Gold's 12-month Calendar features photos of him by famous photographers and a cover designed by illustrator Joe Phillips. The Calendar is a best-selling item at Gold's online fan store at www.arigold.com, and it has been featured in Heeb Magazine's Jewgayica.

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In 2005, Gold released Ari Gold: The Photobook, a 96-page, hardcover, coffee-table book available in 25 countries. It comes with a limited edition Remix CD called The Remixes, Gold's first full-length remix album.

The album was named the #2 Best Independent Release of 2005. The CD includes new dance mixes of the club and video hit "Wave of You," "He's on My Team," "Funk That Ship," and "Bashert (Meant to Be)," as well as new mixes of "Love Will Take Over."

In 2007, Gold released his third studio album Transport Systems. The songs on this album are about such topics as the down low, gay relationships, crystal meth addiction, gender identity, and spirituality.

The lead single, "Where the Music Takes You," became #1 on Sirius Radio, a Top 40 HOT AC hit, and a Top 40 Billboard Dance hit. The Joe Phillips video of the song was the #1 Video of the Year on LOGO.

The reviewer of the album for People Magazine observed that "Gold takes the listener to fresh places" ; while the reviewer for All Music Guide noted that "Ari Gold stands out from the pack . . . specializing in R&B electro dance sounds that are a pleasant surprise."

In 2008, Gold contributed an essay to Mitchell Gold and Mindy Drucker's book Crisis: 40 Stories Revealing the Personal, Social, and Religious Pain and Trauma of Growing Up Gay in America. In his essay, Gold reminisces about growing up Orthodox and gay, ruefully observing, "Once I decided I didn't want to hide anymore, and be fully who I am, I realized that isn't allowed in this religion that I loved so much."

He also discusses the frustration he has experienced in the music industry because of his sexuality. Record executives and producers, both straight and gay, told Gold an openly gay artist would never sell records. They advised him to "get established first and then come out of the closet."

Gold's interest in cinema may lead him to other directions in the years ahead. In 1997, he supervised the music and performed his song "See Through Me" in Latin Boys Go to Hell, a low-budget, comic drama directed by Ela Troyana. More recently, he served as music supervisor for IFC's documentary Fabulous: The Story of Queer Cinema, a made-for-cable documentary directed by Lesli Klainberg and Lisa Ades in 2006.

Gold contributes generously to gay causes, including Human Rights Campaign, Soulforce, Gay Men's Health Crisis, and the Bailey House, among others.

As for being a gay artist, Gold says he sees his gayness as a gift. "As long as my friends are being beaten on the street, as long as there are still kids killing themselves because of shame, and as long as we are still fighting for our basic civil and human rights, I will continue to shout from the queer roof tops. Feminism taught us that the personal is political. And in art, it is the specificity of our experiences that is universal."

Historically, cabarets and revues have been much more likely to mention or imply same-sex desire than the "legitimate" theater; and same-sex desire has been less frequently condemned in cabarets and revues than in mainstream plays.

No popular art form is more closely identified with gay culture than disco and dance music.

Different denominations within Judaism have vastly differing opinions on both the inclusion of glbtq people into their communities and the tolerance that should be accorded homosexual acts.

Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered persons have had tremendous influence on popular music, though some musical genres have been more receptive to a homosexual presence than others.

Gay and lesbian content in music videos was rare in the early 1980s, but with more openly gay and bisexual artists that situation has gradually changed.

Singer Lance Bass gained fame as a member of the boy band *Nsync; since coming out in 2006, he has spoken on behalf of glbtq rights.

A pop icon with a rich soulful voice, Boy George, who fronted the band Culture Club in the 1980s, managed to survive homophobia, drug addiction, and fame.

Rob Halford--dubbed "The Metal God" by fans and critics--is one of the most talented vocalists in heavy metal music and one of the few out artists in the genre.

Pop superstar Elton John's combination of melodic skills, dynamic charisma, and raucous performance style have make him a remarkably popular musical artist.

Regularly hailed as the world's greatest DJ and widely credited with changing the sound of dance music in the 1970s and 1980s, Larry Levan was the driving force behind New York City's legendary dance club Paradise Garage.

Featuring an openly gay singer-songwriter and an openly lesbian accompanist and chanteuse singing songs about love in all its permutations, Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields have produced some of the most critically acclaimed queer-themed popular music in recent memory.

Popular singer and songwriter George Michael, who confirmed his long-rumored homosexuality after an arrest for "lewd behavior" in 1998, has devoted much effort to AIDS charities since 1992.

Singer, songwriter, and bassist Meshell Ndegeocello is a notably eclectic artist whose music confronts social and sexual issues, including racial identity, same-sex attraction, and homophobia.

The first rock band entirely composed of gay musicians who sang frankly gay-themed tunes, Pansy Division have recently emerged with a more mature sound.

The recordings of the British pop duo Pet Shop Boys may be seen as a reaction to events that stirred the British gay community in the last two decades of the twentieth century.

British rocker and activist Tom Robinson was embraced by the gay rights movement in the late 1970s, but became the subject of controversy in the 1990s when he chose to live with a woman and become a father.

A six-foot five-inch tall African-American drag queen who usually performs in a blonde wig, RuPaul has given drag a new visibility by infusing it with gentleness and warmth.

Noted for his diminutive size and amazing voice, Jimmy Somerville achieved fame as the lead singer with the openly gay pop groups Bronski Beat and The Communards; many of his songs are overtly political and deal with such issues as gay relationships and the loss of friends to AIDS.

Lead singer, lyricist, and composer for the rock band R.E.M., as well as a movie producer, Michael Stipe identifies himself as a queer artist.

One of the most original and talented musicians to come out of the disco arena, Sylvester was a versatile stylist who brought depth--as well as campiness--to all his material.

The Village People, a disco-era singing group, successfully translated the interests, coded language, and iconography of the gay male subculture into music that crossed over into mainstream pop.

Singer and songwriter Rufus Wainwright, dubbed the "thinking gay man's sex symbol," has built a successful career with witty lyrics and rich melodies.