Category Archives: Same sex relationships

It is Magical and I Believe


In a couple of hours, Lee and I will be leaving the Anabella Hotel here in Anaheim after our week long holiday enjoying Thanksgiving and the start of the festive season at Disneyland.  I finally understood why this place is called the Magic Kingdom.

First of all, Disneyland is Christmas personified from the time you enter with music and decor that extends from Main Street to Paradise Pier at California Adventure.  Snow falls  over the magic kingdom twice a night punctuated with a fireworks display asking you simply to “Believe.”

In this world, where we have for a few years, been weighed down by some of the worst economic, natural catastrophe and international events , this place has reminded me that the things that matter the most, our families, our loved ones, and ourselves still offer the best sources of peace and happiness.

My daughter, Annette, joined us for a couple of days.  It brought back memories of when she and my other children were here before and had one of our best times together.  I had one of those moments looking as snow fell into her face that a resolution came over to me that I wanted more experiences like that with my children.  Nothing replaces those bonds.

Lee came into my life this year.  Never would I have believe that love would come into my life again and with such a wonderful man.  We also celebrated his birthday.  He is unlike anyone I ever imagined but is all I ever wanted in someone I love.  Yes, I am totally in love with this man.  He is handsome as well as kind.  His heart is larger than both of us.  I am happy.  The spirit of believing is back in my life because of him.

The Christmas holiday season is my favorite time of year.  This year surpasses all expectations.  It has started out in my favorite place in the world.  I am in love. It is magical and I believe.

I really do.  Fairy dust and all.

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Escape to Napa


JP Leddy in Napa

It has been some time since I actually been to Napa.  So when Lee decided to use the overnight get-a-way package he won at an auction bid at a charity event this weekend, I was  thrilled to experience it with him.  It was our first trip out of town as a couple.  It allowed us to get to know each other better.

Was it romantic?

Yes.

Was it memorable?

Yes.

Did we see much of Napa?

No.

Lee Smith checking out some local architecture in Napa

However, we did get to drive around and see some of the scenery and spent some time downtown so that was nice. Lee loves antique stores so we went into a couple of them and had fun looking at items. I enjoyed it because I was with him. He and I are both outgoing so before we knew it we were engaging people in the stores and meeting people as far away as Tennessee.

We also went to a Thrift store where Lee ( who used to own an upscale clothing store) went bargain hunting for great deals.  We both love shopping so it was fun!

Lee Smith and JP Leddy enjoying a meal in Napa

We shared a nice evening meal the night before so the afternoon was spent being tourists and just enjoying a lazy afternoon in the town of Napa.  It was so relaxing and lovely.

What is amazing to me is that this man has come into my life and has enriched it so much.  I never believed that I could find love again that would be so powerful in my life.  Well,  I have and it only came when I opened myself to the possibility of it.

Napa was wonderful because I shared it with someone I love.  I can’t wait for our next visit there.

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Honoring the Coming of Love


I remember sitting down with my friend Soniyah sipping tea as we counseled over opening my heart again to the possibility of love in my life.  It has been some time since I really put myself in a place to even consider it.  I mean I may have said it but deep down my heart was not in the right place.

She guided me through a couple of  sessions and other meetings that the key was to really focus on how I was thinking about myself.  Also, I had to consider the place in my mind and my heart I was residing.  In essence, what was the vibe I was sending out to the universe.

I must admit I was really skeptical at first. I thought it was about what she was sharing with me. However, I realized it was more about result of the collateral damage of my long term relationship that ended so bitterly for me. It was also skepticism resulting from what I was seeing in the experiences I was having in subsequent relationships.  I was literally setting myself up for relationships that were bent on imploding because of the skepticism in my heart.

Once my heart changed and my mind was in sync with  it really believing  I was deserving of real love, things started changing for me.  Coupled with a change in environment,  it was as if  doors start being opened and my eyes saw new things.

This is when the laws of  attraction, the right kind, come into play.

Into my life, walks in this man.   From the first hello, he has captured my attention and my heart. It has been the most amazing thing.

My friend, Andy, said it perfectly.  He said, “JP,  You just put your heart out there and the universe answered you.”

I have a become a believer that love comes to those who make themselves ready for it and honor its coming.

Thanks, Soniyah.  You were right.

