Apr 19, 20221 min read

Gay Mountaineer Outed on TV in Islamic Kyrgyzstan (Part 2)

PODCAST—EPISODE 26: Dastan Kasmamytov, a 30 y.o. Krygyzstani, is an LGBTQ activist and founder of Pink Summits, a mostly queer...

Mar 13, 20212 min read

Poppers

BAMMER47: Poppers! Some gay men love their stimulating properties for sex and dancing, while others can’t stand that they may leave you...

Mar 13, 20212 min read

The History of Organized Male Nude Swimming in the U.S.

BAMMER47: Did you know that, until the 1960s, it was a widespread requirement that boys who swam in segregated groups in public school...

Dec 20, 20202 min read

The 1993 March on Washington

STORY: I attended the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation on April 25, 1993, with a group of...

Aug 28, 20206 min read

Same-sex Marriage, New York Style (2011)

STORY: June 2011, my partner, Juan, and I left our 13-month-old son, Oliver, home in Roanoke with his nanny, and traveled to New York...

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...

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...

Jun 8, 20191 min read

BAMMER and Me: Caleb Holland, Self Discovery (Part 1)

PODCAST—EPISODE 1: Our first episode is about cross-generational perspectives on LGBTQ issues and themes between Mike Balaban and...

Mar 4, 20193 min read

Nigeria Gay Life

STORY: Welcome to my world! I’m Nigerian, 33, Christian born and bred in the city of Lagos, where life is comfortable, at least for the...

Jun 8, 20181 min read

Fire Island Weekends

STORY: In all my years at the Pines, my housemates were always fellow worker bees who toiled hard for our time at the beach. Our delight...

Jun 7, 20181 min read

Gay Star News Feature

COMMENTARY: Thanks to Gay Star News (and David Hudson) for running the following story about Mike Balaban and BAMMER (then called...

Jun 7, 20181 min read

Project Runway: Water Island Edition

STORY: Circa 1997: While Cherry Grove and The Pines were the centers of gay life on Fire Island, another small enclave of gay culture...

May 24, 20184 min read

Gayborhoods – Sutton Place

STORY: In the early 1980s, Sutton Place on Manhattan’s East 50s and 60s were very gay, especially after work when the bars would fill...