Halloween: America's Gay Holiday

via HuffPost Gay Voices, by Irene Monroe

Halloween is America's gay holiday.

In the words of the lesbian poet and scholar Judy Grahn, Halloween is "the great gay holiday."

And this weekend of lavish costumed theatricality will attract everyone, but especially lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) revelers.

Back in the day Halloween, the night before All Hallows Day (All Saints Day), was linked to the ancient Celtic festival Samhain in the British Isles, meaning "summer's end."

And because the celebration is associated with mystery, magic, superstition, witches and ghosts, the festivity, not surprisingly, was limited in colonial New England because of its Puritanical belief system.

But today it's an LGBTQ extravaganza that rivals -- if not out-showcases -- Pride festivals.

Long before June officially became Gay Pride Month and October became Coming Out Month for the LGBTQ community, Halloween was unofficially our yearly celebrated "holiday," dating as far back as the 1970s, when it was a massive annual street party in San Francisco's Castro district.

By the 1980s, gay enclaves like Key West, West Hollywood, and Greenwich Village were holding their annual Halloween street parties.

And the parades the night of Halloween did and still do draw straights and gay spectators out to watch.

Gay cultural influence on Halloween has become such an unstoppable phenomenon here and abroad that anthropologist Jerry Kugelmass of University of Florida published a book in 1994 on the new trend, titled Masked Culture, describing Halloween as an emerging gay "high holiday."

"The 'masked culture' first developed by the gays of San Francisco has reached across the lines of orientation -- and now jumped across the boundaries between nations and languages.

It's not just a party. It's an ideal of personal emancipation, self-expression and self-fulfillment -- an ideal that loses none of its power when it takes the form of a sexy nurse's outfit," CNN contributor David Frum wrote last year in "Halloween craze started in gay culture."


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Little Boy Witches

via HuffPost Gay Voices, by Jeffery Self

Halloween brings out a lot of upsetting news stories: stories of psychotic people poisoning trick-or-treat candy, Barbara Walters co-hosting an entire episode of The View as Marilyn Monroe, and parents further forcing gender stereotypes on their kids.

The "you can't be a princess, you're a boy" dilemma is as old as princesses themselves.

For every Dracula costume worn this year, there's likely just as many boys who wanted to be a witch instead.

What's crazy to me is the idea of a parent telling their kid they can't be something they want to be.

I grew up in Rome, Georgia, a fairly conservative town, in a family that became very into Halloween thanks to the infectious holiday spirit given off by the Roseanne Halloween episodes.

Like a lot of kids, my sister and I were obsessed with The Wizard of Oz growing up. In her pre-teen years, my sister once claimed she thought she might have actually been Dorothy Gale herself in a past life, which was ironic because as an adult, I've met a lot of guys who think they might have spent their past lives as Judy Garland.

In first grade I knew exactly who I wanted to be for Halloween: the Wicked Witch of the West. Upon telling my mom this news months before Halloween, she immediately enlisted my grandmother to make my costume and took me shopping for green make-up, a wig, a hat, and a broom.

She found her old pair of pointy-toed black boots that were way too big for me, and she stuffed them full of toilet paper. I remember feeling like the most glamorous boy in the world for getting my own mother's shoes.

My grandmother finished my costume weeks before the actual Halloween deadline, and I practiced wearing the costume in the countless nights leading up to Halloween.

It had come together perfectly. I was the Wicked Witch of the West.


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Ed Negron's Daily Motivation 10-31-11

Monday, October 31, 2011

Today's Gift

 

Superficiality is the curse of our age. The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a primary spiritual problem. —Richard J. Foster

As we have reached for instant cures, one-minute answers, and quick highs, we have developed lifestyles that foreclosed deeper possibilities. For instance, when we fail to stay and resolve conflicts in a relationship, we miss the joys of a renewed understanding. Our spiritual development comes in steps, small but meaningful increments that build over a period of time. Many of us have not been patient men and our newfound spiritual life is teaching us that the quickest, most efficient answer isn't always best.

Today, our greatest temptation may be to grab for the fast solutions rather than allowing time for small but important steps to occur. When we are frustrated, it will help to remember the difficulty may lie in our insistence on a quick answer. Sometimes simply being true to ourselves and standing as a witness while the answer develops are all that is asked of us.

