Praise for Small Steps

[rustle]

I first read erotic fiction between the pages with the pictures, and only after the photos got stale. For the longest time, it was just sex scenes. Then, I started noticing other things crop up in the stories, like character development and backstories, plot lines and settings. I sought out gay fiction online when I got my first computer at home, and read voraciously, discovering my tastes were changing, and I craved the sex scenes less, and romance and intimacy more. And then, one day, having read every story I could stand on Nifty, I found this site.

 

I was dumbstruck. Here, in plain view, were writings of gay sex, but with a sense of innocence and wonder. Daring to intimate that people of the same sex might actually have feelings for one another, have a desire to know one another, love one another. Be faithful to one another, develop partnerships with one another, and dream of those relationships lasting a lifetime. (And with surprisingly good grammar and spelling, I might add.)

 

This is how it begins. This is where it all starts. In the fertile imaginations of writers, those who were once outcasts, mentally ill, called depraved, deemed incapable of lasting relationships, become normal in every respect but one, and this idea is expressed, written down, shared with the world. And we find something to aspire to - a life full of acceptance and every joy imaginable, awaiting our grasp. Not the shadowy existence of bars on the wrong side of town and one-night stands until we die, alone.

 

And the people here! Oh, the people here! Forming friendships and raising families, living lives to be proud of, and expressing ideas bright and noble. Offering help and guidance to any who walk through this portal, whether to develop writing skills or cope with life.

 

This is a wellspring of hope, a glimpse of what CAN BE. What a step to take.

[Cia]

Well said Eon!! I'm part of the generation that has begun to benefit from the more openminded views yet am still old enough to remember the stereotypical views of things like AIDS before Ryan White and the definition of hate crime before Matthew Shepard. I've never really worried about being bi but even I haven't told people like my very redneck father and I'm almost 30.

 

Finding GA and the fact I'm accepted even though I'm a woman who likes to read and write m/m fiction is definitely something I am grateful for. I try to pass it along and remind my kids that it's okay to be your own person no matter what and to accept others differences without prejudice. If one or both of them were to end up bi or gay I'd want them to find a site like this (or this one) when they are older and people like those I've found here to help them realize that we are all just people.

[Frostina]

Wow! really well said Eon.

This place is really really nice. we dont have to belong to any particular group to 'belong' here! And honestly that's what i like best about this place.

people to talk to, people who'd talk to you. people to ask for help from and sometimes, people to help when they need it!

the sense of family is so so strong here. I've never seen any other community which is so close knit! (and honestly, i've stopped looking... I have a family now! i belong here! )

 

Not even commenting on the reading material, mostly because i agree to what you've said to a 100% so... doesnt make sense repeating it!

 

thank you for pointing it out! again!

[TetRefine]

the sense of family is so so strong here. I've never seen any other community which is so close knit! (and honestly, i've stopped looking... I have a family now! i belong here! )

 

That is very true. I've met a ton of amazing people on here who I've learned a so much from. People really trust each other here, which is evident about how much personal things some people you are close with on this site share with you. I truly love GA!

[Former Member]

Same here, for the short time I've been a member of GA, it sort of feels like becoming part of a family.

In my part of the world, It's still uncommon to meet other gay people . So to be able to share thoughts and ideas with like minded people here aswell as find well written stories, is a blessing!

[Nephylim]

Well said. I totally agree.

[Kev de Cauchery]

i totally agree. I feel accepted and indeed, I feel like being in a family here.