From a philosophical perspective, being a member of a minority opens our eyes more to the invisible issues of discrimination and bigotry when we otherwise may have been more blind and ignorant.
This x 100
also this affects those close to you as well.. they become more open minded too - that is my experience
Queer, in my mind, has evolved.. from a negative thing to a more softer word… in my lifetime it has evolved from originally meaning a word that should somehow hurt me if they called me that (similar to what previous posters have said where Queer meant weird etc) - to now more like just "different" or not what others consider the stereotypical "normal" sexuality
Fuck - Guy Smiley - Although it'd drive me nuts
Marry - Bert - So practical lol
Kill - The count - to shut him up with all the freaking counting lol
My Three are retro icons F,M,K.. James Dean, Paul Newman, Robert Redford
It's kind of strange that Australia doesn't have same-sex marriage by this point.
Australians may seem laid back etc - but generally us Aussies are very backward and we are very stuck in our ways and CAN be quite ignorant.. but shrugs that is nearly every country these days lol
It looks like it will become law, but with a lot of exemptions for bigots.
One of the biggest arguments I saw for people being against it is "free speech". They don't want gays to join the list of other groups who are protected from hate speech under Australian law.
Exactly - The bigots were the ones who brought in the stupid plebiscite on the first place. 122 Million dollars they spent to tell them almost EXACTLY what nearly every magazine/newspaper/freaking TV vox pop told them, that over 60% of Australians are perfectly fine with SSM
The prime minister has stated that he wont allow the "exemptions for bigots" version - he is politely saying to the bigots that they got there survey now sit down, and shutup lol
The religious are all freaking out - what they seem to forget is that they are allowed to deny any couple a marriage in their church, as it is. A straight couple where it's a second marriage - as an example - could legally be told by any fundamentalist parish "sorry no" and have no recourse to sue etc
The bigots want to change like 3 laws instead of just adjust a few words in our marriage law.
One guy wanted to adjust it all so much that - as an often used example - a baker or florist could put up a sign saying "no gay weddings" and noone could complain.
I am going through the same, right now & have been for awhile now too. The one thing I can tell you is that the longer you are alone the more you get too used to it. That isn't always a good thing. I am 43 years old.. so I kinda feel like I let a lot pass me by etc etc
I had my fair share of friends/acquaintances, I was an outgoing guy & all that but as time went on I realised that they were not my true friends & that i didn't fit in.. not sure if that was on me or them or both, so I am now alone. Personally, I get twinges of loneliness but mostly it is just my life and I am ok with that.
My situation may be different to yours.. I suffer anxiety/panic attacks etc and that made me retreat from family, friends, social media & even from the forums here sometimes. I went as far as to delete myself off the net (only picture you will ever see of me on the net is the close up under my name here.. crazy huh?)
I took the easy way out - instead of dealing I just ran away from it all… if you can, i'd say try not to take it that far.. take some chances.. think about the kind of socialising etc you want to and go out there and do it!
I recently read a twitter comment that was quite poignant.
The person pointed out that dead people feel no pain, so executing criminals is actually doing the criminal a favor. (assuming they are guilty of a crime worth of being executed for).
I get that point of view.. it is giving them the easy way out. I don't think the pain of knowing you are about to die (no matter the criminal's bravado up to that point) is something to factor in, the terror/pain etc you'd feel knowing you were about to die would be a punishment but short lived.. but I think a - genuine non parole doing proper non cushy hard labour etc - life time sentence is more hell.. i'd think so anyway.
Plus there are more than a "few" cases of "oops" we got it wrong.. in fact in Australia part of the reason it was abolished was due to some very flimsy trials with some being shown as total messes of injustice.
Mitchum, it works really well if you perspire a lot.
This is my go to as well.. non scented Mitchum
The below is GREAT news.. next step is it needs to go through our parliament
"Australia votes Yes
Australians have voted in favour of changing the law to allow same-sex marriage.
Australian Statistician David Kalisch announced the results of the ABS postal survey from Canberra, confirming the survey had delivered a Yes result.
Of 12.7 million votes, 61.6 per cent were returned in favour of same-sex marriage.
The final participation rate accounted for 79.5 per cent of eligible voters.
Mr Kalisch announced every state and territory recorded a majority Yes vote"
There is no magic pill.. no herb or vitamins you can take.. Psychologically you need to look at the situation and get used to what you have.. be happy knowing that - no matter how much you read about it or see it, most guys are more concerned with how you use it not how big it is.. concentrate on being a good and attentive sex partner not the BS of "size matters"
I have to agree - generally - with most here:
My supposed religion did nothing to add to my morals/values - I figured out wrong & right e.g. Murder is wrong etc on my own. If anything Religion taught me that all bad is forgiven so just be bad, get forgiven, then do more bad and continue the cycle..
I'll travel from the personal to the more general.
My alluring, long red reputation line (and always looking for a little more) was established by two persons.
Meanwhile, I've been assigned 360 "thumbs and emojis" as of this writing, with the top six contributors totaling 222 of these marks, and the sixth position tallying at 21 marks. Other members assigned the remaining 138 marks, which, while unlisted, must tally from the teens downward through single digits.
Thus, I've received thumbs and emojis from more than a dozen members. I'll take that larger gene pool over the "reputation" kissing cousins any day. And for whatever it's worth, my marks run about five-to-one positive.
I wish this thread would act as a long-term catch-all for remarks about either evaluation system. Unfortunately, so many political topics are diverted and derailed by endless mention of reputation, in particular. It's a sad and weak refuge when one's argument is being shredded for lack of citations, the poor quality of citations, biased premise, off-topic meanderings, and so on.
