Freddie M.

The hits Freddie Mercury wrote for Queen are numerous. When you look down these list of hits, you can see the different genres and styles that make it hard to pinpoint one style for Mercury. He said he hated doing the same thing over and over and he kept his word. I believe his unpredictable style coupled with his massive talent made him the superstar he became.

In 1970, Mercury and Brian May with Roger Taylor formed the band Queen. Mercury said that in naming the band, "I was certainly aware of the gay connotations, but that was just one facet of it". His vocal range and technique were astonishing. I found the complexity of the music he wrote, like in "Bohemian Rhapsody", fascinating as did millions of other worldwide.

Queen's success led to many live performances. I was enthralled by his theatrics and the way he involved the audience in the performance. He was able to hold the audience spellbound with his outrageous strutting in skimpy outfits, while belting out songs in his rich voice. One of Queen's most noted performances was in 1985 during LiveAid, which has been described as one of the best live rock performances ever held. Mercury had 72,000 fans in the palm of his hand and the critics said he was one of the greatest rock front men of all time.

It has been said that Mercury's homosexuality went over the heads of many people and it certainly went right over mine. Not that it would matter in any case, but I never thought of Queen or Mercury in any sexual orientation. They just blazed great rock songs with complex music and I loved it. Mercury was the consummate performer and his music fascinated me. I knew every lyric from every song. When Queen was popular in the 70s we were not the MTV generation. We based our loyalty to artists based on the music, not appearance or personal life. We heard it, we liked it and everyone liked Queen.

Mercury was gay, though he did have a significant relationship with a woman that he lived with for several years. They remained friends and she was what he called his "only true friend". Some say he was openly gay and others claim he hid that he was homosexual. Mercury seemed to have the attitude that if he was gay so what and I agree. So what. I admired his style and music and gave no thought to his orientation. So what indeed.

Sadly, we lost this talent at the young age of 45. Mercury was diagnosed with AIDS in 1987, though he denied it. I was upset and felt a sense of loss when I heard he had passed. When I heard it was AIDS, I was even more pained because it meant he suffered greatly. He was criticized for hiding his AIDS status from the public, but no one knows what it was to be Freddie Mercury, at this time. Mercury denied the rumors for many years as the British press hounded him, but his increasingly gaunt appearance was a telltale sign. A day after publicly acknowledging his AIDS status, Mercury passed away on November 24, 1991. Freddie Mercury's legacy will live on.

As late as the mid 1980s homosexuality was still listed in the the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) published by the American Psychological Association. The DSM listed homosexuality as a disorder along side mental illnesses such as psychosis and schizophrenia. When homosexuality was removed from the DSM in 1986, it was not without controversy. Detractors held fast to the belief that homosexuality is a deviance from nature, therefore must be classified as a mental disorder.

Ignorance and bigotry, mainly found in religious communities, further promotes the idea of homosexuality as a disorder. Many churches may see homosexuality as an act of the devil's influence or even a demonic possession. However these sects of people are shrinking.

From a scientific standpoint the ideal relationship is, of course, a male and female for reproductive purposes. Few species are able to reproduce asexually. At the same time, a very few species carry on relationships with mating partners, often copulating then parting ways. Even in species where animals live communally it is rare for both parents to act as a unit past the point of sex. The lasting relationships humans form make our species unique, and therefore we can not be held against a standard set by mating partners in nature. Even then, there are a number of well documented cases of homosexual relationships among species who form lengthy relationships, such as the famous male penguin couple located at the Toronto Zoo.

If we can agree that the relationships formed by humans do not compare to those founded by animals then we can also agree that the only relationship standard humans can be compared against are humans themselves. As we look back we can see that homosexuality has been a part of human relationships for as long as we have recorded history. There exists evidence, in the forms of carvings and drawings, that same sex unions existed in Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt. Ancient Greeks, the ancestors of democracy, science, and fine arts, not only tolerated homosexuality, but celebrated it as a right of passage. Instances of homosexuality can be traced to almost every culture and race on Earth.

