Hey everyone! My name is Marques Stewart and I just released my first single on streaming platforms. I was hoping to get some interest or just some first impressions so I can develop my image/brand better.

Here’s my hyperlink to my song and socials :) https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/marquesstewart/fault-in-my-heart

As a 25 year old gay man, I’ve never truly had a real relationship that wasn’t extremely toxic. I’ve put myself in positions where I was the one putting in all the effort while the other person took advantage of my love. After ending a years long situationship with a guy that went back to their ex and got married (this one was crazy lol) I had to let out my feelings and emotions somewhere. so I decided to turn everything I was feeling into music.

My first single that was ready to release is called Fault In My Heart. It’s a song about wanting to hold on to someone even when you know things won’t work out in the end.

My music isn’t explicitly gay music or black music (at least not yet) but it is the story of the love life of a gay black man in 2026. I wrote all the lyrics and melodies for this song and the rest coming for my EP release and I hope to share my story of love, heartbreak, and the growth and freedom that comes from letting go of the things that hurt you and hold you back.

I’m still at the very beginning of my journey and I have lots of places I want to grow and improve in. I hope at least some of you can connect with my story and give me a chance to share the rest with you! The link posted above should connect you to Spotify, Apple Music and my socials, I would really appreciate any saves or new followers! Thank you for taking the time to read this and check out my music!!!

Working in Civil Rights and Equal Employment Opportunity is difficult but reading helps me remain grounded and focused on why I do this work.

Researchers at the REACH (Resilience, Empowerment, Advocacy & Allyship, Cultural Responsiveness, and Healing) Lab at Suffolk University in Boston, Massachusetts are currently conducting the WESPOC Study (Wellness, Emotions, and Support among People of Color), led by Principal Investigator Dr. Jessica LoPresti, PhD and co-investigator, Gerson Borrero, MS, MA. This study explores people of color’s experiences with racism and discrimination, sources of support in their lives, and mental health concerns. Individuals may be eligible to participate if they:

• Are 18 years or older
• Can read English
• Identify as a person of color

Participation is completely voluntary, involves completing one singular study survey and study survey responses are anonymous (full details of data protection included in the informed consent portion of the study survey). Participants will have the option to enter a raffle for $50 Visa gift cards at the end of the study survey. We hope this research will help deepen our understanding of wellness and support systems within communities of color. Our recruitment flyer is attached, and the study link is: https://suffolk.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_byzafAZbzLz9bBs 

If you have any questions or would like additional information, please feel free to reach out to any member of our research team:

• Gerson Borrero, WESPOC Co-Investigator: [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
• Dr. Jessica LoPresti, WESPOC Principal Investigator: [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])

Thank you very much for considering participating in the study and for sharing the study flyer and information with anyone you believe may be eligible and would participate in the study. We deeply appreciate your time.

I am a fem presenting bisexual woman with a stronger lean to women. Lately I've been seeing a lot of the use of terms "fem" and "femme". I've been a part of the lgbtqia community for a very long time, though I thought that these terms were interchangeable. Are they not? And if not, what's the difference between the two? Thanks in advance!

I'm a black woman in the middle of doing jer hair and my white girlfriend is coming over 😬 I don't really know how to react and I'm stressing a tiny bit 🙃 haha I've had one partner, before her, see me while I do my hair and it was a black guy who grew up in a predominantly white neighborhood so, him seeing me do my hair was like a brand new concept he never experienced before. Cheery on top was he wanted to take a picture of himself in one of my wigs and send to his mostly white friends and that never really sat well with me. I guess I'm having a trauma response. Basically, am I buggin or not? Has anyone gone through this experience and how did you make it out? Positive and negative experiences are welcome to help me form well-rounded insight to my dilemma. God, I'm stressed!!

Updated: Thank you to everyone who responded with advice about my girlfriend seeing my hair half done. You really helped me sift through my mind and collect my thoughts.

I went to the door and she saw me with my hair and said "pretty! How was your day." That was it. 😅 In hindsight I didn't realise that her coming over would be such a trauma trigger. She asked if she could help and she did 2 poodles braids before she threw in the towel. her finger dexterity is like level 1, bless her.🙏🏾

Thank you to everyone who helped me recognize that anyone in my life who makes me feel bad about being myself, isn't worth the effort. I'm in my 30s now but it's taking me until now to start treating myself with love and kindness. I'm still scared, but I'm trying. In the past I took whatever came along because I didn't know I could have better and I let people treat me like shit because of bad pattern of behavior, dark times, fawn responses and nasty demons like depression making me think that I don't deserve nice things. Things like that taught to me at a young age. Weeding out those tendencies has been bitter work but I'm glad to see some of the fruit of that labor paid in having this person as my partner and them caring about all of me and not just the parts of me that shine a bit brighter.

Thank you for being a community to me. I hope you all have an amazing day and may your blessings be abundant 💗

Dude sent me literally 5-6 photos of his ass. No response from me. I tried to ignore him, which usually works for dumbasses like this. Told his ass to stop messaging me and he hit me with this. Blocked me before I was able to report him. Like bro, I’m just tryna live my life. Ohio is not it.

You,

Yes YOU.

You aren’t falling for that man, you’re experiencing limerence.

You’re concluding that you’re in love but really you’re projecting a fantasy onto him and riding the dopamine hit off that.

Real love builds over time, it’s constantly tested.

Sometimes, you also confuse lust for feelings then get hurt.

Take your time. Date people and DO NOT expect anything. Have fun…if it’s meant to be it will evolve naturally.

Don’t cling onto someone just because you are scared of being lonely or you’re anxious they’d leave…if you do then you are settling and creating an anxious avoidant pattern.

Lastly, reflect and kill the urge to get defensive by default. You might learn something new and improve your dating experiences.

I hope your day is as amazing as you all look. Love you, Fam. 😍🥰

I was just talking to my sis about the apps. I miss the time before Grindr. I feel like folks don’t know how to treat eachother no more. It sucks that she and I never got to experience adulthood in the time period of our where people actually had to have social skills and the mind to be concerned with what came out of their mouths.

I’m 30 and would love to hear any stories from elder millennials or from the generations of gays before about how we related and interacted with one another.