PrivateTim

Hmmm, well not everyone wants to hold hands with their boyfriend, husband or wife in public some people just aren't into it. A lot of people, PDA just isn't their thing and romance isn't their thing. Most guys I know are not romantic, they just do romantic things because they know their wife/girlfriend expect it. Also don't be confused that just because a guy (or girl) CAN be open at H-W that everyone wants to be. There are a lot more reasons that people keep their orientation private than fear of being bullied at school.

One for the ages? That was the most boring college game I can remember. I almost switched to watching the International Water Freezing contest on ESPN 7, but like watching an auto accident in slow motion you just can't turn away. What incredibly inept offenses. What incredible lack of imagination from the offensive coordinators. The whole country should pray that LSU loses too so we can see an Oklahoma State - Stanfurd game where someone would actually score a touchdown. I might hate Stanfurd with every fiber of my being, but at least they ain't so boring you want to slit your wrists. I will be a lot more impressed with the SEC when they stop playing all their non-conference games at home and mostly against all girls schools and schedule BCS opponents on the road. The twelve SEC teams only played five opponents from other BCS conferences and near as I can see, they were all home games except Bama PSU. The twelve Pac-12 teams played fourteen teams from other BCS conferences and about half were on the road. I at least have the decency to be embarrassed by the fact that Cal played a team named "Presbyterian", but LSU will schedule Western Kentucky (who?) and Northwestern State (double who?) with nary a blush.

Wow, we really need to get you to L.A. Jeremy That "gay men are slutty twink circuit bois who only live for the next trick and would rather die than turn 30 years old" IS the scary norm in West Hollywood. But some how when the twinks do hit 30 and find that they don't dissolve into dust and that there is life beyond WeHo (Silverlake and even the Valley for gawds sake), they kinda grow up. It is fun watching reality hit my friends as they pass that 30 barrier and see how they change, but unfortunately not all my friends made it to 30, two drug overdoses, a drunk driving accident and one suicide by drunk driving (drove himself into a freeway abutment at 90 mph) I am short four friends. The "It Gets Better" message needs to get out there more and not just for the potential suicides, but for the life is vacuous crowd too. I had intended to be flippant when I started the reply, but as I started writing and memories hit me, I thought about it more, we trap ourselves in stereotypes sometimes and to our detriment.

Very nice chapter all the way around. Will's continued growth, JJ running in place and a glimpse of what might happen in Book 12, The Politician's Son Tiffany, Matt and Wade and "their" son.... should be fun.

Oh hun, that is just the lesbians... the gay men are at Ikea.

The flip side of waking up on a Sunday morning with a new chapter of PMS to greet you is waking up on a Sunday morning WITHOUT a new chapter of PMS. It is like waking up Christmas morn and there are no presents under the tree.

All very well stated. I remember this topic from a while back: https://www.gayauthors.org/forums/topic/27699-your-first-pride-day/page__p__246708__fromsearch__1#entry246708 Tipdin had an especially poignant post about how the early marches were civil rights marches and how he felt they had degenerated over the years. It is off topic for the celluloid closet topic, but it a thread worth reading.

Actually you are giving Hollywood television writers way too much credit. They don't write characters like the two guys in Modern Family the way they are to perpetuate a stereotype that "society" wants because by and large modern Hollywood is deeply sympathetic to gay rights and sensibilities. Leaving aside for a minute that Modern Family is a sit-com and they use exaggerated stereotypes for comedic reasons (in case you hadn't noticed, Ed O'Neil is an exaggerated stereotype of an older, white male and Sofia Vergara is a stereotype of Latin women), most TV writers just don't have the talent to create complex, three dimensional characters and real just isn't funny either. They stereotype coaches on TV shows, every coach wears a shirt that says "Coach", isn't very bright and only cares about winning not the individual athlete, they'll do anything to win, even push an injured athlete to play (or they cheat to make the player eligible, or make him choose between being in the school play, etc). That isn't the real world of coaches I've been exposed to. Do those guys exist, sure, are they typical of coaches or even a sizable group, no. They stereotype Christians, sorority girls and fraternity boys, fat people, skinny people, old people, athletes, drama club kids, and.... well create your own list. There are very few shows I can think of on television that stay away from stereotypes or that portray accurate situations in life. Even the very best shows like Law & Order take poetic license to move the plot along. I do get your point though because I remember hating Will & Grace, not because it was a bad show, but because all my gay friends loved the Jack character and were "enh" on the "normal" Will character. And slightly off topic, but I am sure you've been to a gay pride parade and they positively seethe with stereotypes, outrageous drag queens, men in chains and leather, twinks is hot pants, bears in clothes bears just should not wear and so on. Stereotypes will go away when the GBLT community eschews them, not embraces them. An interesting book I read in college was Amusing Ourselves to Death, by Neil Postman. It is a scathing look at televisions impact on culture and politics.

It was a stylistic decision hun, work with me here

My family and friends all know I'm bi, but many assume I am gay, but they also know I don't like to make a big deal about it, and given my size and build many times I'm in social situations were gay people who don't know me assume that I am a Democrat and atheist or agnostic like them; and it gives me the opportunity to hear the unvarnished true feelings about Republicans and Christians, not to mention fat gays, older gays, overly effeminate gays, and a whole host of other people including lesbians. It's like being a spy and undercover; believe me, there is much less tolerance out there than you could believe.

