Looking for Love This Season? Follow These Summer Romance Do’s and Don’ts
Summertime is in full swing! The nights are longer, the weather is hotter, and many of us have one thing on the brain: summer love. Maybe you’ve already met someone who’s caught your eye, or maybe the influx of weddings you’ve been attending has you daydreaming. Whatever the reason, the season of love has you […]
Gay men wrongly assume ‘attractive’ guys are less likely to have STDs, study finds
A new study has found that gay and bisexualmen are more likely to believe men they find “physically attractive” are less likely to have STDs.
Researchers from the University of Maryland surveyed roughly 200 gay and bisexualmen living across the United States.
Participants were shown clips of different men then asked to rank them based on their physical appearances. Afterwards, they were asked a series of questions about the men.
The questions included: “How likely is it that you would have a one-night stand with this person?”, whether they thought the men has “positive partner traits,” whether they would have unprotected sex with this person, and “How likely do you think it is that you would get HIV… from this person?”
On average, the men who found to be more physically attractive were also rated less likely to have any STDs. Not only that, but participants also said they were less likely to use condoms with them during sex.
Researchers attribute this to the “halo effect,” which is defined as the tendency to associate positive traits with physical attractiveness even when there is no other evidence to support the association.
“Arousal associated with perceived physical attractiveness, especially in the context of sexual intercourse, may override intentions to use condoms,” Dr. Tom Nardarzynski tells Gay Star News.
“Nevertheless, the findings of this research demonstrate a specific bias in thinking that sex with an attractive person could be less risky, which is unlikely to be accurate. Also, physical attractiveness is highly subjective, therefore it cannot be a reliable determinant of HIV status.”
Donald Trump has continued his outright assault on LGBTQ people and our rights. One of the most dangerous attacks on the community has been his attacks on LGBTQ health care. Through Pence allies at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Trump administration has peeled away almost every Obama-era protection for LGBTQ patients.
Here are some of the lowlights of Trump’s attacks on LGBTQ health care:
Rule 1557: HHS just published a proposed major change to the administrative rule interpreting Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to remove explicit protections for LGBTQ people in healthcare programs and activities by excluding protections from discrimination based on sex stereotyping and gender identity.
Advocated for the elimination of the entire Affordable Care Act: The Justice Department issued a legal filing arguing that the entirety of the Affordable Care Act should be overturned. This move would jeopardize health care for over 130 million people with preexisting conditions like HIV and eliminate non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people.
Kicked HIV+ people out of the military because of their status: The Department of Defense instituted a “Deploy or Get Out” policy, which would remove HIV+ military personnel from service solely because of their status.
Erased transgender people: Trump’s HHS proposed a new definition that would narrowly define sex as either male or female, unchangeable, and determined by birth. According to the New York Times “The new definition would essentially eradicate federal recognition of the estimated 1.4 million [transgender] Americans.”
Proposed cutting over $1.35 billion from PEPFAR budget: In his proposed FY 2019 budget, Trump cut $1.35 billion from, or 29% of, PEPFAR’s budget. PEPFAR is the U.S. government program that fights AIDS abroad.
WATCH: Boxer celebrates winning match by proposing to his boyfriend in the middle of the ring
Anthony Ash (right) with Yanko (left)
Spectators at an amateur boxing match in Wales got more than they expected when a champion boxer got down on one knee and proposed to his boyfriend of 11 years.
32-year-old Anthony Ash had just picked up his first match on June 14 when he snatched the microphone from the master of ceremonies to invite his boyfriend Yanko to the ring.
With Yanko standing before him, Ash dropped to one knee. In front of the cheering crowd, he popped the big question. And Yanko said yes.
“Taking up the boxing has been a massive thing in my life,” Ash told GayStarNews. “He’s seen the positive things around it and has been such a support. ”
“I’ve been doing a lot of work around changing people’s perspectives of the LGBTI community and boxing and bringing them together. It’s a part of his life because he’s so supportive. It was such a big deal for me and him, and doing it front of 350 people.”
Ash had started training to box as an adolescent. As he got older, however, he struggled to reconcile his love of the sport with the stereotypes of the LGBTQ community. Eventually, it just didn’t matter anymore.
“Gay guys thought it was impossible to be gay and into boxing,” Ash recalls.
Fortunately for Ash however “no one in the boxing world gives a f*ck” about sexuality, he says.
“There are boxing fans that would care, sure. People who don’t do boxing but sit on their arse and watch it would care. But not a soul I actually know cares.”
Having now found his calling, Anthony an Yanko have already started making plans for an intimate wedding ceremony.
Last night was the biggest night of my life ?
?? Stepped into the ring for my 3rd fight ?? Finally won for the first time ?? Proposed to my boyfriend in the ring
At First I Didn’t Think ‘Fairview’ Was for Me: REVIEW
It’s hard to talk about Fairview. Not just because the play has already caused a sensation, unleashing a flood of critical acclaim when it opened at Soho Rep last year and winning playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Nor simply because revealing its ingenious structure feels like a kind of sin, so holy do its effects on the unsuspecting feel to me. It’s difficult because the play is shattering in a literal sense; anyone’s response to Fairview reveals something previously fathomless, like lifting a rock from damp ground and being forced to face whatever lies underneath.