I will have faith that time is on my side and it will teach me valuable things.

From Touchstones: A Book of Daily Meditations for Men©

Read more Daily Motivations at http://thework-in.blogspot.com

Hyper-Masculinity effects on Gay and Bi Men

via GoodTherapy

“Gay and bisexual men experience numerous negative health conditions, including high rates of mental health problems,” said Beth N. Fischgrund of the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at Northwestern University, and lead author of a new study examining masculinity and mental health in gay and bisexual men.

“Empirical studies show that a strong adherence to masculine norms is correlated with poor health outcomes, such as mental health problems and risky sexual behaviors.”

National studies have shown that gay men are nearly twice as likely to suffer from depression and anxiety as heterosexual men, and that suicide rates for these men are nearly double those of other men.

The way gay and bisexual men perceive their masculinity has a significant impact on mental health. “Society’s messages about sexuality are not the only cultural attitudes that sexual minority men are confronted with; cultural attitudes also delineate what it means to be a man,” said Fischgrund.

 She added that some men may exhibit hyper-masculine behaviors when they feel their masculinity is being threatened.
“Gay men who endorse hyper-masculine norms might then experience identity incongruence when they are presented with general society’s norms that differ and contradict their own.

 In these situations, the more integral the hyper-masculine norms are to a man’s identity, the more psychological distress he may experience.”

For her study, Fischgrund recruited 311 gay and bisexual men, nearly a third of which reported an HIV positive status.

 “Among these gay and bisexual men, those who adhered to norms that incorporate an interpersonal aspect of masculinity (i.e., conceptions of masculinity as social behavior or as sexual  behavior) endorsed higher levels of mental health distress than did men who adhered to norms that focus on the intrapersonal aspects of masculinity (i.e., conceptions of masculinity as physical appearance),” said Fischgrund.

“Additionally, men who did not know their HIV status endorsed higher levels of depression.” She emphasized the importance of her findings.

“Specifically, designing programs that center on altering the social and sexual masculine norms within the gay male community are needed to decrease the mental health burden of gay and bisexual men, which has been shown to be associated with HIV risky behaviors.”


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HPV is a Gay Men's Health Crisis

via Advocate, by Ilan H. Meyer

A committee from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently made headlines by recommending human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccinations for boys and young men.

Previously, vaccination, which also protects women from cervical and other cancers, was recommended for girls only.

I commend the committee’s decision: Vaccination can all but eliminate HPV-related cancers. Almost all instances of anal cancer are caused by HPV, which is sexually transmitted.

HPV also causes many oral and other so-called head and neck cancers.

HPV is a gay men’s health issue. Anal cancer affects about two in 100,000 people in the U.S., but the rate of anal cancer among gay and bisexual men is as much as 44 times higher.

 Although vaccination is an important step, this recommendation is not enough. Prejudice and stigma continue to hinder an adequate public health response to HPV.

 As with HIV/AIDS, for HPV and anal cancer silence equals death.

Even though the HPV vaccine, called Gardasil or Silgard, was approved and recommended for use in girls since 2006, it has been hard to get girls vaccinated.

The exchange about HPV in a recent debate among Republican presidential contenders sheds light on Americans’ reluctance:

As former senator Rick Santorum charged, “this disease is spread through sexual contact... unless 11- and 12-year-olds in the state of Texas are somehow encouraged to participate in that activity, this is not something that the state or federal government should be doing.”

The argument is that vaccinating girls encourages them to engage in sex. This is a ludicrous suggestion because Gardasil protects against infection at any time over a lifetime — it is not specific to sex in youth.

Other arguments — concerning the safety of the vaccine, for example — have been repudiated repeatedly by medical authorities.

If it has been so hard to get girls vaccinated, for fear of encouraging heterosexual sex, it is no surprise that public health authorities in the U.S. have been reluctant to recommend HPV vaccination to protect boys who, when they become sexually active, may engage in same-sex anal sex.


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Woof Wednesday is Strapping

Feel the Love... Perfection

You were made perfectly to be loved.

~Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Love is all you need with Sister Glo each Friday on LifeLube,
when she shares loving goodness for you and yours.

VIDEO: Little Boy Wants To Be A Girl Scout Gets Rejected

My Moustache, My Prostate

via Prostate8, by Admin

Last November Castro resident Kris Konietzko stopped shaving above his lips. By the end of the month, he was sporting a bright red mustache.

“It was pretty funny,” recalled Konietzko, considering he has brown hair. “The longest I had gone without shaving was three or four days.”

He was struck most by the visual difference the facial hair caused.

“Really, a little bit of hair on the face changes the way you look,” he said.

And he was quick to tell people that the mustache was not a permanent installation.

“The first thing I said was “I am Kris. I don’t always have this mustache,” said Konietzko when he would meet strangers.

The reason for Konietzko’s change in appearance was due to his participation in a fundraiser called Movember. throughout November each year hundreds of thousands of men throughout the world grow “Mos,” shorthand for the French-derived moustache.

  

The idea began as a joke in 2003 between Garone and a group of friends to bring back the 1970s style of mustache. at the end of one month, they threw a party and handed out awards for best and worst mustaches.

“I was surprised by the controversy and comments growing a mustache created. I said, we should put this to a cause,” said Garone. “I researched men’s health and saw prostate cancer is equivalent to breast cancer. It became a go-to for us.”

Prostate cancer is a major concern for men, as one in six will be diagnosed with the cancer. more than 33,000 men die of the disease each year.

Last year Movember recruited 450,000 men to take part in 11 countries who raised $81 million. the money goes to support the Prostate Cancer Foundation and Live Strong.

Over the years, Garone said he has found gay men tend to be more willing to talk about their health issues. Conditioned as they are in the need to talk about HIV and STDs with friends and sexual partners, gay men are repeatedly told about the need to address intimate health concerns.

“I think gay men are much more comfortable having these discussions,” said Garone, 40, who is now at the screening age for prostate cancer.

Garone sees Movember breaking down stigmas around men’s health similar to the work the gay community has had to do with AIDS.

It so happens that a simple thing as a mustache best illustrates that idea and serves the same role as the pink ribbon does for breast cancer, he said.

“There is a lot of stigma with just growing a mustache. We are trying to break down stigma around men’s health,” he explained.

He also sees the mustache as a “perfect leveler” that can unite all types of guys and brings gay and straight men together to fight a common cause.

“It doesn’t matter is you are a policeman, a DJ, a pilot, in the finance industry, gay or straight. everyone can do it and do it for their own reasons,” said Garone.

Konietzko, 33, signed up through his job at Shift Communications, a nationwide PR firm that encouraged employees in its San Francisco, Boston, and New York offices to take part in Movember last year.

The openly gay Konietzko plans to take part again this year and has been trying to get his boyfriend to sign up as well.

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Ins and Outs of Gay News Sites

via HuffPost Gay Voices, by David Badash

As gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Americans -- and their news -- become mainstream, will the gay news sites that have long supported the LGBT community be able to survive?

I spoke with nine different well-known LGBT publishers, writers, and industry insiders about the current state of gay media -- and if it has a future.

Towleroad partner and creator of Out magazine, Michael Goff, Pam's House Blend's Pam Spaulding, John Aravosis of AMERICAblog, the Vice President of the Human Rights Campaign, and many others share their unique perspective.

Is there a future for the gay news and politics sites and blogs that focus on and advocate for the LGBT community, or will we continue to see them consolidate -- or just disappear?

Why are so many gay news sites finding it so challenging to stay afloat? Are advertisers leery of being associated with distinctly gay sites? Is this niche just too "niche?"

"Whether corporate-run or a one person shop, the outlook for gay news blogs is that most of them are not turning a satisfying profit," writes Nikki Usher, at Harvard's own niche journalism site, Neiman Journalism Lab, in a recent article, "How niche is too niche? The case of gay news blogs."

Publishers of gay news sites talk about the issues Usher's piece raises: inconsistent advertising and few advertising network options, and lack of support from LGBT organizations.

While visits at many LGBT sites are growing, most journalists and bloggers work very hard to attract and keep each and every reader.


