this is a professional Organization for gay and lesbian. 

Gay and Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA)

459 Fulton Street, Suite 107

SanFrancisco, CA 94102

Phone: (415)255-4547

Fax: (415)255-4784

E-mail: info@glma.org

Website: http://www.glma.org

There was a joke common in gay circles in the early days of the current health crisis: “what’s the hardest part about having AIDS” Convincing your parents that you are Haitian.” The humor is not racially sensitive. Only recently have gay white men begun to address the need for a fuller sympathy with those ‘other’ groups threatened with infection, or even to recognize the racial, ethnic, and class diversity of a sexual preference too often glossed as exclusively WASP and middle-class. Yet as one of the few instances of AIDS humor generated from within the community, the joke does highlight some fundamental issues underlying gay men’s experience of AIDS—especially the problematic visibility that accompanies both specific manifestations of and general interest in the disease.

The joke draws on a social reality. AIDS has forced many men to be more open about their sexual practices. The public announcement of one’s infection to family and straight friends often became the tacit admission of sexual preference until then concealed, or at least unspoken. The media trauma surrounding Rock Hudson’s relation to the so-called ‘gay plague’ was reenacted more locally in numerous, less celebrated illnesses.  

GLMA is nonprofit organization seeking to end homophobia in healthcare. Founded in 1981 as the American Association of Physicians for Human Rights.

1. Brokeback Mountain

user rate: 7.9/10

director: Ang Lee

writer: Annie Proulx & Larry McMurtry

release date: 26 January 2006

genre: romance, drama

theme: In the Summer of 1963 Wyoming, two young men, Ennis a ranch hand and Jack an aspiring rodeo bull rider, are sent to work together herding sheep on Brokeback Mountain, and what had otherwise been anticipated to be a rather uneventful venture, will soon turn into an affair of love, of lust, and complications that will spand through 19 years of their lives. Through marriage, through children, and through the mighty grip of societal confines and the expectations of what it is to be a man.

2. Were the World Mine

user rate: 7.9/10

director: Tom Gustafson

writer: Tom Gustafson & Cory James Kruekeberg

release date: 14 May 2008

genre: romance, musical

theme: a magical story of empowerment that culminates in a touching love story, inspired by Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Were the World Mine stars Tanner Cohen, Wendy Robie (Twin Peaks), Broadway star Judy McLane, soap opera legend Jill Larson, Nathaniel David Becker, and Zelda Williams.

Here is a news from Newsvine, the topic is about gay marriage, and England is an example to examine that!

i hope it will be useful to u.

Enjoy!

Maine has legalized gay marriage, making it the fifth state to do so, and, more specifically, the fourth state in New England to do so. Aside from Maine, we can also get hitched in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Vermont.et New Hampshire and Rhode Island onboard, and all of New England will allow gay marriage.

we think it suits our blog

Today, we have finished a interview. This time, we interviewed our good friend who is in Singapore now.

To protect privacy of our friend. So this interview still using written interview.

Now. i will post our interview.

1: How did you discover you are a gay? When?

 It was in my late teens that I realised I was attracted to muscular, good-looking guys. Interestingly, a male model in a magazine turned me gay. That’s how I discovered that I could be different to other guys. I was about 20-year old I think. After army, I had 3 girlfriend over a period of three years. But at the same time I was attracted to muscular men. When my last girlfriend talked about marriage, I was freaked out and that was the last time I was straight. I was 27 when I became officially gay.

 2: Do you have boyfriend now?

Yes. I would consider I still have a boyfriend now even though he passed away last November. I still love him very much.

3:  How long you have been together?

We knew each other in July 2007 in Singapore. He was from Australia. But I moved to Sydney in December 2007. We had been together until he passed away

 4: Did you try to be straight?

It is hard to explain how I reclaim my sexual identity. As I mentioned above, I had girlfriends before. So you could say that I did try to be straight although I was truly attracted to all my girlfriend when I knew them. Looking back, I was not attracted to them sexually but muscle men turned me on.

5: Do you dare to tell people you are gay? Why?

I dare to but it’s not a question of courage only – it’s also a question of need. Do I need to tell everyone  that I”m gay if they didn’t ask? Should I assume people will be comfortable knowing I’m gay? Not that I care –  friends will accept me and those who despise me won’t be my friends. But if new friends ask me now if I’m married or if I have a girlfried, I’ll tell them I’m gay.

6: Do you think the government needs to do something to protect or support gay rights?

Absolutely. In fact, I”m a supporter of the US organisation, Immigration Equality. I had a long distance relationship with my ex from the US for 3 years. We were forced to break up because of immigration issues because even if we get married, I won’t be given a Green Card. That’s unfair and forcing couples to break up. Immigration Equality is now pushing the Uniting American Family Act (UAFA). When that bill is passed, every binational gay couple will enjoy a lifetime living together in the US.

 End.

Anyway, hoping this informations are useful for you.

Also.thanks for our friend, thanks for your help.

The conflict between assimilationism and radicalism that has riven gay culture since Stonewall become highly visible in the 1990s with the emergence and challenge of queer theory and politics. The conflict predates Stonewall, however, indeed Jonethan Dollimore describes it as ‘one of the most fundamental antagonisms within sexual dissidence over the past century.’ How doesgay male fiction since Stonewall engage with this conflict?

________________________________________________________________________________________

GAY LIFE  AND CULTURE: A WORLD HISTORY

Since time immemorial and throughout the world, some men and women have felt a desire for emotional and physical intimacy with those of the same sex. Men have lusted after and loved other men; women have lusted after and loved other women.

References:

Aldrich R. 2006, Gay Life  and Culture: A World History.

