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heartfelt anecdotes

Wow, what a thread this has become. Really, appreciate everyone's thoughts and differing viewpoints. As noted earlier how things have progressed during the past 20 years; imagine what will become in the next 5, 10-20.

Unimatic, what a riveting story about discovering who you are. Your mom sounds pretty cool. I'm thinking she knew what she was doing!

Austin, please embrace and support your gay classmates that you've mentioned. I'm sure you already do so. They'll appreciate your friendship & loyalty. As mentioned before; it is the young people like yourself that will help further break down the oppression aimed at the gay community.
 
Excellent points Rick, I think you're absolutely right. Change is very difficult for people and always has been since the founding of this great country. It took four years, 625,000 lives and scores more injured and maimed to end slavery, then to spend many years since ensuring everyone can enjoy equal rights that are guaranteed to all. Women's sufferage, prohibition, segregation, etc. are all part of the cycle which we are now a part of. You're right, equality will come but it takes time, we'll look back on this time in 20 years and marvel at the progress we've made.
 
I am a gay man too and I am very proud of myself and the fact that I am gay. When I came out of the closet it was a big relief and I started feeling that pride. I felt that I was a whole person now, there was nothing that I had to hide anymore from anyone. I guess I am out as anyone can be. I became a leading member of the gay movement and my picture has been in the newspapers several times, I even made it to the frontpage. Every time that picture was in the newspaper I felt that same pride again as I felt it the first time after I came out. Even writing this makes it come back. No shame for that one part of me, but proud of what and who I am. Unfortunately it is not easy for everyone to do what I did. That was a reason for me to be active in the gay movement and to be open about me being gay, so other people would know there were other gay people.

I'm not only convinced that I was born gay but also know that it is scientifically proven that homosexuality is not something that you have learned but is something that was already there before you were born. When I came out when I was 22 I had a long process behind me with different stages. I can go back to my first memories from when I was 3 or 4. I had a 'thing' for certain men. It wasn't fysical attraction, just a feeling I wanted to be closer to some men. I never felt that with women. When I was 9 I discovered that I was different than other boys. At that age I knew that I was attracted to men instead of women. Then when I was 13 I learned by overhearing a conversation between my parents and my grandfather that there was something called 'homosexuality'. And even without them explaining what it really was I knew that that was about me. And I also knew that it was something they didn't approve of. It changed my life as a kid, I wasn't the happy child anymore I had always been. I wasn't really picked on at school, but I was (one of) the odd(s) one out. There were many moments I felt very lonely. When I was 22 there was no way I could keep this for myself anymore, I just had to come out. Fortunately my parents responded better than I had thought although it took a while for them to accept it. In the end it made me the person who I am now. If I had been straight I would have been a different person and that's why I wouldn't want to change if it was possible.

I must ad one thing. I am also very proud of my country, where two men or two women can legally marry. That was made possible by the government. It was an initiative from a cabinet of which also a conservative political party was part of. They also made it possible for gays to adopt children. I really love my country for that!

Louis
 
Gay marriage ban in Florida from this mornings paper:

A state constitutional ban on same-sex marriages will soon go before the Legislature and voters for approval if the state's Southern Baptists get their way.

The Florida Baptist Convention, which holds its 150th annual meeting Monday & Tuesday in Jacksonville, is expected to call for the passage of a state constitutional amendment upholding the the "biblical definition" of marriage between one man and one woman.

"We're going to begin some type of process of saying we want to see a state marriage amendment similar to what was passed in other states this election", said the Rev. Tommy Green, pastor of First Baptist Church in Brandon and outgoing president of the 1 million member convention. On election day 11 states approved bans on same-sex marriages.

The amendments passed in Mississippi, Montana and Oregon referred only to marriage, specifying that is should be limited to unions between one man and one woman. The measures in Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, N. Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma and Utah call for a ban on civil unions as well.

And on Friday, the Texas Board of Education approved new health textbooks that define marriage as a "lifelong union" between a man and woman.

