ELEMENT» Just Gay

Save the date! ELEMENT / EMBRACE annual community BBQ announced

dangonzales — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 14:00:52 +0000

The community BBQ was the fist experience many Denver guys had with ELEMENT and the event was a big hit. We’re excited to announce the BBQ is returning this year and as usual it’s FREE. Here’s details:

Opportunity to shape the future of gay Denver

dangonzales — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:07:06 +0000

EMBRACE the Future of Gay Denver—Community Building Weekend

Saturday September 18 & Sunday September 19

What does a thriving gay community look like to you? Do you have ideas and time you would like to contribute to gay Denver?

Join us on a journey into the gay men’s health movement where we will spend two days in a “heart centered” space exploring friendship, circles of support, networking, and leading our community into a vibrant future.

We will discover gay Denver and discuss how we can build, strengthen and maintain a vibrant, dynamic, and active gay community. Other areas we will touch on are:

Gay Spirituality
Gay Friendships
Gay Relationships
Gay Families
Intimacy
Self Care
HIV prevention and education

If you see yourself as a leader or a community organizer or have been looking for ways to strengthen these areas of your life, please contact Deryk at EMBRACE to sign up for this innovative community building weekend for gay men.

Call 303.997.2818 or email: deryk@sageriver.com

Half naked dancing Latin guys

dangonzales — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:41:24 +0000

Proof that if you send us info about your gay-friendly event we’d love to post it. Patricia at D Sound Entertainment sent us this one for an event called Piel Caliente:

Held at Red and Jerry’s event Center (Oxford and Santa Fe)
Friday September 3rd, 2010
Doors Open at 8pm
Tickets are only $25
18+

(click graphic to enlarge)

ELEMENT survey

dangonzales — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 04:37:52 +0000

You may have gotten our emails but just a reminder our survey ends Friday at the end of business day so hop to it!

See ELEMENT’s leadership retreat is coming up and we’re doing some strategic planning and need to hear from you about the services we provide to the community. We want to get an idea of our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (S.W.O.T., isn’t that cute?). Also we want to get an idea of ELEMENT’s internal strengths and weaknesses; then from the outside we want to hear about opportunities and threats.

So no matter your role we want to hear from you, that includes people who’ve been to a single ELEMENT event, volunteers, local community leaders… whoever.

The survey is only one page long and totally anonymous.

Click here to take the survey.

DIA light rail breaks ground FINALLY today

dangonzales — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 15:44:45 +0000

I’m a big fan of well designed and efficient mass transit and have been waiting for an alternative to the HOUR LONG ride on the AF bus to DIA. Well guess what, the RTD DIA rail line breaks ground today. Full story on Fox 31 here.

RTD’s website has a map showing the proposed route, sorry for the low resolution, it was the biggest I could find on their site.

Tuesday Roundup

dangonzales — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 20:11:45 +0000

(photo of Midtowne LA via flickr user DandyDanny, source)

Tonight is Midtowne Spa’s monthly “twink night” from 4-midnight. Guys 18-25 get a free locker (if you’ve never been before and need a new membership that’ll cost ya a whopping $4). More info on Midtowne’s website here. As a side note I was google image searching “twink sauna” and such to find an image for this post and there is literally NOTHING that’s PG rated out there. Pretty much every search involving “twink” returns filthy content.

Sunday night a man was stabbed to death in a bar fight in Broomfield and now the family is “hearing conflicting stories” about possible gay harassment at the bar. The Denver Post really drops the ball with the story because they fail to elaborate on the “conflicting stories” or bother to ask the police or witnesses about it. So yeah, if the Post gets their shit figured out and this starts shaping up like a bias motivated crime I’ll update y’all.

Curious what homo-bigot James Dobson has been up to since leaving Focus On The Family? He’s got his own syndicated radio program called Family Talk and the CO Springs Gazette reports he’s starting his own political action non-profit, 501(c)4. Much like Focus’ CitizenLink (anti-gay) and Gill Action (pro-gay) Dobson’s new group can engage in political lobbying and campaigning; donations to such groups are not tax deductible. It’s also worth noting that according to the Gazette Dobson’s program is only receiving about 25% of the money it needs to sustain itself and is currently being supported by a 1 million dollar initial donation from Focus.