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Ed Negron's Daily Motivation 10-27-11

Friday, October 27, 2011

Today's Gift

 

Problems have only the size and the power that you give them. —S. H.

We will not be free from all difficulties today, or during any period of our lives. But we have the personal power to eliminate the threat, the sting of any challenge. But it's our vision of circumstances that gives them their interpretation.

At this moment, we are defining our experience. We are labeling events good or bad, valuable or meaningless. And our growth, particularly this day, is greatly influenced by the value judgments we attach to our experiences.

As we grow stronger emotionally and spiritually, we learn that all difficulties are truly opportunities for exceptional growth and increased awareness of the truth of existence. All experiences can be taken in stride if we are trustful of their intended blessing.

We are sharing this life, every moment of it, with a power greater than ourselves. We need not worry about any circumstance. Always we are watched over. We never need struggle alone.

We can let go of our problems. It's ourselves and that attitude we have cultivated that makes any situation a problem. We can turn it loose and therein discover the solution.

I will not make mountains out of the molehills of my life.

From Each Day a New Beginning: Daily Meditations for Women by Karen Casey©

Read more Daily Motivations at http://thework-in.blogspot.com

Ed Negron's Daily Motivation 10-26-11

Thursday, October 26, 2011

Today's Gift

Anger helps straighten out a problem like a fan helps straighten out a pile of papers. --Susan Marcotte

Some of us have temper tantrums. Like black clouds, we threaten an outburst at any moment. Other people learn to check us out for storm warnings. They want time to clear out or at least to put on a protective covering. We've caught them by surprise before, and they didn't like it. Now they've learned to watch out - to stay on their toes when we're around. Intimidating people, making them glad when we're not around so they can relax, is a poor way to relate to others.

And what do the outbursts do for us? Is there a cheap sense of power or control for a few minutes? Are we advertising to the world that we're short on coping skills? Or do we tell ourselves that letting off steam is necessary once in a while, conveniently forgetting the steam blasting in other people's faces?

No tirade ever solved a problem. Anger is not a strategy. We don't have the right to rain on other people's parades. Our program can teach us better ways to deal with our anger - with honesty and fairness to ourselves and others.

Today, I ask my Higher Power for a peaceful and honest heart.

From the book: Days of Healing, Days of Joy by Earnie Larsen and Carol Larsen Hegarty

 

Read more Daily Motivations at http://thework-in.blogspot.com

Our Last Forum of 2011, Get Freaky - is Now LIVE on the Feast of Fun Podcast

 LifeLube's last community forum of 2011was held last night - and we discussed sex, sex, sex. Check out the Feast of Fun podcast from the event here.

This forum was co-sponsored by the Chicago Black Gay Men's Caucus. LifeLube partners include Center on Halsted - where the forum was held - TPAN, Howard Brown Health Center, and AIDS Foundation of Chicago.

We had sex toy demos during the reception - thanks to Cupids, Tulip and Early to Bed for making that happen!

Thanks to our wonderful panelists -

* Gary Bucher - anal health specialist, dir. Anal Dysplasia Clinic Midwest
* Debby Herbenick - sex researcher, Time OUT Chicago's sex columnist
* John Stryker - Howard Brown Health Center nurse practitioner

And of course - much love and appreciation to our hosts/moderators - Feast of Fun. Check out the podcast from the event here.

See more photos like the ones below, courtesy of Ed Negron, here on Facebook.

Check out the podcast from the event here.

More photos are here on Facebook.

Don't Delay HIV Prevention for Gay and Bi Men

by David Ernesto Munar, via HuffPo

Lives will be saved when the Food and Drug Administration puts its stamp of approval on a groundbreaking preventative approach called pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, recently found to reduce HIV infections.

With PrEP, people who are not infected with HIV take a daily pill, usually used to treat the disease, to help prevent infection -- as part of a broad HIV
prevention approach that includes condoms and safer-sex counseling.

But the longer the FDA waits before beginning its review of the HIV medication Truvada for prevention, the more lives will be unnecessarily lost. This is particularly true for those at greatest risk: gay and bisexual men.

We urge the FDA to immediately begin its review for approval of Truvada for PrEP for gay and bisexual men.

Read the rest.