With so much evidence to the existence of homosexuality throughout culture and history, it can not be considered a disorder of a disease, but rather a facet of biological development and the human race. Instead of treating homosexuality as a disorder, it makes more sense to view homophobia this way.

While there are some instances of homophobia throughout time, until the invention of modern religions, homosexuality was largely tolerated, if not sanctioned as a valid type of relationship. With the help of these religions, members were taught to hate and fear any person with deviations from the church teachings, including members of other religions, races, and sexual orientation.

The hatred and intolerance shown by homophobic people is unfounded and can border on manic. While homosexuals pose no actual risk to the general public (its not contagious, nor do homosexuals threaten the lives of heterosexuals) the feelings of fear and disgust persist. Even if a religion teaches homosexuality is a sin, another persons homosexuality would not affect the believers level of sin. Fear and anxiety without a valid reason points directly to a mental disorder. The desire to control another persons sexuality and fit alter there personality to fit a set of ideals also points squarely to a mental disorder.

Homosexuality is not a disease or a disorder, but a natural facet of human sexuality. Mental disorders exist in those that are so wrapped up in another persons sexuality that they see it as a risk to themselves.

In lieu of all the recent sex scandals in the United States, I think men's real sexuality has to be seriously looked at. When AIDS and HIV first reared it's ugly head in the 1980's, most if not all people that fell prey to this deadly virus were gay white men in the US. However now in 2011, the people who are most effected by HIV and AIDS in the United States are black women of different age groups. The leading cause of death in the United States in black women aged 40 to 55 is AIDS. We have our own little Africa going on here in the U.S. If we go back to the sex scandals of the Catholic Church, not only in the U.S but around the world.

Eighty % of the predator priests that were sexually abusing adults and children, were violating men and boys. The recent revelations at The University of Pennsylvania, exposed a massive sex scandal that has been covered up for more then 25 years. In this scandal we have a former coach of their beloved football team, Jerry Sandusky, who has been accused and indicted on more then 40 counts of raping and abusing young boys for more then 20 years. If convicted the now former disgraced 67 year old will face the rest of his life in prison.

The point being Sandusky has been married to a woman for more then 30 years, why are none of his victims girls? Is he a bisexual? Is he a homosexual? Most experts on the subject are just shaking their heads.

The late Dr. Sigmund Freud arguably one of the leading authorities on human sexuality had said, "I believe that 10% of the population are gay, !0% are completely straight, and everyone else, 80% lays somewhere in between." Maybe his findings are somewhere more realistic then what women believe. I say women, because men know who they are and are not attracted to, so it's women that remain in dark about men's true sexuality. Hence the latest statistics from the CDC, the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta.

The CDC says that women are at much greater risk for AIDS and HIV transmission then men. Well who is infecting the women? Santa Clause? In the case of Black women, it's more then likely their husbands and or partners. Over 70% if the prison population in the United States is made up of black men. Black men, are notorious for their dislike of using condoms. There is record numbers of AIDS transmission and HIV cases in U.S. prisons currently. Contrary to what is depicted in movies, over 95% of sex that goes on in prisons is consensual.

Most men in prison have sex, when they get out, they go back to their communities and infect the women there, hence the disturbing amount of black women in the U.S. dying of AIDS. I believe most if not all men, have either had sex with other men, want to, or will. They get together with women, to fulfill some kind of societal obligations that they feel they have.

Gay love

I’ve been in past relationships before with girls and boys alike, but girls didn’t interest me, didn’t give me the pleasure of life… so it was only for my image: I had to try it out so I could be sure that I am what I was meant to be. So after going out with girls I was convinced that my life with a boy is the something that I’ve always imagined: something beautiful.

I never wanted to have one night stands and adventures: I was always too scared to indulge myself in such activities. But the truth is I did, a few times, and I’m not proud of it. Although some say that if you do something, do it so you will feel no regrets afterwards. Anyway, I have no regrets, nor am I proud, either.

I will not go into details about my past relationships, since it wasn’t my intention to do so in this post: I just want to tell you about one particular relationship – the one that forever marked my life, the one that was the most beautiful of them all.

