This guy makes wearing a tiny white Speedo look so easy and so appealing.
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Category Archives: Gay
Debated but not counted: Measuring the LGBT community with Mohamed Younis and Dr. Gary Gates
Last week, The Gallup Podcast with host Mohamed Younis invited leading LGBT demographer, Dr. Gary Gates, to help unpack Gallup’s 2021 update on the growing U.S. LGBT community and to discuss why these numbers make a big difference for public policy, visibility and increasing social acceptance.
The 20+ minute podcast is worth listening to if you find this sort of discussion interesting. The podcast opens with the host asking Dr. Gates why this research even matters? Gates points out that long before the LGBT community was being counted, it was the subect of a lot of public debate and laws despite very little being known about these people in an empircal sense.
Due to laws that were passed, harrassment by police and the general public, few were comfortable identifying as LGBT when demographers started asking people questions about their sexuality. Over time, people became more inclined to self-identify in pockets. Men and women who lived in more accepting places self-identified in greater percentages and numbers first but this took time for demographers to realize and explains why larger percentages of the population initially were found in enclaves like San Francisco.
5.6% of the US now identify as LGBT: Why this number continues to grow
When the LGBT community first started being counted in the early 2000s a little more than 3% of the population self-identified as such, but as laws that discriminated against the LGBT community were overturned or found unconstitutional, growing public acceptance followed and more came forward. In Gallup’s most recent poll, 5.6% of the US population now identifies as LGBT (up from 4.5% in 2017).
Based on what Dr. Gates shared, it seems likely that the LGBT community is going to continue to grow. In the Gallup survey one of the most striking data points shared was that 1 in 6 members of Gen Z (those born between 1997 – 2015) self-identify as LGBT. Members of Gen Z range in age between 6 – 24 and are 68 million strong, representing 21% of the total United States population.
The fastest growing portion of the LGBT community is those identifying as bisexual and this is largely being driven by young women. The bisexual community now accounts for more than half of the LGBT community and is likely to continue to grow when you consider Gen Y and Gen Z’s views towards sexuality and gender identification.
If you find this subject of interest, you can listen to the 23 minute podcast here, ‘Debated but Not Counted’: Measuring the LGBT Community. You can also read the findings published by Gallup here.
Hat tip to Kenneth in the 212 for sharing this on his blog last week.
Vintage gay
Much thanks to the Twitter handle @oldmasc, which recently shared this as a Fleet. I’m fairly certain these guys are not gay, but the expression on the guy facing the camera makes me laugh and captures a moment in time – probably one of very few lighthearted moments these men were able to enjoy. I assume this was taken during WWII, but I welcome anyone who can shed more light on either this military social or the uniforms that might help date the photo.
I dedicate this weekly post, featuring vintage gay photographs, to the men and women who lived in a more critical time where being true to yourself and loving who you want wasn’t always an option and came at a great price. Do you have a photo you would like to share? Email me at bosguymail@gmail.com.
Book review: Hard by Wayne Hoffman
Hard by Wayne Hoffman, first published in 2006, is set in the mid- to late-1990s and centers on two men Frank DeSoto and Moe Pearlman and their respective circle of friends.
The novel takes place when Giuliani (although he is never mentioned by name) was mayor of New York City and intent upon “cleaning up” NYC. In many cases this was code for closing may gay establishments. The mayor (unknowingly) had the support of Frank DeSoto, the publisher of NYC’s only gay newspaper. Frank’s past promiscuous behavior had resulted in his losing most of his friends and the love of his life to AIDS. Determined to save the next generation from the same fate, Frank uses his self-funded gay newspaper as a bullypulpit to chastise gay men for what he viewed as reckless sexual behavior and ignoring the lessons of the previous generation.