Ed Negron's Daily Motivation 10-25-11

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Today's Gift

 

Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is that little voice at the end of the day that says: "I'll try again tomorrow." --Anne Hunninghake

 

A key quality that distinguishes a successful athlete, or a top-notch performer in any field, is the way he responds to his bad days. Everyone has good days and bad days, and the good ones are certainly easier to handle. But do we allow the bad ones to throw us off our course? Are we so shaken by our mistakes or troubles that we lose our focus on our goals?

 

Adult development is a process; it's never an end goal that we reach and hold. Our healing and recovery includes preparing ourselves to respond well to the bad days. We can do that by keeping our eye on the big picture, knowing that however bad things may seem at the moment, they will change. We learn to reach deep into our spiritual center for the courage to stay focused in the midst of our hardest days. We don't have to do it alone. We have the spiritual support of our Higher Power and the companionship of our friends to keep us on the path.

 

Today I will stay in touch with my spiritual center to find the courage for another day.

 

From the book: Wisdom to Know by Anonymous

 

Read more Daily Motivations at http://thework-in.blogspot.com

Tomorrow!!!

Hey Everyone! Tomorrow is the day, get ready for our Get Freaky Community forum!

It's going to be an exciting fun-filled event, we will be kicking it off with an hour long reception starting at 6 PM featuring a cash bar, light treats and snacks.

Oh and did we mention that there will be sex toy demonstrations put on by Cupid's Treasure, Tulip, and Early to Bed!

Then after we've eaten and drank our fair share join us in the Hoover Leppen Theater at 7 PM so we can get down to the dirty talk! Our hosts from one of the most popular gay podcasts out there Marc Felion and Fausto Fernos of Feast of Fun will be facilitating discussion with our three distinguished panelists:

Gary Bucher: Anal health specialist, director of the Anal Dysplasia Clinic Midwest

Debby Herbenick: Sex researcher and Time OUT Chicago's sex columnist

John Stryker: Howard Brown Health Center nurse practicioner

Please join us
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Center on Halsted
3656 North Halsted, Chicago

We begin at 6:00pm for free light nibbles, a cash bar, and sex toy demos in the 2nd floor John Baran Senior Center.

The dirty talk begins at 7:00pm in the Hoover Leppen Theatre, 3rd floor. Hope to see you all there!!!


RSVP Here!

Ed Negron's Daily Motivation 10-24-11

Monday, October 24, 2011

Today's Gift

 

The universal human yearning (is) for something permanent, enduring, without shadow of change. —Willa Cather

The specter of change builds dread in most of us. We fear the effects on our personal lives. We lack faith that the impending change will benefit us. Only time can assure us of that. And it will, just as every change we've survived up to now has done.

Changes are gifts, really. They come as hallmarks to our present attainments. They signify successful growth. And they announce our readiness for more growth. How we struggle to understand this, and how quickly we forget it once we have adapted to the change. The struggle is then repeated the next time change visits us.

We long for permanence, believing it guarantees security, not realizing the only real security available to us come with our trust in our Higher Power, from whom all change comes as a blessing on the growth we've attained. If we were to experience total lack of change, we'd find death. Life is challenge, continued change, always endurable and growth enhancing. We can reflect on what's gone before, and trust that which faces us now.

Change means I am progressing, on course.

From Each Day a New Beginning: Daily Meditations for Women by Karen Casey

Read more Daily Motivations at http://thework-in.blogspot.com

The Down Low Made Me Do It!

via Huffpost Gay Voices, by Earnest Winborne

As a black man, I've been very blessed to have an amazing career working as a producer in television. For more than three decades, I have worked for some of the biggest names on some of the most popular shows in television history.

I've seen it all -- from producing for local television stations to working on The Oprah Winfrey Show and The View. I've been to every award show red carpet possible through my years with Extra, E! News and Access Hollywood, just to name a few.

And more often than not, I have been the only black male on the team. And as a double whammy, I am almost always the only openly gay black man on staff.

So, when the media first became infatuated with the idea of the "Down Low" back in the late '90s, for me the issues and topics were magnified because it hit so close to home -- not because I was in the closet hiding anything, but because as the token gay black man, my straight colleagues assumed I had all the answers.

