EDGE Provincetown

June is the main month every year that many of us get to freely celebrate our gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (GLBTQ) selves with friends in parades throughout the country. It’s important, as members of the GLBTQ community, to get out and join in on the public festivities in order to further equal rights. However, I find it ironic that so many celebrations of Pride involve easy access and excessive use of alcohol and drugs which often lead to unsafe sex practices.

When we look at what’s been going on in the national debate on eliminating "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell", we need to look truthfully at ourselves to see if we’re reflecting ways that mute who we really are in our lives. The world reflects our state of consciousness back to us like a mirror.

Last time I wrote about a new networking App on the iPhone (Grindr), saying in essence that while the convenience of modern technology has its useful place nowadays, I get concerned when it supplants human interaction. This is especially true when I see people sharing the same space (social venue) who seem to be more interested in being on their iPhones than in mingling and talking to the people around them. Generalize to the ordinary obstacles in finding friendship and love as a gay man in the world today and...point taken -- it’s not easy out there.

Isn’t it weird that we all desire human connection, but we’ve become so afraid to interact with one another that we interact with our machines (cell phones, computers, ipods, etc.) instead (which only makes us more lonesome and hungry for authentic connection)?

I hate my life and want to move, but I’m afraid I’d be making a big mistake. How do I know if it’s time to go?

I met this guy and bang - fireworks! Close friends of mine told me to be careful. I’ve been really hurt in the past. Is it too risky to try again?

I’m a very sensitive person and tend to get affected a lot by my friends. I can’t figure out why it is that on some days everyone’s around while on other days no one bothers. What do you think I’m doing wrong?

So many bad things happened to me in my life. People still take advantage of me. I suffer from anxiety and depression. I lack a sense of purpose in my life. I feel like I will never move on. I’m desperate for some advice on a fresh start.

Me and my boyfriend made significant progress during couples therapy, but the therapist didn’t do much to help us maintain these gains after therapy. Do you have any tips to make the stuff stick?

Lately, I’ve been slipping up by not using condoms. My best friend says I should see a shrink. What do you think?