I am not interested in a new machismo, finding a new way to be a man, a new way of determining what a real man is and isn’t.
If it's not permission to read our stories that my new friend needs, and the insight is still not enough to help him feel welcome, what else does he need?
We decided to go to a nudist resort. My first trip to a nudist resort! Maybe I'd form a good, close friendship with the guy I was about to meet?
"We want you to help us reach LGBT people," my pastor said. "It's our belief that this is your true calling. And we want to help you."
I definitely don't know some of my other brothers like I know my friends. I still consider them my brothers, though. We still fight alongside each other.
This isn't about same-sex marriage. It's not even about Eugene Peterson or LifeWay. It's about a significant sliver of stories going untold.
I realized something while mowing my lawn: I was the only one pitying myself. The only person doubting my masculinity was me.
It was an SSA guy’s dream, being close friends with ten straight guys. We had our ups and downs, but our community shared a deep intimacy.
We all need friendships with people of the same gender and the opposite. We all need friends who are OSA, SSA, or anywhere else on the sexuality spectrum.
My nudist desires have never been entirely sexual. I've long known that it comes from a deep desire for intimacy. To be known fully as a man by other men.