Op-ed: The LGBT Movement Needs to Diversify or Die

Journalist Ernest Owens says he and other LGBT people of color are tired of being invisible.

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Ernest Owens

www.advocate.com/commentary/2015/07/21/op-ed-lgbt-movement-needs-diversify-or-die

85/7 Henderson Row, Stockbridge, Edinburgh

Located at the heart of Stockbridge, this two bedroom flat offers homely comfort in a prime location.

Sitting on the second floor of a terraced house dating back to about 1870, the property boasts bright, airy rooms benefiting from modern interiors.

Light colors and the stucco detail make the bedroom feel inviting and warm.

The master bedroom is decorated in cream and lilac tones, highlighting the intricate stuccowork lining the ceiling and giving it a warm, inviting atmosphere.

A second, smaller bedroom is ideal to host guests or to be used as a children’s bedroom; decorated in a light yellow, the room feels open and bigger than it is.

A second, smaller bedroom is decorated equally as brightly.

In the sitting room, also incorporating a small dining area, an orientalist fireplace – popular towards the end of the 19th century – takes pride of place.

Sitting against the backdrop of an elegant wallpaper and in combination with modern interiors, it gives the room its unique atmosphere.

The kitchen’s dark fronts and worktops give it a low-key, elegant look.

A highlight is the modern kitchen, with its dark worktops and wooden fronts, offering plenty of storage space and inviting tenants to enjoy spending time here.

Located in Stockbridge, bounded by the New Town, the property is in walking distance to all amenities and benefits from exceptional transport links.

The city center, Leith, with the Ocean Terminal, and lovely Portobello Beach can be reached on the bus or a longer walk, while the Royal Botanic Garden is just around the corner from Henderson Row.

Priced at £200,000 (€286,157, $310,909) the flat is sold by Coulters Property.

The post 85/7 Henderson Row, Stockbridge, Edinburgh appeared first on Gay Star News.

Stefanie Gerdes

www.gaystarnews.com/article/857-henderson-row-stockbridge-edinburgh/

Six Natural Chemicals That Make Sex Amazing, And How To Keep ‘Em Flowing

People everywhere are starting to see sexual pleasure as more or less the same for everyone, regardless of sexual orientation and gender. This view is backed by a powerful force: biology itself. The old notion that some kinds of sex are better than others–straight over gay, procreative over all–is being relegated to the dustbin of folklore, where it belongs.

In fact, prioritizing sexual pleasure is nothing to be ashamed of — we all evolved to love how it feels. Denying yourself pleasure and denigrating the search for it in others — that’s the real blasphemy that kills bodies and souls. Queerty and this column, The Science of Sin, believe understanding the biological building blocks of sexual pleasure can strip away unnecessary sexual shame. Straight or LGBT, male, female or trans, we’re all bound by the same biology.

So get out there and share your body with whomever you please (and whomever wants to please you), whether the one or the many. You are literally built for it.

Here are six sexy hormones and neurotransmitters that make sex irresistible and what to do when they fail you:

1. Testosterone

Testosterone is a hormone produced naturally in all genders, but much more in biological males. It builds muscle mass and changes your brain structure so that you crave sex. If you’ve ever been unable to stop thinking about all the delightful and downright “dirty” things you want to do to someone, testosterone might be to blame.

If you’re worried about low testosterone, exercise, weight loss and good sleep can naturally raise levels. Be patient, it takes a little time for it to work its magic.

2. Dopamine

Dopamine is the neurotransmitter associated with sensory pleasure. Food, drugs and sex feel AMAZING because of it. We’re all slaves to dopamine. Think of the lengths you’ve gone to in the hopes someone would stroke, lick or engulf your genitals. All that effort is worth it because sweet, sweet dopamine makes you feel super good.

Dopamine feels so good that it’s easy to destroy your body, mind and relationships trying to get more. It’s highly correlated to addiction, so seek professional help if you think dopamine rules too many of your actions.

