Public display of affection of gay people

I don't think there is any difference in love between homosexual  and heterosexual people, there is no homo-love and hetero-love, just love. There is an ingrained belief in the society that gay people love differently. In Western countries, Public display of affection (PDA) between hetero-couples is very common but not so in the orthodox streets of India. It will definitely turn heads if a man and a woman kiss in public or hug in front of a crowd in India. Indian men won't even sit close to a women in transport buses and so did Indian women. But the situation is different when it comes to their own sex. Men can hug or hold hands in India without the ire of onlookers unlike a hetero-couple. Women also act very close in their group which will easily confuse a Western audience. That is the only relief for gay people in India. They can easily disguise their love in the garb of prevalent homo-social environment. Kerala men are definitely more homo-social (Ah, I wish it was more homosexual) than anywhere in India. They hold hands, hug each other, pat shoulders, laugh together, a fairly good amount of bodily intimacy exists which can even extend to sleeping together and bathing together (Well, there are many situations for sexual tension!!!). Not all such intimacy are gay but some definitely are. Moral policing is on the rise in Kerala. Some extremist groups are rallying against love displays in public saying that it is against Indian culture. They cannot even tolerate hetero-sexual bonding let alone homo-sexual affection. Here are some photographs of gay men and women in public setting in this era of moral policing.

Source
http://justsomething.co/all-love-is-equal-gay-couples-series-braden-summers/

Celebrity coming outs in 2014 - a welcome change.

I always love the "coming out" of celebrities. That gives more visibility to the gay community and gives more confidence to the gay youth. So thought of compiling the famous personalities who "came out" in 2014. Check them out.

Sam Smith: the man with that gorgeous voice and hits like "stay with me" and "I am not the only one"  in his kitty. Worthy addition to the community.

Sports is one area where you won't find much candidates belonging to gay community. There may be enough gay men among sport stars, but no body comes out. Oops, this year we had many. Derrick Gordon (basketball player), Tom Luchsinger (Olympic hopeful, swimmer), Liam Davis, (pro soccer), Matt Llano (professional long distance runner), Thomas Hitzlsperger (pro soccer) Well done!

Well, the biggest sport star was Ian Thorpe, Olympic swimmer. Ah, I just love him!!

Then came some from business and politics -  Edgars Rinkēvičs, Latvia's foreign minister. Not bad at all.  Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, came out with a very relevant coming out commentary. Loved it.

 

He said, “While I have never denied my sexuality, I haven’t publicly acknowledged it either, until now,” Cook wrote in an essay for Bloomberg BusinessWeek. “So let me be clear: I’m proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me."

Others from show business...Lee Ryan (boy band member of the band Blue), Vicky Beeching (singer-songwriter), Andreja Pejic (Model), Patricia Yurena (Miss Spain 2008 and 2013), Ellen Page (Actress, X-Men: Days of Future Past)

Ellen page

Courtesy: Advocate.com
For more please read the detailed report in Advocate.com

A touching video on bullying gay kids - What if being gay was normal and heterosexism a perversion?

photo credit: link

What if gay was the norm? This little parody video says it all, in one imaginary homo-normative world, what a hetero-person, a "different" person in that world, would probably feel and face: a parody on the status of every gay man/woman in this hetero-normative world. I think this will help to make heterosexual people more aware of what kind of alienation and isolation a gay man/women feel in the hetero-normative world, as I feel it is very difficult for many hetero-people to fall in the shoes of a gay men/women. But they may understand it if the story is told in their own psyche, in their own situation, they may relate to it better. Awesome video. Wonderful message. See it. You won't regret.

Pink Dreams - the magnificient works of gay artist Jim Ferringer

The allegorical and alluring digital photographs of openly gay artist, Jim Ferringer, celebrate male body and male nudity. Some may label the works as pornography, but they are a far cry from pornography, rather come close to the magnificent paintings of Renaissance masters.   

He states in his blog, "I am fascinated and in love with light. It’s what draws me to the art of photography and what I strive to capture in my imagery. To me the art of manipulated photographs is the ability to see and paint with light and combined images. Through the manipulation of images and the overlaying of textures, most of my work ends up looking like paintings. I am captivated by the beauty of men, all men, and have embarked on a journey to explore that in my current imagery. These manipulated photos explore the world of the beauty of the male body and soul. My work is a reflection of my thoughts as I make sense of the world around me. They are my notes as I navigate through. They are part of a process of a releasing of my sense of self and finding what is beyond my limited thoughts. To me, there is something about the beauty of the human figure which stimulates contemplation of life’s deepest mysteries and stories".

I have included some of his works in this post. Some time later, I will post the excerpts of an e-mail interview with him. He was very open minded and gave frank answers to my questions related to the struggles of being gay, male nudity and his art. It was really wonderful to connect with him and I cherish the opportunity to cross paths with such a genuine soul.

a fine balance

boy in venice

Listen to what Ferringer has to say about how he creates such dreamy montages,

“I would describe my work as manipulated figurative photography. All work is created with a Nikon D60 and an iMac with Photoshop CS6. My goal is a contemporary photograph with a reference to painting, history and environment. Light, shadow and color all build stories around the male figure. I try to bring to my photography some of the qualities that Carravagio, Jacques-Louis David, Anthony van Dyck and others brought to their paintings. It is important that my art have a sense of history and mystery”. 

an indulgence of 100 days

Andrei

 Adam

black shaman

For more details and to see his amazing opuses, visit the below mentioned links,

http://dreamsandothermysteries.blogspot.com/
http://naked-man-project.com/joomla/en/featured/guest-artist/jim-ferringer-american-artist

Please bear in mind that some photographs show explicit male nudity. 

Queer Pride - Kerala - India - July 26, 2014 - a welcome change

It is a criminal offense to be gay in India. Even then, a gay pride rally happened in Kerala, the southern most and a quite orthodox state of India. So things are changing, bit by bit. This time, the pride was definitely better as there was sizable participation from our heterosexual counterparts which is commendable because those straight people who participated in the pride will be labelled gay and most probably get bullied later. Still, they showed the courage to come out for the help of their friends, to voice for the rights of their friends. Special kudos for those brave hearts. Previously I had reservations about the pride rallies which often turn  very loud  and slap straight at the face of society, now I think, such rallies are needed, because society will not take notice. 

Some snaps below....To see more go to this Kerala Queer community in Facebook named Queerala

Love to see the kid, at least he learns tolerance.

 

 

 

 

 

 All images from Queerala 

Celebrate tolerance and diversity. Make the world a better place for everyone.

Pink paintings - Part 1

There is a big list of gay artists. Somehow being gay and being a painter is so connected and correlated that many of the great men like Da Vinci, Michael Angelo and Caravaggio give a rich legacy to gay men all around the world. Here are some of the paintings by the masters and contemporary artists with a gay theme or male nudity for that matter!!

Micheal Angelo - The magic of gigantic male figures in virtually all possible poses!!

Joseph Christian Leyendecker - Commerical Gay American  art.

 

Richard Bruce Nugent - The explicit African American gay art pioneer 

 

 

Charles Demuth, Distinguished Air, 1930.  

Leonardo Da Vinci - the master of all times

 

 

José Manuel Hortelano-Pi - earthy humans

 

 

 

Ralph Chubb - Contemplation,  1925 

 

Claudio Bravo - hyperrealism

 

David Hockney - not so straight world