All vegetables contain healthful vitamins, minerals, and fiber. However, some stand out for their exceptional health benefits.

Some individuals benefit more from certain vegetables than others, depending on their diet, overall health, and nutritional needs.

In this article, we list 15 of the most healthful vegetables, along with some tips to help people enjoy them as part of a balanced diet.

1. Broccoli

Broccoli is an incredibly healthful vegetable that belongs to the same family as cabbage, kale, and cauliflower. These are all cruciferous vegetables.

Each cup of chopped and boiled broccoli contains:
- 55 calories
- the full daily requirement for vitamin K
- twice the daily recommended amount of vitamin C

Eating plenty of cruciferous vegetables may reduce the risk of cancer, which may be because these vegetables contain sulforaphane. In animal research, sulforaphane reduced the size and number of breast cancer cells and blocked tumor growth.

2. Tomatoes

Although tomatoes are technically a fruit, most people treat them as a vegetable. Each cup of chopped raw tomatoes contains:
- 32 calories
- 427 milligrams of potassium
- 24.7 milligrams of vitamin C

Tomatoes contain lycopene, which is a powerful antioxidant that may play a role in cancer prevention. Research suggests that lycopene can help prevent prostate cancer. The beta-carotene in tomatoes also has anticancer effects.

Other potent antioxidants in tomatoes, such as lutein and zeaxanthin, may protect vision. The Age-Related Eye Disease Study reports that people who have high dietary intakes of these substances have a 25 percent reduced risk of age-related macular degeneration.

Should men eat differently? As a man, staying healthy means eating mostly what's good for anyone—more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, and low-fat dairy products. But there are some subtle differences between healthy diets for men and healthy diets for women, even though we share 98.5% of our DNA.

In the following slides, learn some foods you can form a healthy diet around as a man. You will find out why certain foods play special health roles in a man's diet for prostate problems, staying lean, and putting on muscle. There are even some in the list that may help your bedroom performance.

1. Red Meat

If you closed your eyes and imagined a meal made for a man, there's a good chance you'd dream up an imaginary steak. Men eat a lot more protein than women on average. And for the most part, all that additional protein is healthy. If you want to watch your weight, protein may be a better choice than carbs because your body spends more calories burning protein. It also helps build and retain muscle mass. The key is to have lean red meat in small portions and not eat it daily.

But not all protein is equally healthy. The healthiest proteins are low in fat, and some cuts of red meat fit this bill, including lean cuts of beef and pork. What's more, the amino acid leucine is found in red meat. That's important because this is the amino acid responsible for building and maintaining muscle mass.

However, there's reason to exercise caution when it comes to red meat. In some men, an abnormal gene can cause the high iron content of red meat to leave deposits in your vital organs. On the other hand, women need additional iron to make up for what's lost during their periods.

2. Fish With Omega-3

Want to stop the no. 1 killer of men in the United States? Eat more fatty fish, like salmon, halibut, and sardines. These fish come loaded with omega-3 fatty acids, which are known to lower your risks of heart disease.

There are other ways to get omega-3 fats into your diet. But for men, fish is the safest bet. That's because plant-based sources, such as those found in canola and flaxseed oils, have been linked in some studies with elevated risks of prostate cancer. If you stick with fish, you need not worry. However, you should be careful not to consume too much tuna, marlin or sailfish, for example, as they can contain high levels of mercury.

3. Creamy Avocados

Men, take note: avocados were named after you. Or rather, a certain part of you. The word comes from the Aztec word for testicle, “ahuakatl.” Maybe that's why this creamy green fruit has developed a reputation as an aphrodisiac. Whether or not it deserves that reputation, avocados do have several valuable health benefits.

You’ve been working out and trying to eat healthy, but the pounds still aren’t coming off. It’s frustrating, we know. Thankfully, there are lots of little changes you can make to get on the right track. These are a few of the most surprising things that might be holding you back.

You’re following a diet and exercise plan that isn’t tailored for you.

Everybody is different: that’s the message Bruce Lee, the executive director of the Global Obesity Prevention Center at Johns Hopkins University, wants to send when it comes to weight loss. “There’s been a lot of fad dieting and fad exercise programs,” Lee says. The reason that a single diet plan and the same exercise routine don’t work for everybody is that we all live different lives in unique bodies that have their own needs.

“You have to tailor what you do to yourself,” he says. Instead of following a specific diet or exercise plan, don’t be afraid to try lots of different things to find what works for you.
 
Eating healthy foods and healthy portions needs to take a front seat.

Weight loss isn’t just about working out: It’s also about what you eat. But many people still don’t pay enough attention to food and portion size, Lee says.

You won’t have much success sustainably losing weight without getting your diet under control, for two reasons. First, without the proper fuel, even getting into the gym or out on the road is hard. You’ll drag. Second, diet and exercise are both factors shaping weight loss, Lee says, and trying to figure out which one is more important is “sort of like asking ‘which is more important, your arm or your leg?’” That means you should pay as much attention to what you’re eating as you do to how you’re working out, which may mean investing more time in meal planning.

Intimidated? To start with, he suggests keeping a food diary and writing down everything you eat for a couple of weeks. Then figure out where you can trim unnecessary calories from your regular diet, as well as unnecessary dollars from credit card bill. “Eating healthy has gotten expensive,” Lee says. This method will help you figure out how to make your money count.

