Posts made by leatherbear

:hot:



:cheers: In discussions now with kingcub for a new SIG.  :cheers:

Watch for updates.  ;D

:drool2:

:drool2:

:drool2:

I do not believe that any Str8t Man that signs up as member of GT.ru to get his Porn will actually care about the Gay Basis of the site. Given the ability to turn off the Gay Parts of the site should suffice to make them comfortable here.

Since we have never allowed any "Flaming,Disrespect, or other bad behaviors from Gay members the same would apply to Str8t Members. They would be banned immediately for some offenses and warned for others that are less offensive.

The Huffington Post  |  By Samreen Hooda

As current immigration laws stand, thousands of same-sex couples could be separated from their foreign partners even if they have legally married. Whereas binational heterosexual couples can sponsor their spouses for U.S. citizenship, this is not the case with same-sex couples. This is because the law doesn't yet recognize these couples as families.

Huffpost Live's Alicia Menendez discusses this issue as well as other dichotomies between same-sex couples and heterosexual ones.

"There would be no immigration issues at all if we were an opposite sex couple…" Brian Willingham, who has been in a committed relationship with a Mexican citizen for 11 years, told Huffpost live. "There are an unlimited number of visas available for fiances and married spouses of straight us citizens, but for a gay us citizen there are zero visas available for gay spouses."

Brian and his husband Alfonzo, who has been in the country for 21 years, are waiting the verdict on their green card application.

Last week Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitino said she would push for immigration agents to consider same-sex relationships the same as hetrosexual ones when considering deportation. If DOMA, or the Defense of Marriage Act, is repealed than many couples like Brian could apply for status within the United States.

The current definition actually impedes many other rights for gay people that heterosexual couples share such as even being defined as a family by the government, applying for work in the U.S., or simply visiting family abroad.

Tiffany Loria, who has been with her Canadian partner for 7 years, hasn't seen her for over a month and may not get to see her anytime soon.

"She was on a bus home actually and she crossed the border and they pulled her off and they held her for three hours. They really treated her like a criminal. They told her to shut up if she asked any more questions. They told her she would be banned for five years if she asked any more questions," Loria told Huffpost Live. "It's this type of mentality that has got to change, people don't understand that they are really ripping families apart...our government, our country is not protecting our family but tearing our family apart."
Watch Videos @ hXXp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/10/gay-binational-couples-families-immigration-laws_n_1954777.html

Huff Post Gay Voices

Manhattanites seeking a May-December relationship have good reason to feel optimistic today, as New York was named the top city to find a sugar daddy in a new online dating survey.

SeekingArrangement.com, which deems itself "the world's largest sugar dating website," reportedly surveyed over 256,000 member profiles in an effort to determine the most eligible (and wealthiest) bachelors within the gay community. New York City easily nabbed the top spot, followed by Chicago and Los Angeles, in second and third place respectively.

As SeekingArrangement.com officials noted in an email statement, the survey also found that the average gay sugar daddy is now 39 years old, has an annual income of approximately $215,482.39, and has a net worth of over $6 million.

“We have found that there are now approximately 8 Sugar Baby males for every gay sugar daddy on our website,” Brandon Wade, CEO and founder of SeekingArrangement.com said in an email statement. “This growing trend indicates that men love to be spoiled just as much as women, and that generosity is a universally accepted value, no matter the type of relationship.”

Take a look at the top 10 cities for gay sugar daddies @: hXXp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/11/gay-sugar-daddy-cities-seeking-arrangement-dating-survey_n_1958133.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices

Huff Post Gay Voices

Big Bird may have scored this year's Betty White-like career comeback following a jovial nod from Mitt Romney during the Oct. 3 presidential debates.

What the Republican presidential candidate possibly didn't know, however, was his now-controversial reference to the iconic "Sesame Street" character was an inadvertent hat tip to the work of a longtime gay couple.

