Coming out in inverted commas because I'm unsure as to how I feel about the term. No one should feel obligated to declare their sexuality - it is a very personal thing. However, we live in a world where people are assumed heterosexual until they assert otherwise, and as such coming out is often a practical thing you have to do. How can we expect to obtain our rights, without first asserting that we exist?

Saturday 28 July 2012

Coming to Terms with My Bisexuality, Part 3

Acceptance 


Coming to terms with my sexuality has made me a truer, more complete person. It has also been a rather long journey - acceptance only came to me seven or eight years after I first realised that I was...for lack of a better word, different.

My path to self-acceptance began while I was at university in England. England, at least in comparison to Bangladesh, turned out to be the realm of high speed Internet. Not having to wait 10 minutes for a single webpage to load made me feel like all the knowledge in the world was at my fingertips. And no, I didn't exploit this for porn, the novelty of that what worn off by now. Instead, I immersed myself in a multitude of other areas, from re-learning French to finding out more about Linux (didn't make much headway there unfortunately). Over time, out of curiosity more than anything, I found myself exposed to non-erotic gay material. This led me to the concept of healthy, romantic same-sex relationships and the greater discourse that existed around rights and equality. For the first time, being attracted to the same-sex was cast in a positive light, albeit a secular one. 

Sunday 8 July 2012

Opinion: This Guy's Bare Arse Does Nothing For Equality


I also wonder if he's breaking any laws...?


The photo above is from this year's Madrid Pride, also known as Mado 2012. Not from the actual parade, or from any parade related event. It was just a day in the week leading up to the parade, and this guy was out promoting his club. The posters on the wall next to him were all advertising Pride themed sex parties and gay saunas. A few minutes down the road was another guy with a mike encouraging the boys to "eat each other out". It seemed to me, the uninitiated novice, that Pride was all about men who were into men, and their sexual hedonism. Lesbians, along with many other members of the community, were conspicuously absent. While I was possibly just in the wrong part of Chueca, Madrid's gay district, my first brush with Pride has left me less than impressed.