LGBT Valentines

I've never really been a big one for valentines day, LGBT or not,.

In all honesty, I think that it's just a bit silly - why should there be one day of the year where you should show more love for your significant other?

Even if my girlfriend and I had been able to see each other (three hour, expensive train journeys suck), it is unlikely that we would have done anything different. As it was, we wished each other happy valentines day and she sent me an adorable quote in ancient greek (she's a classicist) which may or may not have been printed out and put on my notice board.

I don't really know what else to say... I usually use everyone else's posts for inspiration, but most people didn't post.

Becky

How was your valentine's day?

What I spent 2 hours colouring in on the 13th of February... 

 I had a lovely day.

eli x

Happy Singles Day.

As a single man, it is safe to assume that I HATE Valentine's Day almost as much as I hate cucumbers and broccoli and snakes and vaginas. I get angry enough when I have to watch people eating their boyfriend/girlfriend's faces off on a daily basis, having a day dedicated to it is almost as much my cup of tea as a cup of tea is (for those of you who don't know me, I despise tea as well).

I just don't like the thought of having a day dedicated to showing your significant other love, when, in reality, if you really love him or her, then why should you be restricted to showing that love on one day of the year (two if you include birthdays).

Therefore, I do all in my power to sabotage other people's Valentines day - by getting them horrendously drunk at the pub the night before so that twelve hours, two new phone passcodes, four shots of sambuca and several pints later, they're still so drunk that they are in no state of mind to actually enjoy their valentines day with their boyfriend/girlfriend.

Sorry this post is very short - I'm a bit rushed for time since I'm going home for reading week tomorrow (hence also why I've swapped with eli) and I still haven't packed - and it's gay night at the pub tonight and I plan on getting absolutely shitfaced. Again. Also, many apologies for the lack of posts in recent days, hopefully normal service will resume next week :D

Rory.

I can't think of a decent title, I'm sorry :(

Once again, I must apologise for my lateness with this post, I forgot, once again, that it was Friday.

Whoops.

Anyway; as you may be aware, February is LGBT History Month in the UK, and so we decided we'd kick off LGBT History Month on Homo-Journal with each of us posting something about LGBT History... we figured something like a timeline of events between the seven of us would work quite nicely this week. Alas, as you have probably realised, we've been a bit under par with posting on time this week. Whoops. I promise I'll sort everybody out for next week.

As such, and since I am already late, and very tired, and expexting my Chinese takeaway to arrive any minute now, my plan was to link to a video which would have done my job for me, but since I couldn't find one I liked, and I'm really far too tired to write a post on LGBT History at this moment in time, I shall apologise once more and leave a link to the official LGBT History Month Website and then point you towards this rather in depth timeline spanning from 55BC to the present day which I found floating around the LGBT History Month website.

Oh, and by the way - Huzzah for Equal Marriage! :D

Gay marriage legalised in the UK

This month is all about LBGT history, so what better time is there to literally make history? “The marriage bill” was passed a few days ago 400 votes to 175, which while not perfect is still the good majority. It’s caused great discontent amongst the conservatives, and I’ve heard the phrase “you can oppose same sex marriage and not be homophobic” and while I’d agree it’s not quite on par with hate crime, someone made the good point that many white people who supported the apartheid didn’t consider themselves to be racist.

As a Christian something I’ve been mildly concerned about is those churches who oppose same sex marriage, that they’ll be vilianised. While I fully support same sex marriage, and I imagine my parish priest will be more than happy to officiate the services, it is almost undeniable that the Bible is against homosexuality. While liberal churches like my own take a more modern view of such things, I don’t think it means a witch hunt should be started on those Christians who are more traditional. I’m not saying its right to be homophobic, but I don’t think anyone member of the church should be pressured into doing something against their beliefs. I hope in time the more conservative churches will change their views though.

Part of the bill is that:

 (1)A person may not be compelled to—

(a)undertake an opt-in activity, or

(b)refrain from undertaking an opt-out activity.

(2)A person may not be compelled—

(a)to conduct a relevant marriage,

(b)to be present at, carry out, or otherwise participate in, a relevant marriage, or

(c)to consent to a relevant marriage being conducted, where the reason for the person not doing that thing is that the relevant marriage concerns a same sex couple.

This means that churches will be under less legal pressure than they would have otherwise, which I think is pretty nifty, if boringly worded  (at least I think that’s what it means, someone please correct me asap if I’m hideously wrong).

So, it will take a while for all the relevant changes to be made, but keep your eyes peeled for some glorious LBGT weddings :D

Lots of love,

Todostrieb 

Penis shaped pancakes!

