Help in this blog needed

Well I spent some time typing a posting first off complaining and then hopefully bring some hope to people. But now I need some help. That is the reason I have put the help wanted sign in the window.

With all our social distancing it's hard to be face to face with a person asking him or her to help with this blog. So I do it here.

It's almost the middle of 2020 and I have ignored this blog for too long. I know I have come in and apologized a dozen times at least for this but not I am like the guy in the movie Network. I am angry and not going to take it anymore. 

So here is what I am asking - please if there are any people out there that have stories whether they be about the Muskegon gay community or others and want to submit them - please let me know. Now I will not accept any gay pornography so you must keep it clean. I will review it and make sure it meets our terms of service. Then I will notify you that I have either posted on the blog or not and if not why.

So please let me know via the comments if you are interested in being a writer on Gay and Proud in Muskegon. I could really use the help.

Gay and Happy amid a Pandemic.

Okay we have all been down this road before, those of us of the gay community I mean. The 1980's and a strange pandemic among gay men and lesbian women. But I certainly don't remember them shutting down the country for that one, nor do I remember them looking to find a vaccine for it by the end of the year.

And for right now gay pride parades, well just have to be put on hold, but I must say at least we can have parades. With social distancing. As a gay man I hear that and smile. Social Distancing... keep 6 feet (2 metres) away from the other person. I'm like come on we are lucky if we can keep 6 inches (15 cm) apart. But that is not the purpose of this post.

Now what does this mean for us as Americans, and the rest of the world? A new normal. I kinda liked the old normal but come on isn't it about time we changed things up a bit?  Maybe new curtains... a new couch you know...

Muskegon has never been a raging hot spot for the gay community. Most of us choose to hide out. You might really be out and about as they say but when was the last time you attended a gay pride parade in Muskegon? Now I don't mean the little 6 or 7 gays that held signs out in front of Hackley Library demanding marriage equality, which by the way you were great out there. I am talking about gays from all around West Michigan coming to march down Western Avenue, being proud of who we are, not what we are. So something to think about after all this pandemic mess has settled down. Don't you think we really deserve to finally be out and about in our own home town?

Happy and gay ... all the way.

I am really sorry I have kinda ignored this blog. I mean it's really been kinda sad. I pontificate about not being socially aware and alive (read up) and then kinda let this blog go for a whole year. It's sad and I am going to try and spend some more time on it. I thought well I am going to do a podcast about being gay in Muskegon.

That didn't happen. And again I am sorry. I know there are a lot of people out their suffering. Wanting to come out and finding nobody out their to support them. Okay, that is not totally true as we have gay groups out there but it's just not the same. Why you ask? Well stop and think about this for a moment. When it is easier to go to the clubs in Grand Rapids, or even Lansing - why should we have a club in Muskegon? And it wasn't for a lack of trying. We had two clubs here in Muskegon at one time. But it just seemed our community got apathetic. Let's face it, if you don't use it you lose it and that's exactly what happened. So we drive off to other places or we entertain at home. Which given the pandemic right now entertaining at home might seem the only way.

National Masturbation Month Poster

So where does that leave us?  Yes May is National Masturbation Month. And while I fully endorse it. Just don't do it in Hackley Park, tends to freak out the squirrels and well everyone else.

Just incorporate it into your new normal. Stay at home, stay safe and stay stiff. Enjoy this additional opportunity to it in quarantine.

But on a more serious note - remember this Covid 19 kills. So when you go shopping wear a mask. It's only good sense. Use hand sanitizer when washing your hands with soap and water is not viable. When it is. Wash them good for 20 seconds.

And above all... know we will get back to some kinda normal. It's inevitable. And that as they say is just my opinion.

Happy Gay Prime Month

Stonewall Plaque (2019 -Getty images)

     Well June 2019 is gay pride month. June 28th will celebrate the Stonewall Uprising in New York City. June 28, 1969 was the Stonewall Uprising in New York City. Gays were tired of the NYPD constantly bothering them and harassing them. And so they said NO MORE! And they pushed back for the first time.

    June 28, 1970 - the first gay pride parade took place in New York City. A year to the date of the Stonewall Uprising gay men and lesbian women started a march from Christopher Street the site of the Stonewall Inn through Manhattan to Central Park. Many of these people were afraid for their lives as they didn't know what the police or people in general would do. Many African-Americans, and others joined the march. Many straight people walked in the parade as well.

    The parade was led by the drag queens who just one year previous pushed back against the police and stood up for their rights as Americans.

    We should never forget what these men and women went through for our rights. It's still a long struggle but if we continue to speak out then there is no way they can stop us.

2019 Capital Pride Parade     (c)2019 

Sofia Pride needs our help!

Pride events are kicking off in cities around the world. Millions of people are getting ready to celebrate with peaceful marches and huge parties.

But Pride isn’t a party for everyone. In Sofia, Bulgaria - the country’s capital - Pride marchers are facing unprecedented violence.

The National Resistance, a neo-Nazi group known for committing hate crimes, successfully registered an official event at the same time and location as Sofia Pride, calling on participants to bring "brooms and shovels with long wooden handles" to "cleanse Sofia and Bulgaria from the garbage."

This is a clear call for violence against the LGBT community at Sofia Pride, due to happen this Saturday. But you can help stand up for the LGBT community in Bulgaria.

Sign the petition urging local authorities to keep Pride marchers safe.

To sign the petition press the link below.

All Out - Sofia Petition - Click Here

This campaign is being run in conjunction with the European Pride Organisers Association (EPOA).

Published 6 June 2017 

It's Been To Long....

     I am amazed it's been four years since I last posted on this website. The link is at the bottom of every one of my emails. Nobody has contacted me from here, so I thought, wrongfully, that nobody viewed it. Well I was wrong. And the statistics prove that. So I am back. I am sorry to say being Gay in Muskegon hasn't changed much.

    I have been invited to Gay Pride in Lansing, Grand Rapids and Los Angeles, it's happening this month. It's Gay Pride Month. And yet, no Gay Pride activities in Muskegon. If there is they are not being advertised. It's sad. But what should I do about it? Not every community has "pro-active" members of the gay community. Some of us just want to hide in our apartments, do hookups and be happy with that. But there has been so much that has happened just in the last few years in the gay community that we should be proud of. And a few things we should be ashamed of. Just look to Washington to see how desperate things might get if we don't stand up and let America see the power of the rainbow. From our political power, to the power of the almighty dollar, we do have power. We just have to step out of our apartments, and homes and onto the street and be bold and be loud.

   

I just love this picture. His pride flag, and his arms thrown back. It seems to be saying, "never again will you hold me down.... never again will you hold me back..." I am not sure that is what is really being said, but it's what I think we should be saying. 

There are currently gay and lesbians in Chechnya which is in Russia that are being arrested and abused while in custody. There families are being forced to kill them, yes I said KILL THEM, or someone else will. We must stand up to this awful genocide. The government of the Russian Federation claimed that there was no abuse of gays going on in Chechnya. But we know that to be a lie. And given the current government in place in this country it could happen here.  I am going to start this blog back up and I need those of you who live in Muskegon to help me find those stories to put here. And help us keep those of us who are gay in Muskegon Gay and Proud. 

Marriage Equality the Law of the Land

In a split decision 5-4 the justices of the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of Marriage Equality. 

The decision included this statement:

     The right to marry is a fundamental right inherent in the liberty of the person, and under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment couples of the same-sex may not be deprived of that right and that liberty. Same-sex couples may exercise the fundamental right to marry. Baker v. Nelson is overruled. The State laws challenged by the petitioners in these cases are held invalid to the extent they exclude same-sex couples from civil marriage on the same terms and conditions as opposite-sex couples.

And now the United States joins Ireland as the newest countries to join in marriage equality.

Read the complete decision, including dissenting opinions here: http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/14pdf/14-556_3204.pdf

Straight Marine Attacked For Defending His Gay Friends

Hero alert! After attending a drag show on Sunday night, a straight marine got his face beaten (and not in the fun way) for defending two of his gay friends.Corporal Ryan Langenegger, 22, was grabbing a late-night bite with two gay guys —one of whom was dressed in drag — when a homophobic meathead approached their table at Pepperjax Bar and Grill in Omaha, Nebraska, and began harassing them.

“We were eating and there was three guys watching us,” Langenegger told WOWT 6 News. “And one of them stepped up and was a foot or two away from my friend and he just kept saying, ‘Should I? Should I?’”
To avoid further conflict, Langenegger and his two friends — Joshua Foo, 29, and Jacob Gellinger, 25 — decided to walk away. But the homophobes pursued them and blocked their exit. According to Langenegger, Gellinger said to the men, “Yes, I know, I’m a boy in a dress,” to which one of the men reportedly responded, “Yes, I know. And you’re (expletive) disgusting.”

At that point, Langenegger verbally tried to diffuse the situation. That’s when he got punched in the face. He suffered a gash on his forehead and two chipped teeth as a result of the blow. (And since this is a serious crime, we will refrain from talking about the fact that Langenegger is gorgeous, even with the scars.)

The group filed a police report, but their attackers already had left by the time the cops arrived. Few other details about the investigation are available at this time.
“It just makes no sense this day and age and in Omaha, for all of this stuff to still be happening and out in the streets,” Langenegger said.

On Saturday, a gay rights group will host a rally in Omaha to call attention to homophobia and hate crimes in the area. Organizing the event is a local drag queen named Chad Bugge, whose performs under the stage name Anna Roxia. Sorry haters, but gay people are the best.

P.S. You may be thinking/hoping Langenegger is a closet case. We visited his Facebook page, and we’re pretty positive he’s not lying. Among his likes: Megan Fox, Incubus and Mitt Romney. What can you do? Nobody’s perfect.

Re-blogged from: http://www.Queerty.com.  So you can understand the obviously gay based writing done here. What do I mean. Well they talk about him being gorgeous and straight.