State Sen. Stephen Wise predicted the Legislature would be receptive to the Baptists' aims. "It puts it on the forefront of our agenda," said the Jacksonville Republican, himself a Southern Baptist. Lawmakers "better understand that our society is concerned about the morals in this country."

A 1997 state law already defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman and bans the recognition of same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. Florida lawmakers have the power to put constitutional amendments before voters, something that can also be accomplished by citizen initiatives. A series of lawsuits filed across the state this year challenges the constitutionality of both the state law and the federal law upon which it was modeled.

A statewide poll of 600 registered voters found that 54% favored an anti-gay marriage amendment to the U.S. Constitution, while 40% would oppose it. The poll, conducted in April by The Florida Times Union and the South Florida Sun Sentinel, also found that voters support the state's ban on gay adoptions 48% to 44% with 8% unsure. The Florida Baptist Convention represents 2,853 congregations grouped into 40 regional associations across the state. It is the state branch of the Southern Baptist Convention, which has 16.3 million members nationwide.

What an "enlightened" group! I'm astonished to hear about Texas Health textbooks explaining what the term "marriage" means.
This is going beyond the point of being ridiculous in my opinion! I'm off to have a conversation with "the" man upstairs this otherwise beautiful Sunday morning!
 
Leslie, I was quite distressed to read the Board of Education's decision on Friday.

I too am gay. It's been a long struggle of acceptance coming from a conservative religous background. And to boot, always attracted to averge masculine bear type men since I was 6 or 7. Thus, guys like me are hidden in small-town Texas. I essentially came out on this site. And then had a nervous breakdown, facing up to who I aws was the straw that broke the camel's back. And I had just emerged from treatment right before the 2001 convention. That time in Minnie was awesome for me. I was in a cocoon of washers and men. I didn't wanna leave. I have numerous close friends here that have been in very long term committed relationships. They are my role models of what I always knew I wanted and still do.
 
Thanks to everyone

Thanks everyone for your honesty in these posts.Wow,....so many different viewpoints.Robert (unimatic)i hope to one day meet you.It would be nice to get to know the person and not the label.So many others i would like to meet one day also.
Bob (appnut),gansky,foraloysius,and so many of you in this club.
Robert you have made this such a happening site.And so many of you with such knowledge and experience have really made this a place to learn and just have these enjoyable discussions like we do.
Once again with gratitude to all of you.

Sincerely,
Patrick Colacicco
 
Wow!

What a thread! I definately wasn't happy with the election outcome either. Seems like everybody was bitching about Bush, yet he actually GAINED a bigger following (remember, last election he lost the popular vote, this time he won it by a larger margin than he lost it last time.) And I've never seen such polarization. People either hate the man, or love him, not much in-between. And the polarization brought out voters in droves, which is a good thing, though it didn't help in this case. Everybody on both sides realized what was at stake and got off their butts.

Some great thoughts in this thread. Personally, I came out when I was 14, though I knew something was "different" about me even back as young as 5-6. It was in junior high (Middle School to some of you) where I first read the whole 2 paragraphs the health class textbook devoted to homosexuality and that prompted me to look further for other books in the library and realize that "my God, I think this is what I am!" And, of course, it was furthered along by the fact my cousin was "corrupting" me. And though I wasn't "picked on" much in school, I certainly was the "odd man out", carrying briefcases instead of notebooks, being bad at and having a total dis-interest in sports, spending my lunch periods volunteering in the library instead of smoking in the bathroom, not wearing the "latest & coolest" fashions, being the "smart kid" in class who wore thick black framed glasses, and in general, the "Nerd". I hadn't been on this site for 2 days before I caught on to what was happening "behind the scenes", and I'm sure glad I did.
 
WOW--what a site.

Good afternoon, all,

Earlier today, I was thinking about a washing machine and dryer combo mum used to have. I believe it was a 1957 GE Filter-flo washer with a matching dryer (Robert (Unimatic 1140) has a photo of the dryer on the museum page)), so I went to Google, and ...TaDa ... here I am. I WANT ONE; but more importantly, I would like to learn how to restore one.

