Apr 201 minGay Mountaineer Outed on TV in Islamic Kyrgyzstan (Part 2)PODCAST—EPISODE 26: Dastan Kasmamytov, a 30 y.o. Krygyzstani, is an LGBTQ activist and founder of Pink Summits, a mostly queer...
Mar 14, 20212 minPoppersBAMMER47: Poppers! Some gay men love their stimulating properties for sex and dancing, while others can’t stand that they may leave you...
Mar 14, 20212 minThe History of Organized Male Nude Swimming in the U.S.BAMMER47: Did you know that, until the 1960s, it was a widespread requirement that boys who swam in segregated groups in public school...
Dec 21, 20202 minThe 1993 March on WashingtonSTORY: I attended the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation on April 25, 1993, with a group of...
Aug 29, 20206 minSame-sex Marriage, New York Style (2011)STORY: June 2011, my partner, Juan, and I left our 13-month-old son, Oliver, home in Roanoke with his nanny, and traveled to New York...
Feb 11, 20201 minWhat “Ordinary People” Thought About Gays – 200 Years AgoCOMMENTARY: We can change the past by what we choose to remember. Too often historical narrative is controlled by the status quo, those...
Nov 12, 20196 minThe Dead, The Living, and The InheritanceSTORY: 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...
Oct 31, 20191 minBAMMER and Me: Life in NYC Avant Garde Theatre Scene and StonewallPODCAST—EPISODE 8: Mike talks with Frank Carucci, a life-long New Yorker, about working in the NYC avant-garde theatre scene, the...
Jun 9, 20191 minBAMMER and Me: Caleb Holland, Self Discovery (Part 1)PODCAST—EPISODE 1: Our first episode is about cross-generational perspectives on LGBTQ issues and themes between Mike Balaban and...
Mar 5, 20193 minNigeria Gay LifeSTORY: Welcome to my world! I’m Nigerian, 33, Christian born and bred in the city of Lagos, where life is comfortable, at least for the...
Jun 9, 20181 minFire Island WeekendsSTORY: In all my years at the Pines, my housemates were always fellow worker bees who toiled hard for our time at the beach. Our delight...
Jun 8, 20181 minGay Star News FeatureCOMMENTARY: Thanks to Gay Star News (and David Hudson) for running the following story about Mike Balaban and BAMMER (then called...
Jun 8, 20181 minProject Runway: Water Island EditionSTORY: Circa 1997: While Cherry Grove and The Pines were the centers of gay life on Fire Island, another small enclave of gay culture...
May 25, 20184 minGayborhoods – Sutton PlaceSTORY: In the early 1980s, Sutton Place on Manhattan’s East 50s and 60s were very gay, especially after work when the bars would fill...