I notice that sometimes the pull quotes you use get doubled. Otherwise, like the site -- very professional looking.

BTW, I really like Bilerico -- read it daily, sometimes several times a day, while I'm supposed to be working. But I do kind of get a "if you're not a toilet-sex-having radical queer you're an establishment drone" kind of vibe, and -- well. Yeah. Bleh.

Congratulations on the successful new and improved site. Haven't had a chance to dig in too deep, but I certainly like what I've seen.

HA HA, Patrick. We try, we try, lol. Don't worry, lots of the contributors are pretty establishment (I wouldn't say drones, though).

Patrick,
I am curious if anything in particular gives you that feel? I think the majority of folks on the blog identify as gay or lesbian and not queer? I am not defensive actually tickled about your statement but would really like to understand it more.
Bruce

Patrick, maybe some of my over-the-top comments add to the "toilet-sex radical queer" vibe you are picking up.

I do this for purely political reasons: the religious right uses shame as a powerful tool against us. And when I am open about my sexual activity --- and often it is pretended sexual activity --- oh, how I wish I was actually getting that much action! --- I am, in effect, saying "Take your shame routine and shove it!"

The shame game is the Religious Right's most powerful weapon, because it keeps so many of us in the closet --- especially in rural Midwest areas such as the ones that surround Indianapolis. My message is not "Be a sex pig like me!" --- it is instead, "Learn to wear your right to your own sexuality on your sleeve until the Religious Right figures out that they live in a world where we are not going to go away."

In a previous era of my life, I took the "gay Julia" approach. (Remember Diane Carroll on "Julia"? --- a black actress playing, essentially, a squeeky-clean suburban white woman with incidentally black skin) ... I lived in a lovely little cottage in the suburbs. It had a little fence around the front yard. I wore a suit to work every day. I drove a nice car. I went to the elegant gay dinners and wore my tux. I schmoozed at the gay cocktail parties. In front of straights, I didn't talk about being gay but I didn't mind if they figured it out for themselves. Blah, blah, blah ...

Now I'm in my fifties, and I'm through begging people to approve of me. I've reached the point where I'm ready to rub it in their faces whether they like it or not. This is me, dammit, and I don't need permission from the Religious Right or anyone else to exist. Classic movie quote: "I'm mad as Hell, and I'm not gonna take your shit anymore!"

Others in the GLBT community may disagree with this approach. I respect their right to disagree. And my approach is not meant to be off-putting to the gay Julias, but I am sure that it is easier for me to deal with them than it is for them to deal with me. Well, I regret that, but this is not an apology.

But I do kind of get a "if you're not a toilet-sex-having radical queer you're an establishment drone" kind of vibe, and -- well. Yeah. Bleh.

Patrick, maybe some of my over-the-top comments add to the "toilet-sex radical queer" vibe you are picking up. Certainly my guest post about bathhouses a few weeks ago fits into this category. Here's a little rant about where I'm coming from:

I post sexually explicit commentary for purely political reasons: the religious right uses shame as a powerful tool against us. And when I am open about my sexual activity --- and often it is pretended sexual activity --- oh, how I wish I was actually getting that much action! --- I am, in effect, saying "Take your shame routine and shove it!"

The shame game is the Religious Right's most powerful weapon, because it keeps so many of us in the closet --- especially in rural Midwest areas such as the ones that surround Indianapolis. My message is not "Be a sex pig like me!" --- it is instead, "Learn to wear your right to your own sexuality on your sleeve until the Religious Right figures out that they live in a world where we are not going to go away."

In a previous era of my life, I took the "gay Julia" approach. (Remember Diane Carroll on "Julia"? --- a black actress playing, essentially, a squeeky-clean suburban white woman with incidentally black skin) ... I lived in a lovely little cottage with a red-tiled roof in the California suburbs. It had a little fence around the front yard. I wore a suit to work every day. I drove a nice car. I went to the elegant gay dinners and wore my tux. I schmoozed at the gay cocktail parties. In front of straights, I didn't talk about being gay but I didn't mind if they figured it out for themselves. Blah, blah, blah ...

Now I'm in my fifties, and I'm through begging people to approve of me. I've reached the point where I'm ready to rub it in their faces whether they like it or not. This is me, dammit, and I don't need permission from the Religious Right or anyone else to exist. Fractured classic movie quote: "I'm mad as Hell, and I'm not gonna take your shit anymore!"

Others in the GLBT community may disagree with this approach. I respect their right to disagree. And my approach is not meant to be off-putting to the gay Julias, who I welcome with open arms, but I am sure that it is easier for me to deal with them than it is for them to deal with me.

Well, I regret that, but this is not an apology. Maybe you're right: I've become a radical queer. But it's not about toilet sex --- it's about our right to come out of the closet, our right to be open about who we really are, and our right to reject the shame game.

You're my hero for moving the comment disclaimer beneath the comment box!!

You're my hero for moving the comment disclaimer beneath the comment box!!

Uh... in my browser Bilerico just lost that three-column look with the blog entries on the left. Now all of the current blog are on top and in comment-view the comments are all on the top and the two right-hand columns are side-by-side below all of that.

And just as I posted #8 and the page refreshed, Bilerico came back with its tripartite format, at least in comment view. Opening the main page in another tab, I get..... the tripartite format again! Hmm.... oh well... nevermind!

And wait -- when I first noted, all of the comments were blank white blocks, although then I refreshed and they came back correctly -- who knows?

Oops, "noted" is supposed to be "loaded" -- that was a weird voice activation software error...

I apologize for the lengthy duplicate post above --- partially due to a website bug in the comment posting software, partially due to me not paying attention to what I'm doing.