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Portrait of a Gay Adolescent
STORY: I’ve just come in from coffee at my downtown spot, the Zoot Cafe—downtown being all of two blocks long in the quintessential...
Jul 11, 20203 min read
First Times
STORY: I began having sex on a regular basis when I was really young. In fact, the first time it happened, I was only eleven. The school...
Jul 11, 20202 min read
For Dougie
STORY: I grew up in a family of “eccentrics.” I’m a direct result of their quirks and quips, attenuated somewhat by the many years I...
Jul 1, 202010 min read
Self-Acceptance and a Queer Life in India
STORY: My name is Rahul. I was born in a small town in Tripura state in North-Eastern India where I spent my first 18 years. My earliest...
May 3, 20203 min read
Looking Back at AIDS During the Time of COVID
STORY: I listened with interest to the online discussion Reflections on the AIDS Crisis in the Time of COVID-19 hosted by BAMMER on May...
Mar 19, 20204 min read
Looking Back
STORY: Two recent developments refocused my attention on all the friends I lost to AIDS in the 80s and 90s. Recently, Peter Gorobetz, a...
Mar 1, 20202 min read
From My Past: Obsession—John Duka, The Passion of Fashion
STORY: “One of the requisite skills for sitting at a fashion show is being able to roll your eyes, talk to the person behind you, chew...
Jan 31, 20203 min read
Voluntarily Celibate: Life as an Asexual Gay Man
STORY: Ever since I could remember, there’s always been something strange about me. When my peers were swooning over the most recent pop...
Jan 25, 20203 min read
Remembering Workouts and Worries
STORY: It was once the epicenter of the gayest neighborhood in New York City. Today, any traces of the infamous Chelsea Gym are nearly...
Jan 19, 20203 min read
Busted!
STORY: In The Fall of 1996, I was twenty years old and had just moved into my own apartment in LA. I was going to school, working full...
Jan 3, 20209 min read
The Dead, The Living, and The Inheritance
STORY: Fall is a time of sad anniversaries for me. When I tested positive for HIV in the fall of 1988, it was hardly surprising. Many sex...
Nov 11, 20196 min read
Ralfie
STORY: Our hearts resemble houses constructed by our parents. When we’re young and something breaks they repair the damage. As we get...
Sep 24, 20195 min read
Angels and Demons
STORY: We five were an unusual gang—“the famous five”—as we liked to call ourselves. It was comprised of me, my best friend Mark, his...
Aug 8, 20196 min read
Fifty Years Ago
STORY: Fifty years ago this week the Stonewall Riots took place. I do not recall hearing about these events at the time, as my mind was...
Jun 25, 20193 min read
In Living Color
I was 14 years old in the long-ago summer of 1969. My freshman year of high school approached but my concerns were still very boyish:...
Jun 25, 20193 min read
Like a Virgin
STORY: Like most young men in America, I had gone my entire life believing I was meant to be with a woman. I had some satisfying sexual...
Jun 6, 20197 min read
Independence Day
STORY: “Catherine and I had been together for seven years. It had been a hard relationship since the second-parent adoption and I was...
May 30, 20195 min read
No More Swinging Dicks
STORY: When I was in Fort Lauderdale on a year-end vacation in 2014, a friend and I decided to stop by Swinging Richards, the Pompano...
May 12, 20191 min read
A Brief Encounter (Istanbul 2015)
STORY: A good friend once told me, “Never trust a married man. Just by being involved with you, lying is part of who he is.” Sexual...
May 4, 20193 min read
On Trial
STORY: It was like being naked and shot at by a firing squad. The year is 2010 and I am in court, battling for the custody of my...
Apr 28, 20194 min read
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