What the World Needs Now is Love Sweet Love by Sara
Bareilles
Be My Honeypie by the Weepies
Love Story: Beautiful Florida Lesbian Wedding
Kiss Cam: Girls Kissing Girls
Defining Love
What is love? According
to Merriam-Webster, love is defined as "a strong
affection for another arising out of kinship or personal
ties. It is attraction based on sexual desire. It is
affection and tenderness felt by lovers. It is
affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common
interests. It is an assurance of affection. It is warm
attachment, enthusiasm, or devotion.”
According to Wikipedia, love encompasses a variety of
strong and positive emotional and mental states, ranging
from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest
interpersonal affection and to the simplest pleasure.
Most commonly, love refers to a feeling of strong
attraction and emotional attachment. Love can also be a
virtue representing human kindness, compassion, and
affection, as the unselfish loyal and benevolent concern
for the good of another. It may also describe
compassionate and affectionate actions towards others or
one's self.
Love in its various forms acts as a major facilitator of
interpersonal relationships and has been postulated to
be a function to keep human beings together against
menaces and to facilitate the continuation of the
species.
Comments gleaned from the
Urban Dictionary describe love as the most spectacular,
indescribable, deep euphoric feeling for someone.
Love is an incredibly
powerful word. When you're in love, you always want to
be together, and when you're not, you're thinking about
being together because you need that person and without
them your life is incomplete.
This love is
unconditional affection with no limits or conditions:
completely loving someone. It's when you trust the other
with your life and when you would do anything for each
other. When you love someone you want nothing more than
for them to be truly happy no matter what it takes
because that's how much you care about them and because
their needs come before your own. You hide nothing of
yourself and can tell the other anything because you
know they accept you just the way you are and vice
versa.
It's when they're the
last thing you think about before you go to sleep and
when they're the first thing you think of when you wake
up, the feeling that warms your heart and leaves you
overcome by a feeling of serenity. Love involves wanting
to show your affection and/or devotion to each other.
It's the smile on your face you get when you're thinking
about them and miss them.
Love can make you do
anything and sacrifice for what will be better in the
end. Love is intense, and passionate. Everything seems
brighter, happier and more wonderful when you're in
love. If you find it, don't let it go.
Different Kind of Love Song
TED Talks: Love is Love
To
The Girl I Love
Love is Love: Free to Be Me
Edie and Amanda: Falling in Love
Blind Date: Two Guys With Great Chemistry
The
Meaning of Love
Anni and Jasmin
Famous Same Sex Couples
Could It Be I'm Falling in Love
Music Video: Kiss Like a Woman
Love is Love by Starley
Video Advice: Unique LGBTQ Dating Problems
Comment on Commitment
What the World Needs Now is Love Sweet Love by Broadway
Actors
How Do You Know It's Love?
Lizzie and Grace's Wedding
Info: LGBTQ Relationships
Short LGBTQ Film: Let Me Love You
The psychoanalyst Erich
Fromm said that we expend too much energy on "falling in
love" and need to learn more how to "stand in love."
Psychologically speaking,
there is a difference between compassionate and
passionate love. Compassionate love is characterized by
mutual respect, attachment, affection, and trust.
Compassionate love usually develops out of feelings of
mutual understanding and shared respect for one another.
Passionate love is characterized by intense emotions,
sexual attraction, anxiety, and affection.
According to Thought
Catalog, "Love means not needing constant contact, in
person or via text, to feel secure. It means trusting
them in every way possible and earning their reciprocal
trust in you. Love means loving yourself, too. It means
always being your organic self and never shifting to fit
another person's standard."
According to the New
Testament, “Love is patient. Love is kind and envies no
one. Love is never boastful, nor conceited, nor rude. It
is never selfish. It is not quick to take offence. Love
keeps no score of wrongs. It does not gloat over
another's sins, but delights in the truth. There is
nothing love cannot face. There is no limit to its
faith, its hope, and its endurance. There are three
things that last forever: faith, hope, and love. But the
greatest of them is love.”
Thomas Aquinas described
love as, "to will the good of another."
Plato defined love as an
appreciation of the beauty within a person. Plato does
not talk of physical attraction as a necessary part of
love, hence the use of the word “platonic” to mean,
"without physical attraction."
According to Sophocles,
“One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life:
That word is love.”
