I can say that I've met the most amazing people here in the USA and in Europe just through finding other gay men. I know I wouldn't have been able to meet many of the men I've met without having been gay myself. Being a Jew in Paris, not knowing that I would have Arab guys who were interested in me, was an amazing experience. I met Tunisian, Algerian, Moroccan, and Lebonese men with whom I've had some of the most tender and intellectual experiences and cultural exchanges. I truly believe that if Middle Eastern leaders were to leave relations up to we gay Jews and Arabs, that we'd have peace within a month, perhaps less.

In the USA I've met men of all stripes with whom I've been able to share not just sexual intimacy, but spiritual intimacy. I think that heterosexual men have a difficult time meeting on an intimate level (and I'm not talking about sexual intimacy) for fear of coming off as gay. I don't have to worry about that. I've also found, in the Bay Area, many delightful straight men with whom I've been able to be very intimate without being sexual. That's something that might be unique because I'm not sure they'd be the same with other straight men.

And my relationships with women are very different from that of straight men. I get to see parts of their world that many of them are afraid of showing their straight partners for fear of being judged, or rejected, etc.

I get to see a different perspective on life just through having a different sexual orientation from most men. I never would have thought about this before coming out the first time.

Anyway, it's a real trip.

And for me gay life is my life. And it includes most of everything everyone else does. On my gay agenda I have: laundry, housework, budgeting, paying bills, getting to work on time, remaining employed, maintaining friendships, dating, car maintenance, cat care, family relationships, travelling, cooking, grocery shopping, exercise, healthcare, going to the dentist (I just went today), psychotherapy, attending religious services, introspection, spiritual development, reading, creation of artwork, reading, studying, observing life, working with the homeless, etc.

One of the levels of experience, filters, whatever I have is my sexual orientation. It does color things for me in a different light, and yet I'm still engaged in what makes all of us human. So while my perspective might be a minority perspective, it's not unique and exclusive. Others can, and do understand it and even share it who do not share the same perspective.

Also, my "gay life"/"gay agenda" is also not universal to all gay men. We are as diverse as the rest of humanity... Hence, one of the best symbols for our community I think... the rainbow...