Check out how these celebrities helped our cause by just getting it right.
Even though we keep getting daily reminders in the media and in our own lives that there still are many battles to win before we have equality for all, it is amazing how far we have come in a relatively short period of time.
It’s easy to get frustrated by all the idiot comments that are coming from the haters, but it’s so important to remember to appreciate all the good people that have come out in support for gay equality.
Drew Barrymore
“I am who I am because of the people who influenced me growing up, and many of them were gay. No one has any right to tell anyone what makes a family.”
Sean Penn
“I think that it is a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect and anticipate their great shame and the shame in their grandchildren’s eyes if they continue that way of support. We’ve got to have equal rights for everyone.”
George Clooney
“At some point in our lifetime, gay marriage won’t be an issue, and everyone who stood against this civil right will look as outdated as George Wallace standing on the school steps keeping James Hood from entering the University of Alabama because he was black.”
Paul Newman
“I’m a supporter of gay rights. And not a closet supporter either. From the time I was a kid, I have never been able to understand attacks upon the gay community. There are so many qualities that make up a human being… by the time I get through with all the things that I really admire about people, what they do with their private parts is probably so low on the list that it is irrelevant.”
Ernest Gaines
“Why is it that, as a culture, we are more comfortable seeing two men holding guns than holding hands?”
Tennessee Williams
“What is straight? A line can be straight, or a street, but the human heart, oh, no, it’s curved like a road through mountains.”
James Carville
“I was against gay marriage until I realized I didn’t have to get one.”
James A. Baldwin
“Everybody’s journey is individual. If you fall in love with a boy, you fall in love with a boy. The fact that many Americans consider it a disease says more about them than it does about homosexuality.”
Keanu Reeves
People were saying that David Geffen and I had gotten married and it just blew me away. Not that they thought I was gay, but that they thought I could land a guy that hot.
Barack Obama
Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law.
Will Smith
If anybody can find someone to love them and to help them through this difficult thing that we call life, I support that in any shape or form
Ricky Gervais
Same sex marriage isn’t gay privilege, it’s equal rights. Privilege would be something like gay people not paying taxes. Like churches don’t.
Latin singer Ricky Martin has found love again with Swedish heartthrob Jwan Yosef
In 2009, “Livin ‘La Vida Loca” singer Ricky Martin (44) came out of the closet, and told the world that “his heart may belong to both a man and a woman.”
In 2014, the singer broke up with his boyfriend Carlos Gonzalez Abella after four years together, and since since then it has been quiet on the love-front for the single dad.
Together with a Swede
Now, however, Martin finally has found love again. According to Latin Times, his new boyfriend is the Swedish heartthrob Jwan Yosef (32).
The couple appeared publicly together for the first time on Saturday when they walked the red carpet together at a gala event in Sao Paulo in Brazil.
Holding hands and almost unable to take their eyes off each other, the cute couple happily posed in front of the press.
The singer has also posted a picture of the two, hand in hand, on the red carpet with the short comment “Yup.”
According to Latin Times, Martin and Yosef been spotted together many times in recent months, including in New York and Tokyo.
Martins new flame is born in Syria, raised in Sweden and is now living in London.
Out of the closet for the children’s sake
In 2008, Ricky Martin became a single father of two twin sons, Matteo and Valentino, who were born via a surrogate mother.
Two years later, Ricky Martin chose to confirm the rumors that had been swirling around him for years. On his official website he revealed that he was gay and at that it was his new role as a father that had given him the strength to come out.
“To keep living as I did up until today would be to indirectly diminish the glow that my kids were born with,” Martin wrote. “These years in silence and reflection made me stronger and reminded me that acceptance has to come from within and that this kind of truth gives me the power to conquer emotions I didn’t even know existed.”
The best couples- and singles-oriented places to pamper yourself
You don’t have to have a ton of money to enjoy the destinations described in this article – but it helps. These are places rife with trendy restaurants, swank cocktail bars, fancy hotels, cushy inns, and sybaritic spas – it’s not hard to blow $1,000 a day in these celebrated cities, resort towns, and gay getaways. And if you have money to burn, or you’re traveling on a sky’s-the-limit expensive account, why not indulge?
With that in mind, here are some of the best couples- and singles-oriented places in North America to pamper yourself.
Traveling with your mate?
