I never realized the effect a handsome model in a panda print could have on me. I’ve totally forgotten it is Monday morning.
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Tag Archives: Gay
Pre-Stonewall exhibit of a 1950s gay haven
Safe / Haven: Gay Life in the 1950s Cherry Grove
Are you planning a trip to New York City later this year? The New York Historical Society Museum and Library has a free, outdoor exhibit that might be of interest to you. Entitled, Safe / Haven: Gay Life in the 1950s Cherry Grove, will run from May 14 – October 11, 2021 in the Museum & Library back courtyard. Out of consideration for public health, social distancing is required and timed-entry tickets need to be reserved here.
During weekends and summers in the pre-Stonewall era, gay men and women, including many New Yorkers, traveled to the secluded beach town of Cherry Grove on Fire Island where they found opportunities for sexual exploration and self-expression—behavior that was both stigmatized and criminalized in the US. Together with creative figures like Truman Capote, W.H. Auden, Carson McCullers, and Patricia Highsmith, visitors partook in costumed parties, theatrical events, and liberated atmosphere that this gay sanctuary provided. The exhibition explores the gay and lesbian community that flourished during the 1950s in Cherry Grove through some 70 enlarged photographs and additional ephemera from the unique holdings of the Cherry Grove Archives Collection.
More information about the 70 photographs that comprise this unique exhibit is available here.
Posted in Art & Film, Gay
Tagged Art and Film, BosGuy, Boston Guy, Cherry Grove, Gay, Photography
Monday morning mancandy
If this is what the guys in the office looked like, I’d be counting down the days ’til the office reopens.
Monday morning mancandy
This week’s mancandy post is suitably distracting to help you forget it is Monday morning.
Monday morning mancandy
This week’s mancandy post is suitably distracting to help you forget it is Monday morning.
Bay Windows is for sale
New England’s largest LGBTQ+ newspaper is for sale
Co-publishers Sue O’Connell and Jeff Coakley are putting New England’s LGBTQ+ newspaper, Bay Windows (and its sister publication South End News) up for sale according to this post on Facebook, this article in Bay Windows, and this article in yesterday’s Boston Globe.
Jim Hoover was Bay Windows first publisher when the newspaper started printing in 1985. He sold the newspaper in the early 2000s to O’Connell and Coakley who have been the co-publishing this weekly paper ever since. In its heyday this was a weekly publication that everyone read. My personal favorite was the missed connections and personals in the back – they could be hilarious to read. For decades, Bay Windows was the source for openings (and closings), LGBTQ+ events and programming, and news that was important to the community. Case in point, everyone read Bay Windows in the early 2000s when Massachusetts became ground zero in the Marriage Equality debate and those first couple years following the State Supreme Court ruling.
While it is sad to read that Bay Windows is up for sale, and I wonder about its future, I do wish Sue O’Connell and Jeff Coakley much luck. Their work and dedication to this paper helped enrich and enliven the LGBTQ+ gay community, and I feel a debt of gratitude toward them.
Posted in Boston, Gay, Massachusetts
Tagged BosGuy, Boston Guy, Gay, New England Gay News
Monday morning mancandy
This week’s mancandy post is suitably distracting to help you forget it is Monday morning.
Monday morning mancandy
This week’s mancandy post is suitably distracting to help you forget it is Monday morning.
New gay programming on Dekkoo
I’ve teamed up with Dekkoo (pronounced “DECK-koo”), the premiere subscription-based streaming service dedicated to gay men with the largest streaming collection of gay-centric entertainment available. Below is recently released content on Dekkoo, available for download and viewing with a subscription.
In addition to gay programming this month on Dekkoo, Boston’s Wicked Queer Film Festival is running through the month of April. The queer film festival is being streamed so anyone with an Internet connection can download, watch and rate featured shorts, documentaries and feature films this month.
New programming on Dekkoo
Drawn Back Home (2020) 1 hour 47 minutes: After the death of his father and end of his marriage Eric becomes restless and rudderless. When an old friend comes to town looking to reconnect with Eric the two must navigate unresolved issues of the past and uncertainties of the future. Available on Dekkoo, starting April 1, 2021.
Marathon (2010) 1 hour 23 minutes: When famed Poet Laureate William Meredith suffers a debilitating stroke, his long-term partner Richard fights for the right to care for him. This true story is a poignant and inspiring testament to the triumph of love. Available on Dekkoo, starting April 6, 2021.