I shall let my pictures speak for themselves (they have been taken with my iPad and the purpose was not to take a "good" picture, so don't judge them!)

Ok turns out I have no clue where to find the pictures on my iPad to put on here... I'm starting to think I can only do it from my computer :S oops I'm not good with technology so... let me just say that my penis shaped pancaked were awesome and to dispel any myths: no, you cannot get pregnant from eating penis-shaped pancakes.

I shall now keep trying to figure out how to make this work... but for now some entertaining pictures of penis food

Shall upload my pancake adventure as soon as I can.         

I FOUND THEM!!!

OMNOMNOMNOMNOM!

I'm a Dog and I like socks

Firstly, may I apologise for not gracing you all with my presence last Friday; I'd been incredibly busy sorting out assignments and organising house viewings and writing music for projects I'm involved in at Uni, by the time it was Friday I hadn't actually realised that it was Friday. Does that make sense? No, probably not. Anyway, by way of apology, here are some sock-loving dogs for your entertainment.

Ah, if only all dogs were like that... mine would rather eat the sock you throw for him rather than bring it back to be thrown again...

I'm probably going to sound like a stuck record when I say my knowledge and/or experience of sex is limited (I'm very aware of how depressing that is, given I'm now in Term 2 of Uni and am 19 and still haven't gotten laid). So I feel my post is probably going to be another one of those rambly ones where I don't know what to say because I can't bust the classic gay sex myth "anal sex hurts like a bitch (or bastard, depending on your preference)" - once I discover the degree of fact in that statement, I'll be sure to let you know. So rather than ramble,  my plan was to write a list of all the sex myths that I really hoped were myths, but in a cruel and depressing twist of fate, this is where I fall down again.

I don't know any sex myths.

I really must research things more in the future.

Until next time, my dears,

I am, and always will be,

Very depressedly yours,

Rory.

PS - As you may be aware, February is LGBT history month, and to celebrate, we'd like to here from you. We're looking for some guest submissions on anything LGBT related; the topic of your post could range from coming out, to the debate on equal marriage, to the public perception and acceptance of the LGBT community. If you're interested, check out our submission guidelines, then write us an article and e-mail it to us!

I'm a bad bad homojournalist...

...and I'm sorry. 

for what 

i don't know

is there a way to use like a 2 penny

what are you typing

i'm not revealing weird sex things i do with R....

wait are you writing some weird erotica, because i'd rather you just email me that

adddaaaammmmm.. can you open it

Ok now that's enough -.-"

sorry again, pc was taken over by asmodeous... 

Back to topic. Sex Myths.... that's a tricky one, I can think of many myths, but not any that I actually believed. My mother informed me too well.. and tv.. and sex ed. 

So, the sex myth I thought was everybody knows what BDSM is. Apparently there are people who don't O.o.. My mother had to sit me down and explain to me.. "There are kinky people, and there are not so kinky people.. vanilla people..."

There are also people who look like lego.. 

Eli

ps, Asmodeous just actually reminded me of one.. "if you cum in a swimming pool or a bath, you can get someone pregnant" I actually believed this when I was about 11 :') Yes, I was a strange child.. But hey, this was when I also thought a tampon was one of them things that you put in the loo to keep it fresh smelling 

Fact or Fiction?

Because I am the culinary equivalent of a sloth I have decided to forgo kitchen tips in favour of rambling about sex myths? And as has been previously mentioned, the rise of google and sex education should hopefully be minimising unfounded horror stories. Although, saying that my main form of sex education has probably been romance novels, which we all know are 100% accurate.

If I know anything about sex (which really I don’t) it’s that everyone is different. A lot of what seem like strange myths or accepted fact can apply so some people but not others. For example, some people really like their ears being blown into….Mike, whereas the vast majority just find it slightly creepy.  Even the internet and your sex ed teacher do not know everything, my advice to you is simply DON’T PANIC.

Something I personally hate is the way sex gets spoken about in lots of magazines, they tend to put a lot of pressure on women to look/act certain ways and generally they focus on what your partner thinks about you. I read a “sex etiquette” article on the Cosmo website the other day which told me I should never have sex if I haven’t first shaved my legs. Seriously? It should matter more what you think, personally I like having shaved legs because they feel really smooth and awesome. Apparently, I should also round down the number of people I have slept with; I understand that it can be intimidating (not that this is an issue for me) but really this seems like a subtle form of slutshaming. It’s giving the idea that it’s wrong for a woman to have sex.  Although, More once had a weekly column where they used Barbie dolls to illustrate sex positions, which I found very amusing.