So let’s rewind time four years ago, to the day when we first met. It started like an ordinary day, like the rest of my days before that: it was boring and I had nothing to do. It was a winter Monday. I first wrote him on this boring wintery day on a gay social network website, and he replied. Although it never crossed my mind that he would answer, I thought "what the hell, I’ll give it a try!"

And so I did. And what do you know, he answered my message… it was a hello but still, he replied. And from there on we started a conversation, and planned to meet face to face on that week, on Friday… and it was Friday 13th.

So days passed by and we exchanged Yahoo IDs and so we chatted using the messenger; later on we exchanged telephone numbers and we talked more, until the Day has arrived, that famous day: Friday the 13th .

Our first date was on that day that we have planned: Friday 13th, 2008. My first impression when I saw him was: “Damn, he’s gorgeous!…”

We went to a local restaurant and had a couple of beers; after that I walked him home, we kissed and then I went home.

Days have passed and we met more, we got along pretty well. We had a lot of fun together and we went out a lot, hanging out and stuff. Those were the best days of my life, I couldn’t wish for more or better. It was like a dream come true.

When I first met him I was still a student, but that wasn’t a problem, and we still met quite often. A few dates later he introduced me to his family – and I was so flattered that he did that. His mom is cool.

I guess right now you’re wondering if we had sex at our first date. They say that all gay men have sex on their first date; that all gay men just want to get laid. Well I have to disappoint you; we haven’t had sex throughout our first 3 months. I would have wanted to, but he told me that he wanted to wait until he was sure, so I waited; I let him take his time.

Then came February 14th: Valentine’s Day. I bought him a ring and I received one too: oh, he had it engraved with these words: “With love, Levy”; it was my very best gift ever received.

As for the not-so-funny part, I’ve got to tell you that although we hadn’t had sex for 3 months, he did have sex with his ex-boyfriend just a week before Valentine’s Day… I was really disappointed in this, but I forgave him because, at that time, I was in love. He confessed me that he had cheated on me on a party at a gay bar, with tears in his eyes. And he had also told me then that he did not deserve me and that I was too good for him; he had wanted to end this thing right there, right then - but then I told him that I would forgive him and so we moved on with that special something that we tried to build together.

One or two weeks later we went to this party thing in our city called “Travision” (It’s something like transvestites singing Eurovision songs). So we went at this party, and had a really good time together. (By the way…I don’t really like that…but anyways, it was fun). We had a few beers, we danced… and it was the best party I ever attended with him.

On my birthday (March 13th) he made me the most special present ever: we made love. It was fun, and at the same time it felt really good. I can still feel that kiss and I can still feel that touch, as if it were yesterday. I know exactly what I’ve done and what I felt then. It felt then as if I were on the top of the world and as if the whole world was mine - and I don’t expect that feeling to ever disappear. I felt so secure that I thought I was capable of everything.

Then came the summer and we went on a trip, both of us, plus his brother and his brothers’ girlfriend. We went on this little vacation, just the four of us, for four days, and we had the time of our lives. We had so much fun together, and we enjoyed every moment of it.

We went swimming; we had a few pictures taken at a local waterfall. And man, that waterfall was awesome, and so was that mini vacation! I still remember how happy we were together, I still see that smile upon his mouth. We had it all and we had each other!

And if you think that “damn this is a perfect relationship”, well I have to disappoint you: we had our first fight, just like it happens in any other relationship. But I think that those fights were essential at that time: no relationship is fight-free, or at least that’s what I think.

We had a great time together. We had lots of fun together. We went to a gay party a few times and it was good. Sometimes he slept at my place and sometimes I slept at his place - and it was ok.

Then came his birthday, November 24th, and I got him a nice present. We went to Cluj-Napoca to have some fun at a local gay bar. Well, it didn’t work out quite as we planned. We had fun, but at a certain point we had our first huge fight. He didn’t want to talk to me for a while; and we didn’t talk for a couple of days, but after that it all went back to almost normal. I mean, we were back together but it wasn’t the same. We had some more fights after that.

That was the day our relationship had changed: not in a good way but, unfortunately, in a bad one way. But we moved on. We kept on seeing each other, but it didn’t quite feel the same.