3. Serotonin

Upon climax, serotonin floods your body, decreasing sexual response. It’s what prevents some men from getting erections after orgasm.

But it’s also correlated with that powerful feeling of ecstasy and euphoria associated with orgasm. It’s also associated with the emotional highs of connecting with another human. However, the loss of serotonin is associated with depression.

If you’re feeling blue after a breakup, even if you didn’t like the person lol, it might be because your serotonin levels are low. Exercise, sunlight and foods high in tryptophan (nuts, soy, cheese, meat) can naturally increase serotonin levels.

4. Oxytocin

No, not Rush Limbaugh’s favorite drug. (That’s OxyContin). Oxytocin is a hormone strongly associated with human bonding, love and morality. It’s released during intimate physical contact, like nursing, cuddling and sex. It makes you feel more empathetic and caring.

It might also be why you end up falling in love with the person you’re sleeping with.

5. Vasopressin

Vasopressin is known as the monogamy molecule. It’s a sexual hormone that’s associated with the pleasure of long-term bonding. In fact, there’s evidence men and women who produce different or not enough vasopressin molecules find little satisfaction in forming pair bonds.

So if you find yourself falling for people you’re having sex with, and they don’t seem interested in a long-term relationship, it might not have anything to do with you and everything to do with their vasopressin genes.

6. Estrogen

Finally, scientists are realizing estrogen is a key hormone associated with sexual pleasure. Before, bias about female sexuality lead researchers to discount estrogen when it came to desire and arousal. But studies show men who receive only testosterone to treat low sex drives don’t rebound. It takes adding a little estrogen as well to get engines fired back up.

So if anyone ever tries to shame you for enjoying your body’s built in sexuality, they’re probably just ignorant of or uncomfortable with their own biology. Testosterone, dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, vasopressin and estrogen make us all remarkable sexual beings.

Loving pleasure doesn’t makes you a bad person, it’s hurting others that does. So as long as you’re enjoying consensual sexual activities with other adults — we say enjoy those sexy molecules as much as you can, for as long as you can. There’s plenty to go around.

Watch Alex and Xander explore their bodies, from testosterone to vasopressin.
See past Science of Sin posts on the evolution of homosexual men, bisexuals, the wonder of the penis, weight loss, marijuana, testicles and prostate pleasure. Visit our YouTube channel for more sinful videos.

Interested in participating in our next new video? We’re looking for both LGBT and straight couples to participate in a 30-minute relationship exercise with licensed family therapist and author of The Ethical Slut, Dossie Easton (www.dossieeaston.com/). Designed to improve communication and intimacy, the exercise will promote a healthy and productive conversation between partners about sexuality.

If you’re someone who wants to help promote better sex, love and relationship education, this is the gig for you. It should be really fun, and by the end of the session you should feel even closer to your partner.

Please email [email protected] with pictures and relationship history. Must be located in the San Francisco Bay Area. $50 for the 30-minute session.

Alex Liu

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/J15r_1gqIvc/six-natural-chemicals-that-make-sex-amazing-and-how-to-keep-em-flowing-20150721

#21AceStories: Is Asexuality Synonymous With Celibacy?

Asexuals explain the difference between their sexuality and celibacy.

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Eliel Cruz

www.advocate.com/pride/2015/07/21/21acestories-asexuality-synonymous-celibacy

Japan’s second largest mobile network extends family plan to gay couples

KDDI, Japan’s second largest mobile network, has announced it will extend family plans to gay couples with partnership certificates.

The move comes after Tokyo’s Shibuya ward became the first municipality in the conservative country to recognize same-sex unions as ‘equivalent to marriage’ in March. Although not legally binding, the certificates extend housing and hospital visitation rights to gay couples within the district.

Most mobile network operators in Japan offer a discounts to families and often require a government-issued residency certificate from the family’s ward office.

KDDI will start accepting partnership certificates as proof of residency when Shibuya ward begins issuing them in October.

It also it will accept partnership or marriage certificates from any other municipality that approves them.