Rules for LGBTQ Dating
In a Heartbeat: Animated Gay Love Story
Video: Love Advice to My Younger Self
Julia and Abby's Wedding
James Corden: Teaching Children About Gay Relationships
You Make Me Happy
Love Wins: The Faces of Marriage Equality
Info: LGBTQ Relationships
What is Your Love Language?
Cosmo: Lesbians Reveal Exact Moment They Fell in Love
Essence: Liberated and Loved
Pride: Gay Love
Stories
Video Advice: Honesty and Tenderness in Loving
Relationships
Short Film: Together Forever
Arne and Alex's Wedding
Love Sweet Love
I have discovered that we
all want to be loved, and to love. That is, we all
desire to be deeply cared about and to care about
others. True love is unconditional. No matter what you
or another person says or does, express your love and
then deal with the specific disliked behavior.
What the world needs now is lots of love which is the
opposite of fear. Accept your and others’ differences.
Take the time to love yourself and others
unconditionally, spread deep caring that is the key to
loving relationships and to a loving world.
There are certain characteristics we show when we are in
love. Selfless behavior shows that you are not just
thinking about yourself, but that you’re also concerned
about your partners needs as well. You will be concerned
about your partner’s growth in life, and become more
supportive and understanding, even if you feel like
being critical. You will have a desire to forgive, and
realize that no one is perfect in life.
Your love grows when you are able to focus on the good
things about someone. You will see both the positive and
the negative side of someone, but you will love them no
matter what. When your partner does that little thing
that irritates you, it will be easier to look past it.
You will realize that it’s not worth getting angry over,
and causing a scene. Love allows for anger, but in a
controlled manner. Love is about being able to
compromise. If emotional pain was caused you’re allowed
to let your partner know when they have done wrong.
Love is about caring and showing affection and intimacy
towards the other person. You will have a romantic
desire towards your partner, not a lustful desire. With
a romantic desire to be intimate and affectionate
towards your partner, an emotional bond will grow
between the two of you. It will become stronger overtime
and will bring you closer together.
[Source: Love Z]
Video Advice: Honesty and Tenderness in Loving
Relationships
Dancing in the Living Room
Essence: Liberated and Loved
Comment on Love
Love Wins: The Faces of Marriage Equality
Alex and Dustin's Wedding
All I Want is You from Juno Soundtrack
TED Talk: Queer Vision of Love and Marriage
My Summer of Love
Edie and Amanda: Falling in Love
What the World Needs Now is Love Sweet Love by Broadway
Actors
Video Advice: What Should We Expect From Love?
The One I Love by Ellen
Krauss
It’s All Greek to Me
The Greek language
distinguishes at least seven different ways as to how
the word love is used. Ancient Greek has distinct words
for love: eros, philia, storge, ludus, pragma, philautia,
and agape. However, as with other languages, it has been
historically difficult to separate the meanings of these
words when used outside of their respective contexts.
Nonetheless, the senses in which these words were
generally used are as follows:
Eros - Sexual passion.
Intimate love. Romantic love. Erotic desire.
Philia - Affectionate
regard or friendship. Dispassionate virtuous love.
Brotherly love. Comradery. Loyalty to friends, family,
and community, and requires virtue, equality, and
familiarity.
Storge - Common or
natural empathy, like that felt by parents for their
children. Tolerance and acceptance.
Ludus - Playful love.
Flirting and teasing. Laughing with friends.
Socializing. Dancing with strangers.
Pragma – Longstanding
love. Mature love. Deep understanding that develops
between couples that have been together for a long time.
It is about making compromises to help the relationship
work over time, and showing patience and tolerance.
Philautia – Love of one’s
self. Self-esteem. The idea is that if you like
yourself and feel secure in yourself, you will have
plenty of love to give others. All friendly feelings for
others are an extension of one's feelings for one’s
self.
Agape – Charity.
Unconditional and unselfish love. Spiritual love. Love
for everyone.
Love Stories
Laura & Fawn
Hattie & Amorie
Dick & Bob
Jan & Lauren
Jon & Robert
Octavia & Deborah
Eric & Stan
Steve & Mark
Deities of Love
Greek god of love: Eros
Greek goddess of love:
Aphrodite
Roman god of love: Cupid
Roman goddess of love:
Venus
Weird and Annoying Questions Gay Couples
Get Asked
Everybody Wants to Be Loved by Ingrid
Michaelson
TED Talks: Love is Love
Info: Sex, Lust, Attraction,
Attachment
Video Story: Lover's Night Routine
Carmine and Ryan's Wedding
Video: Love is Love
Mythology: Gods and Goddesses of Love
Huffington Post: Characteristics of Real
Love
Comment on Trust
TED Talk: Queer Vision of Love and Marriage
I Choose You by Sara Bareilles
Healthy Girl-Girl Relationship
Jesse and Lily's Wedding
Video Advice: What Should We Expect From Love?