Spectrum (2019) 37 minutes: A diverse array of lives intersect over one night in Manchester’s gay village. Available on Dekkoo, starting April 7, 2021.
Complete Strangers (2020) 1 hour 45 minutes (Spain): A recovering alcoholic returns to his hometown after a hiatus, and falls in love with a man who will turn his world upside down. Available on Dekkoo, starting April 7, 2021.
Gay Films & Short Movies Coming Out Later This Month
Madame (2019) documentary, 1 hour 34 minutes: A grandmother and her grandson engage in an intimate conversation, exploring gender, sexuality and transmission of identity. RATING: 7.4 out of 10 on IMDB. Available on Dekkoo, starting April 13, 2021. Let People Exit Before Boarding (2018) From Mexico, 13 minute: Jesus and Pablo, two teenagers, travel around Monterrey city along one night in order to find the right place to have sex for the first time. RATING: Not rated on IMDB. Available on Dekkoo, starting April 14, 2021. Sebastian (2017) 1 hour 17 minutes: Alex and Sebastian meet one fateful evening and it's love at first sight. However, Alex has a boyfriend and Sebastian is only visiting Toronto for one week until he has to return home to Argentina. Sebastian chronicles their week-long romance and as the week ends what will they decide to do? RATING: 5.3 out of 10 on IMDB. Available on Dekkoo, starting April 15, 2021. Rialto (2019) From Ireland, 1 hour 30 minutes: Colm is happily married in Dublin, but after his father's death and the loss of his job, his emotional life cracks open. Drinking heavily, Colm finds himself drawn to Jay, a 19-year-old who dabbles in prostitution. Their sexual encounters and tentative friendship become Colm's only solace - but this recklessness puts his family-life at risk. RATING: 6.1 out of 10 on IMDB. Available on Dekkoo, starting April 20, 2021. Fall To Fame (2020) 9 minutes: Following his first Grammy nomination, a young, gay rock star is confronted with the painful price of his ambition. RATING: Not rated on IMDB. Available on Dekkoo, starting April 21, 2021. My Dead Ones (2018) 1 hour 52 minutes: Behind the looks of a shy film student, David hides an obscure past that is about to be revealed. RATING: 6.1 out of 10 on IMDB. Available on Dekkoo, starting April 22, 2021. What Women Want: Gay Romance (2020) documentary from Canada, 48 minutes: Women are the overwhelming majority of writers, publishers, readers and fans of gay male romance novels. Dive into the Gay Rom Lit convention in Albuquerque, NM to discover why. RATING: 7.2 out of 10 on IMDB. Available on Dekkoo, starting April 27, 2021. The Gust (2019) From The Netherlands 31 minutes: Weeks after Hurricane María devastated Puerto Rico, a lonely middle-aged man finds himself obsessing with his squatter neighbor, a young closeted and tormented athlete who insistently pursues his attention. RATING: Not rated on IMDB. Available on Dekkoo, starting April 28, 2021. Stone Fruit (2020) 1 hour 35 minutes: Russ and Manny have drifted apart in their marriage but have seemingly come to terms with their decision to divorce at the start of their final trip together. RATING: 6.4 out of 10 on IMDB. Available on Dekkoo, starting April 29, 2021.
I would like to include more gay programming. If you have any suggestions, let me know how I can improve this monthly post.
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.
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.
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.
Monday morning mancandy
May this post help distract you from the fact that it is a Monday morning.
Boston’s gay bars of yore
Which Boston gay bar do you miss the most?
Russ Lopez book, The Hub of the Gay Universe: An LGBTQ History of Boston, Provincetown and Beyond shares how vibrant Boston’s gay scene was through the much of the 20th century. After WWII, Boston had more than a dozen gay bars. Those numbers would continue to proliferate over the coming decades (peaking in the 1970s – 90s) alongside other businesses that catered to the local gay community.
Last year Machine / Ramrod closed after a developer purchased the building it was located in to turn the block into residences. And a few weeks ago, I shared that the Boston Eagle has permnantly closed. The loss of these spaces has reignited the discussion about the slow demise of the gay bar in Boston, and it made me wonder, what gay bar from Boston’s past do you miss the most?
Monday morning mancandy
May this post help distract you from the fact that it is a Monday morning.
BosGuy 