Go West, young men. Because West Hollywood, Calif., is the most promiscuous city in the country, according to a poll by hookup site Seeking Arrangement. Of the thousands of gay men asked where they like to get their groove on, most seemed to agree that the California sun and celebrity-soaked culture makes them especially randy. In fact, three California cities made the list. But Washington, D.C., comes in a close second – do you think the election had anything to do with it?
“Online dating websites offer men the immediacy of meeting singles that is more efficient than traditional dating,” says Brandon Wade, the founder and CEO of Seeking Arrangement. “According to our study, more gay males utilize online dating for ‘hooking up’ compared to heterosexual males. While there is always potential to fall in love, online dating makes it very easy to find singles who are similarly looking for something less serious.”
Does romance really come down to the the turn of the nose or shape of the eyes? (Courtesy of Find Your Facemate)
You’ve heard the old adage – the longer you date someone, the more you end up looking alike. Well, one new dating website really does think that facial features can dictate the perfect love match.
Christina Bloom, the founder and CEO of Find Your FaceMate, is helping LGBT singles find love based on similar facial features. Using facial recognition software to match couples, she thinks that chemistry can be ignited when we spot someone whose facial features are similar to our own. The website pairs prospects after examining 67 different points on the face from an uploaded photo.
She’s serious about it – and even points to a few famous gay and lesbian couples as proof, like Modern Family‘s Jesse Tyler Ferguson and his partner Justin Mikita, New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and her spouse Kim Catullo, and Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka. She even argues that Ellen DeGeneres and Portia De Rossi are facially matched (though this one’s a stretch, if you ask us).
Even if you aren’t necessarily looking your LGBT wonder twin, Bloom offers a few tips for that first date:
“LGBT health issues are not all that different from the average patient’s. Lack of access to affordable health care is a major factor,” says Dr. Seth Kaufer of Hahnemann University Hospital in Center City. The out doc shares some serious facts about LGBT health issues and how patients can be better informed about everything from home HIV tests to coming out to your doctor.
Truth vs. Fiction
Not only do docs take oaths to treat everyone, but an open and honest doctor-patient relationship can help everyone make smarter, more informed health-care decisions. “In my experience,” says Kaufer, “the overwhelming majority of physicians have no bias whatsoever when treating patients. Having said that, though, since I have been featured in publications as an openly gay doctor, I have had a surge of LGBT patients making appointments who have confided that they feared discrimination. Obviously this disconnect serves as a huge barrier to LGBT health care.”
3 Biggest Health Issues
HIV treatments: Meds allow people to live longer, healthier lives. And testing can be done in a few minutes—there’s even a new HIV home test.
Barriers to care: People who face discrimination can be estranged from their families and health-care options. LGBT patients also face the added stress of coming out.
Transgender realities: As men and women make transitions, more is being learned about how the process affects long-term physical and mental health.
Not everyone was surprised to find out that the man behind the voice of Elmo is gay, but when news broke that Kevin Clash may have had an affair with a 16-year-old boy, things started looking grim on the usually chipper Sesame Street.
Clash, who hails from Baltimore, has been playing the voice of Elmo for the past few years. But amid accusations that he had an affair with a 16-year-old about seven years ago (the accuser is now 23), Clash, 52, took a leave of absence from the long-running children’s show after admitting that he had a relationship with the young man after he became an adult, according to the Baltimore Sun.
TMZ broke the story after being contacted by the young man in June. And while no evidence has been produced to substantiate the affair (the two did exchange emails), both Sesame Street and PBS are investigating. “I had a relationship with [the accuser],” Clash confessed to TMZ. “It was between two consenting adults and I am deeply saddened that he is trying to make it into something it was not.”
That’s all fine and dandy, but if you’re working for one of the most well-known children’s television franchises in the world, maybe you should consider dating guys who are at least old enough to get into Woody’s.
Picture it. You’ve judicially packed to the point that you got your weekend fashions all into one small carry-on. But will the TSA flag you for (cue the organ music) … your lube? It doesn’t have to be that way thanks to the folks who’ve brought us PINK and Gun Oil personal, um, “wellness” products. Empowered Products is introducing lube in 1.7, 2 and 3.3-ounce containers for all the snow birds out there who may be taking a trip this season.
