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Fall 2008: The Darkroom of the Gay Bar in St. Louis
St. Louis, Fall 2008Most gay bars in Europe have darkrooms, cut off from the main bar by a black curtain. It's completely dark inside, not even a safety light, although some guys walk around flashing...
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12 Beefcake Boys and Men of "The Fosters"
The Fosters (2013-) is a groundbreaking drama on ABC Family about a lesbian couple (Stef and Lena) with five children, biological, adopted, and foster (Brandon, Jesus, Jude, Callie, Mariana)....
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My Uncle and His Boyfriend in the Kentucky Hills
Eastern Kentucky, Summer 1973It's the summer after seventh grade. We're visiting my Uncle El, the only one of Mom's family to stay behind when the rest of them moved to Indiana. Dinner is over, and...
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The Top 10 Public Penises of Mexico
I haven't spent a lot of time in Mexico. I'm interested in the south, with the Aztec, Mayan, and Olmec archaeological sites, but they're over 2,000 miles away, a bit far for a summer vacation. But...
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Spring 1994: Lane and I Share Two Guys at Once
Silverlake, Spring 1994On Saturday nights when we didn't have other plans, Lane and I often went cruising. Around 9:30, I dropped him off at the Faultline, and then drove a mile farther east to...
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Spring 1984: The Bed-Switching Freshman at the Chocolate Moose
I was saddened to learn that the Chocolate Moose, a landmark ice cream place on Walnut Street in downtown Bloomington, is going to be demolished to make way for a generic office building. The...
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Mr. Muscles
We all know that superhero comics were just an excuse to gawk at bodybuilders in tight underwear, but the Mr. Muscles title was rather blatant.It was created for the low-budget Charlton Comics company...
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Who Killed Cock Robin: The Only Gay Nursery Rhyme
When I was a kid in the 1960s, I liked science fiction, like The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet and The Spaceship Under the Apple Tree, but I hated fairy tales, and I especially hated nursery...
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Frank O'Hara: Gay Poet and Lover of the 1950s
When you think of gay artists of the 20th century, the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the Violet Quill of the 1980s spring to mind.But in between there was the New York School, a group mostly gay,...
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Carl Milles: The Swedish Sculptor of Naked Men
Carl Milles (1875-1955) is the greatest sculptor of Sweden. Although he claimed to be heterosexual, his sculptures are imbued with homoerotic motifs. Many of the most homoerotic are collected or...
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12 Spring Break Boys
I've been on college campuses, as a student or a teacher, almost every year of my life, so spring break is always a big deal.A week off in March or early April, actually ten days if you skip the Friday...
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Inclusivity Alert: Gay References on "The Middle"!
In a jaw-dropping development, The Middle, the most aggressively heterosexist tv program since Fringe, featured not one but two gay references in Wednesday night's episode.In case you haven't noticed,...
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The Crosby Kids
Bing Crosby (1903-1977), roommate of gay jazz legend Bix Beiderbecke, grew up to be the laid-back crooner that had 1940s teenyboppers swooning, starred in White Christmas, and had six sons. Growing up...
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Spring 1991: The Naked Nordic God of the Icelandic Hot Springs
Iceland, Spring 1981During my junior year at Augustana College, I declared a major in Modern Languages. We had to become fluent in two languages and competent in a third, plus participate in one...
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John Hamill: The First Nude Physique Model
Born in 1947, the boyish, good-natured John Hamill began his career as a physique model, one of the first to pose fully nude. Sometimes he even had a partner, in explicitly homoerotic scenes aimed at...
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Hank Williams: A Dynasty of Homophobia
Hank Williams (1923-1953) was an Alabama boy who suffered from poverty, heartbreak, physical injury, alcoholism, all of the woes that fuel the ballads, meanwhile writing mournful songs that formed the...
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February 2005: Hooking Up on a Job Interview
Xenia, Ohio, February 2005I've been on the academic job market four times, after getting my Ph.D. (2001), when trying to leave Florida (2005), and at the end of my temporary positions in Dayton (2008)...
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Bob Hoffman, York Barbells, and Muscletown U.S.A.
If you're going to do any serious muscle building, sooner or later you'll have to leave behind the Nautilus machines, go into the weight room, and pick up a barbell or a dumbbell.Barbells are on a bar,...
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Cameron Boyce: Gay Ally?
You probably remember 17-year old Cameron Boyce from Jesse (2011-2015), the most heterosexist/ obnoxious teencom on the Disney Channel. He played Luke Ross, the privileged rich kid who somehow found...
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Spring 1987: My Celebrity Boyfriend
When I moved to West Hollywood in 1985, I found that half of the residents were aspiring actors, directors, writers, models, dancers, or singers. Most of my friends and acquaintances had been in...
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