Embrace your inner slut.

So, remember to take everything you read/watch/hear/see with a pinch of salt. 

Lot's of love,

Todostrieb

Cakes give you food babies...sex gives you an actual baby

So there's been some confusion this week (more-so than usual) about which theme we're running with. It's either 'sex myths I thought were real' or 'cake'. I figured both were quite interesting so I'll just go with the flow.

Firstly, I'm in uni dorms. Catered uni dorms. There are no ovens. Thus....I BRING YOU...ZE MUG CAKES OF PEACE AND TRANQUILLITY....

Or if you are so inclined....

If you go for the chocolate use real coco powder, not hot-chocolate which has added milk and sugar, which generally, you know, fucks shit up.

Here are the recipes...

http://blogs.babble.com/family-kitchen/2011/11/18/8-easy-recipes-you-can-make-in-a-mug/

That page also has a variety of interesting mug experiments for me to try later. And to think! People laughed at me when I bought cooking ingredients from tesco, despite not having a kitchen. 

Confession time...my mug cake looked more like this...

But, it tasted fine, which is better than most of my culinary exploits. So, let us move on.

Sex myths? Are there still any around, I didn't think so. We all get taught sex ed (well almost everyone in the UK does) from a young age. I remember being traumatised by a cartoon couple tickling each other with feathers....in sex ed as a child.

Anyway, over a year ago now, I started a job with a charity called the Terrence Higgins Trust. It was actually set up by Mr Higgins to help gay men suffering from HIV...but now it's expanded to catch, treat and educate about sexual diseases in all young people across the country. Here are some of my favourite sex myths people have asked me about, or told me while I have been working.

1. You can get chlamydia from a toilet seat
2. You can get chlamydia from kissing
3. A condom protects from all sexual diseases
4. Coldsores can't cause genital herpes
5. There's a cure for HIV now

These are all false.

It wasn't uneducated people who believed these, it wasn't stupid people, it was people just like you an me, who just listened to the wrong sources of information.

Anyway children,

Be safe,

Mel

PS//

This is a cuddly chlamydia germ : D isn't he cute?

Drawing on my limited experience

Having never really engaged in PDA I also feel somewhat under qualified for this post but I'll give it a go.

When my girlfriend and I first started dating I had not been 'out' for very long and so was slightly uncomfortable engaging in PDA (which my awesome girlfriend was awesome about). But now we are both at university and often don't see each other for 6 weeks at a time (which really sucks) so I am going to take advantage of all of the 46 hours I will see her for next weekend and f**k what anyone else thinks.

Despite that, there is a limit of what anyone needs to see any couple doing, regardless of their gender, and there does reach a point where you maybe need to relocate to a slightly more private location. (for the reference of everyone ever - under a tree does not count because we can still see you!)

Becky

Embarrassing moments

I am currently locked outside my house, sitting on the pavement as I wait for a locksmith. People walk by and look at me suspiciously; I wonder what they might be thinking. Now, before you start judging too, let me clearly state that none of this was my fault.

My very clever boyfriend had stayed over at my house. The next morning I had duties to fulfil at the Zoo, so we head out around 9:30. However, on our way out of the door my dear clever boyfriend decides it would be a good idea to leave the keys in the lock while closing the door behind him! Granted he did not do it on purpose (I would hope), we are now stuck outside, with a key which is now worthless and no phones. In fact, my door is one of those silly doors which automatically locks when you close it and cannot be opened if there is already a key inserted on the other side. Fortunately the wi-fi still reaches and he was able to look up and call a locksmith using Skype; the miracles of modern technology.

Anyway, sitting outside looking like a hobo-burglar (hobo = homeless)I receive an SOS cry from Rory who found himself unable to write his posts and asking me to cover for him. Due to my situation, I highly doubt this will be possible, however I began thinking about Public Displays of Affection and what possible reasons we might have to discuss them. Of course I have not read any of my fellow homojournalists, but I came up with two main reasons why PDA may be a source of "anxiety"(or however you want to call it):

1. Personal Embarrassment - When your boyfriend/girlfriend is just plain embarrassing like mine so you just don't want to be associated with them and you either pretend you don't know them or are just friends. Quite horrid and non-sensical stuff really. Why be with someone if you are embarrassed of them? Unless you are into the secrecy of an adultery. Hence why I don't ACTUALLY avoid being seen with the clever guy who locked me out of my house! Though he often does embarrass me a little bit, I don't mind it too much cause I'm not embarrasse OF him. One small two-letter word makes a huuuge difference. I wouldn't change him for anything v.v
2. Societal Disapproval - The reason why I'm guessing this theme made it's way to the "theme pool". Getting back on the LGBT theme, people often stare and judge when they see two people of the same sex engaging in PDAs. Many, in fact, feel insulted when they witness such effusions. I say f***k them. One should never be ashamed to be themselves, which should inlude being yourself with your "other half", come on people! You should not care what THEY think, they have nothing to do with you. 