You’re only exercising at the gym.

Sure, your time at the gym is helpful in losing weight, and we’ve got tips to help you make the most of it. But the exercise outside the gym—and the mindset that goes with it—that will help you make long term changes to lose weight and keep it off. When it comes to exercise, Lee says, “if you can’t keep doing it, it’s not going to work.”

That doesn’t mean stop going to the gym—it just means you may need to change your mindset a bit. Your day-to-day life has plenty of opportunities for meaningful exercise, like taking the stairs, walking instead of driving, or adding half an hour of vigorous playtime with your kids to your daily schedule. Taken all together, these activities help ensure that even if you don’t make it to the gym quite as often as you mean to, you can still do things that make a long-term difference in your fitness and weight.

The number on the scale is moving—but slowly.

Many people who lose weight don’t keep it off: Take the oft-cited example of ‘Biggest Loser’ contestants. When you lose weight, your body’s resting metabolic rate (the amount of calories you burn just by living) slows down. When contestants on the show lost large amounts of weight—an average of 100 pounds—over seven months, their RMRs decreased significantly.

That means they had to work harder than they previously would have had to just to keep the weight off. Researchers who followed up with 14 of those contestants six years after they left the show found that their resting metabolic weights had remained low, which contributed to them gaining back some of the weight they had lost. The key to sustainable weight loss is time, not giant scales and reality television. “What you have to do is retrain your body slowly,” Lee says.

Unfortunately, there’s no single thing that will make you lose weight. The good thing is that your weight loss goal might help you make your whole life better. “It’s more about lifestyle and long term changes,” says Aaron Roseberry, a biologist at Georgia State University who studies obesity and eating.

A federal judge has ruled that the U.S. State Department was wrong in denying birthright citizenship to one of the twin sons of a binational gay couple.

Los Angeles residents Andrew and Elad Dvash-Banks, a U.S. citizen and an Israeli citizen respectively, have twin sons, one conceived with Andrew’s sperm and one with Elads, using eggs from the same donor, who then carried both children and gave birth to them moments apart in Canada. Their children also qualify for U.S. citizenship, but the State Department has ruled that Aiden, the child conceived with Andew’s sperm, is a U.S. citizen, but his brother, Ethan, conceived with Elad’s sperm, is not. The couple learned of the State Department’s stance when they applied for passports for the boys, who are now 2 years old. They filed suit over the issue a year ago.


But John F. Walter, a federal judge in Los Angeles, ruled Thursday “that U.S. law does not require a child to show a biological relationship with both of their parents if their parents were married at the time of their birth,” as the two men were, the Los Angeles Times reports. It requires that biological relationship only if a child is born out of wedlock, he said. He called for the State Department to propose an agreement with the Dvash-Banks family that implements his ruling. The proposal is due by the end of February.

Valentine's Day is a perfect holiday to spend at home, regardless of whether you're single, dating, or blissfully wed. Netflix and chilling is an ideal way to celebrate V Day; but are you in the mood to revel in the beauty of love or sneer at the hopelessness of relationships? Want to laugh at the horrors of dating or get out a cathartic cry? Here's your guide to the queer classics that will magically manipulate your emotions.

1. Weekend

This beautifully restrained film tells the story of two young gay British men who meet at a club, hook up, and fall in love over the course of an eventful weekend. One of the guys is introverted and half-closeted, while the other is brash, gregarious, and wears his sexuality on his sleeve; their worldviews complement each other and their chemistry is explosive. Through passionate conversations, many drug-fueled, they alternately challenge, confuse, and confound each other. It's a grown-up, no-holds-barred exploration of modern love between men, and even the sex is honest. Directed by Andrew Haigh, who's moved on to executive-produce HBO's Looking, the film well deserved its status as a critical darling.

2. Edge of Seventeen

Not to be confused with the Hailee Steinfeld starrer released in 2016, this ‘90s indie darling tossed it back to the mid-'80s with a story about an Ohio teen obsessed with New Wave culture — especially Annie Lennox and the Eurythmics. While working at an amusement park in the summer before college, Eric discovers he’s way more into his coworker Rod (Andersen Gabrych) than he is to his devoted girlfriend/best friend, Maggie (Tina Holmes). Luckily, his manager Angie (Lea DeLaria) is on hand to offer sage coming out advice.
 
3. Trick

A quintessential film for a generation of gay men, 1999’s Trick took a lighthearted look at the pleasures and pitfalls of one-night stands as Gabriel (Christian Campbell) and Mark (John Paul Pitoc) discover that hooking up in Manhattan isn’t as easy as it looks and romance can blossom at the most unexpected times.

4. The Broken Hearts Club

A heartwarming movie about gay friendship and the hunt for love, The Broken Hearts Club is hard to dislike. In the film, no one's relationship is perfect; many of the gay and bi characters struggle with commitment and fidelity, a universal theme for our community. By the end, you'll feel like all these guys will eventually figure it out.

5. The Boys in the Band

Mart Crowley's hit play became the first famous gay film ever. Vito Russo said of the movie, "The internalized guilt of eight gay men at a Manhattan birthday party formed the best and most potent argument for gay liberation ever offered in a popular art form." No, it wasn't representative of what gay life was like‚ but it was representative of what gay life was like for those alcoholic men, in that city, at that time. Crowley's quotable script was shocking, real, and hysterically funny. With Cliff Gorman, Leonard Frey, Kenneth Nelson, and Frederick Combs, and directed by William Friedkin (of Cruising fame). It's the perfect Valentine's day movie for those looking for bitchy quips to hurl around. 