The Daily Beast features an exclusive interview with Christopher Lyall, who assisted his partner Kermit Love in producing the first Big Bird in 1969, working from one of Jim Henson's thumbnail sketches. “[Kermit] was very particular about the way the bird looked, and he always got his way,” the New Zealand-born Lyall says of Love, who died in 2008 at the age of 92. “He was a very determined person.”

Lyall, a former dancer who says he originally met Love (a costume designer) while rehearsing for a show in London, says the pair got together when he was visiting the U.S., and describes their relationship as being "patched together with bits and pieces."

In the interview, Lyall remains mostly tight-lipped about the political furor surrounding he and Love's most famous creation, other than to say, "It’s very frustrating having to observe the political games and the lies.”

You can read the full interview here.hXXp://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/10/10/big-bird-s-big-gay-love-story-from-birth-to-the-2012-presidential-race.html

Following the Obama campaign's use of Big Bird in a new ad following the debate, "Sesame Street" officials released a statement saying it wants both campaigns to stop referencing its characters.

"Sesame Workshop is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization and we do not endorse candidates or participate in political campaigns," reads the group's new statement. "We have approved no campaign ads, and, as is our general practice, have requested that both campaigns remove 'Sesame Street' characters and trademarks from their campaign materials."

26 More Members of Congress Pose for Marriage Equality

Laurence Watts

To celebrate the 25th National Coming Out Day, the NOH8 campaign, founded by Adam Bouska and Jeff Parshley, has today released NOH8 photos for 26 members of Congress who took part in the campaign's second "NOH8 on the Hill" event, held Sept. 13. These representatives join the 10 members of Congress who participated in the first "NOH8 on the Hill" event back in February, and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who reached out to the campaign afterwards, which means that 37 sitting members of the House of Representatives have now added their names and faces to the NOH8 campaign.

The congressmen and congresswomen who took part in September's sitting are Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.), Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.), Rep Michael Capuano (D-Mass.), Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Rep. Jim McGovern (D- Mass.), Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.), Rep. Joe Baca (D-Calif.), Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.), Rep. Sam Farr (D-Calif.), Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.), Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.), Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.), Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.), Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), Rep. Rush D. Holt (D-N.J.), Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Rep. Janice Hahn (D-Calif.), Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.), Rep. Al Green (D-Texas), Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.), and Rep. Susan A. Davis (D-Calif.). To date, all 37 members of Congress who have posed for NOH8 photos have been Democrats, in spite of the fact that Republicans were invited to take part in both "NOH8 on the Hill" events.

"Projects like NOH8 are ensuring that marriage equality continues to be in the forefront of our fight for equality," said Rep. Roybal-Allard of California. "I am proud to participate in the NOH8 campaign to help draw attention to this ongoing civil-rights battle in our state."

Underlining how the NOH8 campaign has grown from a local California effort to oppose Proposition 8 to a national campaign, the members of Congress who took part in the recent D.C. shoot represent districts in some 13 different states: Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvannia, Texas, Wisconsin, and Vermont.

Rep. Gwen Moore from Wisconsin commented, "Love is love. Whether heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or transgender, no one should be denied the opportunity to express this love through marriage. I stand strong in my support of the LGBT community and marriage equality."

In a statement regarding his NOH8 photo, Florida Rep. Ted Deutch said, "I'm excited to participate in the NOH8 campaign and to stand up against hatred and bigotry of all kinds."

Although a session was made available to senators as part of the recent shoot, no senator has yet posed for a NOH8 photo. There was hope earlier in the year that Sen. John Kerry might become the first senator to do so, but due to committee work he was unable to do so. For similar reasons Sen. Bernie Sanders was unable to take part in the most recent shoot, despite expressing interest in doing so. Plans are in place to organize a third shoot, focussing on U.S. senators, after the upcoming election.

While a number of the representatives who took part in the recent Capitol Hill shoot were unable to do so back in February due to scheduling issues, the large number participating this time, just weeks before a presidential election, is doubtless at least partly due to President Obama's and Vice President Biden's May statements affirming their support for the right of same-sex couples to marry. Hundreds of Capitol Hill staff were also able to get NOH8 photos taken as part of the recent shoot.