The One I Love by Ellen
Krauss
Same Sex Couples Tell Us What it's Like to be Legally
Married
Love Wins: The Faces of Marriage Equality
What Does it Feel Like to Be in Love?
Info: LGBTQ Relationships
Intimacy
To be intimate means
to make known, to get close, or to open up. Intimacy is
about seeking or having closeness of some kind with
someone. When we're being intimate with another person,
we're letting them (or they're letting us) get closer by
inviting and allowing each other into places beneath the
visible surfaces of ourselves; places we don't show to
just anyone, or places people can only really come into
if we invite them.
Healthy intimacy involves intentionally, willingly and
safely sharing more private, vulnerable parts of our
hearts, minds, bodies or lives with each other, and
having others share with us in ways we want and feel
comfortable with. Intimacy asks for transparency (being
open and honest), vulnerability (letting our guard
down), trust, and a means of communicating or
connecting. When we're experiencing healthy intimacy,
we'll tend to feel accepted or accepting, known or more
knowing, valued just as the people we are, not because
we did something important or something that someone
wanted, and, since so many of us keep so much of our
inner selves reigned in tightly so much of the time,
we'll tend to feel a certain sense of peace or release
by loosening those reins.
Intimacy is something that can happen in a brief period
of time and can be built over time, so it becomes
deeper, there's more of it, or it's something we
experience more often. A truly shared intimacy involves
both or all people involved sharing and being shared
with. Shared intimacy requires all people involved be
open and receptive, vulnerable, trusting and
trustworthy, sharing and communicating together, not
just one person.
Intimacy: Whys, Hows, How-Nots, So-Nots
In a Heartbeat: Animated Gay Love Story
Four
Weddings and a Funeral: Funeral Scene
Tyler and Matthew's Wedding
Video Advice: Unique LGBTQ Dating Problems
Info: LGBTQ Relationships
Gail and Audrey: Unexpected Love Story
Fans of Love: Love Has No Labels
Video Love Story: How We Met
People Reveal Their Definitions of Love
Kiss Cam: Girls Kissing Girls
Psychology Today: Love and Relationships
Marlene and Carrie's Wedding
Short LGBTQ Film: Let Me Love You
Tea for Two: Can Two Strangers Fall in Love?
Love is Love by Starley
Real Love
Boy George is quoted
as saying,
"There's this illusion
that homosexuals have sex and heterosexuals fall in
love. That's completely untrue. Everybody wants to be
loved."
This unfair
misconception among some members of society represents a narrow-minded view
that same-sex couples are guided by lustful
desires, while heterosexual couples, motivated by purer
intentions, are oriented towards
real relationships. Nothing could be farther
from the truth.
LGBTQ people are no
different in their pursuit of love and relationships
than straight people. The myopic focus on just the physical sex act
is ignorant and insulting, and totally
misses the point. That kind of skewed perspective views the
love and affection of same-sex couples as illegitimate, less valid,
less real. Such an opinion devalues and dismisses the
caring, affection and romance that is exchanged between
two people who are truly in love with each other.
According to the website, AllRiot, "As an integral part
of human society, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender,
queer, and intersex individuals have the right to free
expression, free love, and yes, overpriced
wedding cakes. We should have the freedom to choose a
partner. Love is all around, and your choice of who to
share it with is more important than the orifice you
choose to use."
As society becomes more educated and open-minded on the
subject, hopefully it will soon come to understand that love is love,
and that real love is experienced by all definitions and
manifestations of relationships. With a more enlightened
insight into the personal lives of everyday LGBTQ
people, society will begin to see
that same-sex interactions are more than just the
physical sex act and more than what couples do in bed.
In the LGBTQ community, deep, genuine love is an
important and profound element of a real, day-to-day, committed
relationship. As with any serious relationship, LGBTQ
couples seek to enjoy a loving bond based on mutual respect,
emotional depth, and spiritual connectedness.
Could It Be I'm Falling in Love
Video Advice: Honesty and Tenderness in Loving
Relationships
Info:
Making Love
TED Talks: Love is Love
Video Story: Lover's Night Routine
How Do You Know It's Love?
