GayHistory | Bammer 2021

Gay 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...

Poppers

BAMMER47: Poppers! Some gay men love their stimulating properties for sex and dancing, while others can’t stand that they may leave you...

The 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...

The 1993 March on Washington

STORY: I attended the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation on April 25, 1993, with a group of...

Same-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...

What “Ordinary People” Thought About Gays – 200 Years Ago

COMMENTARY: We can change the past by what we choose to remember. Too often historical narrative is controlled by the status quo, those...

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...

BAMMER and Me: Life in NYC Avant Garde Theatre Scene and Stonewall

PODCAST—EPISODE 8: Mike talks with Frank Carucci, a life-long New Yorker, about working in the NYC avant-garde theatre scene, the...

BAMMER 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...

Nigeria Gay Life

STORY: 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...

Fire Island Weekends

STORY: 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...

Gay Star News Feature

COMMENTARY: Thanks to Gay Star News (and David Hudson) for running the following story about Mike Balaban and BAMMER (then called...

Project Runway: Water Island Edition

STORY: Circa 1997: While Cherry Grove and The Pines were the centers of gay life on Fire Island, another small enclave of gay culture...

Gayborhoods – Sutton Place

STORY: In the early 1980s, Sutton Place on Manhattan’s East 50s and 60s were very gay, especially after work when the bars would fill...