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Rainbow Dream


Rainbow Dream

by: J.P. Leddy

We have no pulpit to raise our voices clear…

For it is from pulpits that venom is spewed on us…

In the name of God,  our love is condemned to fiery hell…

From those who use Jesus as a sword to shed our blood…


We will not let them keep us down in their dungeons of hate…

Our  dream breaks up chains , crosses all color and gender…

It is a dream of equality of love , the Rainbow Dream…

Where same sex lips can touch in love without bigotry unleashing…


Where we will not be beaten for being born who we are …

Where we will not be taunted simply because our love is gay…

Where we can marry because it is a right guaranteed…

Where the heart is worth more than who we bring to our bed…


Rise up and reach for the rainbow , straight and gay…

It is your dream  together,  where everyone can just be who they be…

Where love can flourish and hate can recede to the abyss…

Stand Hand in Hand, Mind with Mind, Heart to Heart ..


The Dream will be Real…


Submitted to Monday Poetry Potluck  Color, Spring and Rainbow


I also want to express my appreciation for being one of the recipients of the Perfect Poet Award.  To see the list of winners, please click here.


I would like to nominate Blaga for the Perfect Poet Award. Please visit her website and read her poetry here.

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Minnesota’s Folly


The Minnesota Senate recently passed SF 1308 , a bill asking for an amendment to the state constitution banning same sex marriage in the state. It recently passed and now the House Civil Law Committee has made sure it is fast tracked into making sure it is a ballot measure in the 2012 elections.

Like all such measures seen in similar legislative movements in other states,  all Republican sponsored, the driving force has been the interests of the extreme religious right perpetrating their dogma  on public policy.   No matter how it is positioned, it still is bigotry in it’s most ugly form.

Generations in the future will look back at such measures as shameful acts where ignorance and hate dominated political leaders‘ agendas and states like Minnesota will find that a constitutional amendment that segments a portion of their population against having basic rights will be indeed a folly. Hopefully the voters will be wiser than their leaders.

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The Power of A Kiss


Although  Facebook did not remove a picture of a same sex couple kiss as originally reported, the  protests including kiss-in’s and a deluge of countless same sex kiss pictures  that were posted by FB customers showed the power of social media activism.  It also shows that in our society we still have some ways to go before a same sex kiss does not cause such controversy.

As recently as a month a ago there was controversy over such a kiss on the popular prime TV series Glee.  Homophobia continues to be a blight on this nation and rises to its highest offices. This battle for equality and societal change is still very real.

I especially like to reach out to the younger generation who have reaped the benefits of the activism of those who shouldered even heavier challenges and bigotry in the past.  Learn that history and embody the lessons for the present. This is not the time to become complacent.

It is also not the time to become apathetic.  The other side is not and they will continue to utilize propaganda and any disinterest shown in any segment of the LGBT community to further their cause.

I was at an event in San Francisco honoring the 40th anniversary of the Bay Area Reporter, the premier gay newspaper in the region. It ranks historically as one of the major communication vehicles for gay rights in the city and consequently in the nation.  I was sitting with some 20 somethings and they did not have a clue what the B.A.R. was all about.  I do expect some ignorance with people their age on some of these iconic gay figures and media.  However, to be completely clueless did saddened me.  They did know a lot about the Kardashians, Paris Hilton and Britney Spears.  I guess that is gay to some degree.

They also grew up during a different time.  However, their political activism has to still be very present even within the new norm.  We all have to be engaged.

One day a kiss between two men or two women will not even deserve a blink.

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My Heart Is Light Today


There is something interesting about transitioning into a new period of your life that brings little lessons or kernels of wisdom along the way.  They are often in whispers and it takes come listening in quiet moments to catch them.

Some of you know that the past couple of years I have had to cope with ending a long term relationship with a partner that I deeply loved. It was extremely difficult and it caused me much pain.   I admittedly did not handle it well at first and tried to shut the pain in binge drinking and unhealthy meaningless liaisons.

Somehow I was able to find myself again and have learned that I do not want to live in bitterness.  I want the best for my ex-partner as I do for myself.  Letting go of all of that has freed me.  It has also open my heart .

I am feeling better about myself and my life than ever before.  I have started to date again and that has been new in so many ways.   It has been ages since that has happened. Drinking is not an issue. I am enjoying the journey.  Although I know I ultimately want a long term and loving relationship with someone, I am enjoying life and know that everything will happen in its due time.

Here are some lessons.