Adam Fletcher, 35 said he wrote the tweet almost a dozen times but then stepped back from publishing it. ‘I’ve been scared to say it forever’.

A Californian man has seen his coming out tweet go viral.

Adam Fletcher, 35, of Orange County, works in the gaming industry. On 30 December he posted a tweet to reveal he is gay.

‘I’ve typed this tweet maybe 10+ times this year because I haven’t figured out a proper way of saying it…’ he began.

‘I’m gay.

‘I’ve been scared to say it forever, but damn does it feel good to say now!

‘Close friends and some co-workers know, but the general public doesn’t.’

‘Very conservative’ family

The original tweet has been liked over 23,000 times and prompted thousands of comments. Fletcher went on to explain why he’s previously struggled talking about his sexuality. And why he wanted to make it public.

‘Why am I saying this publicly now? It’s tough to say. I’ve had a ton of fear from friends and work to not say anything. Fear that friends would shun me. Fear that it would hold me back career wise as bad apples always exist on a tree.

‘And of course the fear of my family. Will I ever tell them? Time will tell.

‘Everyone has told me that they will understand but I know many don’t know them like I do. Right now, they are very conservative and I have a heavy fear of losing my family from my life.

‘I still love them despite not seeing eye to eye and I can’t have that empty spot in my life without them.

‘What made me okay with this saying now? The two things I feared… work and friends made me feel okay.

Support from friends and work

‘I have a close group of friends that have been incredibly supportive,’ he says. ‘These wonderful people have given me more confidence and support. I’ve been able to lean against them through this when family wasn’t an option.’

Last January, Fletcher took on the role of esports product manager with Blizzard Entertainment.

‘As for work… I’ve been employed at some very great companies but Blizzard is another level,’ he goes on to say.

‘Blizzard and the culture of the company is super open and welcoming that I feel I can actually be me. It’s great and I’m thankful for it. Blizzard and the people there are amazing.

‘So here I am. I’m sure people will be against it, but it feels good to just say it.

‘I am gay. And now I’m damn happy.

‘Sorry if you’re against it.

‘Thanks for those that are supportive.
‘And for those who may be in the same situation…

‘Things really do get better.’

Happy New Year 2019!!!

Surprise! Ricky Martin is a dad - for the third time!

The Grammy winner and husband Jwan Yosef announced on New Year’s Eve that they have welcomed a new little addition into their lives: baby girl Lucia Martin-Yosef.

“We are beyond happy to announce that we have become parents to a beautiful and healthy baby girl, Lucia Martin - Yosef. It has been a special time for us and we cant wait to see where this stellar baby will take us. Both her beautiful brothers and me and Ricky have fallen in love with Lucia,” Yosef, 34, captioned a photo of Lucia, which featured the infant wearing a rose-colored onesie and holding one of her fathers’ hands.

Martin, 47, shared the same sweet image on his Instagram account, where he announced the happy news to his followers.

“We are excited to announce that we have become parents of a beautiful and healthy girl whom we have named Lucia Martin-Yosef,” he wrote in Spanish.

“This has undoubtedly been a unique birthday and celebration of Christmas in our lives,” Martin continued.

He concluded, “Both her brothers and Jwan and I are completely in love with our baby and grateful to be able to start this 2019 with the best gift we could receive, the gift of life.”

Martin is also dad to 9-year-old twin sons Matteo and Valentino, whom he is raising with Yosef.

“My kids ask me about having two daddies and I tell them we are a part of a modern family,” Martin told Out magazine about his blended brood. “This is a beautiful sense of freedom.”

We’ve all dated men knowing we’re too good for them. Most of us love the feeling of having a boyfriend so much that we sacrifice our own dignity. It’s difficult to admit that we might be better than our partner. Doing so might make us feel arrogant or cocky, but the truth of the matter is there are certain people who are only meant to remind of us what’s missing. Perhaps it’s time to reconsider the compatibility with your man. Here are a few signs:

1. You Dumb Down Conversations

There’s nothing worse than being with a man who isn’t on your intellectual level. When you find yourself constantly having to dumb down important points of conversation you’re almost always going to max out your patience. Eventually you’ll see that it’s not just him. His entire universe (friends, family, coworkers) seem to live in another world and stooping down to their level is exhausting. You deserve more.

2. He Constantly Needs Encouragement

You’re not meant to be his life coach, but rather his partner in crime. No one wants to date a Debbie Downer, especially one who’s become independent on your advice, false hope and encouragement. A little goes a long way but when it turns into the basis of your entire relationship, you’re in for a worser fate down the road. You’re stable. He’s not. Eventually the imbalance will affect your own infrastructure.

3. Inconsideration Of Time

A man who’s always late or makes every opportunity about himself is clearly not considering the time you have together. Not only is this rude, but it’s also a sign of an unhealthy ego. Dating a man who values his time over anyone else is never going to welcome a fair and balanced relationship, especially when you’re putting in more effort.

