self-isolating LGBTs of SPRING 2020

love y'all
i'm feeling v happy and powerful lately
fantasizing abt moving into an old rv
might move back to fl later this year
lately all i do apart from work is listen to techno and play animal crossing lol

table i wish we had customers like you at my lame grocery store

i wish i could be a customer at your grocery store.

i really strangely LOVED working in a grocery store, except they didn't pay enough. the work itself was satisfying and i hardly ever paid for vegetables because i was the guy who cleaned the greens and managed the stuff that was going to compost/horse feed/still good for humans, but not for sale. i also loved my co-workers. to be honest, if they paid better, we probably would have stayed in California for a few more years.

we're going camping for July 4th in a state forest that has a no fireworks rule, so that's nice.

Fireworks have been rampant in Brooklyn, people are going crazy because of pandemic… But yr plan for the fourth sounds great though :-) :-) you know, my friend Claire worked in a bagel shop on Long Island, and I was always jealous of that. I’m also here to tell you that pandemic financial and unemployment woes r real and I don’t like them. I’m also fresh off a couple of shots of whiskey after a freakkkkky day so totally recognize that I am not making much sense right now

Clouds I’m very glad to hear about your happy powerful feeling

Yeah the fireworks this year in Philly have been intense.

we’re going camping in idyllwild tomorrow, very much looking forward to getting out of the city for a spell

there’s usually a weeks-long lead up to 4th of july fireworks in LA, but it does seem a bit more pronounced this year. they’re definitely louder than usual, but they usually subside by the time we go to bed

I have no sense of it being a hot NYC summer, bcz except for one ambulance ride i've been indoors since May 8.

However, things are looking up medically, and it seems quite possible I'll be sprung from the hospital SOMEtime this month.

mazel!

glad things are lookin up Dr M!

Julius’ in NYC (the site of what I’m pretty sure was the largest gayLXor gathering to date) is in trouble - gofundme here: https://gf.me/u/ydjrdq

oh damn... they were closed and like boarded up on pride which was weird bcuz all the other bars around there were open to ppl

you've been in the hospital a long time Morbs

my last time out...was at Julius' in March.

..which i skipped, as i was already transitioning to lockdown.

I remember a lovely evening at Julius!

now I reread The Golden Bowl and fantasize about assignments on staircases.

That's good news, Morbs!

thx dear, and happy birthday (32 again?).

The gayest show on WFMU played way too much Sylvester this week, but there was a surprise at the end.

https://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/94299

they were closed and like boarded up on pride

It's a noise issue bcz the clientele at Julius' needs to shout to be heard from 6 feet away.

I had no idea Sylvester sang on Herbie's "Magic Number"!

well, there's my present

The clientele at Julius' needs to be closed and boarded up on Pride.

Eric! Happy birthday, welcome home, and we-who-are-about-to-die-salute-you!

So many quiet qualities.

Morbzzz I am so happy to hear that. Hang tough these coming weeks
I have to say, I have never been able to get over the smell of fried food at Julius
But people like it so I go!
I’m holing up big-time this weekend, trying to recharge after way too much thinking this week. My phone is off and anyone who needs me can take. a. seat.

Let freedom ring!

https://vmagazine.com/article/nycs-oldest-gay-bar-may-close/

Noooooo my favourite hang-out. That and The Townhouse, was always my favourite joint to listen to show tunes and smile while old businessmen bought me drinks

i am slipsliding into the core demographic there

They're selling T-shirts on their website and I just emailed them to confirm they're still currently selling them (they are)

https://www.juliusbarny.com/

Queer public sex is at the heart of a culture war b/t radical queers vs reformists. Under the surface, anti-public sex views are steeped in racism, classism, gentrification, and police surveillance.

Why public sex is integral to queerness. For @dailydot.https://t.co/KVj3Qhs8fu

— Ana Valens 🏴 (@acvalens) July 17, 2020

o boy

lol is all I can say

anti-public sex views are steeped in racism

I keep typing and deleting and honestly all I feel comfortable saying here is: o rly

😆 same

I have to put my ex’s pictures away tomorrow
It’s been almost a year
We are still good friends so it hasn’t felt that weird to have them up until now
It’s not exactly that I am heartbroken. it’s just he’s moving on so fast. I guess it’s the closeness of such a good friend that I miss the most. He was my family. And the fear that he just didn t love me as much, there’s shame. I feel like a cliché, letting myself get sad because he’s on a beach somewhere with his new boyfriend. overall I’ve been fine, I just didn’t expect my first year as a single person to be in lockdown. I need to get creative. Truckin’ on.

I mean, I don't really get what's so lol about the public sex thing, but maybe that's just me.

And I should say: I am all for public sex, and have participated in such a number of times

They mention in that article that "all public sex is quasi-public sex" and I like that.

I don't like that they try and pawn off anti-public sex views as being heteronormative or a product of complacent capitalism or w/e. Maybe it's the case but I don't actually know anybody who is arguing that?

I feel like there are four environments:

1. Places where nudity is discouraged and the atmosphere is non-sexual (the workplace, public transit)
2. Places where nudity is discouraged and the atmosphere is sexual (a bar, the dance floor)
3. Places where nudity is encouraged and the atmosphere is non-sexual (the nude beach, the changeroom)
4. Places where nudity is encouraged and the atmosphere is sexual (the bathhouse)

For me, it does feel like a violation of consent when these lines are blurred. I don't want to suddenly find myself in a sexual environment without agreeing to be in that environment! This doesn't feel like surveillance or capitalism or whatever... to me, suddenly being exposed to "people fucking" in an environment where fucking is not encouraged feels about as cool and OK as a stranger exposing themselves to me on a subway

I'm pretty sure I've had all my public sex in "expected" environments.

fgti, I get yr point. But I also think that in many communities, there's still a lot of stigma around homosexuality, so much so that "public sex," even if it is hidden or obscured, is among the only safe ways for people to get off. I think of the cruising that happens among mostly Black and Latino men in Buena Vista Park in SF, for example.

That said, I personally believe that if yr in the Folsom Gulch area of that same city, don't be all shocked if you see some dudes sucking dicks in an alley or on a stoop. And don't go to the Powerhouse or the Hole in the Wall lol.

Most of the instances of public sex I've participated in have been in queer cruising bars, BDSM festivals, and in the woods.

Oh no, for sure. There are some sexy bushes by the nude beach in Toronto and it's like... that's the place where the bushes are sexy! Be warned.

ditto the Central Park Ramble (at least 20 years ago)

just don't scare the birdwatchers

oh shit y'all I forgot to hype this but my boyfriend's film festival is all online this year and can be streamed from anywhere in the US, and like yeah I'm his bf and wanna promote his shit and all but I've been poking around the lineup and it is an embarrassment of riches, there is an absurd amount of awesome-looking shit

https://www.wickedqueer.org/festival

Very cool

My ex from a decade ago, with whom I remain amicably but distantly intimate, is calling again. Ostensibly he wants us to "walk" together; I suspect he wants to fuck. It's been four months. I'd like to as a pipe-clearing exercise but, gad, dunno if I want THIS again (THIS meaning the throwback gesture; I'm sure he's been a hermit).

we don't get many opportunities now

Seriously
I have a friend down the block who is great and all but
UGG I’m getting back on Grindr now and I’m not looking forward to it

Question: what is a good thread to ask about how to be a good parent to an LGBTQ teenager?

If it is not this one, I will go to a different one; if a thread needs to be created I can do so. Thanks.