Do You Want To Reach Denver's Gay Community? Advertise With Denver's Best Gay Blog!

Do you want to advertise to Denver’s gay community? Of course you do, it’s the 7th largest in the United States! And the best way to reach them is with MileHighGayGuy – Colorado’s Best Gay Blog.
 
Just click the Advertising page or email sales@milehighgayguy.com to get started today.

Rhein Haus: Serving Up Weiners Und Balls in Downtown Denver

Rhein Haus is a gay-owned, two-story, 14,000 square-foot Bavarian-inspired restaurant in Downtown Denver with house made sausages, pretzels, and other authentic eats, 24 German and local drafts, Bavarian-inspired cocktail list, and four indoor bocce courts.

Denver Limo, Inc.: The Hottest Limos In Colorado Now at the Lowest Prices of the Year!

Denver Limo, Inc. is the leader in ground transportation in Denver, Colorado. Providing limousine service in Colorado for over 17 years, Denver Limo, Inc. has the hottest limousines, SUV limos, and Party Buses in the state - and they're currently available at the lowest prices of the year! 

Are You Gay With Something To Say? Bloggers Wanted For Denver's Best Gay Blog!

Are you a new or experienced writer or blogger? Do you want to be? Or maybe you're just some gay guy with something to say? Well, what better forum for you than MileHighGayGuy?

MileHighGayGuy is looking for regular and guest bloggers to write about local news and events, do music and movie reviews, or write opinion or feature pieces from a gay perspective.

These are unpaid positions but offer the opportunity to be published in Colorado's Best Gay Blog (2010, 2011, 2012 OUTstanding Awards, Denver 2012 #WebAwards), expand your audience and gain valuable experience. There's also swag available in the form of free movie and concert tickets, music, books and other cool stuff.

If interested, shoot an email over to Drew Wilson at drew@milehighgayguy.com. And if you've got column or story ideas to pitch, this is the place to do it.

WalletHub: Denver One of Top 10 Best Cities for Recreation

With July being National Parks and Recreation Month and America’s largest cities investing nearly $7.1 billion on parks this past year, the personal-finance website WalletHub conducted an in-depth analysis of 2017's Best & Worst Cities for Recreation.

To highlight the relative benefit of public spaces and recreational activities for consumers and economies across the country, WalletHub’s analysts compared the 100 largest U.S. cities across 44 key indicators of recreation-friendliness. For each city, WalletHub examined basic living costs, the quality of parks, the accessibility of entertainment and recreational facilities, as well as the weather.
 

	Best Cities for Recreation			Worst Cities for Recreation
	1	Orlando, FL		91	Toledo, OH
	2	San Diego, CA		92	Fremont, CA
	3	Las Vegas, NV		93	Gilbert, AZ
	4	Tampa, FL		94	Santa Ana, CA
	5	Atlanta, GA		95	Oakland, CA
	6	Cincinnati, OH		96	Jersey City, NJ
	7	Tucson, AZ		97	Chula Vista, CA
	8	Denver, CO		98	Hialeah, FL
	9	San Francisco, CA		99	Newark, NJ
	10	Chicago, IL		100	Irving, TX

Source: WalletHub

Debt Free Guys: How to Plan for Retirement When You’ve Delayed Planning for Retirement

By John R. Schneider, III & David Auten

In its 2012 LGBT Financial Experience Study, Prudential reported that LGBT respondents about their most pressing financial concern, the most common response was “retirement.” Respondents to Prudential’s 2016-2017 Study were “less likely to have started saving or investing for retirement . . . than those surveyed in 2012.”

Success is still ours. What can younger queer people do today to prepare for retirement with time on their side? What can older queer people do when they feel they’re in crunch mode?

Pay off debt
The number two financial concern of the queer community is paying down debt. Debt anchors our future to our past, so don’t sacrifice tomorrow for today.

Many retirees today are finding it harder to survive on retirement savings and Social Security because they have too much debt. For example, 30% of Americans 65 and older had mortgage debt in 2011. In 2001, only 22 percent of Americans 65 and older had mortgage debt. If you’re young with a low-interest rate mortgage loan, it may not make sense to pay off your debt instead of saving for retirement. But, have no mortgage debt by retirement.

