Is LGBT History Being Prioritized and Protected?
"Where are the places that shaped LGBT history in the United States? Where were the battles fought for equal rights, recognition, and respect? How does the LGBT community preserve and recognize its heritage when so many victories have been won in the courts and in public consciousness? In the past few years, there has been increased focus on recognizing and preserving important sites related to LGBT history, an effort that has found widespread support both within the community and from government agencies like the Department of the Interior. For many in the LGBT community, having these sites gain national recognition and preservation is an important symbolic step in highlighting the struggles for LGBT rights that have defined the last century, and they play an important role in public education and perception." READ MORE

9 Scientifically Proven Dating Tips for Gay Men 
"Dating is no picnic in today’s hookup culture. Everyone is looking to get off or to get in that we forget how to connect on intimate levels, much less genuine ones. Trust me; I feel your struggle. However, instead of thinking we’re fighting a losing game, we single gay guys need to rise to the occasion! Dating is supposed to be fun. It should lift our spirits, not tear us down. Why have we made it so complicated? I’ve spent hours researching scientific ways we can make the gay dating experience better for, not only us but for the lucky men we choose to date. Here are some things we should always remember, take note..." READ MORE

Study Says Men Need to Catch Up With Skin Cancer Awareness
Skin cancer can affect anyone, regardless of age, race or gender. When it comes to skin cancer prevention and detection, however, it seems that men need to brush up on their knowledge. "It's important for both men and women to protect their skin from harmful ultraviolet rays and regularly examine their entire body, including hard-to-see areas, for signs of skin cancer," says board-certified dermatologist Abel Torres, MD, JD, FAAD, president of the American Academy of Dermatology. "While our survey results indicate that men don't know as much about skin cancer prevention and detection as women, men over 50 have a higher risk of developing melanoma, so it's especially important for them to be vigilant about protecting and monitoring their skin." READ MORE

Work It! Gay CEO Jack Kinley is Breaking the Mold
"As a gay man, it’s important for me to know where my money is going. I don’t want to support anti-gay causes by accident. And I think that money is a form of power and energy. Our online directory is sort of a litmus test. If I’m looking for a housekeeper, I’m not gonna have to explain this is mine and my husband’s house and worry about any adverse reaction to that. They’ve been vetted already as LGBT-friendly companies that I can do business with." READ MORE

How Many Americans Are Gay? Inside the Efforts to Finally Identify the Size of the Nation’s LGBT Population
It’s estimated that tens of thousands of people were arrested for crossing such lines before the turn of the 20th century, during which time some states allowed the sterilization of so-called perverts. It wasn’t until 1998, the year Google was invented, that the Supreme Court struck down any remaining bans on sex between men. The years since have brought a rapid social transformation, with LGBT Americans increasingly accepted throughout society and accorded many–though far from all–of its legal protections. As the LGBT population moves into its full and equal place in public life, many people are asking an old question with new urgency: just how many LGBT Americans are there? After centuries in the shadows, many experts believe that we need a full accounting of the nation’s LGBT population and how they live for legal, economic and health reasons. Now, for the first time, a group of experts from 21 federal agencies are working on a project to figure out how to do just that. The results could pave the way for first-ever surveys of America’s sexual orientations and gender identities and influence everything from local laws to military policy to health care. READ MORE

Capitalism, Not Socialism, Led to Gay Rights
Some historians like to claim socialist ideas helped bring about gay rights in the modern era. But they're mistaking academic theory for reality. Jim Downs is a historian at Connecticut College and Harvard. A specialist in the history of race and slavery, he has recently published a new book, Stand by Me: The Forgotten History of Gay Liberation, in which he tries to move recent gay history away from an excessive focus on sex and AIDS. Downs also has a new article in the digital magazine Aeon, in which he writes, "Throughout the 1970s, LGBT people theorised about the benefits of socialism in books and pamphlets and critiqued capitalism in the growing newspaper and print culture." He goes on to discuss "LGBT groups" and newspapers that "made socialism a leading subject of political interest in the movement." Most significantly he argues that "if you want to give credit for gay liberation and marriage equality, credit must also go to socialism." There are several things wrong with this. First, it's overstated. I was around in the 1970s, and I'd say that socialism was a pretty marginal part of the gay community or even the gay rights movement. Gay activists definitely leaned left, but they were focused on advancing gay rights through the Democratic Party. Second, there were gay libertarian writers around at the time, too, in academia, in the popular press, and oriented around the Libertarian Party, pointing out the benefits of free markets and the problems with socialism.Third, the use of LGBT is anachronistic. The term was hardly if ever used in the 1970s. READ MORE