THEGAYUK

Author: Barry Heap

  • OPINION: Haters Back Off Tom Daley

    OPINION: Haters Back Off Tom Daley

    So Tom Daley came out, cue the cynical tweets jokes and comments. W, ll maybe it’s just time for haters to back off.

    Tom Daley first rose to public attention at the age of 15 as part of the Team GB in the baiting Olympics. He was the public schoolboy living the dream. He was competing on an international stage and doing what he did best and staying at the top of his field. Media profile has always been pretty high due to public appearances and interviews.

    Of course speculation about his sexuality has been rife. When he fronted the popular ITV show “splash” screen grabs flew around of him “checking out” one of the contestants . On Twitter, The results read like a witch-hunt and were particularly vicious.

    At the time I had written an article defending Tom and have since contemplated using his name in an article about celebrity’s coming out. However I took the decision to not publish in either. As a gay man, I was unwilling to add my voice to what I perceived as an online witch-hunt of a younger man.

    While I was defending him, adding my voice to an ongoing narrative seemed wrong and like I was only adding to the debate. Straight or gay everyone deserves the opportunity to come to terms with their own sexuality and their limits on their own terms. Tom has grown up in the public spot light and has been hounded by this question. For some of us, we are sure of our sexuality and proud of who we are. It’s easy to forget that some people don’t have the luxury and need to be comfortable in it before they tell people. Aside from their own comfort it’s also their right as a human being.

    When you are becoming comfortable with your own sexuality, it’s neither helpful nor useful for people to be speculating or questioning you on the matter. It one thing to be able to come out to your friends and family. It’s another to have to do it on a national stage. I wonder how many of the people critising Tom online have had to come out in those circumstances?

    People don’t come out for various reasons, confidence is one and guilt and shame are others. The constant questioning can often make the announcement seem bigger than it is. I notice that the online criticism is around what Tom actually said. He neither used the term Gay or Bisexual just simply confirmed that he was in a relationship with a man. He is using terms that he is comfortable, he feels safe in the relationship and this has given him the confidence to be able to come out publically.

    So for all the people ready to jump in with the comments:

    “This is news?”

    “About time?”

    “I knew all along”

    “In other shocking news, water is wet”

    I’m shocked at the lack of empathy being shown by the gay community, clearly coming out was so long ago that we appear to have lost touch with the frustrating and scary feelings around what can be a defining moment in any person’s life.

    The news is not that Tom Daley has come out; the news is that Tom Daley is done with hiding who he is. He’s stated that he’s happy in a relationship and ends the video by talking about his next training session and hoping that people still want to follow his journey. He’s an Olympian and that’s clearly where his life is focused. Maybe it’s time to let him get on with it. Gay straight or Bi makes no different to his performance but I hope he can walk a little taller and a little more confident in himself

     

    Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, its management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.

  • OPINION | Why don’t we come out?

    Over this month you will have no doubt read many articles and stories about how people have come out. Across the gay community, it is the one thing we all have in common; we all have a story to tell.

    Some are happy stories that strengthen relationships and make the ties that bind closer. Others have had negative effects on relationships for various different reasons. My personal experience was generally apathy. I had a lot of “yes, I know” and “oh, is that all?” I’m not exactly a stereotype either, I don’t like girls aloud, I’m not fashionable or into male grooming. I’m fat and a geek.

    Even working as a counsellor with LGBT clients who have not had a positive reaction, I have never come across anyone that has regretted doing so. Most are upset and hurt that they have been rejected but proud that they have found the strength to say proudly and honestly who they are.

    So what stops us from coming out? How do we rationalise this away? Here are a few things that may prevent people from my personal experience and work with clients.

     

    Fear of change

    Fear of change is probably being the biggest blocker for most changes, Whether or not we are looking at coming out, changing career, moving or ending a relationship. No matter how unhappy people are the fear of taking the leap into the unknown is enough to stop them.

    Change is scary but without it nothing will ever be any different. I remember waking up the morning after coming out to my parents and regretting it. I was scared because I did not know the rules anymore. I knew how to lie and manipulate the truth so they never found out. I did not know how to be open and honest with them. But in the longer term guess which option was less stressful and frustrating.