Commenting on the shoot, NOH8 co-founder Jeff Parshley said:

We would like to thank every member of Congress who had a NOH8 photo taken as part of "NOH8 on the Hill II." We're still very keen to photograph our first senator and so would ask any that are contemplating supporting our campaign to reach out to us.

Although Proposition 8 was the original inspiration for the NOH8 Campaign, there will still be a lot of work for us to do when it's finally and permanently struck down, as we hope it will be soon. The NOH8 campaign is now a way for people everywhere to demonstrate their support for equality, not just in California and not even just in America, but the world over.

Slideshow Available @ hXXp://www.huffingtonpost.com/laurence-watts/noh8-on-the-hill_b_1955382.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices

Huff Post Gay Voices

National Coming Out Day was first celebrated on October 11, 1988, exactly one year after the historic March On Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. Today we mark the 24th National Coming Out Day, and continue to celebrate it as a day when lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their allies proudly share who they are and encourage those who aren't out of the closet to join them in an effort to ignite and increase discussions of and about the LGBT community.

When it comes to visibility and impact, it can be argued that celebrities have an especially large role in shaping the way mainstream society views an issue. Until recently, coming out of the closet could trigger the end of a star's career and even now many in Hollywood remain in the closet. But more and more celebrities are opening up about being gay and, thus, changing and broadening understanding about who could potentially be LGBT.

Have a look at the stories of 41 celebrities who have come out of the closet and then sound off on your thoughts about coming out in the comments section below.

Slideshow of Celebrities @ hXXp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/11/national-coming-out-day-celebrities-closet_n_1957679.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices

Jim Buzinski

Today, Oct. 11, is National Coming Out Day, a day for LGBT people to stand up and be counted. It's a perfect time to remind everyone that gay and lesbian athletes are part of the community of people making their voices heard and being proud.

The perception is that few athletes are out, and that this owes to the fact that no active player is out in professional male team sports in North America, to which so much attention is paid. But in reviewing the Outsports archives since last Coming Out Day, I have found 30 male and female athletes who have come out (or were previously out and decided to tell their story publicly). The list is impressive and includes people from football, basketball, boxing, mixed martial arts, wrestling, soccer, rugby, Australian football, gymnastics, skiing, volleyball, ice hockey, field hockey, tennis, and even poker.

Some came out while still active, others after their careers ended, but all are proud and willing to tell their stories. This list does not include the dozens of coming-out stories told on Outsports over the years, a list that is as inspiring as it is broad.

Here are the 30 coming-out-in-sports stories featured on Outsports since last National Coming Out Day, with links (just click on the name) so that you can read more about each athlete. Think of this the next time someone tries to argue that gays and sports don't mix.

Orlando Cruz, boxing: "I also want kids who suffer from bullying to know that you can be whoever you want to be in life, including a professional boxer [and] that anything is possible and that who you are or whom you love should not be impediment to achieving anything in life."

Liz Carmouche, mixed martial arts: Dave Doyle of SI.com has a great profile of Carmouche. Quotation: "I've absolutely gotten to the point in my life where I've been through so much and had to be closeted, there's no amount of money that's going to make me go back in the closet. If they say, 'OK, you gotta tone it down and then we'll pay you,' then you have the wrong person."

Kevin McClatchy, former owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates: "An amazing amount of support came forward after [the story] hit. I'm hearing from different folks from all walks of life. I'm hearing from a lot of my former baseball colleagues, which has been great, hearing from people I don't even know, giving me positive shout-outs. It's been great. It's one of those things I had feared doing for 25 years, and I finally got to that moment and I felt like I was jumping off a cliff. But it's been a positive experience."