  1. The better you feel about yourself and love yourself the more people will be drawn to your positive energy.
  2. Be thankful for each day.  It is an opportunity to live, explore and discover.
  3. Enjoy your true friends.
  4. Appreciate that you have had the opportunity to be in love and that you can be in love again.
  5. Your validation as a person or your value does not depend on anyone’s approval.
  6. Relax and be happy.
  7. Enter a place with no expectations….then life surprises you.
  8. Listen.
  9. Look more for a person’s heart.  Sometimes underneath handsome is boring and disgusting.
  10. Move on to live in the present and enjoy a better future.

My heart is light today.

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Equality Over Bigotry – Looking at Iowa


Zach Wahls

Zach Wahls stood up before the Iowa Legislature,before they passed the measure to allow voters to decide to ban all sames sex marriage in the state, to deliver what is considered one of the most clearly definitive speeches for LGBT equality.   Again we see how right wing religious bigotry and extreme conservative political interests have meddle in justice despite the State Supreme Court‘s decision allowing marriage equality in 2009.

This pattern of extremism mixing religious beliefs with political interests has resulted in some of the worse episodes of human history.  It has helped to segregate and subjugate people in terms of race or class.  It has even done the same for gender and even the status of children.

We have seen blood spilt in gas chambers across the  Atlantic and people enslaved in plantations in our own country. We have seen women treated as property and even murdered legally without any real cause under a male dominated society in some nations under the wide interpretation of religious belief that had been codified.

We have seen towers fall to the ground with suicide bombers doing it the name of their God.  Many justify their violence, their hatred ,  their bigotry and even their exclusion, coated with civility, of certain groups because of their  Allah or their Jesus.

Yes,  even those who purport to be Christians ( I  include the Protestants, the Catholics, the Mormons, etc.)  on one hand speak of the loving doctrines of Christ and in practice exude a whole different kind of gospel.  History has many examples to show this  disconnect.  Many times it happens when religion and politics mix. When Christians execute their religious jihad through government.

It reminds me of what Mahatma Gandhi said, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

So America, LGBT equality, especially in terms of marriage equality,  as young Zach Wahls spoke of his two mothers, is really an issue for all Americans. It is simply about equal rights for all under our constitution not hampered by any one religious belief.

Let us not be dragged through another right wing religious whiplash arguing the age old rhetoric and move ahead as a country that is built on the principles of progress and great ideas.  Equality must move forward.  Our country was built on the ability to extend the idea of freedom to all our citizens and not be a society of classes.  We must continually work towards that dream and we have the opportunity to light that torch to make it brighter.

Make a difference in your state. Marriage Equality is for all of us.

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No Rings


No Rings

By JP Leddy

 

The law states with venom they shout

Legal it is not and never will it be

For God so declared and so have the bigoted we

 

No two men or two women should marry

Abomination and straight to hell those will go

Seething like rabid dogs the opposition screams to and fro

 

They cite Jesus and nature in self righteous arrogance

The homos and the fags will never exchange rings

For only the straights deserve such wonderful things

 

For the straights should be given preference under the law

Democracy and equality was not meant for all

Especially the gays and the lesbians who all should appall

 

Today,  we take a stand against the bigoted them

Equality for all should be the clarion call for the throng

The right to love and rings , the new freedom song

 

Submitted to Monday Poetry Potluck: Rules, Regulations & Laws

 

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From American Idol to Gay Role on 90210 -Alan Ritchson’s Journey


Alan Ritchson

American Idol has been already known to start the careers of more than just singers but many other types of entertainers. Alan Ritchson did  not even make the top 10 ( he was in the top 87 of season 3) but he is most remembered for playing up to judge Paula Abdul during an audition.

Alan Ritchson as Aquaman in Smallville

Aquaman ( Alan Ritchson) saves the day

All that six pack charm  led him to a modeling career and later to an acting career. He is best known for his role as Aquaman in the CW series, Smallville.  He was also cast in Spike Lee‘s Blue Mountain State.  He has appeared in several TV movies and series.

Alan Ritchson in Blue Mountain State

In 90210, he plays the new love interest of  the gay character , Teddy (Trevor Donavan) and the scene of their first meeting is spring break.  The debut episode of their relationship is Episode 318 to air in March.

Ritchson’s journey shows the power of  American Idol in being a unique platform for discovering all kinds of talent.  Alan Ritchson’s star continues to shine.

Alan Ritchson

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