I am so amazed at this particular thread, and am amazed at how y'all are sharing your feelings about politics, religion, lifestyles.

If I may join in ... I am a gay man, living in Massachusetts. My partner and I were officially married last month. He is a minister, and we are Unitarians (UUs). I can so relate with what many of the previous posts discuss about being young and knowing that I was attracted to men since ... cognition! My concern is for the pre 21 year old men and women coming out, and how they are/will adjust to/in society today.

I live in a very small rural town. We were never closeted, so when two guys move into a town with 1,200 people, everyone knew. We are friends with Republicans, Democrats, Christian, Athiest, black, white, gay, straight, etc., etc. When we moved to Petersham, we decided to simply be who we are, and not "in your face" types. It was interesting to watch peoples' reactions over the years: guess what ... you are concerned about the same things we are.

Oh well, time to leave the office. I'm looking forward to chatting with you all, and possibly meeting you all at a convention ... When is the next one!!!!

Enjoy the day.

Bobby Hall.
 
what is it bout gay guys and washers?

I love all the above discussion, as a gay man in Australia I totally enjoy this site. Ditto to all those memories of being different from 3 or 4 years old and being the odd man out at school.Luckily I didnt have too bad a time in part thanks to some good role models by some closeted but interesting teachers and others. But suicide (or deathwish behaviour) in young gay men is still such a problem. I hope this site makes its small contribution to self validation for gays growing up.

The gay subtext here makes me laugh, it was obvious so soon after my exploring the site.

Any theories bout why we love auto washers?

Peter
 
what is it bout gay guys and washers?

That's the thing,most of us did not even know what gay,straight,bi or whatever was when we had this particular fascination with machines when we were very young.
This discussion has been brought up before,but it seems guys are not supposed to be interested in what is called "women's work".Funny though it is men who design and build these machines and for the most part repair them.HUH! OH NO!...it just dawned on me,that must be it,all the men who design and fix washers are GAY! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Sorry just being silly. LOL.
 
I disagree

Judging by the current crop of washers, I would say that most washer designers are NOT gay. Modern washers are mostly boring and thats not normally a gay quality.
Funny the turns this thread is taking-Uff da
 
Yeah, if we were designing washers---

We never would have had "almond" or worse, "bisque," and stainless steel probably would stay where it belongs, inside various machines.

The person who developed the "Poppy" enamel for Frigidaire would be acknowledged as a hero/ine.

Though I have my reservations about the GE Harmony pair, their look would be more representative of the laundry world.

Voice activation would be already here, and reliable.

If I ran things, Maytag would have gotten more of the bugs out of the Neptunes before releasing them.

As I said above, I do believe that most of the little boys in the washer ads are here now. Good to be here.

Love and laughter and laundry!

Lawrence/Maytagbear
 
Gay men ... Washing machines ... What else?

Good morning, all,

This discussion is really fascinating. As a real young kid, I could not wait for mum to do washing. I would be in the basement for hours transfixed on the entire operation; from start to finish of a cycle. Not just the visual, but the audio part too. We had a 57 GE Filter-Flo, and watching the water recycle through the lint basket was a treat. Mum would wonder why the wash would take so lone on occasion until I was found out: ROBBIE -- ARE YOU PLAYING WITH THE DIALS AGAIN ...

To be honest, I should not say just "real young" in the aforementioned paragraph. We now have a mid 80s Hotpoint, and I have recently redesigned it so I have some-sort of "filter-flo" set-up to catch lint, cat/dog hair, etc.).

I am curious. What other hobbies and interest do all of you have? Is there a common thread, here? I have so many, I will list a few: Electric Christmas lights/decorations; cords and plugs; any kitchen appliance; vacuums; radios, televisions, record players (once again; fascinated by the sight, smell and sound of the general operation and especially automatic sequencing); clocks (I'm a certified clockmaker and work as an avocation); musical instruments; philately. I guess those are the top ones (du jour ;) !) I'm a librarian (cataloger) and a musician (organ, harpsichord, oboe, vocal) by profession.

So, what are your other interests?

Enjoy the day. We're getting snow and rain today. Weeeeeeee ... totally enjoyable commute tonight.

Bobby.
 
My own two cents

Hmmmm.
I'm not one to post a whole lot on this board, preferring to eavesdrop on the conversations of others and ogle the pictures. Something about this thread made me want to respond but as yet, I have no idea what I want to say.

Not that that's going to stop me...

Okay, guess I should come out and say that I too, am one of "The Brotherhood." Don't make a big deal about being gay, though maybe I should; it's the only thing about me that's even REMOTELY interesting!
As for gay pride, well, I've never understood it. Black pride, either, or whatever women's pride is called. It's not like it's some big huge accomplishment. It's a fact. I didn't go to school and study hard for years to get my Gay Certificate. Cure cancer? Save a life? End human suffering? Now *that's* something to be proud of.
And it's not something to be ashamed of, either. Like I said, it's just a fact.
Your mileage, of course, may vary. And good for you!

Gay, schmay--as long as you're happy!

So just what IS it about gay guys and washing machines? Once I found this site, it only took me about 5 minutes to figure out that many of us are gay--and I'm not the brightest bulb in the candelabra, either. At the very least, it's an interesting sociological phenomenon.
My own personal theory is this: the gay boys are known far and wide for their exquisite taste. Let's just chalk it up to that, hmmm?
But back to discovering this site. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. "Well looky here," I said to myself. "A bunch of fellow nutjobs who can appreciate the beauty and grace of a pink front-loader AND a pair of tight-fitting jeans!" (As an example [straight men may skip to the next paragraph]: Go to the store and pick up the December issue of Ladies Home Journal. Open to the Stetson ad in the front. This will produce a physiological reaction I like to call The Insta-Boner.)
Though I hate to admit it, my *second* thought was "Okay, how do I suggest creating a "doing the laundry bare-ass nekkid" photo gallery without sounding desperate?

But I do prattle on.

In summary, I just want to give my thanks for and to this group. I like the way we can have different (sometimes VERY different) opinions, stances, proclivities, etc., yet we all seem to remain One Big Happy. If we MUST assign ourselves to one group or another, I suggest dropping the usual religion/political affiliation/sexual preference choices and going with what really counts: Front Loader or Top Loader?
Should you affiliate yourself with both camps, I suggest the term "Bi-Loadual."

We're here.
We Use Cheer.
Get used to it.

Veg
 
Veg,

Being gay is not just a fact for a lot of people. I'm pretty sure that there are several gay men that would love to come out on this site but don't dare because of their fear for being exposed. Especially those who live in small communities and who feel they are part of an opressed (is this the right english word?) minority might fear this. When you are part of an opressed minority and you feel discriminated, you must overcome a lot of fear and takes huge risks if you want to stand up for yourself. And if you do that I think you really have accomplished something. That is what (gay) pride is about.

Louis
 
Top Load, Front Load or....

Has anyone heard of the new Maytag Uranus, it is a "Rear Loading" machine? What affiliation would one belong to then?

LOL,

Christopher

P.S. It is all in good humor. I love this site and even though I don't post much, I still like being able to come on here and see everyones hard work and dedication to preserving these appliances. Keep up the good work guys
 
Not a truer thing has been said.

I am very disturbed that we are to be inflicted with 4 more years of King George(as in the madness of), at least he can't be elected again :-)

I'm not gay(I have been told that I am a metrosexual,whatever that is), I'm happily married with two children. I am the one who they are "defending", defending from what? People who are in loving relationships and want the same rights that I have. I have a lot of gay relatives and friends, it is just an accepted fact and not discussed. I don't talk about being straight. Anyway, my gay friends are great people and I would like to see them not be descriminated against. What if one of my children came out? I don't want their rights limited either.

I love all things old, especially mechanical things, and I like to watch the washer.

Oh well, I ranted. This is a great site with a great group of people. I love reading the posts and looking at the pictures. Keep up the good work.
 
My "Subject Drift" didn't show. This is the true saying I was referring to.

"Gay, schmay--as long as you're happy! "
 

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