A Gay Manifesto

The fear of coming out is not paranoia. The stakes are high: loss of family ties, loss of job, loss of straight friends. These are all reminders that the oppression is not just in our heads. It's real. Each of us must make the steps toward openness at our own speed and on our own impulses. Being open is the foundation of freedom: it has to be built solidly.

Hey guys, I'm in a bit of a militant mood...

As some of you may know, I recently had an exam. What you wouldn't know is that the exam involved a number of topics including the media's representation of 'others', including homosexuals. In preparation, I read some things by gay authors and so on, including Carl Wittman's "A Gay Manifesto".

Although "A Gay Manifesto" was written in 1970, I found it to be really interesting. Now, I don't agree with everything he says, partially because he was writing about San Francisco 40 years ago. Nevertheless, the reason why I'm writing about him today is because I highly recommend that people read it.

I won't spoil everything Wittman says because you can just read everything in full by clicking that link but I will tell you a couple of things that I agree with:

1. Homosexuality is the capacity to love someone of the same sex. For some reason, people seem to think that being gay is so much more. You don't have to be gay like musicals just as you don't have to be straight to enjoy a beer. If you like some things and dislike something else,  it's because you're you, not because you're gay. TV Tropes has a fairly extensive list of the various stereotypes about LGBT issues in film, television, etc. if you want to read it.
2. Coming out isn't easy. It's not, I'm not going to act like it is and so I'm not going to tell anybody in the closet that I think they should come out right now. I do think that people should come out when they're ready and I think that the problem with coming out is not necessarily your sexuality, but rather how other people view your sexuality. When you plan on coming out one day, I highly recommend that you first come out to friends that you can trust and know will be okay with it. They can support you if things go wrong.

Just Another Shirt

Hm... perhaps that's what I should do with this blog, go from fetish content to t-shirts...

Nah, just kidding. I'll still post some kinky stuff when I get a chance.

Anyway since my last post, TiedFeetGuy pointed out that somebody had beaten me to the idea of making a t-shirt with a harness design on it:

I can't deny that the other design is better (and quite a bit more realistic). If you're curious, you can buy it here for $39.

In retaliation, I went back to the drawing board and thought about t-shirts I'd consider buying. Now, two things to note: Firstly, I'm very fond of the emo style (if it wasn't obvious by my hair and fondness for black skinny jeans). Secondly, I'm aware that there are alternatives to this t-shirt but I wanted to design it anyway just because.

Now this is a t-shirt I'm very proud of. It looks reasonably realistic (more so than the harness) but if I'm honest, I'd rather just buy a tie and t-shirt. It's probably cheaper too.

Getting Better

Before everything else I've apparently confused a few of you with t-shirt:

If it wasn't obvious enough from the hints I provided (which apparently it wasn't for most of you), here is that same t-shirt but blurred a bit:

Anyway... it turns out that my sickness is tonsillitis! Good news is, it's clearing up but I whilst it's not gone, I'm still unnecessarily tired and unable to eat much. Over the last few days, I have been surviving on ramen, soup and smoothies which means I don't have much energy.


In other news... since my last "On Coming Out" post (which was about a month ago). My mum got worse, she went from being a bit upset to being really angry with me. She went on a very long rant about everything wrong with me which I won't go into.

Now though, we're exchanging e-mails... [Interruption] Hmm, well, we're exchanging e-mails and she appears to be getting a bit better but I still think she needs a bit of time.

That interruption... apparently my personal tutor spoke to another lecturer because he came to my accommodation and we spoke. His son was gay and so he could relate to my mum. Because of the talk, I have some optimism again that things will indeed get better, even though a lot of my family is homophobic. I also feel a bit lonely, partially for some human contact but also for a boyfriend. Hopefully I'll have both of those things soon.


After leaving this post for a little while to reflect, I'm starting to wonder if I should visit her. There are a lot of reasons not to do this concerning my studies and emotional state but perhaps if I actually spoke with her in person, I might be able to feel better about the whole matter. I need to weigh this up. Comments are appreciated but this is a personal matter so please don't be too rude.

Shirts and Sickness

Okay, let's try using this blog as a diary again... Just to warn you, the following 3 paragraphs are a bit disgusting and have details about me the fact that I feel ill.

First of all, I am sick, Yes. This automatically means I hate things slightly more than I normally would. It's some combination of runny nose, sore throat, headaches, stomach aches, etc. but as long as I have warm fruit drinks and Nurofen next to me, I don't mind so much.

Unfortunately, it has meant that I've been unable to do a few academic things out of fear of going to a 2-hour lecture and coughing up last night's dinner. I haven't actually thrown up yet but I am very fearful to eat too much... just in case.

On the plus side though, with my mind numbed on ibuprofen, I can do most of my computer work if I'm not too tired to work.

If you don't see it, you might have to stand back and squint.

Something else I've been doing on the computer in this state is designing more stuff. Recently, I've become a fan of t-shirt design after a friends "commissioned" me to work for them. I've also become a fan of rainbows, not particularly sure why but it doesn't really matter...

Anyway, I was wondering if any of you guys wanted t-shirts. NOT "restwalker" T-SHIRTS, I'm not that much of a douchebag, nor am I a famous rock band. I'm wondering if there is a demand for any custom t-shirts in general. I can't guarantee that I'll be able to do anything but if you have any ideas for designs, let me know in the comments.

Having said that, I'm gonna lie down again... like the sick puppy I am.

I'm not going to be posting much.

The title should be pretty self-explanatory.

Don't get me wrong, I want to post. It's just that I should probably be focusing more on my studies right now. Also, I really don't have much content to post right now.

I suppose I still have a few more outtakes to post so look out for those. Also, I have to post the video of my gunging at some point so look out for that too.

Whilst I'm not posting much, you can check out the blogs I'm subscribed to on my profile, perhaps you'll find some stuff that you like. I'm subscribed to some non-fetish blogs too which I just like to read and I'm subscribed to some things just for inspiration so don't be surprised if some of them don't appeal to you at all.

I considered that I could use the blog to post pictures / videos from other people but I'm sure you can look for that sort of stuff yourself, can't you? Sorry, it's just not my style to do that.

The other alternative was that I just used the blog to utterly rant about sexuality and homophobia and why my life sucks, etc. but I really don't think you want to read that sort of thing on a regular basis... let's face it, this is a fetish blog, it's meant to arouse you.

Having said that, I do like ranting a bit and I'm also a graphic design enthusiast so here's a little goodbye present which fairly accurately sums up how I'm feeling right now. Feel free to print it out and take it to your local gay rights march!

And actually "goodbye" is the wrong word. I'm not leaving, remember... I'm just not posting to it as often as I used to. So keep checking the blog about once a month, maybe. Thanks guys!