The Napa and Sonoma Wine Country, California
The Wine Country north of San Francisco doesn’t have a huge reputation as a specifically gay hideway, but if you ask Bay Area residents where they like to travel in style or celebrate a romantic occasion, this land of ultra-posh inns, stylish restaurants, and esteemed vineyards tops many lists.
Same-sex couples are almost always made quite welcome at the chic accommodations in these parts, from Auberge de Soleil in the Napa Valley to Madrona Manor in the tony Sonoma County village of Healdsburg.
Just remember to set aside some extra cash to ship home all those bottles of wine you buy.
Maui, Hawaii
Maui didn’t get to be one of the world’s favorite gay destinations by offering a wild nightclub scene – gay bars are few and far between on this island. But Maui is arguably the most romantic gay-friendly getaway in North America, where couples can relax along white-sand beaches and at five-star resorts beside lagoon-inspired pools.
The top-of-the-line resorts here – such as Wailea and Kapalua – have outstanding restaurants and world-class golf courses and spas.
In courtly Savannah, many of the most lavish and romantic historic inns have developed an increasingly strong following with gays and lesbians in recent years. Most of these luxe properties lie near or directly facing one of the city’s elegant oak-shaded grassy squares and typically have massive four-poster beds with carved headboards, museum-quality antiques, and whirlpool soaking tubs.
Savannah can definitely be a land of excess, as illustrated in John Berendt’s best-selling book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, and the wealth of outstanding restaurants here definitely proves the point.
This countrified patch of exquisitely preserved colonial hamlets, sophisticated restaurants, fine antiques shops, and scenic state parks has long been a second home to prominent glitterati (Dustin Hoffman, Diane Sawyer and Mike Nichols, Meryl Streep, Larry Kramer, Bill Blass, Stephen Sondheim, and so on).
It’s not a typical gay getaway in the sense that there are no gay bars or gay-specific B&Bs here. However, just about every hip restaurant in the county has a steady gay following, and A-list New Yorkers have long frequented the many posh inns throughout the region, such as the Mayflower. Another popular place, The Litchfield Inn, features uniquely decorated guest rooms and New England-style dining.
The towns of Litchfield, Salisbury, Norfolk, Washington, and Woodbury all make ideal bases for exploring this area adjacent to both New York’s Hudson River Valley and Massachusetts’ Berkshire Hills.
Aspen, Colorado
There may not be a more romantic – and decadent – way to celebrate a special occasion than spending the weekend holed up at the Hotel Jerome in Aspen. And that’s just one of several wonderful places to stay in this super-wealthy Rocky Mountains ski town.
It’s not the easiest place to meet other single gay folks – unless it happens to be Gay Ski Week. But if you’re here with a friend, whether it’s ski season or not, there are terrific opportunities for indulging your interests at every turn: food festivals, spectacular hikes, fly-fishing excursions, art galleries – you name it.
Single and looking?
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
There’s a false notion out there that finding romance (or simply getting laid) is impossible in a gay resort town unless you stay at a cheap dive with tawdry rooms. Fort Lauderdale happily defies this assumption.
In this booming beach community that has enjoyed a spectacular renaissance in recent years, you’ll find a slew of classy, elegant hotels and gay resorts striking an unusually fine balance between the sophisticated and the sexy – the Worthington, Island Sands Inn, Grand Palm Plaza, and W Fort Lauderdale are among the best.
Many of these places are male-oriented, clothing-optional, and prone to late-night antics around the pool, hot tub, or wherever – and yet it’s quite common at such establishments to find rooms with upscale antiques, a polite, low-keyed staff, and a respectable (but still wildly fun) ambience.
The Worthington Inn
Vancouver, British Columbia
If you haven’t been to Vancouver, no matter what your financial and social circumstances, put this jewel of a city at the very top of your list. And if you have the money to book a room at one of the several fine luxury hotels or inns – such as the West End Guest House or the Opus Hotel – go for it.
Vancouver makes for a delicious city to indulge yourself in. Restaurants here are out of this world, conjuring up some of the best Thai, Japanese, Mediterranean, and regional Pacific Northwestern cuisine in North America.
Nightlife options are relatively few for a city this size, but the clubs are lively, fun, and exceedingly friendly.
Boston, Massachusetts
Boston, like Paris or Florence, is meant to be appreciated on foot – no other city in America is more charming for strolling. Power-shoppers can walk along Newbury Street in hopes of scoring fashionable duds, and power-diners can saunter through the South End admiring the menus in the windows of the countless hot restaurants.