Whichever the reason, get over it and just be happy. Obviously KEEP IT LEGAL, but apart from that, don't be ashamed to show how you feel about someone. If you are still nervous, try after a few drinks ;)

Yeah... that's really all I have to say. Btw I did eventually get access to my house again, in case you were wondering. Also, by now I'm kind of tipsy so kind of not thinking straight and I really want to finish watching Juno so bye bye.

Love,

Miu xx

P.S. no, this post was not written in one go.

We need to talk about PDA.. or maybe not

Throughout this week, I have been pestering random people about their opinions on PDA. The most frequent answer I got was "What, them gadgety thingies?". To most, PDA = personal digital assistants...
People don't really care about public displays of affection. Or maybe, that's just an unused term in England. Once I explain to the said people, the common answer was "Why should you care about what other people think? If I want to kiss my gf/bf, I will".

Opportunistic PDA >.< 'T'is like the only times me and Rafaello are the same height......  

I'm not too keen on PDA. My slight aversion to PDA stems from the modest asian mixed with my conservative grandmother's teachings, and my bitter periods of single-ness, in which the mere sight of couples, casually PDA-ing brought out the lime-jello monster in me. I'd see couples EVERYWHERE. I used to stare daggers. That habit has stuck.

Although, currently I am happy, I don't see couples much at all.  (jesus, I'm beginning to sound like a crazy person.. "I see PDA...... all the time") . The only couples that have come to my attention are those that go over-the-top, and are in the way.

Last week, on the tube, this something like this happened... and they blocked the door I was supposed to leave through :'(

So, YAY for PDA, but keep it PG, don't go over the top and make people awkward. As for lgbt PDA, I don't mind it. I like lgbt PDA, I find it cute, and it's spreading awareness. Why should you be ashamed, just because you're lgbt? (gee, perhaps I'm a hypocrite?). When me and Mel dated, I suppose we must have made some people awkward e.g. our deputy-head of sixth form college... urk. I never had any bad experiences with LGBT PDA, however, there are still communities out there, who react negatively to shows of homosexuality. If you do feel like PDA is putting you in any kind of danger, it's probably best to keep it private. Holding hands is not worth getting beat up over... or is it? 

In April 2011, there was a protest at a pub in Soho that kicked out a gay couple for "obscene kissing"...

read guardian article

Damn, I think I rambled again. 
Hopefully, I made some sense.. somewhere. 
Till next time,

Eli

That bitch stole my title

I think this is always going to be a case of use your common sense. It doesn't really bother me, apart from watching Mel, who is my actual sister, or Eli who is like my sister…

That doesn't mean to say that it’s okay to whip out the handcuffs on a trip to the local shopping mall though, think moderation. There might be kids watching you. In fact, this should be something that puts you off.

I confess I am probably guilty of too much PDA in the sixth form common room, but that was ages ago. But hey, I have to creep out ex-boyfriends and mark my territory somehow right?  James mentioned parties, I'm not sure if that actually counts as public or not, in our group of friends coming across a mating pair is no cause for alarm. 

No alarm here. 

In respect to LBGT I'm of the opinion your orientation shouldn't matter, do what you like, but if people are actually offended/ feel awkward because of your behaviour (for non-homophobic reasons) it’s still polite to stop. And if you really have to be within a 2cm radius of your significant other at all times, why did you agree to go out where there are other people, especially friends who might demand some of your precious attention? Living in bed is the answer, with slaves to bring you food and drink. 

I've been doing some research on this topic, and apparently LBGT’s find PDA to be a minefield of issues. It’s sad that we live in a world where you might not feel safe holding someone’s hand. I like to think attitudes are slowly changing, in England you’re definitely more likely to be glared at than openly harassed, which is an improvement on a few years ago I'm sure. My advice to you, if someone is glaring skip off into the sunset still holding hands and forget about them.

:'(

Lots of love,

Todostrieb

P.s. Mike wanted an honorary mention, so here it is: we kissed in public once and the kraken only temporarily threatened to destroy Chelmsford, but was tamed by my great and terrible beauty.