Drunk stupid people would be my guess.

Fit in Kenton Duty someplace. He was Young Jacob. Or maybe Ryan Hanson Bradford, the most adorable Smoke Monster ever.

A high school couple made history when they were elected homecoming king and queen Source: Lesbian Couple Crowned Homecoming Royalty | NBC San Diego http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/lesbian-couple-homecoming-patrick-henry-high-san-diego-132946338.html

Cameron Boyce maybe?

Chapter 43 is it now? Nice to see Will with kids, fun flirting with Alistair and the girls. Interesting to see where things go with the wrestler too. As to Gathan... I still think that Matt's hard on for him is something in Gathan's past, I don't think he has been around Matt and Wade enough for Matt to be jealous over a potential hook-up of those two. I get how Will is bummed about kind of being shoved aside on his birthday. I don't think he senses his mother is in any danger (is she Mark? ) or else he'd be worried. There is nothing like fresh lobster with warm tortillas, rice and beans, a Corona and all for about $8, eating on the beach and watching the surf. I'd be bummed at missing a K38 trip too.

It is such a pleasure to wake up on a Sunday morning and find a chapter of PMS waiting! Nice to see Will with kids, fun flirting with Alistair and the girls. Interesting to see where things go with the wrestler too. As to Gathan... I still think that Matt's hard on for him is something in Gathan's past, I don't think he has been around Matt and Wade enough for Matt to be jealous over a potential hook-up of those two.

I thought we had all decided the CAP Saga wasn't going to end, that Mark would keep writing it like Days of Our Lives until he just keeled over.

It is nice seeing Will as a kid with peers. I hope it can stay this way for a while and we can see those characters fleshed out.

Oh what, you never saw Latter Days? BYU! BYU! where the girls are girls and the boys are too.

Cammy, Happy Belated B-day from Matt, Thomas (formerly Tommy ) and me.

CA had been doing domestic partnerships since before Will was born and a domestic partnership is the same as a civil union in CA. the scope of what they cover have been expanding since the mid 1980's and most Hollywood companies, including The Walt Disney Co. have been offering partner benefits since the late 80's, early 90's. It was the possibility of legal gay marriage in Hawaii in 1993 that spraked the passage of DOMA. As a random, how many drinks did you have last night?

VA ain't the Deep South in fact the Southerners of VA considered a lot of their brethren in the Deep South (GA, AL, MS) as crude and backwater. There was a lot of sentiment against slavery in VA even among slave holders and if they had been driving the bus in the Civil War, or more precisely before it, a compromise might have been reached that avoided war, but SC forced the hand of the rest of the South. Point being, the old elite of VA are most definitely Episcopalian (Anglican). My grandmother, despite being a life long Californian was sent to a girls 'finishing school' in Fairfax after high school and before starting at USC. It was an experience that deeply affected her in many ways, especially when it came to segregation, which she had never seen before, but also with the gentility of VA society that still existed in the 1940's.

Or maybe he falls in love with SLC in 2002 and moves there and becomes a Mormon. How would that be for a twist? Or maybe he (or Wade) meets Mitt Romney and becomes a fan/friend. That too could be an interesting story line.

Well it's about time those two boys jumped into bed! To be honest I was hoping for a more blow by blow (pun fully intended!) description of steamy sweaty sex including descriptions of the various body parts But if you are anything like my Asian friends, especially the ones I made at Berkeley my freshman year, you are possibly a little shy/bashful about talking of such things. Those boys were very shy about talking about such things, one friend couldn't even say the word "penis" he'd have to say, "you know, my........ thing" in talking to me. Behind closed doors though it never hindered the passion and the shyness was quite endearing actually.

Cute beginning (not the murder, Ryan and Mike). A couple of stylistic things, I did find it odd referring to the other high that way, "the other high school". I came from a town with two schools and we always referred to our cross town rival by name or nickname. And if the town only has two high schools, it is a fairly small town, probably 50-80k so a murder would be a big deal. I also think the town would be small enough that you hove friends at the other school and it would have everyone buzzing. My class in high school was pretty big too, about 450 students, but I "knew" everyone. They weren't all friends, but I knew their names and knew something about them and knew people above and below me too and the older I got, the more I "knew". Like when I was a freshman I knew of a lot of the seniors and I remember being floored (and flattered) when a senior guy said hi to me by name one day because I had no idea he knew who I was. Point being, Ryan would probably have seen Michael around and known he played water polo unless he had just transferred it. I get the part where you want to paint the surprise of Ryan first laying eyes on Michael and that Michael has noticed Ryan (and knows he wants to be an author), but stylistically I might have done it slightly different to achieve the same effect. Don't take these comments as criticism, they aren't, I really enjoyed the story. They are thoughts intended to help you think a bit as you write. As "they" say (you know those people who are always saying things as in "they say walking is the best exercise" or "they say eating fish is really healthy"), write what you know. Think about your own high school experiences as you write and blend in the fiction.