Or you can just amble from the lobby of any of Beantown’s many rarefied hotels – such as the Onyx and Marlowe – to the leafy Boston Common or the promenade along the Charles River.
Wherever you walk, rest assured that you’ll see plenty of gay men and women wandering the very same streets. And in Boston, a little eye contact goes a long way.
New York is often awarded both such distinctions, but San Francisco maintains a level of consistency in these regards that is unrivaled. And the city’s reputation for nightlife is legendary.
It may be a cliche to include San Francisco on any list of top gay getaways, but this is one destination that can’t be recommended often enough.
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is one of those cities where everything seems to exist on a grander-than-average scale, from margaritas (the frozen kind were invented here) to shopping malls.
It has an extensive and varied nightlife scene that’s a hit with both gay men and lesbians, and the most popular bars (plus a few fun restaurants) are within walking distance of one another, in trendy Oak Lawn.
It’s the perfect place to pick up a new outfit to impress the locals with, as this is definitely a city where people work hard to look their very best.
A Guy Asks His Roommate If They’re Boyfriends. His Reply Is So Cute!
This is a very cute story about a Reddit user who asks the community for advice about his relationship with his roommate after having come to the conclusion that they might be a bit more than just “friends with benefits”.
The 32-year-old commitment-impaired reddit user “hesmyboyfriend” met his current roommate/boyfriend Alan at a supermarket 18 months ago.
“I’ll be the first to admit, I have huge commitment issues- my parents threw me out for being gay and then shortly after I entered into an abusive relationship with a much older man. After that broke up because he found someone younger, I was inn a relationship with a guy who was in the closet and basically was his dirty secret until he got engaged to a woman without telling me and then wanted me to stick around. I didn’t. After that I became pretty anti relationship,” he says.
They flirted, hooked up and started hanging out together both inside and outside the bedroom. Then Alan’s lease was up and “hesmyboyfriend” asked him if he was interested in becoming his housemate. Alan couldn’t really afford it but they came to an arrangement where Alan would pay what he could, while also contributing by cooking and keeping the house clean.
“He loves cooking and cleaning anyway, his personality reminds me a lot of Monica from Friends only he works in a library,” he says.
“Before I knew it, I was getting packed lunches every day and he’s made a vegetable patch in the backyard.”
About two months after he moved in, Alan brought up being mutually exclusive “friends with benefits”. “hesmyboyfriend” hadn’t really slept with anyone except Alan for ages anyway so he agreed.
“A few months after that – Alan wanted to join the gym so I added him to my membership as my partner. We turn up to events with each other. We hang out a lot. He sleeps in my room more often than his room because we have sex there the most,” he says.
“Then last week we were at a party when someone asked what our relationship was. Alan laughed, looked at me straight in the eye and said that we were “mutually exclusive, housemates with benefits with income proportional expense sharing”.
“Now that just sounds ridiculous. I know I have a boyfriend, I’ve been sort of denying it all this time but that’s what Alan is.
“This situation is both really screwed up but I’ve also never been happier. He’s so easy to talk to, to hang out with and when he’s not at home I feel bored, like I don’t know what I did with myself before I met him.
“But somehow I both want him to be my boyfriend but a part of me is scared of getting in a relationship, even though I am in one.
“I just feel like saying the words will change everything it’s a commitment and I really want it but there’s that irrational part of me that is scared.
“Also I’m scared that Alan doesn’t think we’re in a relationship even though we are right? Alan has never had a boyfriend as long as I’ve know him and he has his own set of issues too, he’s parents basically tried to “pray away the gay” and he left of his own volition. He used to bring up very subtley about getting more serious but I would just evade and he stopped pushing. It’s so weird, like I can talk to him about everything and anything, we have these amazing conversations but lately this whole boyfriend thing is like the elephant in the room.
“How do I get over this fear of commitment and also what does it say that he’d put up with this crap from me?,” “hesmyboyfriend” asks the Reddit community.
Reddit users replied and urges him to be honest about his feelings. Some suggested that he should cook Alan a meal and then ask him, so that’s what he did.
In an update, he writes:
“It was a bit of a disaster, I screwed up the chicken dish I wanted to make, ended up making mac’n’cheese with this expensive gluten free saffron pasta because Alan is King of the Kitchen and even our olive oil is fancy.
“He was sympathetic but I could tell he was amused when I told him I screwed up the dish and was happy with mac’n’cheese.”
