Do you live in or near Jackson, Mississippi? Are you part of a gay couple? Do you wish you had a way of meeting other gay couples … without concern that the other couple would be looking for more than Card Night, dinner, and a friendly hug?
Meeting other gay couples in Jackson, Mississippi, is harder than it should be.
I mean, there are a lot of gay couples in and around this area. We see them all the time at the video store, at Home Depot, at our favorite restaurants. We pass them in the grocery store. We spy them at the occasional gay-themed movie at the local cinema.
But how to meet them? With no community center, no mainstream gay-friendly churches, and no central hub for Jackson’s gay community … meeting other couples is next to impossible.
Personal ads are not the answer. Everyone placing personal ads, no matter what they say, is looking for one thing: a fresh bed to wallow in.
Just this morning, I spoke with a friend (he’s half of one of the few other gay couples we know in this city) who placed a very straightforward ad on one of the well-known gay websites. “I was very clear in my ad,” he said. “I shouted it: looking for FRIENDS ONLY. We got an answer from a clean-cut couple … who immediately said, ‘Let’s be friends … and if things work out, maybe we can all be something more.'”
Several years ago, we went the same route, placing a personal ad in hopes of meeting a like-minded couple. We wound up meeting a really, really weird single guy at Bravo, who immediately said, “I know y’all said you weren’t looking for a third … but if you were, would it be me?” (It was almost enough to put me off my crabcakes and pasta. Almost.)
I’m really stuck. There’s has to be a way for us to meet other gay, monogamous couples in our area — other people who are happy being a pair, and interested in spending time with other couples who feel the same way.
In Atlanta, the Couples’ Class played this role for us, linking us to fifty other couples, all of whom were dedicated to making each other’s relationships as strong and stable as they could be (in other words, there wasn’t any crusing going on). The atmosphere was amazing … to this day, almost every day, I mourn the loss of that place and time.
So what to do? At wit’s end, I’m on the verge of trying to start up an organization called something like Jackson Couples Together, modeled on Atlanta’s Atlanta Couples Together (but friendlier, and actually interested in welcoming new people to the group).
JCT would be a social organization for gay couples (and even gay-friendly couples) looking to meet and make friends with other gay couples in a fun, supportive environment. It would provide a way to meet people without the folks involved mistaking your urge to meet with an urge for meat, if you know what I mean.
(And of course, we’d take measures to protect the identity and security of our members … epsecially those not yet ready to announce their gayness or their couplehood to the entire world.)
It occured to me today that, with 2000+ people per week stopping in here at MadeByMark, this might be a good place to mention the idea.
So: if you’re interested enough in the idea to want to be a part of it, drop me a line here at mark@madebymark.com. I can’t guarantee anything will happen soon, but I’ll hang on to your info, and let you know what’s happening, as things develop.
So how about any in the philadelphia area? Thanks Rohn
So how about any in the philadelphia area? Thanks Rohn
Amazingly, in this past Sunday’s lesson, I talked about those couples that have moved to other cities and have come to realize that the “Couples Class”, as we know it, “may not exist anywhere else in the universe” (thank you, michelle). Just a suggestion, but you know that Atlanta is really beautiful this time of year AND there are open dates for anyone who would like to lead a lesson in the infamous “Couples Class”. (and interest rates are still down!)
Is there any groups like this for gay couples just looking for friendship in Michigan? Thanks, Jeffery