L-R Kevin McDonald, Michael Henry, Gina Brown, Shiah Luna
Funny wise guy Michael Henry offers this take on how differently queer couples might cope with their quarantine sex lives.
Taking a walk through the gayborhood with boyfriend Steve (played by woofy Kevin McDonald), the duo encounter oh-so-in-love lesbian couple Gina Brown and Shiah Luna.
The properly ‘social-distanced’ conversation quickly reveals differences in the way the couples are handling sexual tensions.
While the boys are “hanging in there eating a lot of jelly beans and pizza” and catching up on their binge-watching, it seems the girls don’t watch TV choosing instead to “connect with each other one on one” and baking bread.
Henry shifts directly to sex complaining that his boo won’t bonk him: “We’ve been together for five years, living together for three and all I get is one handjob a week.”
“What day?”
“Wednesday.”
Shiah and Gina, however, announce they have sex three times a day, taking turns focusing on each other.
As the ladies share their homebound bliss, Henry complains that even with an open relationship he doesn’t get to see what Steve does on Chat Roulette.
“I. Need. Privacy!” says Steve.
“SHOW ME THE ROULETTE!”
Truly a tale of two divergent sex lives during isolation.
By the way, in case you notice the physical proximity of the women, Henry shares as an FYI:
“Gina and Shiah are actual lovers that live together, which why they’re physically close together. Kevin and I are not lovers and don’t live together which is why we kept our distance. Xoxo. Thank you for watching and I hope you’re able to have a laugh! Please stay safe and sound friends!”
Acclaimed singer/songwriter Tom Goss (photo: LafamosPR)
Out singer/songwriter Tom Goss drops this chill summer single, “Quayside,” from his upcoming album, Territories. The song shares the delicate story of entering into a polyamorous relationship.
In a departure for the ‘guitar-toting troubadour,’ Goss explores new musical territory in “Quayside” (pronounced ‘key-side’). The track, featuring acclaimed songwriter Gregory Douglass and produced by Ian Carmichael, finds Goss shifting into a contemporary synth-pop vibe.
I recently chatted at length with Goss about the new track and how his own perceptions of love and relationships shaped the narrative of the upcoming album.
“‘Quayside’ explores an entirely new set of boundaries that I encountered when visiting my lover at his home on a quayside in London for the first time,” explains Goss. “I was concerned about being respectful to him, and his public (or daily life with his husband) while still being respectful to my own husband, and the love we’ve fostered for so many years.”
“It’s been a tumultuous three years or so for me, in that my husband and I opened our relationship, which is very difficult for me,” shared Goss in our candid interview. “I spent a lot of time struggling with that, and a lot of time just being really introspective.”
“This has all been an evolution trying to understand my role in helping my husband find the thing he was searching for and support him in the changing man that he was becoming,” explained the singer.
“And I was a little lost in knowing where I fit in along those lines,” added Goss. “So, I think that that definitely made me very introspective and I think changed the ways in which I tell stories because it was painful for me.”
“There’s a whole world out there that’s very frightening because you we live in a society that tells us what sex is, and what relationship is, and what monogamy is and what this is,” said Goss. “And when you come out as gay, a whole bunch of that falls to the ground and you have to learn how to live with that.”
“And when you open your relationship, it does the same exact thing”, he added. “A whole bunch of those internal constructs that you believe are innate to you, you start questioning. Are these innate to me or are these something that’s learned? Is this a learned behavior?”
“And this is a learned thought,” says Goss with a sense of resolution.
(photo: LafamosPR)
To make sure everyone is on the same page here, the discussion is not about cheating on one’s spouse or partner.
Polyamory is described as the practice of intimate relationships with more than one partner, with the consent of all partners involved. It has been called ‘consensual, ethical, and responsible non-monogamy.’
That said, Goss is clear that seeking purely physical connections are not in his wheelhouse.
“I want to have really impactful emotional experiences,” shares the singer. “I think, for me, the, the idea of physicality and openheartedness is very important, and I want my intimate experiences with my husband, or with another person, to be really open and connective.”
Shifting the conversation to the music, Goss is upbeat, saying, “The whole record is really me trying to understand how I engage with the world at large in a positive, honest way.”
“And it really puts a spotlight on the openness of the opening of the relationship, and the falling in love with another person, and the wanting to be respectful of that person, and wanting to be respectful of my husband, and wanting to be respectful of me, and wanting to be respectful of my lover,” he says. “It has been all of these things and it just becomes a mind f*ck very quickly.”
“I’m so proud of this record – I’ve never heard anything like it. And, I’ve never shied away from saying something ‘different’ in my career,” says the man who put the bear community front and center in his music video celebrating the furry form.
(photo: Daren Cornell)
A veteran musician of seven albums, Goss has played over a thousand shows in over a hundred cities around the globe, and his music has been featured on ABC, HBO and Univision.
A college wrestler turned Catholic seminarian turned polyamorous gay songwriter, Goss is well-known in the LGBT world for his music videos for “Bears,” “Round in All The Right Places,” and his cover of the Dusty Springfield classic “Son of a Preacher Man,” which reimagines the video as a poignant ballad about two gay teens.
Racking up more than 12 million views of his music videos, Goss has been praised by press outlets such as The Washington Post, The Advocate, The Daily Beast, Huff Post, Billboard and more.
Amid some sexy revealing photos for the new cover story for Gay Times Magazine, out Olympian shared his thoughts on the many, many different ways romantic relationships can work for couples.
“It’s important to remind people that there is no one way to have a relationship. Each and every relationship is special and unique and different and what works for one couple may not work for another, but it should be noted that gay relationships are just different than straight relationships.”
“Commitment and monogamy are not necessarily the same thing,” he says. “You can be completely devoted to someone, married even, and still be in a relationship that’s open.”
While Kenworthy says this may not be the best fit for “every gay couple,” “If there’s trust and respect — the two most important things in any relationship — then being open can be mutually beneficial for both people involved and can actually, in many ways, make for a stronger, more developed relationship.”
I’ve been with my husband for 23 years, and I totally agree with Gus. What matters in a relationship most is communication and commitment. The nuts and bolts of a relationship on a day to day level can look vastly different from couple to couple.
Kenworthy’s confident joy on embracing sexual identity should be an inspiration to LGBTs: “Being gay isn’t the only part of me, but it’s the best part of me and it’s one of my favourite parts of me.”
The 26-year-old Olympic silver medalist also shares that although he felt a lot of support during the Winter Games in PyeongChang, he was also aware of the homophobic comments swirling around the internet on Youtube, Twitter and Instagram.
“It takes my entire mental strength not to respond to all the comments. So many times there are things on YouTube, Instagram or Twitter going, ‘Why were you even at the Olympics? You got last f—— place. You’re a joke, you’re a f—–,’ ” he shared with Gay Times.
But it’s Gus’s response that gives you just another reason to love him.
“I got into the [freeskiing] finals, so that’s not coming last because you have to beat a lot of people to get there, and it’s the Olympics, the f—— pinnacle of sport that’s hard to make it into,” Kenworthy says. “They’re like, ‘I could have done better than that,’ and my thoughts are: ‘Cool, f—— do it then.’ ”
Boom!
You can click through the slideshow in Gus’s Instagram post below to see more of his Gay Times photo shoot.
Davey Wavey shares his thoughts on the concept of open relationships based on the fact that he, himself, is in one.
Covering a range of questions, the short video is basically a primer in “what not to ask people in an open relationship.”
I personally don’t have a problem with the idea as long as the two adults in the relationship are clear and honest about the parameters and communication stays open.