In that spirit, I first saw the play last summer, after its rapturous reviews (from mostly white critics which I hadn’t yet read) and before its encore production, currently running at Theatre for a New Audience in Brooklyn through July 28. I knew it was a knockout play about race that had sold out once word got around. (I had somehow managed a single ticket.) Walking to my seat, at least one thing about the experience felt wholly unsurprising: I was one among a small fraction of non-white faces in the audience.
Though I’m quite used to that, already I felt unnerved. If this was supposedly one of the most astonishing plays about race in years, who exactly was it meant for?
The first act signaled an answer in the form of an upper-middle class Black family, polished and sitcom-ready. (The play runs 110 minutes with no intermission, but is broken into three distinct parts.) Think Fresh Prince of Bel-Air meets Family Matters — they have plenty of means, and display social class and family values, too. A smartly dressed woman (Heather Alicia Sims) is peeling carrots, prepping for her unseen mother’s birthday dinner. Her husband (Charles Browning) catches her dancing to the stereo (Sly and the Family Stone, “It’s a Family Affair”) and slides up from behind to join her.
“You can’t just sneak up on people,” she protests with a sweet but genuine annoyance. “You don’t just watch a person, and they don’t know you’re there.” Subtle nods like this and the encasing frame around director Sarah Benson’s production (scenic design is by Mimi Lien) indicate a broader awareness of who is watching and who is being watched. A performance of high respectability radiates from the family, which comes to include a vivacious and accomplished teenage daughter (Mayaa Boateng) and an edgy, instigating aunt (Roslyn Ruff).
Given the makeup of the audience, I could guess who this performance of excellence was meant to appease. We’ve all seen it before: the veneer glinting from stories about racial minorities crafted for white consumption. Maybe I’m being paranoid, I thought. They seem like a real, loving family. I nearly reached the point of gaslighting myself. Relax. You’re always so sensitive. Not everything is About Race. Except, I thought this was? Hopefully more people of color will at least get to read about this play even if they can’t get a ticket.
These were the thoughts swimming in my head when I first experienced Fairview’s sharp turn. The voices of white spectators, whom I’d imagined this performance was directed toward, begin echoing through the dark, as the action of the previous scene replays silently in real time. They speak callously, foolishly, with the kind of myopia and privilege that many minorities — especially Black people — have been accustomed to hearing and ignoring or accommodating and educating for as long as any of us have been able to understand words.
I started sweating and my lungs felt shallow. I always kind of want to scream out in dark theatres, just to break the social contract, but this time I actually almost do. The voices crack jokes, argue inanely, ignorantly. The dialogue feels endless and careens off the rails, a man babbling with rage as the characters on stage continue their pantomime. I started to cry, quietly. I’ve never felt more alone while surrounded by people on every side, and not because I had come to the show by myself. Others in the audience were laughing, or still sitting quietly, exactly as they were meant to be doing. Why didn’t anyone else seem upset?
I was back to doubting my own response when I realized I had been lit like a fuse from the outset. The play’s scorching final act, which I won’t detail here, reversed my isolation to such an extreme that I felt more exposed than if I had, in fact, succumbed to a primal scream. I later understood why I had so much trouble keeping still and quiet — this isn’t just about a handful of made-up characters on stage, entertaining an audience one minute and forgotten the next. The question of whose stories stories get told, and for whose benefit and by whose rules, aren’t just about plays or fiction, but history and identity.
After the actors bowed, I rushed out to the street for air, breathing slow and deep. When I returned to the show this year, I brought a friend — and the foresight that Fairview would be watching us, too.
“Well, everybody, I had a good 3 year run, but I may no longer be doing porn. Gayhoopla no longer wants to shoot me for two reasons: I have shot too many scenes, over 30 of which are unreleased. I have been struggling with addiction for the last few months, affecting the quality of my work.
I’ve never spent any money from my fans on illicit substances. Because of my battle with addiction, Gayhoopla no longer wants to honor our contract and won’t allow me the monthly rent allowance for fear of enabling my addiction even though that money goes straight to rent and nothing else.
My car that I just scraped up enough money to buy took a sh*t and died. The engine seized due to lack of oil. The oil light didn’t come on, and even though I had checked the oil this morning and it was fine, over the course of driving it leaked out.”
So this may be my farewell, unless I can get work with another company.”
Simpson also wrote, “Because of these things my porn career may be coming to an end. I’m currently in the process of getting help, but it’s too little too late. Sorry I let you all down, I’ll do my best to come back better than ever.”
Simpson has appeared in over 40 scenes on the site as a versatile performer. A well-known gay adult industry news site has reached out to Gayhooplah for comment. We’ll update this story if they respond.
In May 2018, Simpson came out as a bisexual (and a size queen), writing, “I don’t like to label myself, however if I had to say for certain, I’m bisexual with a preference for women. I am sexually attracted to men, but I have yet to experience love for another man like I have had for a woman…. This could just as easily happen to me with a man, and I’m very curious to see what, the real aspect of having a male partner is like.”
He added, “That being said, I HAVE had relations with a man outside of work and, in fact, am searching for my next partner. I prefer a high level of muscularity; clean cut with tasteful tattoos and a huge c*ck!”