4. He Can’t Take A Joke

A man who takes himself too seriously is consciously closing himself off. Not only will this result in you consistently having to walk on eggshells around him, but it’s also a springboard towards a controlling atmosphere. You like to laugh and enjoy life while he is too comfortable filtering out the world. It’s clear you have higher potential at contentment and satisfaction with the people around you. Don’t let him steal it away.

5. He Lacks Curiosity

A major part of living life to the fullest is curiosity. Without it, it’s nearly impossible to want to push the boundaries of our own situations. If he’s never mentioned the places he wants to do, the people he wants to meet, the goals he’s set for himself, things he’s always wanted to experience, he’s probably not going to add anything interesting to your life except sex. No one wants to date a man who’s taking up all your oxygen.

6. Your Friends Don’t Like Him Very Much

Friends see what you never do. Being in a relationship can build up blinders to enormous red flags you might not have noticed otherwise. The people closest to you are able to see compatibility much more easier than you are since they’re going based on what they see rather than how you feel. If they don’t like him, chances are, it’s not going to end well.

7. You’re Paying For EVERYTHING!

He doesn’t know how to pay his bills or keep a job so, chances are, you’re the one forking up the bill. There comes a time when you leave boyhood and enter manhood, and here in good old Man Land, we switch off who pays for what. For him to constantly be in need of your credit card shows exactly how he views the relationship. Don’t make it a habit – you’re too good for that.

At the end of last year, Australia legalized same-sex marriage. While Lauren Price and Amy Laker were the first couple to wed after the announcement, Ilan Buchman and Oscar Shub recently became the first same-sex Jewish couple to do so.

The wedding

Five months after the legalization, Buchman and Shub married at Sydney’s Emanuel Synagogue on 2 May. The wedding was officiated by Rabbi Jeffrey Kamins. Guests, 168 total, came from all over the world to celebrate the couple’s big day, including from South Africa, Israel, England, Canada, Perth, and Melbourne.

(Ilan Buchman and Oscar Shub became the first Jewish same-sex couple to wed in Australia)

Emanuel Synagogue is a pluralist congregation that welcomes the Masorti, Progressive, and Renewal sects of Judaism-all which advocated for same-sex marriage in Australia.

‘Certainly the reason we chose to get married in a synagogue – and we believe it’s an appropriate message to send to the Jewish community – is that times have changed and that if people suddenly discover that they have gay children or gay grandchildren, those children or grandchildren can still lead a regular existence,’ Shub told Plus61J.

‘For young people and those not out yet, hopefully by us getting married, officially with a rabbi officiating, it sends a good message,’ Buchman echoed.

‘It was an incredible honour and privilege, on behalf of Emanuel Synagogue, to officiate at the first same-sex ceremony under the legislation,’ Rabbi Kamins told J-Wire.

‘We look forward to more ceremonies in the coming months. My associate, Rabbi Jacqueline Ninio, who has been the strongest advocate of marriage equality in our community for more than 10 years, will be conducting with me another same-sex marriage early June.’

‘When he said, “I pronounce you husband and husband” and the whole synagogue broke into clapping; it was just amazing – it was fantastic!’ Shub said after the wedding.

This week on Falling for Angels, Here TV’s neighborhood-specific anthology series exploring the diversity of gay life in Los Angeles: Aging gays! Bed death! Non-judgmental treatment of sex work! Truvada for PrEP! High-earning gays’ relationship ennui in fussily decorated Bel Air one-levels!

I kid, of course. This week’s episode is another chamber piece with just enough plot for a 21-minute story about two gay men who have it all: a great house, great friends, careers, long-term commitment-except they’ve “fallen out of sex,” as the episode puts it. So it often goes in a long-term relationship.

(The latest episode of Falling for Angels eschews the usual stories of the young.)

The episode opens with Chase (Jason London of Dazed and Confused) and Bentley (Kevin Spiritus) really in their element, throwing a successful little birthday get-together. Both are wearing those soft-colored, vertically striped dress shirts that are basically the uniform for classy middle-aged gays. I’ll assume that the friends of Dorothy at the party are always this demonstrative, but even the hets in attendance are behaving en pointe for this spirited little gathering. Nobody does parties better than us. Everyone, of course, has a glass of champagne in hand. There’s a blazing fire.

“This beautiful man makes every day of my life, no matter what I’m going through and what is happening, brighter and better than I could have ever imagined,” Bentley toasts the birthday boy. We have no reason to doubt it.

The first half is cut, however, with anxious, sterile black-and-white shots of a hand placing pills on a plate and fingers fidgeting with wedding rings. Falling for Angels never has time for much nuance. “Bel Air” is a vignette and knows it.

“I wanted to show a long-time married couple in their most quiet personal state,” says writer–director David Millbern, an alumnus of the Actors Studio and Northwestern who is himself around the age of his leads. After the guests leave, the two have an easy, not-unpleasant scene in bed together, but it’s practically all business. Chase has an early flight, so they, with their flannel pajamas and matching sleep blindfolds, set an alarm, give a quick peck and turn out the lights. They settle in with their backs facing each other.

There’s no more inane question to me than one of the most frequently uttered in the gay community than, "Are you a top or a bottom?"

I literally can’t tell you the intense negative visceral reaction that it causes.

Technically I am top.

And by that I mean I have never been fucked in the ass.

This is not to say the notion hasn’t occurred to me. I think early on in dating life, my “top” status was driven mostly by my intense phobia of acquiring HIV more than anything.

