Standing on (yet another) threshold

I’m happy — happy with a joy and a delight that I hadn’t felt in a long time. I’m scared. I’m excited, and impatient to start.  I hardly slept last night from the lingering jumble of emotions from yesterday. I thought I knew how much this meant to me but maybe I wasn’t really awareContinue reading “Standing on (yet another) threshold”

I will officially be singing baritone!

I can hardly believe it yet, but I made it! I passed the audition and am now officially a baritone in a big “gay men’s” chorus!  My heart is a jumble of emotions at the moment, the main one still being disbelief.  Definitely there’s a lot of excitement but even some fear.  What if IContinue reading “I will officially be singing baritone!”

Harmful assumptions even within queer spaces

Last night I attended a “masculinity group” organized by one of the bigger local non-profits that supports the LGBTQ+ community (& I am specifically using the reduced/reductive acronym “LGBTQ+” here, rather than the more expansive/inclusive acronym “LGBTQIA+”, because I believe that this organization, despite all the good it does, still has great shortcomings towards “I”Continue reading “Harmful assumptions even within queer spaces”

Finding my voice

Yesterday I auditioned for a big chorus that was originally for gay men, and whose majority of singers still identify as such, but that is open to whoever can sing in the low vocal ranges (tenors, baritone, bass) regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.  The layers of meanings that this audition hadContinue reading “Finding my voice”

Trying to make sense of this summer

I’m trying to make sense of this summer.  It’s been — and still is — a very lonely summer.  Three months ago I was terrified of what this summer might bring — all the loneliness, the grief, the sense of loss, especially given that I wouldn’t be able to do many of my favorite activitiesContinue reading “Trying to make sense of this summer”

“Till death does us part” — or not

Now that I’m two-thirds through the book “Under the whispering door” by TJ Klune, I think I know why my European queer ex-lover gave me a copy of it last summer…  One of the things they were trying to say to me was: “If not even death can separate two souls that connect and loveContinue reading ““Till death does us part” — or not”

Aro ace gay boy

I’m aromantic and on the asexuality spectrum, yet I still identify as a “gay boy”, too.  Does that make sense?  Maybe this question itself is proof of the romantic brainwashing and/or compulsive sexuality in our socialization. I guess the affirming, non-gaslighting reply would be: “Yes, that totally make sense because it’s simply how you feelContinue reading “Aro ace gay boy”

Psychotherapy isn’t the solution for loneliness

I’m pissed.  I wish people would stop suggesting I go to psychotherapy — or ask whether I have “someone to support mental health” — when I say I’m lonely.  This type of response is inappropriate, especially because most of the time it comes from people who have almost all the privileges: mostly non-queer persons, oftenContinue reading “Psychotherapy isn’t the solution for loneliness”