“Travel can be sexy whether you’re making a holiday visit to friends and family, getting away as a couple to go shopping on Fifth Avenue in New York City, or escaping the cold to Miami or San Diego for the warm, sunny beaches,” says Scott Fraser, president and CEO of Empowered Products.
We couldn’t agree more.
And considering that Thanksgiving and the holidays are two of the busiest long-distance travel times of the year (thanks, U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics) we can think of no better reason to think ahead.
We may know Grindr best for its ability to sniff out the nearest (and hottest) guys looking for a little action, but Grindr for Equality has been spending this week reeling from the election results. This comes after creating an awareness campaign for LGBT equality issues nationwide. Not only did the app deliver important political messages directly to its users during this election season, but it helped brings awareness to out and LGBT-friendly candidates and marriage equality fights in several key states.
All told, Grindr says it reached 1.5 million users in the U.S. alone with as many as 135 in-app messages with specific calls to action that accrued 40,000 click-throughs. And according to a post-election survey conducted by Grindr for Equality, 91 percent of users saw the in-app messages, and more than a quarter of those users – we’re talking hundreds of thousands of gay and bisexual guys – did something about it, like vote, volunteer, sign petitions and even donate money.
As GALAEI and Freedom G Photography get ready for a, well, spanking new event called Whipped (Nov. 8th) at the William Way, we talked to GALAEI’s Executive Director Elicia Gonzales about what we can expect from the naughty evening of queer erotica. Not only is Whipped helping to kick off Philly Leather Pride, but guests will be able to enter a raffle to win tickets to the Diabolique Ball.
So what’s Whipped really all about?
“The link community is on the cutting edge of sex-positivity with a focus on consent, communication and safety,” says Gonzales, who says this event will feature art and erotica for everyone under the queer rainbow. Not only is Whipped clothing optional (we’re not kidding), but Gonzales says it’s designed to create a safe, warm and comfortable environment to be a little frisky.
And to make sure that no one’s necessarily shocked by what they see, guests must agree to be open-minded, queer or queer-friendly and not be afraid of whips, chains and the “V” word.
There’s also an after-party at ICandy (10 p.m.) in the Lava Lounge where the queer debauchery will continue. There will even be some whipped vodka drinks and other specials – including a few surprise live performances. We can only imagine what they have in store.
Whipped, Nov. 8, 6 p.m., William Way LGBT Community Center, 1315 Spruce Street, 215-732-2220.
To Gardasil or not to Gardasil? That’s becoming an important question for many men who have sex with other men. Dr. Oz recently discussed how gay men can protect themselves against the human papillomavirus – or HPV. Because the disease can be spread via skin to skin contact causing genital and anal warts that have been responsible for certain types of cancer, it turns out gay men are just as at risk for contracting and spreading HPV as are heterosexual women. And the most recent research shows that the vaccine can help prevent the spread of the disease in both women and gay men.
If you’ve been following our coverage of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) – both the dust up over the city trying to evict the local chapter over its antiquated, anti-gay policy – and the ongoing discrimination being faced by scouts and leaders around the country (like the lesbian mom who was fired, the scouts who have been denied Eagle awards and the companies that have pulled funding), you know where we stand on the issue. Not only do the scouts have to go (as in leave the local chapter’s city-owned building near Logan Square), but they also need to rethink the way they deal with issues of sexual orientation and identity for the sake of children everywhere.
As if we need more of a reason to challenge the gay ban, it’s been discovered just this week that the BSA, despite all of the yammering about how gay scouts and leaders would somehow put kids in danger, it turns out the oh-so-straight scouts are lousy with molesters! The news comes from nearly a decade ‘s worth of confidential “perversion files” that the BSA has collected and never before made public. And guess what? The anti-gay policy has done nothing to prevent widespread sex abuse allegations because most experts know that sexual orientation has nothing to do with pedophilia.
But despite these persisting assertions, the BSA’s reality mirrors that of other homophobic, male-dominated organizations – like the Catholic Church and even Penn State – that seem to care a lot more about their reputations than the safety of young people.
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