That sums it up for me. Oh, except to say that none of it means much in the grand of scheme of things – for self-actualized people, anyway.
I suspect that, when i posted more, in the past, i got in the same situation… I have stated views and countered people's opinions in the political forum but was 99% nice to people, i disagreed with some yes but not sure how differing views = bad rep
I realised today I have a red line - which is sad because it gives others - especially new people, the impression that i'm a bad guy when i am not. I am a guy that can be quite helpful & anecdotal & fun etc - But I disagreed with other people who were just as forceful in their debating of politics and so now pay the price.
Welcome Dr ;D
I saw your pic on another post… Anyone ever told you you look like Grant Gustin?? lol
5 Kids!!
I have enough trouble taking care of me! (1 big kid) lol
Welcome to the forums 
& the site!
I love the nostalgic tone of your post, Dene.
Tuesdays are generally Movie Nights at my place, the guys and a few fun gal pals. We like obscure cinema, foreign films, so I usually collect and store them on an external, portable hard drive – that also contains a fair amount of gay porn.
When I'm clicking icons, with previews of various films from which to choose, i always sneak in a gay porn, mid-scene. On the curved Samsung, it's really quite a sight.
Everyone squeals in real or mock embarrassment. I think the longest one has played is two minutes. And none of the girls have asked to me to burn a thumb drive, lol.
LOL
It's ok.. i'll take that thumb drive 
Odd, I've never been to a "men only" or "gay men only" event.
Events are either ALL or women only.
Whenever one of my girlfriends would have a party - us gay males were barred from the male strip clubs or even told we couldn't watch if they came to the house etc - according to the strippers they didn't want 1. Gay guys looking at them (it was the 90s in Australia - Homophobia was rampant - kinda still is) and 2. Straight guys getting angry if the guy was grinding or flirting with their girlfriends
I was pretty amazed at this Queerty article, in which a straight woman said she was obsessed with gay porn, to the exclusion of any other erotica:
https://www.queerty.com/woman-become-completely-dependent-gay-erotica-needs-help-20171112
So, it got me thinking as follows:
Have your platonic female friends ever inquired about wanting to watch gay porn?
If so, did you loan them some take-home man-smut from your library?
Or, did you watch a bit together, and offer some explanation and commentary?
If none of the above, is it because the whole concept makes you queasy?
When I came out (1991… ouch) 1st person was my best friend - after we chatted about me being gay etc she asked if I wanted to borrow her gay porn mags - I was like WHAT??? - and she made jokes about pages shouldn't be glued together when she got em back... funnily I took them but almost to be polite, although I did discover Joey Stefano in one of them sigh had such a crush on him THEN realising he was in live stuff OH MAN lol
A year later I told my cousins - My cousin piped up with.. "The guys in gay porn are hotter" - My other cousin was there too, she was all freaked out @ my revelation THEN her sister's lol - so we went from me coming out to me figuring out that my cousin used to watch gay porn.. her reasoning was similar to straight guys watching lesbian stuff, that it was two hot guys going at it etc
Felt so weird to talk about and NO did not offer to watch with them lol
The vote outcome will be announced tomorrow.
As may have been explained before:
A YES vote majority will not automatically mean SSM is legal in Australia. It will allow for our government to have a vote in parliament - a "conscience" vote which means you vote as YOU see fit, not your official party line (which is usually how most things go in our parliament)
A NO vote would automatically mean it is a NO and no discussion will be had in our parliament. Although a bill may be put forward, it is unlikely it will be put through or will it be held up/ignored until 2018
The YES vs NO has been a mixed bag of politics - the usual left vs right is obvious but there is a middle overlap which is religious vs non religious, economic conservatives who are left leaning in social stuff vs more socially conservative left leaners etc
The "NO" side of politics have said that even if it is YES they will not vote YES automatically and will judge it after the result
The "NO" side have also said that they want harder restrictions and have started tabling bills to be put forward that would allow people to not provide services (the good old cake stuff etc) based on religious grounds (this is all muddy and mostly involves hard right religious people who do not understand that these laws are already in Law for heterosexuals anyway, they just want it specific to push a point)
As soon as the % comes through then the drama will start - a 49% No vs 51% yes for example is technically a win but then the NO will not take that and if it is a larger majority then reactions will be very different.. most are tipping over 60% YES as a conservative estimate
Some things to note
The vote was NOT compulsory BUT had a very high response rate
"A bigger percentage of us have voted in the survey than the Irish did in their referendum on the same issue; Brits in the Brexit poll and even Americans in the presidential elections."
The "NO" side have pretty much conceded already BUT they feel the % is what is important. Esp since it is a % count scenario unlike other votes such as the US system where a republican system is in place. This vote is purely count what is there.
if 100 vote - 51 say YES then it YES - BUT - in parliament a minister who knows his electorate voted 75% no in a conservative area may vote no to reflect this etc etc
One of the major parties has said that regardless of ant outcome - they will legislate SSM in their first 100 days if they succeed in next election - and considering the mess our current government is in, then they may get in
Crap like this just makes my opinion stronger - All religion is BS! And should never be involved in politics/legal systems.. no matter the reason. If we, as a society, let religion dictate our values/morals then we are in deep trouble.. no matter the rule, no matter the religion.
I wish I had done that but tbh i wish more I had given my virginity to a guy I was in love with a year after - how old are you ? I'm guessing pretty young ?
just be very selective - get exactly what you want, try to see reviews etc