I don’t think I will bore you with my story: after all that’s al in the past now. We broke up almost two years later but we are still good friends nowadays. He’s meeting someone else, I’m still single - but it’s okay.

I will stop my story since it sometimes hurts me to remember; sometimes it’s fun to remember but most of the times it hurts… So, as they say: case closed. I have to move on. I think I wasted too much time and energy while putting this on paper. Now it’s time to grow up and step into the light, to go and see the world.

So, I hope you enjoyed reading this post about me, and I hope you’ve got a picture about me, about how I am and what I am.

In the end I just hope that I will fall in love again and hope that he will love me back in return.

I sure think that life is worth living and enjoying for as long as you can, since you know what they say: "life’s short”...

The End

When it comes to make your voice heard, no matter which is the chosen broadcasting voice you use (in my case, blogging), there is one thing you should know: advertising is the key.

In the past few years I had a few online businesses and I learned that you can sell anything with the proper marketing campaign. There will be always someone interested in your products.

The main problem of a newbie (like I was) is the… budget. Advertising costs and we are talking about hundreds of dollars spent on a campaign that might or might not return the investment.

However, today I want to talk about a company/website called Awesome Gig. The idea behind this type of online business it is simple: interconnecting people who would do something (climb a rock, eat a mosquito, say you’re sexy, call your mom and make that hard coming-out process as easy as 1-2-3, etc) for five bucks with people who’d pay $5 (or sometimes more) for having a job like that done.

If you check out their website (awesomegig.com) you’d be surprised of the wide variety of awesome job types posted. As you can see, they just started the journey but their service is very promising.

I also signed up and I’ll browse the available offers, maybe something will be catchy enough for me.

Now, the truth is that this gay blog could make use of some freelance job… I don’t know, maybe some Facebook posting, SEO advices or so.

Anyway, I’ll come back with updates, as soon as my experience with them will get to a certain level.

Looking back through history, you'd think that gay people just popped out of nowhere in the last fifty years. But by taking a closer look at certain people in history, you'll find that homosexuals have been around since recorded history began. Even knowing that there had to be a pretty decent list of famous gay people throughout the past, I was a bit surprised when I i discovered just how many well known names in history were not heterosexual.

Putting together a complete list of all of those in history who were gay or suspected to be gay would take forever and create an incredibly long list. So here is a small sampling of some of the most surprising or notable historical homosexuals.

Oscar Wilde

It is somewhat well known that Oscar Wilde is gay, probably because he became famous in the last century, which is a time marked with far more openness about these things. He is well known as a famous Irish playwright but is also famous for his sole novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray." What is less well known about Wilde is that he was tried and eventually jailed for "gross indecency," a general term that allowed men to be persecuted and jailed merely for being gay. He died destitute at the young age of forty-six.

Francis Bacon

Francis Bacon, the genius of law and science, is sometimes called the father of empiricism, but you'll note that he is very infrequently referred to as a homosexual. However, this founding father of the scientific method was a known lover of other men, and there is documentation from other philosophers of the time to that end. In addition to developing the scientific principles that we follow to this day, Bacon was a philosopher and legal scholar who changed the course of history as we know it.

Hans Christian Andersen

The sexual preferences of the fairy tale author Hans Christian Anderson have quite a few people, especially the Danish, in an uproar. However, the trove of love letters that have been discovered lend credence to the fact that the author of "The Little Mermaid" and "Thumbelina" was at least bisexual. He corresponded frequently with many men that he met and travelled with, but according to Vivi Jelstrup, head of a Danish LBGT association, "The word 'homosexuality’ did not exist back then ... he just had no chance to live it out." Looking at the sad stories of longing and desire that he wrote, it would certainly seem that he was echoing his feelings about life in his writing.

Virginia Woolf

Many people are already aware of Virginia Woolf's sexual preferences, but what makes her stand out is that while there are many, many known male homosexuals throughout history, there are very few known lesbians. The reasons probably have to do with the fact that up until the last hundred years or so, women were considered property and were married off with no real choice upon what path their lives took. Woolf is one of very few homosexual women that we know about, and even more amazing she was rather open about it during the time. Her novel "Orlando: A Biography" is known to be in part based on the life of Woolf's lover Vita Sackville-West.

