Live Long Enough

[Jamie McDaniel]

Hands down the best AIDS awareness campaign targeting gay men. Charming, romantic, and funny. If you are somewhat of a prude like me, you might gasp at a few of the more suggestive animations. But I was moved by this little cartoon. And when was the last time an AIDS awareness commercial did that? Hats off to the French organization, Aides.org.



YouTube Video: Live Long Enough (age verification required)

Also available at Salon.com: Live Long Enough

Also available at Aides.org: Live Long Enough (French ending)

[keltic63]

I Love It! It's beautiful, funny, and has a great ending.

[Daniel]

Baby baby...what a wonderful video.....just goes to show you can make art and love in the same frame while saving lives. Beautifully done.

You gotta love the French, non? Zey are...vell....French.. and pride zemselves on being more open about zehr sexuality zan us Americans.

In-cre-di-ble (with an accent please- the first syllable is nasalized) savoir-faire.

[Vanessa White]

I am glad to see it being talked about in ad campaigns at all, let alone in such a catchy, touching way. I love it!

[Mia14]

Interesting new way to get the message out.

[Jamie McDaniel]

The version I linked to on YouTube had the ending in English, but was taken down. It doesn't appear the one at Salon is working now either. I linked to another on YouTube, but if you find this thread later on and the only one that works is the original hosted at Aides.org, the French message in the sky at the end translates into...

[Joe Allen]

I had forgot about seeing that video sometime ago. I think I saw it on the Commercial Closet Association website first.

My only objection to it was the stereotypical part where the young boy was holding a doll. Playing with gender specific toys has no connection with sexual orientation. I think the moderators of the linked group posted the same thing.

Both of my sisters and one of my brothers are definitely heterosexual (my older brother died when he was 48 in 1988 and he was a heterosexually married homosexual, IMO). When we 5 kids were growing up, we all played with dolls and played house with our sisters. And, when we were outside, we all played with cars, trucks, toy tractors and other "boy toys," too.

Of course we grew up in the 1950s and the 1960s.

[u-dog]

I think that recent research shows that about 75% of young boys who display gender non-conforming behaviors grow up to be gay. However, that doesn't mean that boys who DON'T display such bahaviors DON'T grow up to be gay. They do, but at a lower rate. I was all about going down to the lake and playing "army", toy soldiers, trucks, airplanes, getting dirty, making dams in the stream, blowing them up (with rocks) but here I am... queer as a three dollar bill. Of course, sports were always a mystery to me, so that should have been a clue

[Joe Allen]

Originally Posted by u-dog

I think that recent research shows that about 75% of young boys who display gender non-conforming behaviors grow up to be gay. However, that doesn't mean that boys who DON'T display such bahaviors DON'T grow up to be gay. They do, but at a lower rate. I was all about going down to the lake and playing "army", toy soldiers, trucks, airplanes, getting dirty, making dams in the stream, blowing them up (with rocks) but here I am... queer as a three dollar bill. Of course, sports were always a mystery to me, so that should have been a clue

Whose research was that, u-dog? Dobson's FOTF or William Wildmon's AFA or NARTH's?

That "three dollar bill" reminded me of an anecdote I heard years ago. A couple of smart-alecks were riding a bus and it stopped at a small town in SE Oklahoma. They went into the store next to the bus station and asked the guy behind the counter, "Do you have change for an 18 dollar bill?"

Th store guy answered, "Yes. How do you want you want it . . . 2 nines, 3 sixes, or 6 threes?"

[u-dog]

Not sure Joe, but it wasn't the bad guys. I think it was an article that someone posted here actually. Can anybody help me out here? It was an article about identical twin boys. Twin one was into typical boy stuff and twin two was into gender atypical activities. They were 5 or 6 years old. The parents were not trying to change him but helping him to distinguish appropriate and innappropriate (safe and unsafe) places to "be himself"

OK, here it is: http://www.soulforce.org/forums/showthread.php?t=1678

Daniel posted it.

[Joe Allen]

Originally Posted by u-dog

Not sure Joe, but it wasn't the bad guys. I think it was an article that someone posted here actually. Can anybody help me out here? It was an article about identical twin boys. Twin one was into typical boy stuff and twin two was into gender atypical activities. They were 5 or 6 years old. The parents were not trying to change him but helping him to distinguish appropriate and innappropriate (safe and unsafe) places to "be himself"

OK, here it is: http://www.soulforce.org/forums/showthread.php?t=1678

Daniel posted it.

But, a single study of one set of supposedly identical twins is not proof of anything.

When my younger brother, Sam, was even 4 years old, he played with a boy baby doll and as he grew up, like me and our older brother we played with our sisters' dolls and they played with our cars, trucks and tractors and other "boy" toys. Sam and my sisters are not even bisexual, let alone "gay."

[Daniel]

Originally Posted by Joe Allen

But, a single study of one set of supposedly identical twins is not proof of anything.
"

I agree with you: one study does not a body of knowledge make. Although the article was about gender variance, it did not feature twins. And while it did not specifically mention any studies by name, the article had this to say:

Studies suggest that most boys with gender variance early in childhood grow up to be gay, and about a quarter heterosexual, Dr. Menvielle said. Only a small fraction grow up to identify as transgender.

Girls with gender-variant behavior, who have been studied less, voice extreme unhappiness about being a girl and talk about wanting to have male anatomy. But research has thus far suggested that most wind up as heterosexual women.

Although many children role-play involving gender, Dr. Menvielle said, “the key question is how intense and persistent the behavior is,” especially if they show extreme distress.

David may be remembering another post or article.

I posted this article for the simple reason that it is unusual to find this issue discussed, much less studied in detail with an emphasis towards allowing children to express gender variance without judgement and condemnation.