Charlie

I guess I probably lived in North West Chelsea in the 1960s (West 29th St between 8th and 9th Aves.), but I have never heard that term.

I can't remember the name of the popular piano bar in Philly in the 1960's. Gays actually dressed up to go there, and I knew that a guy who picked me up on the street thought I was classy if he suggested we go there, and I said OK.

An interesting photo of Bruno. He didn't like full body shots that revealed how short he was, but this pose actually emphasizes that fact.

When I hear "Earl's Court," I think about gay sex. When I hear "Kensington," I think about shopping at Harrods.

I miss live customer service reps who speak with me on the phone.

It was unseasonably cold here in Palm Springs this morning. It was 37 when I got up.

In case you are not aware, the PS city council has just voted to keep all the city's current COVID regulations in place until Jan. 27. That means face masks for all indoor activities as well as proof of vaccination in many venues, including bars and indoor restaurant dining.

Our experiences were pretty similar to yours. I had inherited my grandfather's gold wedding ring, made of gold from a mine in which he owned shares, so I repurposed it: I took it to a jeweler, who carefully re-sized it for me, without disturbing the engraving on the inside of the band of the date of my grandparents' marriage. Then we went to an estate sale company and bought a simple antique gold wedding band for my spouse. Old rings seemed suitable, since we had already been living together for 45 years. Our only witnesses (two were required) at the ceremony in the "wedding room" at the courthouse were Lucky and his spouse. Then the four of us went to a nice restaurant for lunch. There was no honeymoon.

This country has always had provisions for civil marriages, i.e., marriage ceremonies performed by a civil official such as a justice of the peace, judge, government official, or anyone licensed by the state to perform the ceremony, not just an official of a religion such as a priest, minister or rabbi. There was even a special exception allowing Quakers to marry themselves in front of their meeting (Quakers had no clergy), as long as they had a license for the marriage from the state. No marriage needed the blessing or consent of a particular religion to be legal, just the consent of the state government. Popular sentiment may have thought of it as a religious institution, but legally it was a civil institution, and there were many places in which there were actually more civil marriages than religious ones. (The idea that every American belonged to some organized religion in the 18th and 19th centuries is also a popular myth.) My own wedding ceremony was performed by a deputized County Commissioner for Civil Marriages.

Where did you get the info that the gov't issued civil union certificates before World War II? The civil union movement was something that began as an alternative to same sex marriage, but it was dependent on individual state recognition of a "civil union" between gays, and each state had different ideas about what rights it established for the couple; many states never passed a civil union law, and there was no federal recognition of the concept. Religious conservatives were opposed to the civil union idea just as they were opposed to same sex marriage, which was why it never became operative beyond a few states like Vermont. You may be confusing the civil union idea with the fact that marriage itself is a civil concept, which is why each state has its own marriage laws, and a couple has to obtain a license (a civil "certificate") to become legally married in that state. State marriage laws can only be altered if the Supreme Court decides that they conflict with the federal Constitution, which is why states that prohibited marriages between individuals of different races were forced to allow interracial marriages, and why it took the Supreme Court decision to force them to allow marriages between persons of the same gender.

The problem was that "marriage rights" are already enshrined in numerous federal and state laws, whereas there wasn't any national "domestic partnership" law, and getting one enacted was problematic. Also, by settling only two of the most obviously unfair discriminations against gay couples, it would make it even harder to remove the other ones.

I came out at a very early age, and at that point public toilets were the only places I knew of to meet men, so of course they became somewhat fetishized for me. The first time I was picked up and taken home for serious making out was at the men's room of the Port Authority bus terminal in NYC, but as soon as I was old enough to go to bars and found out where to cruise outdoors, I stopped cruising in men's rooms, so it's really more of a nostalgic memory than a fetish for me.

I don't know much about Latino gay culture, but I wonder if that is simply a common expression to indicate that one is circumcised?

I forgot the added possibility of being added to a spouse's health insurance if one is married. Long before same sex marriage was legal, my own employer's group health insurance allowed one to add an official "domestic partner" to the plan, but my partner's plan did not allow that.

That's probably why there are more Teslas per capita in SF than anywhere else in the world.

In CA, community property laws make it easier for married couples to combine financial affairs, and to file taxes jointly if they wish. It is easier for spouses to manage one another's health issues. In emergencies, one doesn't have to obtain legal permission to take responsibility for one another. Although it would not be the case in our relationship, I have known a case in which the family of a deceased gay man evicted his long time partner from the couple's home and banned him from the funeral. Even in something as simple as the purchase of a home or car, the question of joint ownership isn't questioned and doesn't need to be explained or justified. And then there is the issue of alimony in the event of a divorce😁

If my partner and I had been able to legally marry in the earlier years of our relationship, I would have been reluctant to do it. However, when I finally decided that the relationship was definitely permanent, after we had lived together for about thirty years, I definitely could see the the advantages of legal marriage.

$5.05 for premium at Von's in Palm Springs on Sunday.

My spouse ordered something from a small company by snail mail three weeks ago. The check was cashed 8 days ago. Still no info on when it will arrive.

I don't think any place in North Africa would normally be described as the Middle East, except perhaps Egypt. Yes, there is a strong connection between Morocco and Spain, and if he is from North Africa, I'm not sure why the escort described himself specifically as a Middle East Arab, unless he is somewhat confused about the term. North African Arabs are certainly sexy enough IMHO.

Th operative word here is "once," as in six centuries ago. The likelihood that a "Middle Eastern Arab" speaks modern Spanish as a result of that heritage is rather slim. I would expect him to list Arabic or another Middle Eastern tongue under his spoken languages. The dominant Muslims of Al-Andalus spoke Arabic, not the medieval Spanish of the underclass, which even a modern Spaniard would find somewhat challenging. Of course, it's possible that XXLMidEastStud is a scholar, or has lived in a Spanish-speaking country.

Not if you're only going to live to 64.

A "Middle Eastern Arab" whose only non-English language is Spanish?

As a matter of fact, I taught both literature and history, topics that draw lots of Wikipedia traffic.

I remember climbing one of those ladders there to peer inside. It wasn't easy.