These few individuals are a tiny sampling of those who are famous and known to be homosexual, but these are people that have fame that carries across generations, and in some cases have changed our world to this day, despite lifetimes that span back hundreds of years. It is clear from this short list that homosexuality bars none from greatness.

There appears to be a strong link between homosexuality and our artistic side. The connection between art and homosexual behavior dates back to thousands of years ago. To completely understand the connection you have to look at the history of art and homosexuality.

Artists with the same sex desires have played a major role in the creation of art especially within the last century. A complete account of the 20th century artists who were thought to be homosexual would come close to a chronicle by modern art in its entirety.

Andy Warhol and Robert Mapplethrope found themselves on the outside of the established arts world very early in their careers. These two people became popular largely in part because of the homoerotic themes their work seemed to demonstrate. Warhol and Mapplethrope were two very talented and creative people.

The Ancient Greeks sanctioned a role for homosexual or gay behavior between males of different ages. Apparently, the Greeks were not as invested in identity as we are today.

I have observed that gay men are definitely more creative and artistic. My personal feeling is that the connection between homosexuality and art is genetic. I have read several studies that imply that homosexuality is not a choice and that nothing influences a person to turn or become gay. Homosexuality is more or less a trait in which is determined before a person is born.

I was fascinated to learn that two of my close family members are openly gay. I am grateful to an extent to be able to interact with someone whom is gay on a regular basis. I have noticed that homosexuals are very intensive and appear to be very intelligent and detail orientated.

The fact that many homosexuals are detail orientated and intense may be a contributing factor to their sexuality and interest in the arts. Being skilled in the arts is a gift that many people do not possess. Being able to sit down and draw practically anything with almost perfect detail is true gift that gay people seem to have.

Homosexuals appear to sketch or draw things that are soothing or pleasurable. I have witnessed homosexual men pick up a pen and pad and within minutes come up with a beautiful drawing of a flowing stream with beautiful birds, clouds, the bluest sky. These are all things we think about but are unable to draw with absolute perfection.

I have gained great respect for homosexuals. I feel that the world is a better place because of the difference the gay community has made in the area of art and creativity. I believe that the word “gay” no longer carries the stigma that it had at one time.

To completely understand the link between homosexuality and art you would probably have to examine the human brain from a scientific perspective. It is completely unnecessary to go as far as examining the human brain in an attempt to find answers.

It is important to accept the great contributions society has received from a group of individuals that society once treated as if they were not even human. The mistreatment of gays and lesbians in years past is absolutely barbaric and inhuman. We are all human beings and deserve to be treated with a decent amount of respect.

In conclusion, the contributions the gay community has made and will continue to make should be respected even though we may not completely understand. Perhaps, homosexuals have been given a very special gift from God above. The gift that homosexuals may have is something that we may never understand but we can only appreciate.

It is only recently in our society that gay culture is becoming more mainstream. It's possible to see gay relationships on TV, or read about LGBT issues in a magazine. As little as twenty years ago, our society tried to hide or diminish gay culture. I'm not sure what anyone had to be afraid of, or why some people still don't want gay people to have a voice. Many people ignore the fact that homosexuality has existed as long as people have. Ancient Egypt is just one society that shows evidence of homosexuality.

Getting an accurate picture of homosexuality in ancient Egypt is difficult, but clues suggest homosexual relationships did exist. Parts of a fragmented text talk about the story of a pharaoh and his general. This is suggested to be based on a real pharaoh who would sneak out in the middle of the night to stay with his general. Many think the text alludes that the pharaoh and his general were secretly lovers.

Another anecdote of history indicates that homosexuals might have been accepted in some areas of Egypt. Two men were found buried together in a tomb with their noses touching. Their names were intertwined on the graves stones, and the symbolic message is clear. They were together in life and the afterlife. There are pictures in the tomb of them embracing. There are many theories as to the relationship between these men. Some speculate they were brothers, closer friends, or gay. If the latter is true it means some people accepted their union and buried them together.