Also putting things in your butt hurts the first few times for the most part.

My first boyfriend and I dated, on and off, for over eight years.

In that time we consummated (i.e. fucked) maybe a handful of times. People give me weird looks when I tell them that, and I guess for a lot of people for whom fucking is the end and all and be all (or at least a good 90 percent) of sex, that makes sense.

Ryan and I were best friends first and foremost, and we’re both truly versatile in all senses of the word - I think. A lot of our sexual experiences revolved around our adolescent- or college-aged fantasies (we both had played NCAA sports in college) and was definitely more mental than anything else. Our intense friendship which begat the relationship, and physical similarities, added to an intense attraction and love that stays with me to this day.

That’s to say, our sex life involved a lot of dirty talk, foreplay, porn, and jockstraps.

And ecstasy.

It was the '90s after all.

Also if ever there was a time I was going to bottom, it would have been with him.

But alas, unlike Goldie Locks, we couldn't find "just right" and he proved too big for what I was comfortable with.

My next two relationships I was the top in, and involved more fucking, but also led to what I thought was a funny sort of role play in my own life.

I often wore my hat backwards, I was athletic, I was outwardly “straight” acting. I was also very loudly out, but I found myself often playing a version of me that wasn’t an act per se, just a certain combination of actual elements of myself that interacted with the person I was talking to’s perception of me seamlessly.

I remember once going to the Lure, which was a legendary leather club in New York City’s meatpacking district. Every Wednesday, they had an “open” night called ‘Pork’ that allowed the non-diehard leather, Chelsea, and East Village gay boys to dip their toe in the fetish laden bar.

My memories of nights at the Lure are highly titillating, yet at the time, they required copious amount of beer drinking to get to the point I felt even vaguely comfortable talking to, let alone participating in anything with, some of the guys. But one interaction has always indelibly remained in my mind.

This hot guy wearing a leather harness and other superhot accoutrements came up to me, a self-identified “top,” when I was just buzzed enough to make eye contact, and not knowing the proper etiquette of my surroundings, I simply nodded “S’up” (wearing a backwards baseball cap, navy blue Del the Funky Homosapien hoodie, baggy jeans, and Adidas) to which he replied “Get over here boy and get on your knees.”

Force faced calls to drop out over perceived failures to tackle crime against the LGBT community.

Toronto’s police force has withdrawn its application to march in the city’s Pride parade after organisers highlighted perceived failures by the force to properly investigate crimes against the LGBT community.

The organisers of Canada’s largest Pride event had asked Toronto police to withdraw their application to join June’s parade.

In January the force charged Bruce McArthur with six counts of first-degree murder, months after Toronto’s LGBT community began voicing concerns that a serial killer was targeting men in the city’s Gay Village. Hundreds of missing persons cases are now being re-examined.

(Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, marches in the 2016 Pride Toronto event. Photograph: Xinhua/Barcroft Images)

As recently as December the force had said there was “no evidence” of a serial killer in the Village – a denial that further damaged the already fragile relationship between the Toronto LGBT community and the force.

“This has severely shaken our community’s already often tenuous trust in the city’s law enforcement. We feel more vulnerable than ever,” said Pride Toronto in a statement posted to Facebook and Twitter this week. The statement was signed by Pride Toronto’s executive director, Olivia Nuamah, and a number of advocacy groups around the city.

“Marching won’t contribute towards solving these issues; they are beyond the reach of symbolic gestures,” the statement added.

Mark Saunders, the Toronto police chief, said on Tuesday the force was listening to the LGBT community. “I will be withdrawing the application we have made to the organising committee of the Pride parade,” he said. “My hope is that this move will be received as a concrete example of the fact that I am listening closely to the community’s concerns.”

The city’s annual Pride parade, one of the largest in the world, can trace its originsto raids on four gay bathhouses in 1981, known as Operation Soap, in which Toronto police arrested more than 300 people. 

The so-called male G-spot is allegedly the source of mind-blowing orgasms - but are they good for your health as well?

The prostate is a mysterious and oft-misunderstood organ. A walnut-size gland found between a man's bladder and his rectum, the prostate's main function is to produce fluid that is expelled as part of semen during ejaculation; it's also the source of prostate cancer, which is the most common cancer in men. While many men dread their first prostate exam, the so-called "male G-spot" can also be a source of mind-blowing pleasure, according to those men who have experienced prostate orgasms.

While many men are wary of anal stimulation, the male G-spot is increasingly becoming a subject of conversation. While prostate massagers (like this Aneros Progasm) are typically viewed as toys for gay or kinky men, they're increasingly becoming more mainstream. According to the pleasure product company HealthyAndActive, prostate massager sales have increased by 56% over the past five years, particularly among straight men over the age of 45. This trend is reflected in Google searches as well: according to Google Trends, searches for "prostate massager" have more than tripled since 2004.

Does Your Penis Size Matter?

Additionally, some doctors are encouraging men to perform regular prostate massages (either by doing it solo, or with a licensed practitioner), claiming they can potentially help alleviate the symptoms of various health issues. While it's worth noting that some experts are skeptical of these benefits - "[they] may be an excuse for guys to persuade their partners to hunt for that elusive male g-spot," says Jesse N. Mills, MD, an associate clinical professor of urology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA -, we decided to speak to doctors and men's health experts to determine the potential benefits of prostate massage.