Moe Pearlman is a Jewish man in his mid- to late 20s who moved from Washington, D.C. to NYC for graduate school the previous year and fell in love with the gay scene. Led by his libido and a political activism born out of Act Up and other sex-positive grassroots organizations in NYC, Moe is determined to live his life as he sees fit and bristles at the paternal postulations from Frank and the conservative mayor seeking to make a name for himself in an otherwise liberal city.
I really enjoyed the 300-page novel, which centers on gay sexual liberation, relationships and gay life in New York City. Hoffman captures the times beautifully as the gay community’s political activism born out of a public health crisis (AIDS) was slowly gaining acceptance and increasingly becoming commercialized. While Moe is the main character and his wrangling with Frank constitute much of the storyline, Hoffman enriches the story by delving into key relationships both men have which makes the characters more human and relatable. This includes the loving dynamic between Frank and his in-laws long after their son has passed. Moe’s relationship with his family, former lover and best friend.
For any gay man who was sexually active in the 1990s, the relationship dynamics and tensions in the gay community on what it meant to be “sexually responsible” will resonate. It is one of the few books I’ve read about that time which grapples with the issue of AIDS and sexaulity that had me turning pages late into the night and not filled with dread or depressed. The book is sexually explicit but not at the expense of the narrative, which makes the story all the more compelling and enjoyable to read.
If you’re interested in purchasing this book and open to supporting local bookstores, try one of the links I’ve shared. The links below will take you right to the book so you can order it online in just a couple of clicks.
Brookline Booksmith in Coolidge Corner
Harvard Bookstore in Harvard Square
Porter Square Bookstore in Porter Square
Trident Bookseller’s & Cafe in Back Bay
Men in kilts
Does anyone know who this guy is? I love everything about this look and how he is smiling into the camera. Do you think the leather strap on his left bicep is by chance (assuming he is right handed) or an intentional and not so subtle message for gay men? If he had more body hair he’d be the ideal muscle bear. Much thanks to the Facebook Group, Men Who Like Men In Kilts, which posted this photo.
Monday morning mancandy
It has been quite some time since I’ve featured the handsome Italian teacher turned model, Pietro Boselli, but if anyone can distract you from the fact that it is a Monday morning, my money is on Pietro.
Saturday morning coffee
I believe I may have posted this photo previously but think it is worthy of a repost. WDYT?
Furry Friday
Much thanks to BosGuy blog reader, John F, for sharing and suggesting this photo as a potential Furry Friday.
Vintage gay
I’ve posted this photo previously because I find it so funny I thought it might make for a good April Fools post. I can’t recall when people suggested this photo may have been taken but my assumption is in the 1940s or possibly the 1950s. What do you think?
I dedicate this weekly post, featuring vintage gay photographs, to the men and women who lived in a more critical time where being true to yourself and loving who you want wasn’t always an option and came at a great price. Do you have a photo you would like to share? Email me at bosguymail@gmail.com.
Boston’s Wicked Queer Film Festival
The 37th annual Wicked Queer Film Festival (Boston’s LGBTQ+ celebration of queer film) starts Thursday, April 1, 2021 and will run through the month. The festival will be broadcast on Xerb TV with special screenings also available on The Brattlelite (The Brattle Theatre’s virtual cinema) later in the month.
While it is disappointing that New England’s longest running queer film festival cannot return to movie houses this year, it does afford anyone with an Internet connection the opportunity to participate and watch some of these great independent films so I encourage anyone who enjoys queer cinema to consider checking it out.
This year’s film festival includes 13 experimental shorts, 8 films that speak to the trans community and share their stories, as well as 23 new feature films that will premiere from April 8 – 18, 2021.
You can learn more about all of the great films that will be showing through April as part of the 37th Wicked Queer Film Festival by visiting the event website at, wickedqueer.org.
Men in kilts
Doesn’t he look dapper in blue? What’s not to like about this week’s men in kilts post!?!
Monday morning mancandy
May this post help distract you from the fact that it is a Monday morning.
Saturday morning coffee
Anyone else love this guy’s sweater? Maybe it is just the setting and how he wears it, but I love this look.