     

    They know anyway

    My rationale was always that I was 90% sure that my parents knew anyway, they had stopped asking about relationships and dating. It was the big pink elephant in the room that was not referred to. The 10% left was doubt because I had never discussed it and avoided the topic of conversation. The counsellor that I was working with at the time challenged me that if I was so sure why wasn’t I having the conversation. She was right; this was a very subtle form of denial. If we can avoid the situation then it does not need to be dealt with.

     

    Timing and circumstance

    Of course everybody has the right to do things at their own pace and circumstances. My fear of being outed was always around the fact that I felt it was my human right to have this conversation when I was ready. I had been confused as to what my actual sexuality was. When I was younger there were not a lot of positive role models around that I could identify with. To be a gay was to be effeminate and less of a man. That was how you were perceived and that didn’t fit with me. I was not confident in my sexuality or ready to have that discussion. Once I admitted to myself that I was gay, I knew that the conversation would need to happen

     

    They will hate me for lying to them

    I was 32, gay and hadn’t come out to my parents. I felt that I had gone past a reasonable amount of time where I could tell them. Aside from not telling them about my sexuality, I had close relationship to them. I was afraid that they would feel betrayed. The issue of me being gay no longer felt like a concern, the issue of me being a liar was very much present. When I came out to my parents I asked them if they felt this way, my dad had said it was my business and had I chosen not to tell them so he respected my privacy.

    So when it finally came down to it, all my reasons were blockers and negative thoughts. None turned out to be legitimate concerns. I appreciate that this will not ring true for everyone and I can’t tell you that it is an easy path to choose.

    But I can tell you this, I didn’t realise the weight I was carrying till it was gone. I respected myself a lot more for having been completely honest about the person I am and it has been the most liberating experience of my life. I know who I am now and so does the world.

     

    Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, it’s management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.

  • OPINION | Wrestling With Sexuality

    Professional wrestler Darren Young has come out, instead of a carefully worded and sensitive confessional style interview, he did this during an on the spot chat with TMZ while collecting his luggage.

    When asked if an openly gay wrestler could be successful in the WWE, he replied: “Absolutely, absolutely! Look at me. I’m a WWE Superstar, and to be honest with you I’m gay. And I’m happy, very happy.”

    He remarked that he was unconcerned with how it would be perceived and it shouldn’t change a thing.

    By choosing to come out he has become the first openly gay wrestler in the WWE.

    Darren Young is currently one half of the tag team, the Prime Time Players with Titus O’Neil. The team’s intro track and music refers them as committed and serious athletes in pursuit of wealth and status. On Young’s Twitter account it states his life “revolves around three things — Money, Women and Wrestling.”

    It’s not unusual for a gay man to portray an overtly heterosexual man, look at Neil Patrick Harris in “How I Met Your Mother” or Jeremy Sheffield in “Hollyoaks”.

    How this will play into the WWE storylines remains to be seen.

    The WWE has issued an official statement saying that they are proud of Darren Young for being so open about his sexuality and pledged to support him as a WWE superstar. Fellow wrestler John Cena has also publically backed him. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon have also tweeted messages of support.

    It would not be the first time a wrestler has come out, Chris Kanyon had previously been active within the WWE but was released from his contract due to a string of injuries and relapses. During a promotional activity, he began telling people that he was fired from the WWE for being gay. He later admitted he had only completed the interviews as a publicity stunt. In his autobiography, he later admitted that he was gay. Sadly Kanyon also suffered from bi-polar disorder and later committed suicide, using anti-depressants in 2010.

    Looking over the entire industry and WWE’s brand of sport entertainment, it feels like a bold move. The focus of wrestling is combat based testosterone feuds. How a gay man plays into this as an equal remains to be seen. However with an increasingly viable presence of LGBT characters in films, television and comic books it feels important.

    Looking at it from a professional athletics perspective, role models are necessary to make the move towards equality. Gareth Thomas, Robbie Rogers and John Amaechi all came out after they had retired.

    Darren Young is a true inspiration; he is involved with anti-bullying initiatives and promoting diversity. He is a man at the prime of his career refusing to hide who he is and carrying on doing what he loves in life.

    Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, its management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.

  • OPINION | Naked On The Newsstand

    This week has seen Co-Op request that lads mags Nuts Zoo and Front either provide a less graphic cover or supply a modesty bag if they want to continue to be displayed on their shelves.