1. Erectile Dysfunction

While there isn't much scientific literature to definitively prove that prostate massage can improve erectile function, every doctor we spoke to say that it could help in theory. (What can also help? Our Men's Health course on erectile dysfunction.)

"The theory behind the potential benefit involves an improvement in blood flow resulting from vigorous milking or massaging of the prostate. Because erections are largely the result of good blood flow, any increase could potentially lead to better boners," says Joshua R. Gonzalez, MD, who has his own practice in Los Angeles.

2. Urine Flow

Urine should come out in a steady steam, but if a man has a swollen prostate or an inflammation, the prostate can irritate the bladder, causing the urine flow from the bladder through the urethra to be slow or even cut off.

"The improvements seen in urine flow from prostate massage again can be the result of decreasing inflammation in the prostate, which may be contributing to a man's urinary problems. Manipulation of the nearby pelvic floor muscles, which contract and relax in a coordinated fashion during urination, may also improve urine flow," says Dr. Gonzalez.

It’s the standard Hollywood teen fare – except its protagonist is gay. I just wish it had been around when I was young.

As many LGBT viewers bask in the peachy afterglow of Call Me By Your Name, 2018’s first big “gay film” comes bouncing up in the shape of something very different: a teenage romcom called Love, Simon. Based on the hit young adult novel Simon vs the Homosapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli and directed by Greg Berlanti (husband of professional US football player Robbie Rogers), Love, Simon, is the story of a 17-year-old high school student who strikes up a secret internet relationship with another closeted teen. The film follows Simon’s quest to find out who his potential Romeo is and how it affects those closest to him.

Love, Simon is remarkable in that it is the first film from a major studio, in this case 20th Century Fox, about a same-sex romance. Early reviews have been positive, noting this, but have included occasional sniffiness that the film isn’t radical or daring enough, and perhaps isn’t even needed.

Those of my fortysomething generation will remember sitting up late, chair pressed against the door, volume low so as not to be caught, watching the gay-themed films of the time. For me it was Daniel Day-Lewis dribbling champagne into the mouth of Gordon Warnecke in My Beautiful Launderette and, as I remember, naked men basking on rocks in Derek Jarman’s Sebastiane.

Jarman was a brave, pioneering hero, and My Beautiful Launderette a brilliant, groundbreaking film. But as a teenager, I didn’t need art-house dreamscapes or an investigation of the gritty politics I would eventually come to feel massively passionate about: at 12, what I really needed was reassurance that one day I could get a date and that we could hold hands in the cinema and go for a slice of pizza afterwards with our friends. I cannot tell you how much I needed that.

One review suggested that this is more a warm hug for the older generation than a helping hand for today’s queer kids who are rocking their own worlds and setting their own agendas. It’s something I heard over and over when I was writing my book Straight Jacket, about LGBT mental health: that the new generation “were over it” and didn’t need any help.

But that’s not what the young people I spoke to told me. Yes, of course it is far easier now in many ways. But some told me of being spat on in the street, or of being so bludgeoned by anxiety they didn’t go out, or of being bullied by families – one told me his stepfather wouldn’t allow him to have dinner with his siblings in case his sexuality “was catching” – and of course, when it comes to those from religious backgrounds, the problem is still huge and one which we are scared to speak about. Even today it is estimated that a quarter of homeless young people identify as LGBT. There is still a struggle to find solid healthy ground on to which young LGBT kids can pitch their identities. There is still a lack of positive representation.

But do you want to get married?

You might think that young gay men are all about the single life and dating apps.

But it turns out that polyamory and open relationships are not the dream, it’s monogamy.

Researchers have found surprising new relationship trends among gay men aged 18 to 39.

Lanz Lowen and Blake Spears, a non-monogamous couple for 36 years, looked into the experience of other same-sex couples.

The pair says: ‘There wasn’t any roadmap and we assumed long-term couples might offer valuable perspectives and hard-earned lessons.’

They surveyed a range of men, both single and in relationships. 42% of the respondents were single, the other 58% in relationships.

Of those in relationships, 632 identified as monogamous, 152 identified as ‘monogamish’, and 48 identified as non-monagamous.

92% of young gay men want to get married

If you're in a relationship, are you monogamous?

MonogamousMonogam-ishOpen relationshipSingle/Prefer Not To Answer

The study found 92% wanted to get married one day. 90% stated they were seeking monogamous relationships.

Half of the men identified as being in long-term monogamous relationships.

Previous studies have found two-thirds of couples who have been together for five years or more are in an open relationship.

But however, more younger men are seeking monogamy.

Two US army captains who met during ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ have become the first active-duty gay couple to get married at a famous military academy.

The wedding significantly took place in the glorious surroundings of the United States Military Academy West Point.

Capt. Daniel Hall, 30, and Capt. Vinny Franchino, 26 exchanged vows this weekend at the estate’s picturesque chapel, the New York Times reports.

The pair are Apache helicopter pilots. They met in 2009 when Hall was a senior and Franchino was a freshman.
It was at a time the former President Bill Clinton’s policy ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ was still in effect.

It stopped gay or bisexual members of the military from serving openly.

‘We were certainly never going to get kicked out of the Army’

‘We couldn’t tell the truth for fear of what would happen to us,’ Franchino told The New York Times.

A gay Democrat living with HIV has been elected as the new Speaker of New York City council.