The Reddit user then wanted to pour Alan some wine and ended up knocking his glass into the mac’n’cheese and ruining it.
“So we ended up getting takeaway and watching Netflix and I was still a bit on edge because I’d screwed up the evening- we were cuddling so he could tell that I was a bit tense and not focused I guess.
“Anyway, he asked me what the matter was and I just blurted out “Are you my boyfriend?”, he looked uncertain and said “Yes, if you want me to be” and I just very emphatically said I wanted him to be and he looked very relieved and happy.
“I apologized for evading the topic before and Alan said it was OK because I was the best boyfriend he’d ever had with or without labels and that got us to the fun portion of the night.
“Anyway, a bit later I guess something twigged because he asked me if that was what dinner was about and said yes and he pinched my cheeks and called me adorable.
“Anyway, I asked him if we need to make an announcement or anything but we agreed that we wouldn’t say anything unless people brought it up or we need to introduce each other. Alan also said, he liked the term partner better than boyfriend and I agreed, it does sound more serious but I guess that’s what this is.”
A detailed itinerary for enjoying the perfect gay Atlanta weekend
The cultural and commercial capital of the Southeast, Atlanta has also rapidly become one of the nation’s true A-list gay destinations, with its hugely visible and dynamic LGBT scene and a wealth of accommodations, nightspots, restaurants, and shops with strong ties to the community. As the major hub of Delta Airlines, it’s also an easy city to reach from most of North America, making it an ideal destination for a long weekend.
Atlanta’s a sprawling metropolis that can feel a little intimidating to first-timers, especially those with just a few days on their hands. With this in mind, here’s a detailed itinerary for enjoying the perfect gay Atlanta weekend.
Your first night, consider dining somewhere simple yet sophisticated, such as One Midtown Kitchen, a stylish and contemporary restaurant just northeast of Piedmont Park that serves some of the city’s most memorable regional American fare. The dining room is energetic and frequently quite loud, while the back porch is quieter and offers a beautiful view of the park and the city skyline. The wood-roasted pizzas are exceptional, and the price-tiered wine list is outstanding.
Depending on how worn out from you are from your travels, you might just want to retire early to your hotel to get a head start on the next day. But Atlanta does have a nice mix of relatively easy-going gay bars where you can simply relax and sip a cocktail or two. Try Burkhart’s Pub or Amsterdam in Midtown, or Mary’s, a fun-loving and quirky lounge in the artsy neighborhood of East Atlanta Village. Blake’s on the Park is the perfect place to carry on into the wee hours, if you’ve the energy and inclination for late-night schmoozing, boozing, and cruising.
Plan Saturday as your opportunity to partake of Atlanta’s several must-see attractions. If you’re up to it, you could take in three or four sights, spending a couple of hours at each one, or just focus on one or two. The city’s most exciting draw is the phenomenal Georgia Aquarium, the largest such facility in the world, at 8 million gallons. Some 500 species of fish live in this dramatic downtown aquarium that opened in November 2005. Another must is Midtown’s High Museum of Art, which underwent a spectacular expansion in 2006.
If you have time on Saturday (or some free moments during another day of your visit), try stopping by some of the other intriguing museums in town, such as the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site, the Margaret Mitchell House & Museum, or the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum – all excellent places to learn about 20th-century icons with close ties to Atlanta.
If the weather’s cooperating, do not miss the 15-acre Atlanta Botanical Garden, which adjoins leafy Piedmont Park (a favorite haunt of the city’s gay sun-worshipers and outdoorsy types) – here you’ll find one of the world’s most important displays of tropical orchids. Fans of soda won’t want to miss the home of the World of Coca-Cola, a giddy tribute to Atlanta’s most famous export. Or take a tour of Anderson Cooper’s professional domain, CNN Studios. Atlanta does not lack for engaging diversions.
At some point during the late morning or early afternoon on Saturday, set aside an hour or two for a festive brunch at one of the city’s definitive gay brunch spots, perhaps Einstein’s or the Flying Biscuit, both of which are in Midtown. Flying Biscuit has the edge when it comes to food – the turkey meatloaf sandwich with roasted red peppers and the organic oatmeal pancakes topped with peach compote are both sublime. But the food at Einstein’s is plenty good, and this historic bungalow with hip decor and a breezy patio has the more appealing setting.
