What Do Gay Men Need?

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.

Once we know what we need - more or less - how can we get it. We have to ask ourselves what we can change and what we are willing to achieve those changes. Do we need to run for public office? Risk our bodies or comfort? Do more of us need to come out of the closet? We have to think about what action we can-or are-taking to secure the things we need to be happy and healthy. That's social work 101, champs.

Josh is a student at the U of U and leads Village Coffee Talk discussions on Wednesdays @ 7pm @ SL Roasting Company.