Homo History, Pride and The Science Of Gaydar

Just yesterday The Stranger newspaper in Seattle published a pull out section on Homo History containing a chronological compendium of events in Gay history. I read all 41 articles in just a couple of hours this morning. I was duly impressed and reminded of many events that I either experienced or was aware of as they were happening. I was sorta like an instant replay of major events in my life and others on our path Gay enlightenment. The writers of the various articles are a veritable Who's Who of GLBT writers and personalities including Michaelangelo Signorile, Wayne Besen, Chris Crocker, Dan Savage, Rex Wockner, Andrew Tobias and John Aravosis. The importance of this publication is the opportunity to pass along these pieces of our history on to the next generation of GLBT youth, some of whom are not aware of the sacrifices made on the way to where we are today and to where we are going in the future. The list of events is not complete, but comprehensive in its scope and grasp of major events in Homo History. As Homo History is not readily available to most youths growing up, any opportunity to pass along recorded pieces of our lives is one not to be missed. I urge you to read it and pass the information on to those you know and love.

In other GLBT history news, there is an exhibit, Out Ranks, at the San Francisco GLBT Historical Society on Mission Street. It chronicles the lives of Gay veterans who have served with honor and distinction in spite of the threat of dishonorable discharge throughout our military history. One of the most significant displays to me is artifacts from the life of Leonard Matlovich, an USAF Sargeant who's coming out story in 1975 made the cover of Time magazine. I remember reading about Leonard, I was still in the Navy at the time, having returned from Viet Nam to be stationed in San Diego. I had not yet come out to myself (although I knew) or anyone else. It was in part because of his courage in coming out that I finally grasped the elephant in the room and began to accept the truth about myself and decided to discover just exactly who and what I really was. It cost me dearly, but I do not regret the decision to come out. Only in the acceptance of our nature can any of us truly be free. Leonard was the first to openly challenge the stupidity of the government ban on openly Gay persons serving in the US armed forces. I will forever be grateful to him for pioneering the way for us.

For those of you in Atlanta for Pride, Ryan from Boys Are Ugly will be on the Coca Cola Stage at noon talking about coming out at an early age, being an out jock at school, a little about Mike's accident and how love can get you through anything. Go on out to give him a listen, I just wish I could be there to hear him myself. CBS has also asked for an interview with him and I will pass on the broadcast information as soon as he gets it to me. He told me today that he had a blast at the True Colors concert last night at Chastain Park (his mom surprised him with tickets).

Another interesting read I ran across this week is a rather lengthy article in New York Magazine entitled The Science of Gaydar. It relates on an "extensive new body of research showing that most of us, whether top or bottom, butch or femme, or somewhere in between, share a kind of physical otherness that locates us in our own quadrant of the gender matrix, more like one another than not". The article is fascinating and well worth the time it takes to read. It reconfirms my belief in the fact of my being born Gay not choosing to be this way. That argument has always confused the logician in me as who logically would choose to be ostracized, persecuted, hated and abused if indeed they had a choice? Being Gay to me is a Nichevo thing. For those of you who have not long read me, Nichevo is the Russian term for "it can't be helped" or "you can do nothing about it". That is the way I believe, I can do nothing about being Gay, I just had to accept it and go on with my life. I have tried to educate those with whom I have come in contact, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. It has cost me mentally and physically, but I would rather be where I am than where I was before I came out.

That's about it for today, so I will close with the traditional eye candy for your. Until next time as always, Enjoy!

All photos processed with Picasa2.

And You Think You Have It Bad

Every one of us has had those days when we think the world has gone to s*** and it is a giant conspiracy to trod you underfoot. Well next time you're feeling that way, just remember that the good old days were not always so good and nothing is as bad as it used to be. To prove my point here is a reprint of some historical trivia that I received in an email:

LIFE IN THE 1500'S

The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be. Here are some facts about the1500s:

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, Don't throw the baby out with the Bath water..

Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying . It's raining cats and dogs.

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house.. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying, Dirt poor. The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing.

As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entranceway. Hence the saying a thresh hold.

(Getting quite an education, aren't you?)

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and! did not get much meat.

They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme, Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old..

Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off.

It was a sign of wealth that a man could, bring home the bacon. They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and chew the fat..

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death.

This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status.

Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the upper crust.

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky.

The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial.

They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a wake.

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people.

So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive.

So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell.

Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be, saved by the bell or was considered a ..dead ringer..

And that's the truth...Now, whoever said History was boring ! ! !

So until next time as always, Enjoy!

All photos processed with Picasa2