Corey Johnson was elected to the role this week in a near-unanimous vote of the 50 city councillors. 

Mr Johnson replaces the outgoing Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito.

The new Speaker Johnson previously made history as the only openly HIV-positive politician in the State of New York, and has also pioneered LGBT rights.

Mr Johnson made national headlines as a teenager in 2000 when, as captain of his high school football team at Masconomet Regional High School, he came out as gay.

Aged just 17 at the time, Mr Johnson was featured in the New York Times and on 20/20 to talk about his life and LGBT rights. He later became a contributor for gay blog Towleroad.

He joined the New York City council representing the 3rd District in 2014, and has fought on issues including homelessness, criminal justice, health and women’s rights.

His confirmation as Speaker follows a tough race, but his nomination was approved by 48 votes to 1 – with council member Inez Barron the lone dissenter, lamenting the lack of African-American candidates.

Taking up the role, Mr Johnson noted the body’s role in LGBT rights reforms previously.

He said: “If we become unmoored and lose our way, we need only listen to the voices of those we represent to correct our course.

“At this time, 32 years ago, in this very chamber, the city council considered legislation that would finally outlaw discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in housing, employment and public accomodations.

Everyone deserves excellent non-biased, non-judgmental, LGBT-affirming care. Seeing practitioners who are part of the LGBT community can heighten the relationship and improve outcomes. We can all maximize our health care by understanding our own personal needs and desires, with constant reevaluation and reassessment.

The rise of LGBT-friendly medical culture is addressing closeted issues head on. And it’s about time.

During the aging - or should I say, maturing - process, change recalibrates one’s expectations, and without constant analysis, we may never reach our true potential. Here’s what you should consider in order to maximize your sexual health consultation and care:

An Open and Honest Doctor-Patient Relationship

First and foremost, it is important to define your doctor-patient relationship. The true understanding of individuals comes through open lines of communication. As patients, we tend to put up so many barriers. But we need safe outlets where we can receive high-quality gender- and sexual-specific care. A true and honest relationship lends itself to the delivery of unsurpassed health care.

That being said, our country is so divisive in the care one receives that responsibilities tend to fall on the patient, demanding a practitioner with a comprehensive understanding of all the sensitivities and concerns that fall within the LGBT community.

All facets of your health - be it psychological, social, or physical - should be evaluated at least yearly, if not more, depending upon one’s risk. If this is lacking or missing, then find another practitioner who hits the mark. There are many accessible medical leaders, and now with websites - like Lighthouse LGBT - highlighting sex-positive professionals, the move is yours to make. Trust me, you will not be disappointed.

Your Sexual History: What the Doc Needs to Know

The cornerstone of the mind, body, and spirit lies within one’s sexual history. All the rest of the medical analytics are routine and standard across the profession, with limited standard deviation on the care one receives. Yet, the sexual taboo continues to be in full force in my profession and it is incumbent upon the client to be educated on the appropriate questions one should ask.

This ranges from defining one’s sexual interests and desires to functional and risk assessments, all helping to minimize any harm or disease. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has developed a simple categorization of sexual history questions to paint an accurate picture of what should be the gold standard of evaluation. It’s “The Five P’s For Sexual Behavior History Taking.” Let’s break it down.

Are you in a gay relationship right now? Do you feel like you’re losing yourself in your current relationship? Or are you so persistent on that person that you have forgotten your own life? Are you thinking why the spark seems to be gone? If you feel all these, you may be losing yourself. And you have to deal with it.

We want to provide you 11 steps to not lose yourself in your relationship. We want your relationship to last and for you to be happy.

Knowing how to not lose yourself in a relationship could be relatively hard from the start. After all, when you get into a relationship, the thing that comes into your mind is that you and your partner are now one, sharing one bedroom, sharing one house, etc. However, if you know that you are losing yourself in the process and it is becoming even more destructive, you need to start finding yourself again.

Below are the top eleven tips on how to not lose yourself and create a relationship that is more endearing and everlasting.

1. Keep Your Interest In Life

The very first thing that you have to do is ensure that you keep all your interest in life that you had or the activities you did before your partner arrived. If your partner doesn’t want to go hiking, it does not mean that you need to quit as well. Call your co-workers or your close friends and hang out every so often, it will provide him a reason to go out with his buddies. Many believe that the answer to being in a rapport isn’t pursuing anything which their dearest love doesn’t. This is wrong. You must still have a life of friends that you had before the relationship. You need continuity in your life and to abruptly stop is to lose interest in your own individual life.

2. Prioritize Sex

When knowing “how not to lose yourself “in a relationship, sometimes you turn out to be aloof with your partner. You can even set off ignoring sex and the whole thing that sex has to give because your not introducing what you need in bed to your partner. Well, the answer to this is to give emphasis to sex and you must definitely prioritize sex. It is being mutually compatible and both working towards each others’ satisfaction; suffice to say I am sure you wouldn’t appreciate the other party “faking it” or anything along those lines and would want them to be open and direct in terms of what they like and don’t like and then working towards something that leaves both of you happy overall. Simply put, if they’re happy then you may be, but it must be mutual and you should expect the same level of courtesy. Your partner must be involved in assisting you to keep your own individuality so communicate your sexual needs .