To
The Girl I Love
Wikipedia: Love
Madison and Erin: Oregon Wedding
Love is Love Photography Project
Info: Let's Talk About Sex
People Reveal Their Definitions of Love
Love is Love: Free to Be Me
What the World Needs Now is Love Sweet Love by Broadway
Actors
Blind Date: Two Guys With Great Chemistry
Ancient Greeks: Seven Words for Love
Kia and Tanika's Wedding
Billboard: Love Letters to the LGBTQ Community
The Ultimate Wedding Party
Video: Alternative Words for Love
The Love That Dare Not Speak its Name
"The love that dare not speak its name" is a phrase from
the last line of the poem "Two Loves" by Lord Alfred
Douglas, written in September 1892 and published in the
Oxford magazine The Chameleon in December 1894.
Douglas, nicknamed Bosie, was a British poet and
journalist and best known as the lover of Oscar Wilde.
The verse from Douglas' poem was mentioned at Oscar
Wilde's gross indecency trial and is usually interpreted
as a euphemism for homosexuality. To this day the iconic
verse has come to be a poetic description of same-sex
love.
In Wilde's definition, "the love that dare not speak its
name" was: "a great affection of an elder for a
younger man ... such as Plato made the very basis of his
philosophy ... It is that deep, spiritual affection that
is as pure as it is perfect ... There is nothing
unnatural about it. It is intellectual, and it
repeatedly exists between an elder and a younger man,
when the elder man has intellect, and the younger man
has all the joy, hope and glamour of life before him."
Today, Oscar Wilde's love letters to Douglas are
well-known.
Later, Robertson Davis would exclaim, "The love that
dare not speak its name has become the love that won't
shut up."
Lord Alfred Douglas: My Lover
Career-Ending Love Affairs
Opera: The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name
Stephen Frye as Oscar Wilde: Scene From Film
Oscar Wilde's Love Letters to Alfred Douglas
Love is in the Air
Five couples share their secrets to a long, happy, and
healthy relationship...
--Nelson Roman and his partner Manny Hernandez
--John Trobaugh and his husband Jeroan Allison
--Mason Dunn and his wife Lauren Willford
--Andi Wheeler and her fiancée Meredith Munn
--Paul Fahey and his partner Benny Chan
When asked about the secret to a healthy relationship.
Roman and Hernandez, who have been together for over six
months, said many ingredients go into the recipe of
relationships. “To me, the secret to any relationship
begins with trust,” Roman said. “Add in some respect,
genuine friendship, open and honest communication, fun,
laughter, romance, and random acts of showing each other
you love one another, and you should have the
foundation.” “It all begins with communication,”
Hernandez added.
Fahey, who has been with Chan since July of 2014, said
communication was the key to getting through the good
and bad times. “Obviously openness and honesty is
important, but just as much so are those occasions where
one or both of us makes a mistake and has to address
something that can be embarrassing or painful,” he said.
Trobaugh, who has been with his husband for 25 years and
has a 10-year-old son named Ryan, said that acting out of
love and compromise were most important. “People
say love is a verb and I believe it,” Trobaugh said.
“When we were just friends and dating we made sure that
our core values were in line with each other’s. We both
have a strong sense of contributing to society and
giving back in a variety of ways.”
Andi Wheeler, speaking of her fiancée Meredith Munn,
said making space for your significant other to grow is
“super important.” “Being part of a couple is wonderful
and fun, but it’s also important to grow as separate
individuals,” Wheeler said. “If you hold your partner
back or put your own needs on the back burner, it can
hurt the relationship.”
For Dunn and Willford, who met at summer camp while in
college, the “secret” is no secret at all. “I don’t
think it’s as easy as one thing, nor should it be a
secret,” Dunn said. “For us, it’s been about
communication, patience, and authenticity.”
Willford believes a strong relationship requires
something deeper. “One of the secrets for us is that
while we are partners, we started out, 11 years ago, as
friends,” Willford said. “Her compassion is towards the
top of my list,” Dunn said of Willford when discussing
their long-last relationship. “She has a never-ending
well of kindness and compassion that extends to
children, animals, and people.” Willford said she loved
Dunn’s work ethic and drive. “He’s not afraid of
challenges, or getting into the struggle of problem
solving,” Willford said. “He’s a bit of a perfectionist,
but he works hard to bring out the best in everything he
puts his mind to.”