The Egyptians had values similar to some present day ideas of morality. Some saw homosexuality as wrong because sex itself could be seen as an act of defilement. Others thought it was not moral. There were also instances of sex as a form of power between men, which the Egyptians frowned upon because of the aggressive nature of this kind of coupling. Homosexuality was also cast in a negative light because reproduction wasn’t possible.

For the most part, the ancients Egyptians had some of the same concerns as people do now. Non-consensual sex should always be abhorred, but simple love between two individuals of the same gender? Are we really no farther advanced than the people of ancient Egypt? They viewed homosexuality as inferior because it didn’t produce a child or was amoral. These are familiar concerns for those living in modern society.

Another commonality is that homosexuals existed in both places. Despite ancient and modern attempts to hide gay people, they still persist. Perhaps instead of condemning this culture, we could try understanding other points of view.

We live in a society where gay people can be equally celebrated or prejudiced against. Some places are very open while in others it is still a danger to be gay. I think that people will always fear what they don’t comprehend. It made sense to some extent in the past, but in today’s society we have the ability to be more tolerant of sexuality. It is no longer seen as inherently evil and we can have honest and rational discussions.

We can be like societies of the past and generally abhor homosexual behavior, but we have another option. We can understand homosexuality so we can all live more comfortably. What do you want future generations to think of us? I would like to live in a time that historians look back on fondly. I hope they see that our generation was one that sought to understand gay people and accept them, and in that way we helped shape the future.

In just one month, '306' received over 95,000 hits on Vimeo and was viewed in over 155 countries in every continent of the world.

When you watch '306' you will think you know it all, but you don't. Judge for yourselves.

I have noticed that open relationships are becoming more common or at least admitted in today's society. This steady uprising has left me to wondering why so many are choosing an unusual path in the love circuit. I guess it is the natural urge of most people to want it all but to apply it to ones relationship honestly confounds me. However, there must be something to it for so many to choose that route.

The convenience of being able to enjoy the benefits of always having someone to come home too yet experiencing a variety of different sexual partners. Although, I can't seem to beat the feeling of that starting some arguments one time or other. It's hard to see if the benefits would really be worth the unfavorable outcomes. Yet still the thought of so many people choosing it makes me wonder still.

Still interested I started asking questions and searching the Internet. I found that a large majority of believers of open relationships are homosexuals. This leading to another why, of course and whys can never go left alone. In my searches I found several different opinions and reasons for this.

One of the most popular reasons that rang out mostly is they just prefer to have than just one sexual partner. I call these people monogamy haters for their dislike of the constraints of monogamy. To me having one spouse is enough work without having more than one. With having multiple relationships or open relationships you have to balance more than one persons needs rather is be on a full time basis or just sexually. I think it would an extreme challenge to be non-monogamous and juggle more than one lover alone.

I would think that in gay relationships a multiple amount of partners might increase the glory of it. However, to me rather you are straight, gay, bi-sexual or any other versions of relationships it would be hard to manage the feelings of other people. It might give you the freedom to explore you homosexuality or sexuality in different ways but I believe you should be straight with that before entering a relationship in the first place.

However, with homosexual relationships perhaps the need to explore is greater than in a common marriage. Most homosexuals hide their sexual orientation until later years giving them a need for more time to explore their discovery. It may be more in their nature, as some people say, but I think that everyone no matter their sexual preference have the same basic needs.

Allowing a partner to explore other sexual areas with open relationships is still a rather disturbing idea for me. I believe that it takes time to develop a good relationship with one person alone. Even if the other is more than willing to have an open marriage I think that in most cases it will eventually cause arguments in the relationship.

However, I believe that homosexual open relationships may occur more often because they tend to be people who go after what they want. In some area's that may be a good thing and in others wanted too much can always lead to a fall. In any relationship of any type being selfish is not a good foundation for any couple. To me wanted your cake and eating it too can cause excess baggage, if you know what I mean.

In the end I guess I would have to say that I might not do it but to each his own. I am sure there are a million couples that can prove me wrong but all I say is facts don't lie. If you are an exception to the rule I salute you and wish you the best but if not then I told you so!