3. Communicate

Open or frequent communication with the partner is considered one of the things to consider if you do not want to lose yourself if you are in a relationship. Your partner will have your back always. Let him know about your feeling and he will surely understand that, because he loves you. Both of you are on a journey of discovery and both of you should communicate on where the relationship is going.

4. Do Not Lose Yourself

Simply because you are in a relationship does not mean that you need to forget about the whole thing that you love. In a relationship, it is so easy to get over-involved with talking about bills, your relationship and ordinary things in life, however you also need to time to talk about your feelings, your day, yourself and your life as a whole. Your partner must also be capable to perform the same.

"You must Love yourself first than any relationship is a plus but not a must."

5. Don’t Assume

You cannot assume that your partner is not feeling precisely similar way as yours. Your partner can be feeling like slipping away too, or your relationship is on sold footing and that is the reason why frequent communication must be on your mind. Always remember that you are in this as one and you must help one another.

6. Don’t Ignore the Presence of Your Partner

In many relationships, it only seems to take place naturally wherein one partner takes advantage of his or her partner. You have to ensure that you’re showing how bless you are for coming into his life, if you do this no doubt he will also do the same thing. It’s a perfect means to keep the relationship strong as well as for you to stay your personality. Also, do not get stuck in roles, for example, where you do all the cooking and he does all the grocery shopping. Change it up a little so both of you appreciate what both are giving to the relationship. It will not become stagnant.

The marriage issue preoccupied activists in 2017 but it’s unclear whether that campaigning power can be harnessed for issues such as trans and intersex rights.

Easier gender changes on birth certificates. Preventing unnecessary surgery on intersex children. Gender education in schools and LGBTI acceptance in aged care.

These are just some of the LGBTI causes raised as priorities by Australian community leaders and activists keen to keep the ball rolling after the passage of marriage equality legislation.

A fact often lost in the postal survey debate is that marriage equality is not the be-all and end-all for queer people, for the simple reason that many are opposite-sex attracted and could already marry – particularly people who are bisexual, trans or intersex.

But now one of the last forms of discrimination before the law of gay and lesbian Australians has been lifted it remains to be seen if there’s enough solidarity to bank the win and move on to the next fight.

Anna Brown, the Equality Campaign co-chair, played a pivotal role in the marriage equality campaign and says it’s now time to refocus on trans and intersex rights and gender diversity issues.

“It’s only appropriate given how much these groups were targeted by the no campaign,” she says. “As a movement we have a responsibility to stand by them and make sure they’re not left behind … to amplify their voices.”

Whether it was the Coalition for Marriage’s ads about gender education or Cory Bernardi criticising a charity day allowing boys to wear dresses, much of the opposition to marriage equality had little to do with homosexuality. Brown suggests trans and gender diverse people were “collateral damage” in the campaign.

The executive director of Transgender Victoria, Sally Goldner, says the no campaign displayed “gross prejudice by implying there is something wrong with gender diversity when, of course, it just is [diverse]”.

Brown, the director of advocacy at the Human Rights Law Centre, is on a mission to remove “every last stain of discrimination” from the statute books.

She cites overturning the ban on same-sex adoption in the Northern Territory and access to assisted reproductive technology in Western Australia and the NT as the next cabs off the rank.

One change that is directly related to marriage is forced trans divorce. All states and territories except South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory require trans people to get divorced before they can change their gender on their birth certificates.

For people including the Greens’ LGBTI spokeswoman, Janet Rice, and her wife, Penny, the laws create an agonising choice between preserving one’s marriage or officially changing gender.

Penny will wait for the law to change before changing her gender, but Rice says legislation of marriage equality is already having a normalising effect for them.

“Penny and I have gone from being one of the very few same-sex couples legally married to being joined by thousands of others who had overseas marriages,” she says.

Although marriage equality is a big step forward for gay and lesbian Australians in particular, many of the issues affecting the trans and intersex community have little to do with saying “I do”.

Goldner represents trans and bisexual communities and points to the urgent need to flatten out disparities in mental health for these groups.

She says trans people and bisexual women “are more likely to be homeless and on the receiving end of domestic violence”.

She adds the need to make it easier to change gender on birth certificates, noting that only the ACT and SA allow changes without gender reassignment surgery.

That means in six states and territories children can’t change their birth certificate, even with parental consent.

The family court has allowed children to undergo stage-two hormone treatmentwithout going to court, with parental and doctors’ consent, but Goldner says adults still face “huge out-of-pocket costs” to transition gender.

“That’s often something that stops people living life as their authentic self,” she says.

The trans activist Kate Doak identifies the mental health needs of trans youth as the priority, citing the high rate of attempted suicide by trans children.

“Any form of program which responsibly prevents bullying, reduces instances of anxiety and depression needs to be the focus,” she says.

Rice says the Greens will be particularly focused on “removing prejudice against trans people”, citing the need to ensure equality in spheres such as sport and education. She says initiatives such as the anti-bullying program Safe Schools are “exactly the sort of program to end a culture of bullying and discrimination”.

Morgan Carpenter, the executive co-director of Organisation Intersex International Australia, says the key demand for the intersex community is for a prohibition of deferrable medical interventions, including surgery and hormone treatments, that alter the sex characteristics of infants and children without their consent.

“Many of us have experienced medical interventions to make our bodies appear more typically female or male, without our informed consent,” Carpenter says. “We know that such practices remain routine in Australian hospitals.”