TQE | That Queer Expatriate

Expatriate, not ex-patriot: I'm a progressive liberal and queer American in Berlin, Germany. My roots in include 18 years in Denver, 6 in Laramie, Wyoming, 6 in Bloomington, Indiana, and 6 in Weimar, Germany. Sense a pattern? Don't want to leave a comment on this blog? Email scintillatingme at gmail.com, username "elmadaeu"

Celebrating IDAHO – International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia 2012, Berlin

Last Thursday was IDAHO – The International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.

It was also the day that my American Friend arrived, and so I gave him a walking tour of Berlin, covering all the most important spots — and as we walked past the American Embassy, we spotted the Rainbow-Pride Flag Toga [...]

The Soldier Tells His Mom.

It goes much more roughly than telling Dad.

48 Contiguous States, 48 not so contiguous memories: The northwest

In a couple of weeks I shall have crossed the Contiguous United States line—having visited all 48 of the contiguous states, leaving only Alaska and Hawaii to be visited sometime down the road.

I thought that I would share my memories of the states – at first I thought about doing it in alphabetical order, [...]

Situational Ethics: Being on the DL (Down-low) (or not)

One of my favorite blogs is the “rants and raves of a kenyan gay man”, which is written by a man in Kenya who’s gay and, as far as I can tell, “out” in that one in Kenya is out, which is to say, not really.

Or, as he puts it:

In the wider scheme [...]

Is the Republican Party in the US ever right about anything?

For about as long as I can remember, going back to Ronald Reagan in the early 1980s, the Republican Party in the United States has tended to espouse three core beliefs:

First, the United States has high taxes and these high taxes hurt the economy because they discourage rich people from investing in [...]

Mothers and Mobility

This past weekend was shockingly lazy: apparently I had a sleep deficit and I made up for it with a vengeance. Other than reading and taking four long naps, I did two significant things: I went to a park (where I read Straight Man, a delightful book), and I went to the gym.

It was [...]

Where was I when I found out…

I was in bed, asleep, when I heard an SMS arrive. 5 AM.

Holy shit Osama .bin laden is dead.

I sort of fell back asleep – waking an hour later at my usual time, heading off to work, passively reading bits and pieces of news on the Internets during pauses in work.

Truthfully, while [...]

On Freedom of Speech—especially anonymous speech.

One of my favorite things about the United States is its Constitution—in particular the first amendment to the Constitution, which reads,

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to [...]

General John Sheehan is an ignorant fool.

Dutch fury at US general’s gay theory over Srebrenica.

Glad he’s retired. I wish he was muzzled. He’s an embarrassment.

I smell a Whopper®

Just in time for last minute gift giving, Burger King has released Flame, a Whopper Scented men’s cologne:

A Whopper you can eat…

Still can’t think what to get him for Christmas? Socks don’t seem to cut it any more? Fret no longer because Burger King is here to help.

The mass purveyor of [...]