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Why Gay Men Read "Dykes to Watch Out For"
In the 1980s and 1990s, gay men and lesbians both called West Hollywood home, but it was two different West Hollywoods that rarely interacted, with different bars, restaurants, gyms, bookstores,...
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The Violet Quill: Sex, Drugs, and Elitism in 1980s New York
Did you ever wonder about the origin of the stereotype of gay men as wealthy, over-educated, over-sophisticated, and indolent, doing nothing all day but lounging on the beach, so they can spend their...
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Michael Cade
Do you know this man? You should.Saved by the Bell (1988-93) was a mega-hit, especially among teenagers, so of course it spawned countless imitations (even a cartoon series, Tiny Toon Adventures)....
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Fall 2000: I Teach My Nephew the Gay Facts of Life
I always wonder if I have any gay relatives, or if I am alone on my family tree.One doesn't discuss such things among conservative fundamentalists, and God forbid you ask! But by checking carefully...
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The 10 Best Gay Neighborhoods in America
During the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, the first thing you did after "figuring it out" was pack all of your stuff and move to a gay neighborhood, where you could be free from stares and jeers and shrieks...
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Here at the New Yorker: Homophobia, Elitism, and a Scary 18th Century Dandy
I've spent 28 years on college campuses, as student, grad student, and professor, but still, I often feel out of place.When I'm not out, there's constant heterosexism:"Will your wife be coming with...
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Mitch Gaylord: Hunk of the Month
In a December 1984 episode of Diff'rent Strokes, Willis (Todd Bridges) inspires his paralyzed friend by introducing him to. . .Mitch Gaylord!!! The studio audience gasps in awe. Mitch Gaylord on the...
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Rupert Grint's Biceps Drive Boys Mad
In Driving Lessons (2006), Julie Walters plays a free spirit actress who takes an interest in shy teenager Rupert Grint. She originally thinks that her protege is gay, so she knows that gay teenagers...
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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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Marat Sade: We Want a Revolution
Want to see a man sitting naked in a bathtub for 2 hours?I thought so.You'll have to see Marat/Sade, a 1964 play by Peter Weiss set in the Charenton Asylum in France in 1808, where the inmates, led by...
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Adam West: Playing Gay before Batman
In the 1960s, when my friends and I watched the camp superhero series Batman (which, by the way, we didn't realize was camp), we zeroed in on Burt Ward's Dick Grayson/Robin, because he was a teenager,...
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Spring 2009: The Pitcher with a Secret Move
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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Home and Away: Gay Subtext Soap Opera
When I was working on my doctorate at USC, I spent the summer in France, and I watched a soap called Summer Bay (original title Home and Away), an Australian soap opera (1989-) centered on a group of...
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Geography Club: Gay and Straight High Schoolers
Juvenile lit with gay characters almost invariably is about straight juveniles coming to terms with the gay adults in their lives. So I was intrigued by the premise of Brent Harlinger's Geography Club...
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Peer Gynt: Your Grandfather's Heterosexism
Rock Island had a large Scandinavian population --we even rated a visit from Carl Gustaf, the King of Sweden -- and our teachers, from grade school through college, felt it their duty to introduce us...
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Gods' Man: Lynd Ward
In Glimpses of the Devil (2005), psychiatrist M. Scott Peck, who wrote the excellent Road Less Traveled, goes crazy. Peering into closets and under beds for evidence of demons, he latches onto the...
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Jaanipaev: The Midsummer Beefcake Festival of Estonia
In 1998, Yuri and I were in Johvi, Estonia for Jaanipäev, St. John's Day, a national holiday.The day before, June 23rd, is Võidupüha, Victory Day, commemorating the Estonian War of Independence, and...
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My Date with the Nastiest Guy in the World
During my first year in New York, I was living in graduate student housing at SUNY Stony Brook, nearly 2 hours from Manhattan by train, and trying to figure out a way to move to a gay neighborhood....
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Getting Spanked at the Oscars
Nude Yul BrynnerI had a friend in West Hollywood, Larry, who did some acting in the 1970s and early 1980s, and now worked in the casting department at Paramount. He had a very nice house in the heart...
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The Mystery of Cavelo
When I was in grad school at Indiana University, the only place you could get gay books and magazines was in the adult bookstore. Of course, they had porn, too.I was particularly drawn to two albums...
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