Trobaugh said the differences between he and Allison
were what attracted them to each other. “Our
personalities couldn’t be more different,” Trobaugh
said. “I’m an artist and he is a scientist. My favorite
part of my husband’s personality is his genuine
inquisitive nature.” He said Allison is prone to
asking questions to get to the root cause of a problem
or a bad mood or simply commit a random act of kindness.
Fahey said he admires Chan’s sense of humor and his
approach to life. “He is passionate about travel, which
we share, and music, which we don’t,” Fahey said. “I
love seeing him express that passion and share those
feelings with me. I do the same with him about books and
politics.”
Wheeler said she is fortunate to have a fiancée with an
ability to prepare for the future. “She’s always working
to make our future together better,” Wheeler said.
“She’s able to see how things will evolve and do the
planning that I’m so bad at. We have such a bright
future together and it’s all because of her.”
Roman agreed that Hernandez’s sense of humor is important.
“He knows how to make
me smile and laugh,” he said. Hernandez said he found Roman’s
youthful and passionate spirit the most attractive and
that the personality traits were so numerous he didn’t
know where to begin. “The first thing that comes to mind
is Nelson’s sincere heart,” Hernandez said. “Nelson
continues to wear his heart on his sleeve. Also, Nelson
has the heart of a child and like myself enjoys the
simple things in life.”
[Source: Alex Gentile / Rainbow Times]
Crazy Love
Love is insane. Really.
Finally there is scientific validation for the insanity
one feels when we fall in love. Researchers have
discovered that the brain's chemistry of infatuation is
akin to mental illness, which gives new meaning to the
phrase "falling madly in love."
The research findings,
reported in National Geographic, found that the cocktail
of brain chemicals that spark romance are not the same
as the ones that foster long-term commitments. So, every
year as we celebrate Valentine's Day, we might want to
think (which is almost impossible when one's brain is
flooded with the delirium of passion) about the
longer-term consequences of our libidinous desires.
Those who have felt the
unrelenting craziness of passionate love know that
reason and reality fly out the window once one's true
love enters the scene. Work, bill paying,
responsibilities, sleep (even getting regular food) can
all fall apart, and we find we have unlimited energies
to devote to our beloved. The good news is that the
brain has a built in protection mechanism. The insanity
doesn't last.
Researchers found that
the brains of people in love respond similarly to when
it gets a surge of dopamine. Cocaine users describe an
increasing tolerance for the drug as time goes by, and a
need for more and more of a fix, and lovers' brains do
the same thing. After a while the high just wears off.
Although the loss of the rush can be a letdown, for
those who need to hold down a job and keep the utilities
on, it is probably a good thing.
That is not to say that
passionate love cannot morph into long-term happiness.
Many couples in the studies reported that their first
blush of passion was overwhelming, but that as time went
on the irresistible urge to bed each other became
tempered by another desire, to talk to each other and
spend time having fun together in other ways. The
relationships that stand the test of time are the ones
in which the lovers discover that they actually like
each other, as well as drive each other mad with desire.
As each of you celebrate
this day of love, we encourage you to enjoy the
unquenchable thirst that our brain chemistry provides
when we find the one that turns us into that lunatic we
hardly recognize as ourselves. Relax and enjoy it. It
should be a relief to know that you are not permanently
insane, just crazy in love.
And if you're lucky in
love too, the one that drives you mad between the sheets
will be the same person that you like to talk to across the
dinner table.
[Source: PrideSource,
2006, Between The Lines News]
Intimacy: Whys, Hows, How-Nots, So-Nots
In a Heartbeat: Animated Gay Love Story
Video Love Story: How We Met
Four
Weddings and a Funeral: Funeral Scene
What the World Needs Now is Love Sweet Love by Sara
Bareilles
Info: LGBTQ Relationships
Justin and Jo's Wedding
Tea for Two: Can Two Strangers Fall in Love?
Psychology Today: Love and Relationships
Love Story: Vaibhav and Parag
Video Advice: What Should We Expect From Love?
Could It Be I'm Falling in Love
Fans of Love: Love Has No Labels
TED Talks: Love is Love
What is Your Love Language?
Kate and Julia's Wedding
Lesbian Couples:
Somewhere Only We Know
Same Sex Couples Tell Us What it's Like to be Legally
Married
Five Year Anniversary
Lovestruck: Lesbian Short Film
What True Love Really Is
Wikipedia: Love
Info:
Making Love
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