Jamie Kuntz, football: This is the only negative story; Kuntz was kicked off his college football team after lying about kissing his boyfriend during a game.
Quotation: "If I could hear one thing, I would like to hear the school say they were wrong. I feel like I'm standing up for all the gays that play sports."

Jason Ball, Australian football: For Ball, publicly coming out was unnecessary. His teammates figured it out and were supportive. The homophobic language stopped. "It was like they could see those words have an effect on people because it was hurting me, one of their mates."

Thomas "Bozzy" Boswell, rugby: "I would really like to thank my close friends and especially my rugby team as I honestly thought I would be to ashamed to ever carry on playing rugby. But the boys have showed and proved to me that my thought of them were wrong and I'm so grateful they are the best bunch of players and true friends that I could ask for."

Stephen Bickford, soccer: Bickford laments life in the closet. Quotation: "What would my coach think? Would he not play me because I'm gay? Would I be cut from the team? These thoughts were almost unbearable. It's a weight on an athlete's shoulders that nobody should have to experience, but it happens every day to thousands of closeted athletes playing team sports all over the world."

Wade Davis, football: "How many people get to live out their two dreams? I got to play in the NFL, and now I get to change the world."

Seimone Augustus, basketball: From The Advocate: "Augustus is getting married – to a woman. She says her future nuptials with LaTaya Varner encouraged her to come out publicly as a lesbian, and the two are planning a summer wedding."

Megan Rapinoe, soccer: "People probably guessed that I was gay because I'm pretty transparent in the way that I live my life. I think it's pretty cool, the opportunity that I have, especially in sports, because there's really not that many out athletes. I think it's important to be out. It's important to stand up and be counted and be proud of who you are. I'm happy if I can help anyone else in their struggle. I'd like to make a positive impact on people."

Olympians: Outsports found 23 gay and lesbian athletes competing in the 2012 London Olympics.

Peter Mandeau, tennis: The former Harvard tennis coach told his team a decade ago that he was gay. Quotation: "These athletes showed me understanding and compassion I didn't think they or the sports world had in them. I didn't trust them to treat me the same way, but luckily they trusted me to do just that. Their sense of humor went a long way disarming a potentially uncomfortable situation, a lesson that hasn't been lost on me."

Anja Pärson, skiing: Anja and Filippa met seven years ago ... Their friendship became ever deeper with time. All of a sudden one day Anja has a feeling she had not known before. She had fallen in love with her new friend, and Filippa had fallen in love with her.

Stephany Lee, wrestling: "I am who I am, and I'm not going to hide it. I'm not going to dress like a girl to fit an image. No, I'm me. I'm happy. That's all that matters."

Jessica Aguilar, mixed martial arts: She's ... reached some comfort in sharing her bisexual orientation, which she kept hidden in high school to avoid being singled out. "I don't put it in any titles," said Aguilar, "but I'd say when I've found the right person -- whether it's a man or a woman -- I'd be happy."

Josh Dixon, gymnastics: The only homophobia he has encountered has been from within himself. He acknowledges he once felt internal pressure about being a gay man in what some label the "gay sport" of gymnastics. He didn't want to fall into a stereotype. But he's come to embrace it, and he says his sexual orientation now makes him stand out more at the elite level.

Derick White, volleyball: "I wish I could have had the courage to speak out while I was still coaching at the college level. Comments made by some administrators and parents made me believe that it would be in the best interest of the programs for me to remain silent. I now realize that was ridiculous. I was contributing to the whole situation I should have been fighting. Yes, I was a gay collegiate head coach. Did that have anything to do with my skills or abilities as a coach? Not at all."

Rick Welts, basketball executive: "No one in a position like mine had ever taken this step. I couldn't watch anybody go through it and say, 'You know, that can work out okay.' So maybe I'm just not going to risk it. And I had great family, great friends that were supportive. But I just put a barrier around that part of my life in my work environment. "

Bryan Fautley, volleyball: "When someone says a homophobic slur and you're in the closet, you have no grounds to say anything, so you take it. Not only do you take it, but you remember it in your head, and it compounds."