Brookes L. 2009, Gay Male Fiction Since Stonewall.

We reckon that in order to provide reliable information, we need to have opinion from gay people themselves, not just straight people. Due to the fact that gay people are the people who truly experience the issue. this interview was done by e-mail. Here we have Ben, 19 year old gay who is originally from Sydney but currently is living in Sydney. He is very kind to let us interview him .

1. How did you discover you are a gay? When? 

I was born gay. I always felt an attraction to males when I was growing up. I always knew I was gay, I just didn’t know what it was called until I was 11. So therefore, I always identified myself as gay.

2. Do you have boyfriend now?  Yes, I do.

3. How long you have been together?

 We have been together not very long, maybe a month but we live together. We were best friends for years  beforehand so I know him very well, we are very close.

4. Did you try to be straight?  

I never wanted/pretended to be straight. I have always been open as gay, I never pretended otherwise. But it made it a lot harder for me to be openly gay. I got a lot of torment from my peers and teachers in highschool and just general society. Even resentment from my family.

5. Dare you tell people you are a gay? Why?

 I told everyone I knew. Most times I never had to say anything at all, they could just tell I was gay. I am fairly obvious lol.

6.Do you think the government needs to do something to protect or support gay rights?  

 I have no idea what the goverment has done for gay people. I think there is so much more to be done! A lot of young gay people are in trouble, I think more needs to be done to support them. I think they need to create awareness in order to demolish homosexuality as a taboo subject.

7. Wow..that’s very interesting, it’s totally contradict straight people’s answer for the same question. Straight people think that the government has given enough support to gay people (eg : mardi gras being held to show recognition to gay people). can you explain more about why you think government has not put enough effort to support gay?

I’m not trying to be rude here but straight people think that putting on a mardi gras festival once a year is enough!? Please! As if! That’s a once a year thing! What about every other day of the year? Young gay men are been harrassed, bullied and abused everyday. I never hear on the news a press conference with the prime minister saying how they are going to address this issue or prevent it.

Sure there are support groups but they are limitedly funded. I remember calling up a gay help line once…and no one answered because they don’t have enough staff…what if it was an absolute emergency! A young kid needing help, not getting it and doing something drastic!

8. As you are currently living in Perth, do you feel any difference of treatment compared to when you were living in Sydney?

I think it is easier to be gay in the city of Sydney because there is such a large gay population over there. The gay population over here in Perth is much smaller with only 2 gay clubs rather than heaps. But, I don’t see any difference between the states acceptance wise.

These  are all the interview between Ben and us. our words cannot perfectly express our gratitude to him. His willingness to be interviewed by us is so incalculable to us and to the readers of this blog, a very reliable insight.. Thank you so much Ben . we would not be able to have this done without your help ^_^

First Vermont allowed civil unions for gay couples. Then Massachusetts legalized same-sex marriage. California followed (but we know what happened there; stay tuned for more), as did Connecticut and Iowa, and then — oh, wait — Vermont ended up going all the way, offering full marriage to same-sex couples. Illinois has a civil union bill on the legislative ballot, and New York Gov. David Paterson is pushing to give gay couples the same marriage rights as straight couples in his state. Lawmakers in Maine, New Hampshire and New Jersey are considering the same for their residents. Washington D.C.’s lawmakers have moved to recognize gay marriages performed in other states (a final legislative vote will take place on May 5).

What’s interesting, but not unexpected, is that all the states granting marriage rights to gay couples are in the North. Even the states that recognize civil unions or domestic partnerships, such as Washington and Oregon, are in the North. Do we think this trend will start to move below the Mason-Dixon line, or is that where state legislators will, well, draw the line? Could gay marriage be the new civil war in our country?

When California’s Prop 8 passed in November, taking away same-sex marriage rights that had been granted by the California Supreme Court, many people declared that “Gay is the New Black.” Activists across the board drew comparisons between current gay struggles and the African-American Civil Rights Movement. Just as black people were once denied certain rights — including the ability to marry a white person — many gay couples feel they are facing similar discrimination today.

We have to wonder what would happen if a federal gay-marriage bill were passed (having the United States join Spain, Canada, South Africa, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden in marriage equality). Would it cause a new civil war? Would it bring people out into the streets demanding that their state secede from the Union?

Likely not. But it is interesting that all the states that have come out thus far on the side of gay marriage are up North. I would love to see a Southern state, say Louisiana, be bold enough to become the next Iowa. Think it’ll happen? Doubtful, but it’s nice to dream.

The military question offers a pretty striking sub-statistic: a vast majority of respondents in military households don’t think openly gay men and women would be divisive for the military (though I haven’t seen a breakdown on whether most respondents were servicemen/women themselves, or whether they were wives, husbands, children, etc.)

There are some interesting underpinnings here to mine, rendering a picture of what kinds of people fall on the “pro” side of gay-rights issues. Quinnipiac tells us it’s women (who are six to 15 points more likely to support gay-rights issues than men), young people (53 percent of 18-34 year olds support gay marriage), Jews (81 percent support gay marriage), people who know someon who is gay (group is split on marriage, but supports civil unions while the “no” group doesn’t), and people with college degrees (support gay marriage 50 percent to 45 percent).

Philosophically, people are more likely to support gay-rights issues if they think people are born gay or straight (65 percent back gay marriage), while those who think homosexuality is a choice are much less likely (15 percent support gay marriage).

So, in sum, groups that are more likely to vote liberal, plus people who know someone is gay.

One encouraging statistic for gay-rights advocates: 59 percent of Democrats think ending discrimination against gays is as necessary today as ending discrimination against blacks was in the 1960s. Republicans don’t share that view, but a total of 44 percent of Americans think that’s the case, according to the poll.