I'm Joshua Newbury, and this is my blog post. Hmm, I sound like I'm at an AA meeting.
What do gay men need?
That's the question I put forward at last week's Coffee Talk. What could everyday life be like if we lived in an 'ideal' society? The responses I got centered around several needs:
- Equality-gay men want the same rights as straight men, No more, no less. That includes freedom from discrimination because of our sexual orientation, freedom to marry the man we love, and little things like being able to hold hands in public without fear of being gay bashed.
- Family-we want to be able to experience love and relationships in an open and affirming environment. We need to feel like we belong in our family and we want to create our own families.
- Heroes-we need positive gay role models in our life, from older men who can share their experiences from the school of hard knocks, to athletes with the balls to come out before they retire, to "out" gay politicians and leaders from both polical parties. We also need media representations that move beyond gay stereotypes and portray being gay as simply one part of who we are.
Josh is a student at the U of U and leads Village Coffee Talk discussions on Wednesdays @ 7pm @ SL Roasting Company.
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