Scott Heggart, hockey: In a series of poignant interviews, he asks the members of his family, one by one, whether they thought he was gay, and what their reaction is now that they know. He asks his dad to offer advice to other fathers struggling to support a gay child.

Stephen Bownes, football referee: "A number of our players also know [I'm gay]. A few years ago I was working a Friday night game on my birthday. As a special treat, some of the players offered me a visit to the locker room after the match. I politely declined their offer and the whole thing was done in good humor."

Jason Somerville, poker: "I decided I wasn't going to focus on making decisions that were in my best financial interest, I was going to focus on making decisions based on how they'd impact my happiness – without making excuses. The obstacles that I had always created for myself -- what if this, what if that -- I put aside, and began making changes instead."

Nick Clark, volleyball: "I can't imagine living life in the closet any longer and not being able to help change people's minds about homosexuality. It is painful to read about gay teen suicides. I am a teacher at heart and this hits me the hardest. It's up to us to make sure that the future generations have a safe and inclusive environment to grow up in. It is important for us to realize the position that we are in as coaches and athletes. We can make a change and a difference."

Brian Healey, tennis: "It was the end of my freshman year, and I finally figured it was time to tell my friends what most of them already knew. When I finally worked up the courage to say it, there were a lot of tears and hugs and one very well timed spin of that classic record 'It's Raining Men' by a local radio station that I swear must have been listening to the conversation I was having. It obviously felt pretty nice."

Luke Huff, motorcycle racing: "It's very rare I've ever heard anyone act or speak with a homophobic tone at the track. Even then, the person who made the comment in poor taste would usually apologize later when word gets around to them that I or someone else in the paddock is in fact gay."

Anthony Alfano, hockey: "I hope that Chicago embraces me coming out as the student body president at the largest Catholic university in the nation as a sign that times are changing and people are becoming more tolerant and accepting of others for who they are."

David Testo, soccer: "Being gay to your teammates and your organization is very different from being gay publicly. When you travel you have a big target on your back for ridicule. I think that's why athletes don't come out. You put a target on your back."

Jed Hooper, rugby: "I met someone earlier this year who said he could not be with someone who was in the closet. That, basically, was the catalyst that I needed."

Gus Johnston, field hockey: "I'm a writer, art director, filmmaker and a hockey goalkeeper. I'm also a gay man -- and that's something I never thought I would say in such a public forum ... I regret immensely that I wasn't strong enough as a leader, that I didn't step up when I was playing and share this about myself."

Galen Dodd, volleyball: "Every practice I would hear some sort of comment about something or someone being 'gay' or a 'fag,' and each time I cringed thinking of how I would never be able to be who I truly am with them. Even though those terms are not meant to be harmful, and don't even seem relevant to what the speaker is trying to express, it has become common language among teenagers and young adults. But after I came out, my fellow players have been nothing but supportive."

Ben Baldus-Strauss and Evan Heiter, gymnastics: Baldus-Strauss: "Walking into the gym for the first time as a freshman at Michigan, I considered coming out and adding to the life changes that were being thrown at me as I started college life. But I quickly felt the pressure of the hyper-masculine environment of NCAA gymnastics and the rest of the athletic community. I retreated to my safe place." Heiter: "I feel like everyone who comes out of the closet starts dropping hints whether they know it or not. Whether it was the fact that I wore cologne to practice or included 'I Wanna Dance with Somebody' on my workout playlists, things should have become easier for my teammates to figure out."

In the original article from Huff Post Gay Voices the athletes names were links to their pages. Since we do not allow live links if you want more information I guess you will have to  :google:

Actually, I have been looking for a member to start a Rugby SIG under Sports Enthusiasts Board.

Maybe you are the member I have been searching for all this time.  Send me a PM if interested in this Staff Position.

:cheers: I have afew more to share at this point and looking for others  :cheers: