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Do You Need Formal Gay Marriage In Your Life

By Webmaster

One of the most contentious issues in society is the subject of gay marriage. When you’re just coming out, you might wonder about gay marriage yourself. Even if you’re far away from the topic of marriage you still want to make sure that it’s something that you can actually do.

Not every state offers gay marriage of domestic partnership. Keep in mind that these definitions and terms are representations of legal representation — not life representation.

In other words, if you meet someone that you truly do want to spend the rest of your life with, don’t just discount them because the state that you live in doesn’t recognize gay marriage. There is so much more to life than a piece of paper, or even the “acknowledgement” that comes from being able to say that the other person is your legal spouse. There are straight people getting married that don’t necessarily have a good union, either.


The truth is that humans will always want to do the things that truly make them feel connected. If you want to get married, you can indeed go to Canada or another state that handles gay marriage. If it’s important to have the recognition from another authority, then you definitely should explore this. However, you will need to ensure that you think about the life side of things as well.

Getting someone that cares about you is the much harder road to climb. It takes work to be a gay couple, especially if you don’t live in a community that’s especially supportive. Both of you will have to look at each other and really decide if this is what you both want to do.

And if it’s not, that’s not a comment about gay relationships. It’s just a reality — two people that didn’t work out together. A lot of newly “out” gay teens get into relationships and think that they have to be with their “one true love” right away and they’re a failure if they don’t do that. This is just not true at all. If you want happiness, you have to do what makes you happy in the moment. We’re never guaranteed anything like happiness.

It’s all about what we really fight for, what we really desire, and what we’re really willing to do to get what we want.

The subject of gay marriage will forever have its share of supporters as well as detractors — even within the GLBT community. You just need to figure out how to be happy through all seasons and everything else will really fall into place. Get out there and experience the best that life has to offer today!

Filed Under: Other Tagged With: Formal Gay Marriage, Gay Marriage

Do You Need To Tell a Landlord that You’re Gay

By Webmaster

Your first apartment is a pretty exciting milestone in your life. There’s just no other way to say it. Having an apartment means that you’re on your way to some big and bright things, and that’s nothing to sneeze at! However, if you’ve come out proudly as a member of the gay community, you might wonder if you have to tell anyone — like your landlord.

Talking to the person that can legally evict you from their property is a pretty scary thought, especially when you’re young. Here’s a few things that you will want to definitely keep in mind.


Just because you don’t physically own the home doesn’t mean that you don’t have rights. If you’re at all worried about renting opportunities in your area, you will need to look up the tenancy laws for your state. That covers what the landlord can and cannot do. They cannot just evict you because you are openly gay. They can however evict you if you damage the property or do not pay your rent or even have someone living there who is not on the lease as a tenant or an occupant. That’s something that you might forget about, but we can promise you that your landlord will not just forget about it. So you have to make sure that you have your wits about you at every turn.

If you do have a conflict with your landlord, make sure that you keep a log of what happened, the date that it occurred, and also what actions you took to try to resolve the problem. Everything involving your landlord should be in written form as well as just a phone conversation. You need to do this because if you don’t you’ll have problems getting your natural rights as a tenant.

If you are looking at a new apartment, you can have a conversation with the landlord. Let them know that you are a good and clean person who just wants somewhere to live. Money talks more than anything else — if you’re someone that pays their bills, then what you do in your personal life is up to you. There’s no legal requirement to inform your landlord of your life as a gay person. Even if you have guests over to spend the night occasionally, that doesn’t mean that they are now occupants. You have to read your lease and make sure that you know exactly what your fights really are.

Are you ready to look for an apartment right now? The internet is really your best connection unless you live in a very small town. Then you will need to look at the newspaper. Either way, we wish you the best of luck!

Filed Under: Other Tagged With: gay community, Landlord

Getting Into the College Experience As a Gay Freshman

By Webmaster

Going off to attend college should be a pretty exciting time. You’re taking the time to really invest in the business of you, and who can really say that it’s a bad thing for you to do that. Once you come out as a gay teen and then go to college, you’re going to be switching environments. Even in the most conservative cities, the college environment is pretty liberal. You’re going to find people from all over the world and from many different walks of life. You’re going to need to let go of any past thoughts or worries keeping you from living the life that you really want. Here’s what you need to consider.

Just because you’re gay doesn’t mean that your roommate is going to be gay. However, that doesn’t mean that you have to suddenly be something different. You should probably just let them know the things that you would want anyone else to know. If they aren’t comfortable with your partner coming to spend time with you at the room, there are plenty of other places to hang out on campus. As you get used to campus life, you’ll be able to find more places to hang out. And there is almost most certainly a gay hangout as well as a group that does programming specifically for the gay community.

college_experience

If someone is trying to hurt you because you’re gay, you have even more options. Crimes against gay people are hate crimes, plain and simple. But most people won’t take it to that level. There may b ea level of cattiness that is too difficult to ignore. In that case, you will definitely want to make sure that you’re focusing on the bigger picture. Is your education worth ignoring the voices of people that are being ignorant of your basic human rights? Yes, it is. That’s not to say that you should let go of everything, but there are some basics that probably don’t really need to be addressed if you need more time.

