Sebastian Fortino Author

This Is What It’s Like to Be Adopted by Your Grandparents

I remember the first time I learned I was getting old. It was on the occasion of my tenth birthday. That year, my cousin Martin and his wife Margie took me to Sea Isle City in New...

New American Recipes from the Nation’s Top Foreign-Born Chefs

A Place at the Table: New American Recipes from the Nation’s Top Foreign-Born Chefs Edited by Gabrielle Langholtz & Rick Kinsel; Prestel Press; $40.00 Despite rabid...

Here’s How to Help LGBTQ Political Targets across the Globe

There are still some 75 countries across the globe that criminalize or penalize LGBTQ people because of sexual orientation or gender identity. For example — and hard as it is to...

This Is How a Happy Gay Couple Shares Breakfast with Meds

Sebastian recounts the joy of sharing breakfast with his fiancé, and how part of that morning ritual makes them part of a new generation of happy, healthy, loving gay couples....

What It Was Like to Be Queer Genius Michelangelo

I’ve been lucky to meet several notable LGBTQ celebrities in my life. Many of them I was interviewing for a publication like this one. However, I think my first such...

This Is How Camping Gave a Gay Man Hope for the Future of America

We thought we had packed almost everything for our visit to a gay-owned campground, but one of the best moments of the trip came from something we forgot. There was an ad campaign...

These Are 3 Fabulous New Books about the Fine Art of Being Gay

See queer photographer Tom Bianchi’s intimate inspirations, meet an art lover who helped shape iconic institutions, and experience art after the Stonewall Uprising. Tom...

Do You Know the Signposts of the LGBT Revolution?

Historians regard symbols as one way of determining the unique  characteristics of a culture. Sometimes the signifiers are auditory — much the way first responders’ sirens...

What Happens When You Look in the Mirror and See Someone Half Your Age?

As he approaches his fortieth birthday, a gay man reflects on the many faces he’s seen in the mirror. A Gay Man Turns Thirty Years ago, I relocated – first to Miami and...

A Gay Man, Chasing a Dog, Sipping the First Iced Coffee of Spring

Sebastian’s first sunny spring Sunday – enjoying coffee with his new boyfriend and his dog, Taffy Davenport – goes way off the leash. The First Iced Coffee of...

Here Are 4 Soul-Stirring Encounters with Homeless LGBTQ Youth

Portland’s homeless population is infamous for its sheer size, but it is the homeless LGBTQ youth that always stand out to me. The People You Meet on Public Transportation As a...

A Gay Man Explains Why He’d Rather Talk to Customers than His Family

To explain why he prefers the easy interaction of retail, Sebastian remembers the more shocking things his family said to him as a child. How Retail Is like Anonymous Sex In order...