My Iraqi conquest-in Denmark
When a 21-year-old American flees to Copenhagen to escape his country’s militarism, he finds himself drawn to his own quest for liberation: Getting his secret Iraqi lover to come out
By Justin Ho

Kinsey lives!
Out Oscar winner Bill Condon (Gods and Monsters) talks about sexual repression, bisexuality, the far right, and abstinence education—the hot-button issues of 2004, all woven into his acclaimed new film, Kinsey, set in the 1940s and ’50s. By Bruce C. Steele

Sad this Thanksgiving
I’m going home to Michigan to be with my family this Thanksgiving, but it won’t be a happy time. I'm returning to one of the 11 states that approved a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. I suspect members of my family voted to support to this anti-gay measure. By L.Douglas Baker

Is gay marriage older than the Bible?
The ancient epic poem Gilgamesh, argues its latest translator, scholar and poet Stephen Mitchell, depicts the first known instance of a same-sex union.
By Stephen Karam

Same-sex marriage is not to blame
Gay equality should not be viewed as too radioactive for mainstream politicians to touch, despite the post-November 2 spin. Local electoral victories point the way to winning on a national level
By Mary Bonauto and Marty Rouse

Achieving Fusion
Fusion, Los Angeles’s film festival featuring LGBT people of color, celebrates its second year November 19–21 with three feature films, three programs of short films, and a rare opportunity for cultures and moviegoers to mix and match.
By Kevin Kumala

Making the case for optimism
Buck up, my fellow gays and lesbians. The fight for equality is a long war and some skirmishes are inevitably lost. As we prepare to go back into battle, remember that time and history are on our side.
By Neal Broverman

We are the counterbalance
The reelection of George W. Bush is no historical anomaly—the Republicans win more often than not. But this was no Reagan-like landslide: Almost half the country rejected his right-wing agenda. The country is changing
By Michael Nava

Premature emancipation
Giddy with successes like Lawrence v. Texas, advocates for gay equality overreached by demanding marriage before making the case with the average American. The result was seen in full on Election Night 2004.
By Gary R. Cohan, MD

We all must hang together...
...as Benjamin Franklin once said, or assuredly, we shall all hang separately. Antigay priests and ministers must not be the only religious figures with a say in gay rights: It’s time for pro-gay religious leaders and our secular allies to present a united front.
By the Most Reverend Bruce J. Simpson, Benedictine Order of St. John the Beloved

"Gay? No prob. Welcome to Canada!"
After devoting 10 years of my life to working in the United States—where I never got a green card and couldn’t marry my partner—I’d had enough. Then Canada welcomed me and my partner with open arms. Want to join us?
By Austin Kiyomiya

Cancer warrior
As I battle breast cancer, I see the grim reaper off in the distance trying to entice me into crossing over. But I laugh in the face of death. Anger may have contributed to my illness; humor is contributing to my survival
By Toni Riss

I’m revolting, and I’m sorry
Apparently, I love America more than America loves me. Last week millions of my fellow citizens, motivated by their revulsion at my sexuality, voted to reelect their antigay cheerleader, George Bush. It seems John Kerry lost because of me.
By Spencer Windes

Feeling blue in a red state
Living in Atlanta with my partner of seven years, I’m just trying to make sense of a world where our lives together, our partnership, yes, our marriage, has just been declared illegal by a majority of our fellow Georgians. Who among us is immoral, again?
By Mitchell Anderson

The slippery slope
As hopes for equal rights for gay and lesbian Americans melt away and the antigay forces muster power, will we know when it’s time to leave just to save our own skins?
By Rod Abid

The bully is back
During story time, children learn to embrace difference, to join together to fight adversity. But in the school yard, the bullies still rule. In a second Bush term, every gay American is likely to be banished to the school yard.
By John Crabtree-Ireland

Living the American Dream...in Canada
It's easy for gay and lesbian Americans to relocate to the north. All you have to do is fall in love with a Canadian. And guess what? The government will actually wish you well.
By Randall Shirley

So long, my friend
Yes, this election was deeply personal. So here’s the thing: If you call yourself a friend of mine but voted with the people who want to deny my right to exist, I don’t think we can be friends anymore.
By Jim David

If it's broke, fix it
Yes, 59 million voters nationwide and 11 antigay states can be wrong. But so can the leaders of the LGBT movement, who need to take some responsibility for Tuesday’s trouncing. Here’s a suggestion for getting our act together
By Beth George

The day after
The country didn't deliver what I had hoped for, but life goes on.
By David Gilmore

A failure of will
Want to know why 11 out of 11 states voted away your rights to marriage and, in several cases, civil unions? Two reasons: (1) You don’t want it enough, and (2) it’s the wrong battle
By Charles Karel Bouley II

My Christian mom
A church-going mom called her gay son last night to ask what he thinks about a ballot initiative to ban same-sex marriage and civil unions in their native Oklahoma. The conversation didn’t go as he expected.
By Rob Hamm

Adjusting to life in League City
The Advocate’s high-school diarist talks about being out and fitting in at her new school in a suburb of Houston.
By Paige Palmer

Marriage equality: losing forward
Even if every antigay statewide ballot initiative wins approval on Election Day, argues the country’s leading same-sex marriage activist, the discussion surrounding them will have moved us closer to equality in the long run. After all, we have the truth on our side.
By Evan Wolfson, executive director, Freedom to Marry