Jul 1, 20205 min read

Pride and Protest: LGBTQ Pride Meets Black Lives Matter (June 28, 2020)

COMMENTARY: The Queer Liberation March for Black Lives and Against Police Brutality took place this past weekend and was a spirited,...

Jul 1, 202010 min read

For Dougie

STORY: I grew up in a family of “eccentrics.” I’m a direct result of their quirks and quips, attenuated somewhat by the many years I...

Jul 1, 20202 min read

Black Lives Matter – Why We March

COMMENTARY: As we approach the 2020 LGBTQ Pride commemoration on Sunday, the focus in most locations will be on supporting the Black...

May 19, 20201 min read

Comparing the AIDS Crisis to COVID-19: AIDS Veterans Weigh-in

COMMENTARY: BAMMER hosted its first Zoom webcast “Reflections on the AIDS Crisis in the Age of COVID-19” on Saturday evening, May 9th,...

May 3, 20203 min read

Self-Acceptance and a Queer Life in India

STORY: My name is Rahul. I was born in a small town in Tripura state in North-Eastern India where I spent my first 18 years. My earliest...

Mar 19, 20204 min read

Looking Back at AIDS During the Time of COVID

STORY: I listened with interest to the online discussion Reflections on the AIDS Crisis in the Time of COVID-19 hosted by BAMMER on May...

Mar 1, 20202 min read

Looking Back

STORY: Two recent developments refocused my attention on all the friends I lost to AIDS in the 80s and 90s. Recently, Peter Gorobetz, a...

Feb 10, 20201 min read

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...

Feb 8, 20201 min read

BAMMER and Me: Jacob Tobia, A Coming-of-Age Gender Story

PODCAST—EPISODE 13: Jacob Tobia is a gender-nonconforming Los Angeleno who’s on a roll. Four years ago, they landed a job as an executive...

Jan 31, 20203 min read

From My Past: Obsession—John Duka, The Passion of Fashion

STORY: “One of the requisite skills for sitting at a fashion show is being able to roll your eyes, talk to the person behind you, chew...

Jan 25, 20203 min read

Voluntarily Celibate: Life as an Asexual Gay Man

STORY: Ever since I could remember, there’s always been something strange about me. When my peers were swooning over the most recent pop...

Jan 19, 20203 min read

Remembering Workouts and Worries

STORY: It was once the epicenter of the gayest neighborhood in New York City. Today, any traces of the infamous Chelsea Gym are nearly...

Jan 13, 20201 min read

BAMMER and Me: Confessions of a Male Escort turned Addiction Counselor (Part 2)

PODCAST—EPISODE 12: What do you do after you’ve been a Colt porn model, male escort, and drug addict? After kicking his drug addiction,...

Jan 13, 20204 min read

Seven Revelations of Gay Spirituality

COMMUNITY: I am starting to see an amazing, life-changing movement surfacing through what is now called the “LGBTQ movement,” although...

Jan 3, 20209 min read

Busted!

STORY: In The Fall of 1996, I was twenty years old and had just moved into my own apartment in LA. I was going to school, working full...

Dec 21, 20191 min read

BAMMER and Me: The Phluid Project and Gender-free Fashion

PODCAST—EPISODE 11: Rob Smith, the founder of The Phluid Project, talks about his journey from being a successful fashion executive to...

Dec 4, 20191 min read

BAMMER and Me: Cliff Morrison, The First AIDS Ward (Part 1)

PODCAST—EPISODE 10: Cliff Morrison arrived in San Francisco as a nurse in the late 1970s, as AIDS was about to erupt. In 1983, while...

Nov 13, 20191 min read

BAMMER and Me: Confessions of a Male Escort turned Addiction Counselor (Part 1)

PODCAST—EPISODE 9: Stu Fenton has had quite the life! In his early twenties, Stu was a Colt model and a male escort. That high life led...

Nov 11, 20196 min read

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...

Oct 30, 20191 min read

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...