shame Archives • Your Other Brothers

18 May 202218 May 2022

Who am I? This could be a question for self-edification or self-deprecation. A question answered with set shoulders and proud confidence, or a rhetorical question asked to oneself at the depths of loneliness and despair. The best way I have determined to answer that question is I am...loved by

by Guest Author

9 Comment(s)

12 May 202212 May 2022

The First Guy I Fell In Love With, and the Path Forward with Touch

He's the guy who has clarified my boundaries with cuddling and physical touch more than any other. The guy from whom I've sought comfort in touch more than any other. The guy who has made me feel seen and warm and laugh and cry like no other. He's the first (and to this point, only) guy I've fallen in love

by Thomas Mark Zuniga

12 Comment(s)

6 April 20226 April 2022

Adrift as a Child or a Man

I still have that Link costume somewhere in my closet. Perhaps it's the wandering through the woods that I love, the isolation, the music; or, perhaps it's something deeper that has stuck with me after all these years. Perhaps it's that I feel like the protagonist: adrift in time, unsure whether I'm a child or a man. This is how I feel as I move back into my childhood bedroom – the place where my sexual trauma

by Christopher

6 Comment(s)

4 March 20224 April 2022

Cast Out of the Church for Being Gay

That was the third church to turn me away for being gay, even though I had never done anything inappropriate with anyone in the church. At that point, I was done! Done with God, done with Christians, done with church, done with praying, and done with the Bible. I threw every Bible I owned into a dumpster and decided to embrace a gay life even more than I had done previously. For four years, I had sex with as many guys as I could and didn't care. In my mind, since God and the church didn't care about me, why should

by Michael Jeremiah Black

15 Comment(s)

16 February 202216 March 2022

Let’s Talk About Erections (Again)

Years ago a YOB post like this initially proved to me that this site had something new and interesting to offer the world. It made me feel seen and understood like almost nothing I had read before. That original post no longer exists here, and I've seen your emails wondering where it went and what frighteningly candid content you can instead send your friends. To answer my own self-doubts above: I believe this post will be valuable to someone. It's important. It's worth

by Ryan Burger

8 Comment(s)

2 February 20222 February 2022

“Handsome Devil,” a Side B Sleeper Hit?

Handsome Devil is a very gay movie, but for once a gay movie not focused on sex or even romance; instead, it leans heavily on themes of vulnerability, authenticity, bullying, trauma, masculinity, and most of all, friendship. It checks all the boxes for a Side B sleeper

by Will Cooper

5 Comment(s)

27 January 202227 January 2022

When His Roommate Caught Us Cuddling

If we were gonna cuddle safely in the dark, why not just cuddle safely in the light? Open the veil, so to speak? We were lying down next to each other, my head on his chest, or his head on mine, I forget. Everything was quiet. Nobody else was in the room. But it would not stay that

by Thomas Mark Zuniga

14 Comment(s)

12 January 202212 January 2022

A Single Gay Man Lost in the Crowd

Being gay has ruined large crowds for me. Something about being surrounded, seen but utterly unknown, twists my soul. And then add to that the layers of guilt I feel. All these couples I'm jealous of because they get to be here together. Or the number of attractive men I see, the number of times I don't control my lustful thoughts. Or worst of all: when I spot a gay couple somewhere out there, and I want to be them, and I wish I

by Guest Author

10 Comment(s)

8 December 20214 April 2022

Imprisoned for Being Gay

Sometimes you just have to be honest with yourself about who you are. After another year and a half in Germany, I woke up one morning, walked down to my first sergeant's office, and told him I was gay – that I didn't want to be in the Army anymore. My colonel had to sign off on that paperwork; he refused. And I was arrested. The Army rushed the investigation, and I was

by Michael Jeremiah Black

21 Comment(s)

24 November 202124 November 2021

You Are Accepted Just as You Are

We get asked the why question so much because this life is hard. Being a Christian is hard; being LGBTQ+ is hard. Being both can be exhausting. And it may continue to be exhausting if we don't do the work to understand why it's hard and figure out how to keep

by Ben Rutkowski

17 Comment(s)

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