Likewise, the Government Accountability Office reported in 2016 that Americans 50 years of age and older are having Social Security checks garnished to repay long-held, defaulted student loans. To avoid future garnishment of your Social Security checks, make paying off your student loans a priority.

Grow your cash flow
Robert Kiyosaki, of Rich Dad/Poor Dad, says wealth is when you have enough investment income to cover your expenses. There are three ways to create and grow investment income.

First, there are paper assets: stocks, bonds, mutual funds. Second, there are real estate investments, whether paper assets through REITs or physical properties. Then, there are personally owned businesses.

Todd Tresidder of The Financial Mentor believes that with this three-pronged approach, even those who have waited until their 40s or 50s to prepare for retirement can adequately prepare for retirement.

Get a financial planner
If you don’t have a financial planner, get one. Prudential’s 2026-2017 study showed that fewer queer people use a financial planner than the general population. However, an HSBC study showed that individuals with a financial planner have nearly 29% more in retirement income wealth than those without one.

To be sure, having a financial planner won’t make you rich, but not having a financial plan may cost you thousands over your lifetime. A 2012 CFP (Certified Financial Planners™) Board study showed that “the more extensively households plan, the better prepared they are financially in terms of their likelihood of saving, investing, and managing credit card debt.”

If you’ve procrastinated on retirement planning, don’t procrastinate any longer. By focusing on these three areas, you can make your biggest impact on your financial future. Whether you’re younger or older, though, starting your financial planning now is always the best strategy.

Canada Pride Is Ready With Over 200 Activities in Celebration of Sexual Diversity and Gender Plurality

Canada Pride Montréal 2017 (Fierte Canada Montreal), presents in collaboration with TD (Canada Trust) and Casino de Montréal, unveiling the programming weeks before the launch of festivities.  Over 11 days, festival goers and revelers will have an unprecedented choice of over 200 activities including DJ sets and the free large scale shows every night.

“The activities we offer are really diverse! The festival, cultural and community components all have something appealing to persons of sexual diversity and gender plurality, as well as to our allies,” explains Éric Pineault, Montréal Pride President, and founder.

Earlier this year, we’ve announced that Nelly Furtado would headline the festival as well as Montréal is proud, presented by Sirius XM Canada, with Gregory Charles and Marie-Mai, l’Acadie de demain, with Édith Butler and Radio Radio, Supernovas, with David Usher and Jonas, Drag Superstars, with 12 contestants from RuPaul’s Drag Race.

New in 2017 

The new principal outdoor venue for the event, Parc des Faubourgs, near the entrance of the Jacques-Cartier Bridge, will host the TD stage and the Pride House. Activities will also be held at the Casino de Montréal stage located at Place Émilie-Gamelin, a well-known site to Pride Montréal festival goers.

A two-day sports tournament has been integrated into the program featuring seven disciplines including badminton, rugby, soccer, softball, tennis, volleyball and water polo. Invitations to participate have been sent out to individuals and teams across Canada. The event is presented in the spirit and tradition of the 1976 Olympic Games and the 1st World Outgames of 2006.

Indigenous Peoples Participation

Vice President Jean-Sébastien Boudreault notes that this first edition of Pride Canada will be more diverse and inclusive, with a strong presence of Indigenous Peoples representatives. “We are honored to have an important and representative contingent to lead off the Parade as well as for the opening and closing ceremonies of the national conference on LGBTTIQA2S rights," he says. "Before each event, we will recognize that the lands on which we are assembled for Canada Pride Montréal 2017, are located in the ceded territories of the Kanien’keha:ka (Mohawks).”

Diverse Cultural Component

Throughout the festival, an art gallery will be set up in containers at the corner of Sainte-Catherine and Saint-Hubert Streets. It will feature the works of 10 artists including paintings, drawings, photography and high fashion creations. A presentation on 375 years of LGBTQ+ history and the evolution of the Pride Movement in Canada will be featured at Pride House in the heart of Parc des Faubourgs. Theatrical productions will also be presented with two well-known comedies in English — Naked Boys Singing and Buyer & Cellar— and a promising drama in French by local author Denis-Martin Chabot: L’amant de Samuel.

An expanded Literary Pride segment will feature authors and their works throughout different bars in the Village. Activities will include: a book fair dedicated to trans and queer writers and authors of color, an interview with special guest author Kamal Al-Solaylee, the cabaret evening Authors Uncovered, a meet and greet with author Simon Boulerice and the popular Combat aux mots panel. Back for a 5th edition, L’Emmental expiré, coordinated by poet Simon DuPlessis, will present an evening of poetry performance involving a mix of dance, song, spoken word, and music.

Gay Help Wanted: Student Employment at the LGBTQ Student Resource Center

The LGBTQ Student Resource Center is looking to hire Student Program Assistants for the upcoming semester!

My story is your story.

By Sam Long
 
I'm a 26-year-old transgender man. I came out as transgender in high school, after struggling for years with an intense discomfort in my body. While other kids were dreaming about being doctors or astronauts, I simply dreamed of being comfortable in my own skin.

Accessing hormone therapy and gender-confirming surgeries was absolutely essential to my transition. It eliminated my inner dysphoria and allowed me to focus outward to my calling to become a high school science teacher. Every day, I stand tall and teach my students with confidence and excitement. When I teach, I feel like I am sharing the best of myself with my students. I wouldn't be able to teach without the services that I got because of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

This isn’t politics. It’s personal.

We’re having a rally on Sunday, July 9th at 2 p.m. to tell Senator Cory Gardner to vote against the life-threatening ACA repeal bill. Will you join us?

Over the last ten years, my transition-related medical bills have totaled around $50,000 and I will have ongoing expenses for hormone therapy for the rest of my life.

The new, proposed health care bill waives critical protections, allows insurance companies to discriminate based on pre-existing conditions, and reinstates annual and lifetime caps to coverage. It allows insurance companies to deny me coverage for being transgender. I will accrue massive debt because my lifetime health costs are so high.

This ACA repeal bill will keep us from living our lives. Please join me at the state capitol on Sunday, July 9th at 2 p.m. to stop this bill from passing. See you there!

Get it While it's Haute at the 47th Annual Cherry Creek North Sidewalk Sale

Sizzling deals, four days only. Get it while it’s haute!

Come to Cherry Creek North July 13-16 for four fabulous days of hot deals, fashion and food! For its 47th year, a record-breaking 97 businesses will be participating in the Cherry Creek North Sidewalk Sale. Stores will take their sales to the streets of Cherry Creek North as shoppers search for the best bargains of the year.

Do You Want To Reach Denver's Gay Community? Advertise With Denver's Best Gay Blog!

Do you want to advertise to Denver’s gay community? Of course you do, it’s the 7th largest in the United States! And the best way to reach them is with MileHighGayGuy – Colorado’s Best Gay Blog.
 
Just click the Advertising page or email sales@milehighgayguy.com to get started today.

The Colorado Theatre Guild General Manager, Gloria Shanstrom, Announces Retirement

After more than 20 years working devotedly as the General Manager for The Colorado Theatre Guild, Gloria Shanstrom is set to retire on July 31, 2017.

Gloria Shanstrom has been involved in Denver Theatre since the 1980s, but not on the stage. She started ushering in 1985 at Boettcher Concert Hall and within a year and a half was moved to the Auditorium Theatre as House Manager. In the summer of 1991, Gloria moved to the “not quite open” Temple Buell Theatre to ready staff for the opening that fall. She also did group sales on a contract basis for the area smaller theatres and from 1996 to 2001 she co-produced the Denver Drama Critics Circle Awards with Melanie Mayner. Gloria remained House Manager of the Buell until November of 1997 when Denver Center Attraction hired her as Marketing Assistant. Working at DCA taught her an entirely new way of putting butts in seats and she found she worked well with the media.

She was invited to join the Colorado Theatre Guild in 1997 and CTG's first elected Board convened in early 1998. Leaving the DCPA in 2000 she maintained her theatre connection as a Board member of the Colorado Theatre Guild and in 2004 started Full Court Press, a company specifically designed to assist small non-profit arts organizations with media relations. In 2006 CTG hired Gloria as its first General Manager and first (and only) paid staff member. She has invested the past 20 years in helping make the Colorado Theatre Guild the source of information on live theatre for both those who work in theatre and the theatre loving public.

Report: United Nations Must Address the Health and Well-Being of LGBTI People

A new report released today by the Global Forum on MSM and HIV (MSMGF) and OutRight Action International in collaboration with the Global Platform to Fast Track the Human Rights and HIV Responses with Gay and Bisexual Men argues for a global health and development approach that is inclusive of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) people. Released ahead of this year’s United Nations (UN) High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development, the paper calls on countries to recognize and address the impact of stigma, discrimination, violence, and criminalization on health.

In its second year, the High-Level Political Forum is where member states meet to review progress towards “Agenda 2030” – economic, social, and environmental sustainable development, founded on the principle of “leave no one behind.” Among the goals to be reviewed this year is Goal 3, “Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages,” which is particularly relevant to LGBTI people. The HLPF will take place at UN headquarters in New York from July 10-19.

While data regarding LGBTI health needs are inadequate and incomplete across the globe, the data that is available demonstrate that the health of LGBTI people is consistently poorer than the general population.
The report highlights:

• The disproportionate affect HIV is having on gay and bisexual men and transwomen.
• A higher burden of poor mental health among LGBTI people compared to the general population.
• A lack of targeted and responsive sexual health information for LGBTI people, which limits their ability to protect themselves and their partners from sexually transmitted infections, particularly as young adults.
• The impact of intersecting forms of discrimination faced by LGBTI people based on gender, age, race, ethnicity, ability, class, migration status, and other factors that drive exclusion.
• The role that criminalization, anti-LGBTI violence, fear of discrimination, cost, and lack of social support play in impeding access to health services.

MSMGF Executive Director, Dr. George Ayala, commented:

“Disproportionate rates of depression, anxiety, homelessness, problem substance use, and suicide among LGBTI people can each be traced back to the stigma, discrimination, and violence they face worldwide. Connection to community, safety, and security offset the devastating effects of social exclusion.”

The report finds that lesbian and bisexual women, transgender people, and intersex people in particular remain ignored and underserved in healthcare systems across the world.

OutRight Action International’s Global Research Coordinator, Dr. Felicity Daly, commented:

“LGBTI people are well-aware of the health disparities taking hold and stealing lives in their communities, but are being excluded from data collection efforts. As a result, LGBTI communities are rendered invisible and therefore unable to make a convincing case for health financing to address their needs.”

The report offers tangible and accessible recommendations on data and indicators governments can and should collect to monitor LGBTI health needs, including:

• Specific recommendations for including LGBTI health and well-being in the agreed upon SDG 3 indicators.
• Disaggregating complete and accurate data by sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics, in order to allow for the formation of evidence-based laws and policies that serve to promote and protect LGBTI people’s right to health.
• Ensuring funding for community-based and LGBTI-led organizations, which are crucial for collecting data and providing safe, non-judgmental health care to LGBTI people.
• Legally prohibiting non-consensual medical procedures, including intersex genital mutilation, forced sterilization, and forced anal examinations enacted upon LGBTI people.

Authors from the report will join representatives from United Nations Development Programme, a representative from the Permanent Mission of Argentina to the UN, and global and regional LGBTI civil society organizations to discuss the necessity of collecting data on LGBTI people at an official UN event during the HLPF on Tuesday, July 11, 2017, at 6:15PM.

Are You Gay With Something To Say? Bloggers Wanted For Denver's Best Gay Blog!

Are you a new or experienced writer or blogger? Do you want to be? Or maybe you're just some gay guy with something to say? Well, what better forum for you than MileHighGayGuy?

MileHighGayGuy is looking for regular and guest bloggers to write about local news and events, do music and movie reviews, or write opinion or feature pieces from a gay perspective.

These are unpaid positions but offer the opportunity to be published in Colorado's Best Gay Blog (2010, 2011, 2012 OUTstanding Awards, Denver 2012 #WebAwards), expand your audience and gain valuable experience. There's also swag available in the form of free movie and concert tickets, music, books and other cool stuff.

If interested, shoot an email over to Drew Wilson at drew@milehighgayguy.com. And if you've got column or story ideas to pitch, this is the place to do it.

Koelbel Urban Homes: The New Modern in Denver

Koelbel Urban Homes (KUH) has quickly emerged as a leader in creating urban neighborhoods that promote community and synergy by integrating life, work and play.

As the newest division of legendary developer Koelbel and Company, KUH is focused on in-fill properties, designing and building innovative homes tailored to each unique site.

Offered homes run the gamut of detached single-family homes to svelte modern attached designs featuring today's popular spaces, such as rooftop decks and open-plan concepts. All KUH homes, of course, are designed for optimum living and with respect for the surroundings.