But they weren't asking the right questions. All over the tube, from Jerry Springer to CNN and everything in between, everyone was talking about the Down Low.

There were books and documentaries, newspaper commentaries and radio shows. The Down Low was everywhere.

 It was so prevalent that even the straight guys on my camera crews looked up from their sports pages to ask me about it.

As the only black gay rep on the staff, I got asked, "Why are so many black gay men in the closet?" "What is it about the black community that won't allow black gay men to come out?" "Is it true that these closet cases are spreading HIV/AIDS to black women?" (This is a huge myth, and according to the CDC, it's the prevalence of intravenous drug use that is to blame.)

Then, the discussion turned to my personal life. I got asked, "When did you decide to come out? Was it difficult for you?"

And that's when it hit me. I realized my story was still new to them because my experience as a gay black person is never seen in the mainstream media. I realized that even folks in the liberal entertainment industry needed to be educated.

 I was an anomaly; they were used to seeing gay people who looked like the characters on Will & Grace or, in today's world, like Cam and Mitchell on Modern Family.

And when they do see black gay men in the media, it's usually a discussion of the mysterious men on the Down Low.

Why are these nameless, faceless people who are creeping, so to speak, getting more media attention than the black same-gender-loving (SGL) people who are open and honest and living in their truth?

Where are the black SGL role models who are productive members of our communities? Where are the television segments, talk shows, newspaper articles and stories that feature people like my friends and me?

I realized that black gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people are the invisible people. Like Wanda Sykes has said, "There are no black gays. We're like unicorns. We don't exist [in the media]."


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Feel the Love... Sister Glo Has The Marks to Prove It

No love, no friendship can cross the path of our destiny 

without leaving some mark on it forever.

~Francois Mauriac

Love is all you need with Sister Glo each Friday on LifeLube.

Ed Negron's Daily Motivation 10-21-11

Friday, October 21, 2011

Today's Gift

 

Choice of attention - to pay attention to this and ignore that - is to the inner life what choice of action is to the outer. In both cases, a man is responsible for his choice and must accept the consequences. --W. H. Auden

 

Many of us have said, "I can't help myself!" when we tried to stop our constant thinking about other people or their behavior. "I know it's not good for me, but what can I do when they keep acting that way?"

 

Let us think of ourselves as living in a house with many windows. At each window is a different view, and within each view are many things to catch our attention -- perhaps there are some people, some traffic, some buildings, a horizon, and some trees. If we always go to the same window and focus on the same object, we are not using all our choices. We may have overlooked some things in our lives that need attention. There are many things we are totally powerless over. Our power exists in changing the focus of our attention.

Today, I will notice where I am choosing to pay attention. I pray for guidance in being aware of my options.

 

From the book: Touchstones by Anonymous

 

Read more Daily Motivations at http://thework-in.blogspot.com

Walk Down Memory Lane, Stop at "Get Freaky"

via Feast of Fun, by Marc Felion

In the years since we started podcasting, a lot has changed about how we think of gay men’s health and sexuality.

We used to be concerned about what we did with our asses and now we’re more focused on our assets. By concentrating on what we are already doing well, we can better see the big picture of who we are and how to live happy, healthy, and sexually fulfilling lives.

Lifelube, a pioneering group of health advocates that we’ve partnered with is holding its last forum of the year- Get Freaky – where anyone can ask questions and bring up difficult topics about gay men’s health.

The funding for the group has come to a close and it’s in the process of reapplying for 2012- so this next forum may be its last or like Cher’s farewell tour, it’s just one more of many to come.

Join us today as we walk down memory lane with Jim Pickett to look back at the live podcast forums we’ve done together and the life lessons we’ve learned.

• How shunning shame and injecting a sense of humor to gay men’s health creates an impact
• Bridging the generation gap.
• How big of a problem is alcohol and drug use for gay men?
• And Sexual Revolution 2.0 goes mobile.

See all the forums here

Visit our sponsors:

 Get Freaky:

Time for some dirty talk to affirm our sexual health
Join us for a “gay birds and the bees” & ask a renowned panel of gay/bi men’s health sexperts the questions that weren’t covered in your high school sex ed class.
Tuesday October 25, 2011 – Space is limited so please RSVP

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Spirit Day 2011

via GLAAD blog

Millions of Americans wear purple on Spirit Day as a sign of support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth and to speak out against bullying.