There is always a good time to stand up for yourself. There is always a good time to draw a line in the sand and live the life that you’ve always wanted to live.

But there is also a point where you just have to let go and embrace the opportunities that you have around you. There’s never going to be a perfect situation where everything goes the way that you want to. Instead of chasing that, you should look at the opportunities that you do have to connect with people that can help you build a vibrant career after you graduate! If that means staying in some nights to study so that you can complete your MBA degree online within the next year and have a lob lined up, then do it. The fruits of your labor will be greater if you focus on the bigger picture. It is still possible to have a good time throughout college and meet new people. I would even recommend going to the National Black MBA Association Conference with your business professor where you have the chance to personally meet employers who could possibly help you get your foot in the door and offer you a job as a business administrator! Good luck and have fun!

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: College Experience, Gay Freshman

Don’t Stress – Gay Life Can Still Be Exciting!

By Webmaster

When you first come out, it feels like you’re really stepping into a whole new world. The truth is that you are but there’s nothing at all wrong with this. In fact, it’s a good thing that you’re trying to find out the things that you like, rather than just hiding part of your identity.

That’s what it really is, honestly — your gay life is truly part of your identity. There is nothing in the world wrong with being gay, and it’s important that you realize that one little fact. If you take nothing else from this exercise, we hope that you take that.

The biggest thing that newly ‘outed’ gay teens need to realize is that gay life can indeed still be exciting. It’s not like the gay culture just came out of nowhere. The truth is that there are deep roots being drawn out to the surface everyday to the public. The gay culture scene has been strong in its own way since the turn of the century, with many historical references to homosexuality.


Some of the greatest writers of our modern era were gays, and they are remembered to this day for the contributions that they have made to our society as a whole.

However, you’re looking for things that you can do right now to enjoy gay life. No problem!

One of the top things that you can do is find others in your area that are doing cool things. Just because you recently come out as a confident gay teen doesn’t mean that the rest of life is going to stop. There are plenty of gays that have common interests with you — you just need to reach out and do what you’re going to do.

Gay nightclubs are popular, as well as gay vacation cruises and just about everything that you can think of. If you’re already into going out to see a play or another theater performance, you’ll definitely find other gays to connect with.

Good relationships are built on good friendships. Don’t feel like you have to go out of your way to get with someone just because they’re gay — there are just way too many gay people waiting to get to know you!

As a newly “out” teen, you may be going through a lot of different emotions. There’s no need to fight those emotions at all. You just need to dig down deep and realize that there’s really nothing at all to fear. There’s nothing at all to worry about. There’s nothing at all to run from. You’re just open about your sexual orientation and that’s it.

Are you ready to get started with the rest of your life? Then dig in, because gay life can be more exciting than you’ve ever imagined!

Filed Under: Gay Teen Tagged With: Gay Life

Bullies At School Have No Right to Hurt You – Fight Back!

By Webmaster

The high school environment is such a hard time for everyone. It feels like you always have to try to prove yourself, try to get people to see the goodness that you carry around naturally, and honestly just try to get from one point to the other without losing your pride completely. Instead of feeling like you just can’t seem to make things do what you want them to do, it’s time to start thinking about the wider world of fighting for what matters most to you.

Yes, there are going to be some challenges. There are going to be people that honestly feel like they don’t have to be good to you because of your sexual orientation. While it’s true that we’ve written about this before, it’s important that you really understand this point more than anything else — no one has the right to hurt you. Words hurt. Physical confrontations hurt. And if you feel that your life is in danger, you will need to find someone that can help you get the problem taken care of.


Of course, if you haven’t come out yet, you might feel like this is going to expose you. It may do that, but the truth is that many people probably already know that you’re gay. Do you really want to risk people hurting you and causing you physical pain if you’re truly being threatened? Not at all.

What you’re going to have to honestly do is make sure that you fight back from the beginning.

Talk to a teacher and let them know that you are being bullied and you are worried. By law, they have to make sure that they acknowledge the threat and deal with it accordingly. If your teacher doesn’t seem to want to help, you can go to the department chair or the principal’s office and let them know what’s happening.

We live in a culture where some people believe that this is “snitching” and it’s wrong, but what’s more wrong is having someone take your life when you’ve done nothing remotely wrong at all.

Bullies by their very nature are extremely insecure, and they’re fighting their own battles. Yet that doesn’t mean that they get to do whatever they want. The more proactive you are about the bully issue, the easier it will be to make sure that you get to enjoy your high school years to the fullest.

Even if you’re not ready to come out yet, you’re going to find that there are actually quite a few people that would be more than happy to help you when you least expect it. Don’t feel like you can’t reach out and get help when it’s time to get help.

Otherwise, you’ll always feel like it’s impossible to move on with your life. Bullying is something that definitely leaves a mark on just about everyone it touches. There’s no reason that you should feel the need to let it affect you at all. Why not look at your support team today and see just how you can fight bullying on your own terms?

Once you grow to a level where you’re comfortable with yourself, you will truly be glad that you took the time to take this very important step!

Filed Under: Gay Teen Tagged With: Bullies At School

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