Location: Philadelphia – City of Brotherly Love
Dateline: June 8, 2012
This Sunday, June 10, Penn’s Landing in Philly hosts Gay Pride Day in the City of Brotherly Love.
Last Sunday, Asbury Park did the same thing here in New Jersey, and Atlantic City will have its own version with RisQue Atlantic City, at Resorts, July 4th weekend, starting July 5-9.
Gay pride made me think of a few things, including this question:
“Why do people hate me?”
That’s what a 21 year old asked me over dinner last night. He had recently come out, and like many younger members of LGBT youth, he was born into circumstances that left him dangling alone for years. Call him George.
George often contemplated suicide between 6th and 10th grade. “They were calling me ‘queer’ and ‘faggot.’ I didn’t even know what the words meant at first. I just knew I was different and wanted to be normal,” he told me.
“Even now, I get picked on with stupid things. My aunt wants to send me to a camp where they ‘pray the gay away.’ “
This ‘camp’ is owned by former Republican presidential candidate Michelle Bachman and her husband Marcus.
Former ‘camp’ participant Andrew Ramirez, who was 17 when he sought help from Bachmann and Associates in suburban Minneapolis in 2004, stated: “[One counselor's] path for my therapy would be to read the Bible, pray to God that I would no longer be gay, and God would forgive me if I were straight.”
“We’re very proud of our business and all job creators in the U.S.,” Michele Bachmann told a reporter when asked about the clinic this past Monday.
This simmering fear and loathing of our gay children reaches around the world.
Part of the plan calls for the entire renovation to be a reality TV show from creative process to the grand opening, streaming live over the Internet from Atlantic City. Once open, we broadcast live entertainment, showcasing our creative genius and youth.
Recently making mainstream media: Chick-Fil-A has spent millions of company dollars campaigning against gay marriage. Their CEO and founder’s son Dan Cathy has publicly proclaimed gay marriage wrong. Now, Social media is forcing the story to the forefront ...
As a gay man, I am not happy about this young man’s conviction, though fully in favor of it. I am not happy these situations exist at all. It is not easy coming out for many people. It took me much longer than some, as I hid from self, trying to fit societal and religious “norms.”
And, thank God we joined you as one, and not apart. Think of how dull this world would be without our creative energy. It would be the light bulb hanging on a wire from the ceiling, without the decorative fixture — or the lamp without the lamp shade.
'Everything we do as a society is based on love. I want to welcome everyone. Our arms are open to all aspects of our culture.'
Number 13: No more taxes. No more taxes. No more taxes. And free parking everywhere. Make our town user friendly; get rid of the sales tax, luxury taxes, and other special taxes that are on everything in Atlantic City.
The local Jewish Family Services hosted its annual Diamonds for a Cause Thursday night, March 3, in the beautiful Diamond Lounge fronting Bally’s Park Place with great views up and down the Boardwalk.
Funny thing is, it’s the casinos and land speculators who first closed and knocked down gay businesses that thrived for 100 years in Atlantic City. Now, money’s tight, and they’re sorry they did.
I’m a 29-year-old single straight man. Over the past year, I have become very close friends with a gay man close to my age. We have a blast hanging out, and I value our friendship. But things are changing.
Sometimes, recessions can present unexpected opportunities. For members of the Atlantic City region's gay and lesbian community, what might be called a civil rights struggle, an attempt to form a real community or even just an effort to create some kind of gay social life in the area, also has one other good thing going for it.
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