Spirit Day was started in 2010 by teenager Brittany McMillan as a response to the young people who had taken their own lives.

Observed annually on October 20, individuals, schools, organizations, corporations, media professionals and celebrities wear purple, which symbolizes spirit on the rainbow flag.

Getting involved is easy -- participants are asked to simply "go purple" on October 20 as we work to create a world in which LGBT teens are celebrated and accepted for who they are.

Learn more here

Ed Negron's Daily Motivation 10-20-10

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Today's Gift

...You don't get to choose how you're going to die. Or when. You can only decide how you're going to live. Now. —Joan Baez
How thrilling to contemplate that we can choose every attitude we have and every action we take. We have been gifted with full responsibility for our development. What will we try today? It's our personal choice. How will we decide on a particular issue? Our options are only limited by our vision.

Every situation in life offers us a significant opportunity for making a decision that will, of necessity, influence the remaining situations we encounter. Just as we are interdependent, needing and influencing one another in all instances that bring us together, likewise our decisions are never inviolate. Each is singly important; however, its impact is multiplied by the variety of other decisions triggered.

The choice is ours for livings fully today, for taking advantage of all the opportunities that present themselves. Our personal growths, our emotional and spiritual development, are in our hands. Our Higher Power will provide us with the guidance, and the program offers us the tools. The decision to act is ours, alone.

I will exercise my personal power. My choices determine my development.

From Each Day a New Beginning: Daily Meditations for Women by Karen Casey©

Read more Daily Motivations at http://thework-in.blogspot.com

New study dispels stereotypes about the kind of sex we have

"Of all sexual behaviors that men reported occurring during their last sexual event, those involving the anus were the least common," Rosenberger said. "There is certainly a misguided belief that 'gay sex equals anal sex,' which is simply untrue much of the time." 

via the Indiana University News Room

A new study by researchers at Indiana University and George Mason University found the sexual repertoire of gay men surprisingly diverse, suggesting that a broader, less disease-focused perspective might be warranted by public health and medical practitioners in addressing the sexual health of gay and bisexual men.

The study, published online ahead of print in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, tapped the largest sample of its kind in the United States to examine the sexual behaviors of gay and bisexual men. In collaboration with the OLB Research Institute at Online Buddies, Inc., researchers were able to include feedback from nearly 25,000 men. While gay study participants reported 1,308 unique combinations of behaviors, the most commonly reported behavior was kissing a partner on the mouth.

From a public health standpoint, say the researchers, this study provides professionals with data on the behavior of men having sex with men (MSM) that was missing from the sexual health discussion.

"Due to the disproportionate impact of HIV among MSM, the majority of research on gay and bisexual men's sexual behavior is situated within the context of disease. This emphasis has resulted in a body of literature about gay and bisexual men that is risk-focused, with limited understanding of the diversity and complexity of these men's sexual lives," said co-author Michael Reece, director of IU's Center for Sexual Health Promotion.

"In order to provide clinicians and public health professionals with the necessary tools to promote sexuality in a positive and healthy manner, a more nuanced understanding of an individual sexual experience was needed." 


Read the rest.

Ed Negron's Daily Motivation 10-19-10

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Today's Gift

 

Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive. --Anais Nin

 

We are surrounded by women and men who are necessary for our development. That's a startling revelation perhaps. We don't even like everybody in our life! How can we need them? But we do. Our Higher Power clearly understands our purpose and our needs, and ushers into our lives those people who will help us grow and change and contribute. It sounds mysterious initially, but when we get accustomed to the idea, we are relieved. Each person will teach us something we need to know about life and about ourselves.

 

Our individual character is growing, changing, maturing. Our understanding of others and our experiences deepens with each unfolding event. The world is ever changing. By design, not coincidence, we will befriend those people who need us, just as we need them.

 

I am where I need to be. My friends and associates need me as I need them. We are moving and growing in concert.

 

From the book: A Woman's Spirit by Karen Casey. ©

 

 

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Woof Wednesday Randomized Sample