Japanese news blog RocketNews24 noted: ‘It may not seem like an especially major step, but coming from a company as large as KDDI, this could potentially cause a ripple-effect through many other Japanese companies.

‘There are also already discussions being had within Japan about allowing same-sex couples to add their partner to their life insurance plan.’

The post Japan’s second largest mobile network extends family plan to gay couples appeared first on Gay Star News.

Darren Wee

www.gaystarnews.com/article/japans-second-largest-mobile-network-extends-family-plan-to-gay-couples/

Fired Priest to Pope: Listen to LGBT Catholics' Concerns

The Rev. Warren Hall, fired in the spring by Seton Hall University, urges Pope Francis to meet with LGBT Catholics when he visits the U.S.

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Trudy Ring

www.advocate.com/religion/2015/07/21/fired-priest-pope-listen-lgbt-catholics-concerns

Saudi Arabia school fined $25,000 over ‘homosexual’ rainbows on building

A school in Saudi Arabia has been fined more than $25,000 (€23,115) after authorities claimed the rainbows on its building were ’emblems of homosexuality.’

Talee al-Noor International School in the capital Riyadh has since been repainted.

‘They sent the school administrator responsible for the emblem to jail in preparation to refer the case to the Bureau of Investigation and the general prosecutor,’ reported one of the Twitter accounts associated with the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice – Islamic religious police.

BuzzFeed News was the first English media outlet to break the news, which was not widely reported in the Middle Eastern country.

But one Saudi news editor, Saeed Matooq of the Arab Channel, mocked the action taken against the school on social media.

‘This is a Saudi school painted normally,’ he tweeted.

‘They said it is marketing for homosexuality, and then formed a committee and erased the colors. My question is: did the colors come first or did homosexuality?’

Gay sex is illegal in Saudi Arabia and punishable by up to life in prison, fines and/or whipping/flogging, castration, torture and even death.

Last month, religious police raided two gay parties in the city of Jeddah and arrested several men.

The post Saudi Arabia school fined $25,000 over ‘homosexual’ rainbows on building appeared first on Gay Star News.

Darren Wee

www.gaystarnews.com/article/saudi-arabia-school-fined-25000-over-homosexual-rainbows-on-building/

Want A Weiner? ‘Psycho Beach Party’ Returns To Thrill And Titillate Audiences

“Who do you have to fuck to get a hot dog in this dump?” If you’ve ever used that classic query as an ice breaker at a summer soiree (and who among us hasn’t?), you have the great, great, great Charles Busch to thank. One of the American theater’s most esteemed male actresses (and as fans of Oz will attest, he’s also brilliant out of drag), Busch is responsible for a number of the wittiest stage romps of the last quarter century such as Die, Mommy, Die! and Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, in which he lampoons beloved B-movie conventions to side-splitting comical effect.

Among his best-known triumphs is his 1987 play Psycho Beach Party, a double entendre-loaded send-up of popular seaside-set teen comedies of the 1960s seasoned with a dash of the deliriously overwrought melodramas from the same era (think Gidget Goes Psychotic, the show’s original title). The uproarious 2000 film version provided an early showcase for rising talents such as Lauren Ambrose and Amy Adams and cast Busch in a juicy role as hardboiled chief of police, Capt. Monica Start (imagine Susan Hayward wondering off the set of Valley of the Dolls and onto a sandy Malibu shore).

Fifteen years after it initially thrilled audiences in the mood for something different, PBP has been remastered and will debut on Blu-ray August 18 with an audio commentary by Busch and director Robert Lee King. If you’re in L.A. you can see it on the big screen again midnight August 8 at The Cinefamily. If you’re in the Big Apple, you can see it with the lady in question herself, when Busch presents the comedy at the Bow Tie Chelsea Cinemas screening on August 13.

Take a peek at some of the mayhem in the trailer below.

Jeremy Kinser

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/z2-iJYuzUG8/want-a-weiner-psycho-beach-party-returns-to-thrill-and-titillate-audiences-20150720