I could simply ignore how I feel, but I cannot. God created us and if he did not want us to have these "feelings" , then we wouldn't experience them and want to seek out companionship with a member of the same sex. If I confess to my priest how I feel and would want to establish a loving and stable relationship with another man, would be I facing excommunication from the church?

I hope I can find a peacable solution as to what to do. I understand some catholic churches do accept GLBT couples.

Peace be with you always,

Steven M. _____

Update: It's up. Get on it.

The reading of the Joe Jervis Day proclamation.

Joe is 50 years old and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsome declares it Joe Jervis Day. At Firewood restaurant in the Castro, Leif Wauters reads the proclamation.

Joe Jervis Day in San Francisco

A Feast of Fools

I listened to the President's speech at last night's HRC dinner. It was a very pretty speech. The hall was filled with gay accessocrats who erupted with frenzied applause at all the moments designed for it. Actually, the speech was empty of anything other than good wishes. What the President did not say rang louder than what he did say. For instance, he did say this:

My expectation is that when you look back on these years you will see a time in which we as a nation finally recognize relationships between two men or two women as just as real and admirable as relationships between a man and a woman.

That’s why I support insuring that committed gay couples have the same rights and responsibilities afforded to any married couple in this country.

This translates to: I never have and never will support gay marriage.

Only a fool would stand up and applaud that declaration. The HRC dinner was a feast of fools.

Naked Guy on Castro Street

Lloyd is one of a number of men who habitually stroll Castro Street nakedly. Through the window of Harvey's where we had salad, we saw a few of them differentiated only by head gear and shoes. Here, he has paused for a bit of conversation in front of The Body Shoppe with its cheer-ful safe sex poster.

He illustrates a major difference between San Francisco and New York City. The citizens of SF give themselves extensive license. The NYC residents are all about restraint. It's not that one family is more insane than the other. It's just that the craziness is trotted out in SF and tailored in NYC.