For dinner on Saturday night, you might go with a venue that’s loud and lively, such as Joe’s on Juniper. This popular hangout is a great choice for lunch or late night dining. Hot wings, calamari, big burgers and serious martinis are the stars of the menu. Expect plain-jane food and a very attractive waitstaff.
Or instead opt for a romantic, swell-elegant dining room that’s more appropriate for a special occasion. In this case, book a table well in advance at Canoe, a refined restaurant set on the banks of the Chattahoochee River and known for such deftly prepared contemporary American cuisine as pistachio-seared goat cheese with lemon-olive-oil-and-rosemary dressing, and cider-braised pork belly with polenta, grilled endive, roasted apples, and gorgonzola.
Revelers can take to the town on Saturday night, checking out some of the jumpin’ gay Atlanta dance clubs – there’s something for every taste. Swinging Richards is the largest all male dancer bar in the U.S. with male dancers doing the full monty. Xcess Ultra Lounge and Bulldogs are your best bets if you’re looking for the city’s top gay African-American hangouts, while Heretic Atlanta and Atlanta Eagle attracts the leather-and-uniform crowd.
One perfect way to spend Sunday is to explore Atlanta’s many cool neighborhoods, several of them generating plenty of buzz these days for their mix of inviting neighborhood cafes, edgy art galleries, and indie shops and boutiques.
Start off in the rapidly up-and-coming Castleberry Hill area, just west of downtown. This patch of handsome warehouses and industrial buildings has grown into a hip arts district, with a number of provocative galleries, mostly set along Walker and Peters streets.
You can begin your explorations with lunch at the superb (and gay-owned) No Mas Cantina, a festive Mexican restaurant that serves tantalizingly good tortilla soup and fish tacos. It’s attached to a dramatic home-furnishings store filled with stunning, handcrafted furniture and decorative arts from Mexico.
There are plenty of other neighborhoods of note. Inman Park, Atlanta’s first suburb, lies just east of downtown. The area had become run-down and derelict before gay and African-American gentrification took hold in the early ’80s, with the restoration of many of its elaborate Victorian houses.
More recent targets of gay-fronted gentrification include Grant Park, Cabbagetown, and East Atlanta Village. And then there’s arguably the city’s best district for funky browsing and window-shopping, Virginia-Highland, which also abounds with terrific restaurants.
A fine bet for a memorable Sunday dinner is Mary Mac’s Tea Room with its wonderfully fattening and delicious traditional Southern fare. In fact, in March of 2011 The Georgia House of Representatives created Resolution 477, in which Mary Mac’s was officially declared to be Atlanta’s Dining Room.
As you decide on where to roost for your gay Atlanta weekend, keep in mind that the city’s most gay-popular neighborhood, Midtown, also has a nice range of hotels, including a smattering of popular chain properties – Courtyard by Marriott, W Hotel, Loews, and Hiltonamong them.
For the ultimate cushy experience, go with Midtown’s skyscraping Four Seasons, a striking, 20-story hotel that’s a short walk from Piedmont Park, gay nightlife, and Midtown museums. The massive rooms have marble bathrooms with deep soaking tubs, and a handful of units have private terraces with expansive city views. The hotel’s 12,000-square-foot spa is one of the finest in the state – opt for an organic green-tea-and-Dead-Sea-salt body scrub for the height of pampering.
A sleek, smart, and affordable hotel option in Midtown is the whimsically decorated Hotel Indigo. Intercontinental Hotels has developed this stylish boutique-hotel brand and has made a enthusiastic effort to market it strongly to the gay and lesbian market. With weekend rates among the cheapest in the neighborhood, the Indigo nevertheless offers plenty of perks: artful, modern rooms with Nantucket-inspired blue-and-white furniture; high-speed Internet, dual-line phones, and well-designed work spaces; and miniscule but cleverly designed bathrooms with high-end bath products. There’s also a 24-hour gym and a dapper little coffeehouse with comfy seating off the lobby.
The Indigo is right across the street from the city’s historic Fox Theatre, and beside another outstanding hotel, the imposing Georgian Terrace Hotel. This 1911 grande dame hosted the opening reception for Gone With the Wind in 1939, has served the likes of Tallulah Bankhead and Rudolph Valentino, and contains some 300 spacious suites filled with reproduction antiques. If at all possible, time your stay when there’s a musical or comedy show at the Fox. This ornate and lavishly restored 1920s theater is one of the few places in thoroughly modern Atlanta to get a true sense of the city’s rich heritage.
