via Me Magazine
Kissing Kamal is in print again! Many thanks to the editorial staff at Me Magazine for printing a piece from my reality series An Episode in Dating in the latest issue of Me Magazine out now.
Me Magazine is a quarterly magazine that seeks to highlight the positive images of all gay men. To be in their latest issue is a true honor, and to be on the same pages as an exclusive interview with actress Sheryl Lee Ralph is amazing. You can also find a music review from my Kissing Cousin Delicious Pop in the latest issue too!
Please read the online version of Me Magazine and enjoy. You can find more information about the publication via their Facebook Event page here.
The boys from The City of Brotherly Love have done it again with a new sex-positive ad campaign aimed at reducing HIV and STD transmission, and it is definitely an attention grabber.
Pleasure Rush is a new project sponsored by The Gay and Lesbian Latino AIDS Education Initiative (GALAEI), a non-profit organization in Philadelphia focusing on quality of life issues in the Latino LGBT community. Pleasure Rush “[seeks to] capture the attention of individuals who are desensitized to current HIV prevention messages that focus solely on getting tested or knowing your status,” said Elicia Gonzales of GALAEI. The project includes video campaigns and parties to promote positive images of safer sex.
The campaign kicked off with it’s fist “What If” encounter video series that looks at a Craiglist-type hookup and the decision to use or not to use a condom. The video is posted below after the jump and while there is nothing graphic, it’s definitely NSFW. The video is turning heads and having some saying that it sends a wrong message from an HIV/AIDS organization. Read more…
It’s Friday over here at Kissing Kamal and we wanted to end the week on a laugh while also feeling compelled to address an important topic that’s been eating at us all week.
In case you haven’t heard, Don Lemon of CNN fame and Rick Welts who is the President for the NBA Phoenix Suns both came out of the closet as gay earlier this week. You can read their respective stories here and here.
As expected, comments from the black community regarding Mr. Lemon have been somewhat harsh, touching on his being molested as the reason why he got “turned out,” saying that he wasn’t black enough to begin with because he’s light-skinded, and many offers to help him “pray the gay away.” By the way, if anyone out there wants to pray for a gay, pray that we hit the lottery while you’re at it.
I am not interested in addressing the negative comments about Don Lemon, or Rick Welts and the sanctity of the NBA; although I will say that a gay version of Basketball Wives would be OVAH! You hear that WNBA development people?? Sickening.
Sorry, I digressed for a minute. To address these negative comments would be me preaching to the choir. Instead I am just going to state what should be an obvious fact: dating someone in the closet sucks! Read more…
via Essence
In DC, going to networking events is a common occurrence. I am not talking about the First Friday phenomenon where everyone seems to be a hair salon owner or in varying stages of looking for employment (read here), but actual real live networking. I will occasionally attend these events with someone I’m dating, so we can mingle and play off each other or ditch early if the event is a bust.
I was at an event once with a date, having a good time and seeing old friends when he walked in. He, who I’ll call “Idris” because every black man who is devastatingly hot is like an Idris to me, is the ex-boyfriend of a close friend who is now the boyfriend of an acquaintance.
To say that Idris looked hot was an understatement. Well-groomed facial hair. Knitted polo shirt that did nothing to hide every ripple of muscle in Idris’ arms. A pair of dress slacks that were generous in their cut but left room for him and my imagination. Idris was a beautiful, brown, sexy black man that literally took my breath away when I saw him that evening.
I’m always able to keep my cool regardless of what level of attraction I may initially have for a man, but for some reason seeing Idris on this night made me lose it. He came over to say hello and I went from sociable, professional and composed to silly, blithering and wilted in 6.2 seconds flat. At one point the only words I could muster to say were “you look good” repeatedly. Wait, didn’t I come here with a date?
Read more…
My favorite beach movie!
“There’s nothing worse than wanting a man and having no way to approach him that doesn’t come off as being a brazen hussy.”- Kissing Kamal
Many moons ago, I ventured off to Provincetown for a week-long beach vacation with my friends Blaine and Chris.
It was a perfect Tuesday morning, and I’d just come back to the house from a bike ride down Commercial St. to Joe Coffee & Espresso. Chris went out for a morning run and Blaine was sitting on the couch reading a gay beach book with an uncharacteristic look on his face.
“What’s wrong Blaine?” I said. “Why so glum? That book can’t be that bad. It’s 200 pages and in large font.”
“Kamal, you have to tell me: honestly what’s wrong with me?”
I was shocked by Blaine’s mood as the trip had been going fine so far with no apparent drama. I let him continue to find out what was eating at him. Read more…
Below is an online version of the Washington Blade’s print edition, and in it you can read the article I wrote for them on Bear Happy Hour and why it’s a great place to relax even if you’re not a “bear.”
I love working with the Editors over at The Blade and who knows? Maybe Kissing Kamal will become a regular, dare I say it, column?!
Enjoy the article.
-xoxo
Read more…
I was in the office recently on the weekend to catch up on some work stuff. There were a small number of people working and the atmosphere was as casual as you’d expect it to be on a weekend. I got up from my desk to walk outside and grab a Starbucks and made it out the front door to the elevator lobby when I spotted Ben Affleck coming out of the Mens Room.
Now of course it wasn’t the real Ben Affleck but it was a co-worker of mine who is tall, handsome, has great eyes, and a slight Boston accent; just like Ben. Unlike Affleck, this Ben plays on Team Homo.
“Hey Ben!” I said as I walked towards him. Ben turned around and I stopped dead in my tracks. I’d never seen him in casual clothes at work, and it’s probably a good thing because he looked damn good. His faded jeans and college t-shirt did nothing to hide the muscles that he worked on every day in the building’s gym. Read more…
"She wants to lead, The Glamorous Life" | Shelia E.
I’ve been listening to The Glamorous Life by Shelia E. lately and planned on posting it as Dating Soundtrack when I realized that the song has deeper meaning and deserves some discussion.
I love DC because everyone here is in pursuit of a dream. Whether it’s getting the most out of school, doing well in a chosen career, or excelling in a sport or social group, DC peeps are a motivated bunch with “big thoughts and big dreams and a big brown Mercedes sedan.”
But in all the work and social activities that DCers take on, is enough time being given for love and romance? Read more…
Yesterday Grindr came out with a version of their popular meet-up software for Android enabled phones, and a ton of guys rushed to catch the GPS meet-up wave known as “Grindring” that their iPhone cousins have been riding for the past couple years.
I’ve been on and off Grindr on my iPhone since the Android app came out and I’m happy to see so much fresh meat, uh, new faces wanting to say hi and chat. That said, below are some tips I’ve compiled for new and old users alike on Grindr protocol.
Have a clear face pic! Come on guys. This is Grindr not some ManHut site. No one wants to play back and forth chit chat games with an unknown quantity or blurry headshot that could belong to the hot trainer at the gym or Gomer Pyle. Read more…
As you know, Kissing Kamal has been in touch with hottie Omar Sharif Jr. for a couple days now. While we’re not exactly Facebook friends, he’s been a fan of this blog and has been gracious in responding to our requests.
I noticed in the comments section of a post that Towleroad did on Omar, that an anonymous commenter claimed to have met him online. This commenter also claims that Oamr “is not straight.”
Well, we went straight to the source and below is what Omar Sharif Jr. had to say about that. Read more…
