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Summer 1999: Third Wheel to a Muscle God
In gay neighborhoods, the custom of "sharing" one's boyfriend with friends and roommates applied only to guys in committed relationships. It was practically unheard of for you to be invited into your...
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Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch
I don't care for rap music, but who in 1991 wasn't paying attention to rapper Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, whose "Good Vibration" reached #1 on the US Pop Charts? We really weren't paying attention...
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The Night I Lost My Virginity
When I was a kid at summer camp, my friend Marty told me that heterosexual sex comes in six steps, which boys had to follow in a precise order:1. Kissing2. Fondling the girl's chest.3. Taking off her...
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Gypsy Boys
Most likely the first time I heard the term "gypsy" was on a 1966 episode of The Andy Griffith Show: when Andy tries to eject a band of gypsies, they put a curse on the town of Mayberry. Jamie Farr,...
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Guys Who Didn't Need to Come Out 1: Joel Grey
In this week's People magazine, Broadway, movie, and tv legend Joel Grey has come out (with the proviso that he disapproves of labels, but if you must, call him "gay").Why now, at the age of 82?He...
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Fall 2008: The Rich Kid and The Crying Truck Driver
In 2008, my "visiting" position in Dayton was coming to an end, and I had to find a new job. I only applied to colleges in Blue States (liberal, Democratic). First just in gay neighborhoods.As...
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Dude Looks Like a Lady: Not as Homophobic as You Think
The hard-rock band Aerosmith, consisting of the extraordinarily ugly but extremely bulgeworthy Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton, and Joey Kramer, had a string of hits when I was in high school and...
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Summer 2007: A Gay Muslim Surprise in Brittany
I used to go to Europe every year. A spring break jaunt beginning at the Louvre and ending with the Horseman's Club in Amsterdam, or a more extensive summer tour of France, Germany, or Estonia.But...
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Yokai: The Gay Goblins of Japan
Japanese movies and tv series often depict the hero fighting off a weird gibbering monster called a yokai.The humans of Japan share their islands with hundreds of species of yokai, paranormal beings...
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A Beefcake Tour of Provence
I've been to France many times, but mostly I stick to the north, Paris, Normandy, Bretagne. Provence is a long way from the Paris, and it has always given me an oddly heterosexual vibe, maybe from...
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Fall 1991: Looking for Beefcake on MTV
In the fall of 1991, for some ill-advised reason, I moved to Nashville for a graduate program in Religious Studies at Vanderbilt Divinity School.Nashville had a large but rather closeted gay community...
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My Most Embarrassing Hookup
My most embarrassing hookup took place in January 1985, during my year at Hell-fer-Sartain State College in the northern suburbs of Houston, the worst place in the world. The gay neighborhood of the...
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The Top 12 Public Penises of Minnesota
I have just moved to Minnesota to take a tenure track job. We came up to go camping a few times when I was a kid, but otherwise I was here just for my interview. What I've noticed so far:1....
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Fall 2008: The Satyr and his Boy Toy
When I moved to Upstate New York in the fall of 2008, my social calendar was soon crowded with invitations from members of the Gang of Twelve, guys who had known each other for years, and who shared...
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Pogo: The Gay Possum of Okefenokee Swamp
There have been three major comic strips devoted to the naivete, colorful traditions, and homespun wisdom of the hillbilly:Li'l Abner, about a backwoods Adonis allergic to hetero-romance.Snuffy Smith,...
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Edd Byrnes: The Ginchiest Gay Hustler
During the 1950s, lots of young musclemen found ways to earn some extra cash with their biceps and bulges, as bodybuilders, physique models, and hustlers for the newly-organized gay community. A few...
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My Date with Two Brothers... and Their Dad
During my horrible year at Hell-fer-Sartain State University in a far north suburb of Houston, the worst place in the world, I tried to find a boyfriend by placing a personal ad in The Montrose...
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The Cowboy Cop in My Bedroom
You probably know the type of guys I find attractive:1. Short, the shorter the better.2. Muscular or husky. Fat is good. Bodybuilder too.3. Dark-skinned. Black, Asian, Hispanic. If you're...
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Top 10 Public Penises of Portland
I've only been to Portland, Oregon once, but it was an amazing experience. It has the biggest of everything: Powell's Books, which covers an entire city block; Steam, a bath house bigger than the most...
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Recreating Childhood Photographs: The Homoerotic and the Heartbreaking
Have you heard of the fad for recreating old childhood photographs? The ones your parents took of you in "cute," embarrassing situations, like taking a bath with your brothers?As adults, you try to...
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