30 days, 30 cities, 30 dates

dangonzales — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 21:25:10 +0000

Meet Kevin Richberg, he’s a well educated and traveled 32 year old from a small town in New York. For his latest adventure he’s embarking on a 30 day (driving?) tour of the US and hopes to set up a date in each city along his way. To make that happen he set up an appropriately named website http://www.30dates30days30cities.com.

Kevin’s site includes a short bio, photos from past adventures, and a map (Denver is sandwiched between “southwest Nebraska” and Laramie in his itinerary).

If you’re interested in helping show Kevin a good time in Denver the first step would be to submit a “proposal” as he’s calling it. His tentative start date for the trip is October 1st.

Here’s a cute little promo vid Kevin did:

Discover your artist within at ELEMENT!

JVTaurus — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 22:21:39 +0000

ELEMENT is excited to host a new ongoing gay men’s figure drawing session in our studio space for all levels of artists! Our friend and Boulder artist, Tyler Alpern, is bringing his popular drawing group to Denver. Here’s your chance to draw a live model (or models), along with other gay men in our studio. More info below:

Gay Men’s Male Figure Drawing Session*
Tuesday, August 24th @ 7:00PM – 10:00PM
950 Logan Street, Garden Level – Denver

*(no instruction; studio time with a model in various timed poses.)
RSVP required as space is limited. Please follow the link below for more information such as supplies needed, model donation fee, and the link to RSVP:

www.tyleralpern.com/drawinggroup.html

Get your ballot in

dangonzales — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 19:57:42 +0000

Did you get a yellow ballot envelope in the mail a week or so ago? Today is election day so if you haven’t already voted then get yourself to a service center and drop that shizz off today before 7pm. DenverVotes.org can help you find the nearest drop off location here.

Lots of good guys are aware of more common STD/STIs but did you know syphilis has been making the rounds in Denver? ELEMENT is hosting a community conversation about syphilis this Thursday Aug 12th where you can learn how to protect yourself, your partners and why it’s not really that scary. Here’s the main details from the official ELEMENT event listing:

Thursday, August 12, 7-9PM
ELEMENT Studio, 950 Logan Street, Garden Level
Hosted by ELEMENT and EMBRACE

Engage in our community conversation. We want men who are sexually active and use the Internet to hook up (however, all gay and bi men are welcome to attend). In an open and nonjudgmental environment, we will explore what messages are needed to educate ourselves about our sexual health and how to get the word out in the community. Additionally, we will discuss how each of us can educate and support the sexual health of our own social networks.

Got questions?
Feel free to contact Deryk at EMBRACE: 303-997-2818.

Dinner will be served (please let us know if you have any specific dietary needs).

Please RSVP to Deryk at 303-997-2818 or deryk@sageriver.com.

Lastly, if you’re curious why there was no blog update yesterday? I took the day off and went on a little downhill mountain biking adventure with some of my homo friends. Here’s a little 3 minute video I made of our trip:

Corey’s Excellent Adventure.

beatty5280 — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:30:48 +0000

Many of you know Corey and are familiar with the many “hats” he has worn while at The Council and ELEMENT. For the last 2 years Corey has engaged our community to learn what was important to Gay men. Corey managed to succeed in his professional endeavors while going to school full time and being active in local dance companies. He later enrolled into DU’s graduate Librarian program and added acting and singing to his dance career. His tireless efforts and selfless commitment to Gay Denver, has most of us in awe of his creativity and energy. As a result of his efforts, the name and branding of ELEMENT was created. Corey was the creative force de-jour of Living Legends Luncheon and facilitated some of the more memorable gatherings like, Gays on Ice, many of our Homo Culture Collective series and added to the liveliness of the ELEMENT Studio.

Where is Corey going?
Corey has accepted a full-time internship with the Institutional Library Development team in Colorado. He has made a commitment to ELEMENT as a Touch Team member and will continue to serve on the EMBRACE steering committee. This isn’t goodbye rather; it is “see you around, Corey”.

ELEMENT’s annual BBQ will be in September, stay tuned for more information. Corey will be there so be sure you drop by and express your appreciation.

The Council and the ELEMENT crew along with Gay Denver would like to say thank you and best wishes, Corey. You’re so GAY!