'We're not hidg': Gay and lbian Rsians say a cultural shift is unrway

Contents:

• MEET OUR GROUPS: GAY OUTDOOR CLUB
• THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985
• GAY IDAHO TRAVEL GUI
• GAY CYCLG GROUPS IN THE UK
• RI TO LONDON'S GAY PAST FOR LGBT HISTORY MONTH
• THE 5 BEST MOSW GAY CLUBS & BARSSEE ALL THGS TO DOGAY CLUBS & BARS MOSW
• 'WE'RE NOT HIDG': GAY AND LBIAN RSIANS SAY A CULTURAL SHIFT IS UNRWAY

MEET OUR GROUPS: GAY OUTDOOR CLUB

“It’s not that we don’t like straight people, ” explas Jeff Rogers, print of the Wdy Cy Cyclg Club (WCCC), Chigo’s olst lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr bicycle group. But gay and lbian people have a fort level wh each other that’s different than wh straight people. That sense of belongg is easy to see as we hang out at T’s, a buzzg lbian, gay, and straight pub Chigo’s LGBT-iendly Anrsonville neighborhood, on a sunny Febary afternoon.

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

The WCCC formed 1992 to get the wheels of fellowship turng among lbian and gay folks.

Munchg a veggie burger at a nearby table, Drew Jeo, a spng stctor who found the Chigo Razors gay triathlon team to pete the 2006 Gay Gam here, says he only ris wh LGBT clubs. “A lot of gay men weren’t to sports high school but we got to our 30s and 40s, ” he says. “In a gay group you might have guys who like to bike really fast, but there’s ls petn and more mararie.

GAY IDAHO TRAVEL GUI

“Gays and straights do social ris for the same reasons, ” she says wh a gr.

Each October, on the anniversary of the send March on Washgton for Lbian and Gay Rights 1987, Human Rights Watch leads the celebratn of Natnal Comg Out Day as “a remr that one of our most basic tools is the power of g out. I remember noticg openly gay upl together, and the sire to experience that openns was stronger than any other want or need I’d felt before. Wh that motivatn, I phed forward and me out a big way—announcg that I was both gay and HIV posive at once.

GAY CYCLG GROUPS IN THE UK

And each graduate of the program earns a ee bike, helmet, and out, claimg my thentic life as an HIV posive gay man, fdg muny, and givg back has ma my life worthwhile.

This year, we started wh showg support for the Internatnal Day Agast Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia on Sunday 17 May by distributg ee rabow lac to some 100+ of our volunteers. Nasser Tell of CycleOut London, a Cyclg UK affiliate group that provis an enuragg and social environment for gay people and their iends to participate a range of cyclg om recreatnal to petive.

Richard said that he tried ridg wh more tradnal cyclg groups but feared awkward qutns around his personal life and potential homophobia, so cid to start his own.

RI TO LONDON'S GAY PAST FOR LGBT HISTORY MONTH

Our missn is to brg cyclists together om across the UK’s LGBT and gay cyclg clubs, who we often work llaboratn are a natnal group, wh a foc on ridg our Natnal Parks and Areas of Outstandg Natural Bety.

THE 5 BEST MOSW GAY CLUBS & BARSSEE ALL THGS TO DOGAY CLUBS & BARS MOSW

“Beg a gay man, I also dread beg asked about whether I had a girliend or beg ma to feel like an outst.

'WE'RE NOT HIDG': GAY AND LBIAN RSIANS SAY A CULTURAL SHIFT IS UNRWAY

The Gay Outdoor Club (GOC) started 1974 when a uple of iends livg London placed an advert the newspaper to see if there were any like-md people who shared a passn for the outdoors. The club is registered as a charable pany and operat on a not-for-prof basis, wh the objective of providg facili the terts of recreatn or other leisure time occupatn of dividuals who have need of such facili, pecially but not exclively, gay men and women, wh the aim of improvg their ndns of life. We wele members verg the full spectm of genr and sexualy, and although gay men are still the majory, we have around 100 members who intify as women.

Foundg member Graham said that jog a gay cyclg club means "one do not have to hi on sexualy or pe wh awkward qutns about girliends etc although obvly a gay guy uld be more relaxed about cyclg a predomantly straight club now than was the se 20 years ago. For Andi, a very recent addn to the club, CycleOut provis the same opportuny: "I joed bee I wanted to meet other gay men a healthy ntext where sex, dgs or alhol aren’t volved, unlike other bars, clubs and apps ed to meet other people.

I found tertg that a long-term member didn’t relate well to the further fns of what ed to be lled the 'gay muny', sayg: "How I dislike 'LGBT+'. We're all gay men. His pot has an element of tth, unfortunately, as we do seem to attract jt gay mal; my unrstandg, though, is cyclg general ntu to be domated by male cyclists.