PHOTOS: Portland Couples Have One Word for Their Marriages

The first same-sex couples to get married in Portland, Maine were asked to capture their partners in one word.

BY ADVOCATE.COM EDITORS


When same-sex couples getting married in Maine had to describe their partners in one word, their answers were touching not only for their sincerity but also for showing what’s ordinary about LGBT relationships. Last Friday, Sam Ferrigno of HooplaHa.com traveled to Portland to witness some of Maine’s first same-sex marriages. He approached 14 couples with sketch pads, asked them to first write down how long they’ve been together and then to describe each other with a single word.

Photos were snapped as the couples revealed their answers to their mates and the results were wonderful. Ferrigno collected his images and put them together in a photo essay, which appeared first on HooplaHa, a new site dedicated to spreading smiles and positivity. It is meant to inspire, inform, enlighten, engage and above all entertain.

First photographed were Lucie Bauer (left) and Annie Kiermaier, who had been married in 2008 and came to City Hall to celebrate that their marriage is now recognized in their home state.

Click the header link above to view more photos.

PHOTOS: We Are Here: LGBTI in Uganda

American-born gay photographer D. David Robinson collected portraits and first-person accounts from lesbian, gay, transgender, and intersex Ugandans, then turned to The Advocate to offer these brave activists a forum to elevate their stories in their own words.

BY SUNNIVIE BRYDUM

image
Photos by D. David Robinson © 2013, for use by The Advocate with this article only. All Rights Reserved. Subjects have approved use of images contained herein.

Despite taking a month-long break for the holiday on December 14, Uganda’s Parliament will once again consider the “Anti-Homosexuality Bill” when it reconvenes in 2013.

As it stands, the so-called Kill The Gays bill would prescribe the death penalty for LGBT Ugandans, “repeat offenders,” anyone who has same-sex relations with a minor, with someone who is mentally handicapped, or under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The bill demands long prison terms for those spared capital punishment, and requires friends, family, and neighbors to report any “known homosexuals” to authorities or face jail time themselves. 

But despite potential passage of the Kill The Gays bill and a hostile environment stoked to an ideological inferno by American Evangelicals proselytizing in Eastern Africa, Ugandan LGBTI people have a simple message: We are here. We are Ugandan. We will not be silenced. 

Click the header link above to read the full article and view the photos.

PHOTOS: Mainers Finally Get Married

BY LUCAS GRINDLEY


As part of a wave of successes for LGBT activists in November, Maine became the first state where voters approved a referendum initiated by marriage equality advocates. The measure won 53% to 47%. And the governor certified the results 30 days ago, which set up couples to begin marrying after midnight.Today couples began marrying in Maine after a long campaign to make marriage equality legal there, including a loss at the ballot box in 2009 when voters banned gays and lesbians from marrying.

USA Today reports that the first couple to wed — Steven Bridges and Michael Snell, a retail manager and a massage therapist respectively — were serenaded by crowds gathered outside the Portland city hall with the Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love.”

Click the header link above to read the full article and view the photos.

PHOTOS: A Day for History in Washington

While couples must wait until Sunday before it’s official, they have already started picking up marriage licenses in Washington.

BY LUCAS GRINDLEY

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the first marriage license in King County was issued at 12:01 a.m. to Jane Abbott Lighty and Pete-e Petersen. It was one of two counties, the other being Thurston County, that stayed open to make history.

Click the link above to view photos and videos.
Queers in Love (my girlfriend Tashia, on the left) (me - Riley - on the right) 11.29.12 © Riley Konor My lovey and I just did a NSFW photo shoot and now she is all tuckered out. Tashia is sleeping. But I am wide awake, so… question time! Ask me questions.  Submit stuff. View the aforementioned NSFW photos.
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Queers in Love (my girlfriend Tashia, on the left) (me - Riley - on the right) 11.29.12 © Riley Konor

My lovey and I just did a NSFW photo shoot and now she is all tuckered out. Tashia is sleeping. But I am wide awake, so… question time!

Ask me questions. 

Submit stuff.

View the aforementioned NSFW photos.

(via riley-ferretboy-konor)

rileykonorxxx:

Like my TRUhKs? Check out: http://truhk.com/riley

Copy and paste the code: “B2897FFOBS6S” for $5 off!
AND every purchase made via the above link will have a portion of the proceeds go towards my transition!
TRUhKs are a revolutionary new pair of RodeoH underwear that double as a sex harness AND packing device - able to be used with STP devices too! Full review coming soon!

For more photos, check out:
Any questions or concerns? Contact me:

(via riley-ferretboy-konor)

I started a Trans* 365 photo project for 2012.

solemnhypnotik:

To go along with my trans* updates and transition videos where I discuss my natural transition, I want to do a daily photo project. By doing so, I feel like it will be easier to see how I physically change as the days pass.

You can view it on my facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/rileykollaritsch

(via rileykonorxxx-deactivated201303)

Source: riley-ferretboy-konor

PERSONAL UPDATE: I just posted more NSFW photos on my personal blog.

I am posting these as a way to document my changes during my natural transition. I also post them as a way to help make me feel more comfortable with my body - which, in turn, helps boost my self-esteem and personal well-being.

Explanations aside, you can check them out here!

And you may ask me questions here.

World AIDS Day 2011 in Pictures

On December 1, 2011, the world focused on the fight against AIDS and HIV.

By Advocate.com Editors

WAD 2011 WHITE HOUSE X560 | ADVOCATE.COM
Workers hang a huge red ribbon on the North Portico of the White House one day ahead of World AIDS Day, which was Thursday. The day was created in London in 1988 at the World Summit of Ministers of Health on Programmes, which brought together health ministers and delegates from 148 different countries.