    Tesco have agreed a compromise about displaying the covers and only selling the agreed publications to over 18’s…

    So what the real problem? Flesh in a word. It seems once again being naked is being linked with being offensive. The initial targets which are aimed at a readership of primarily young men. They are not porn and you may argue that they are the logical evolution of page 3 pin-ups. They are little more than titillation. Barely more than glossy air brushed pin-ups of scantily clad women. To be fair it seems an easy target.

    So does this impact the gay world? Not yet. Looking across the newsstands to compare, publications such as GT and Attitude regularly publish covers where the male cover star is in similar states of undress. It’s almost become a cliché to see a sportsman or pop-star on the cover with nothing more than a cheeky smile and something covering their assets. Looking on a broader scale, men’s fitness magazines show models in a tiny pair of shorts displaying their perfectly sculpted body and telling the reader that they can get the body that they want in 6 easy steps. All of the examples show a similar or more amounts of flesh.
    Please do not read this as a complaint.

    So what is the difference between the different genders? Women are perceived as being vulnerable when naked but men are not.? Men are always strong and masculine; they aren’t sex objects. If a bunch of women go to see male strippers it’s seen as being a laugh and fun. If the genders are reversed it’s perceived as seedy. To be naked is normal, and for men and women who make a living from doing so, it is a choice. Are they being exploited? I don’t think so, to be near naked on the cover of a magazine is a great career move and brings publicity and attention. The true exploitation is of the readers’ expectations, we are being promised “Duncan James Naked” but what we are getting is nude.

    I can understand that as retailers Tesco and Co-op would want to appeal to the broadest commercial market. By agreeing to cover up, they have appeased campaigners and are able to carry on selling the magazines. But the whole argument seems too close to moral outrage over nothing, are we really that offended at seeing naked people in this day and age?

    How much are we really protecting children by covering up magazines when pop videos continue to push the envelope in terms of nudity and content?

    A visit to any beach abroad would provide much more graphic imagery for free than the side boob and concealed nipples in the publications named.

    When it comes to the male body it is more acceptable to show more, even George Clooney’s bat suit had nipples on it. Nightclub promotions on the gay scene are commonplace in featuring a naked man because of the links with hedonism.

    We live in an increasingly body conscious society and we teach people to be proud of their own body shape and size, but the message seems to be just don’t show it for fear of offending others.

     

    Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, its management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.

  • OPINION | Fat?

    Recently, myself and a friend had a photo taken with a celebrity; he was a reality TV star, porn performer and current member of the dream boys.

    He was sunbathing when we met him and was wearing only a pair of shorts. I was wearing an open shirt and a t-shirt underneath. Of course, he was really charming and looked great and I joked with him and my friends that this would be great for my self-esteem. This would prove worryingly accurate.

    Let me just explain, I’ve always been confident in my own body, I’m not chubby I’m not big boned. I’m fat. I’ve always been overweight since being a teenager and it had been a journey to become comfortable in my own skin. I’ve not exactly led a lazy lifestyle; I didn’t have a car so I walked everywhere. I previously enjoyed hiking and would often walk 10 miles without breaking a sweat. I’m a bigger guy but I’m healthy. I had tried joining gyms and different exercise classes. I even experimented on every fad diet over the years and my body has altered but I’ve accepted that whatever I try I will always be a little bit fat. This can put me at odds within the gay community as I don’t exactly fit into any category, I’m never going to be wearing skinny jeans and a tight t-shirt but apparently I’m not big enough to be a chub.

    Since I stopped fighting this and accepting this I’ve become more confident as a person, like my sexuality; it’s who I am. When I first met my boyfriend and began dating I asked if he was a chubby chaser in a jokey manner. He responded that he thought this was an offensive term and that I wasn’t fat. He said that he loved my body and would hate for me to lose weight. I obviously love him.

    A few years ago I had joined a local gym to get in shape for a hike that I was doing for charity. I was offered a free session with a personal trainer to show me how to work out properly. During the session he made several remarks about how my self-confidence would increase as I lost weight. He also said if I was single, that if I was more toned than I would have no problems with the ladies, After one remark too many I told him I wasn’t that interested in what weight I was or how fat I am, I was there to get healthier for the task of raising money for cancer research, I stated to him that I probably had a better body image than most of his clients if his idea of coaching was to call them fat, I also told him I was gay, know your audience.

    Coming back to the here and now, I am still confident in myself and the body that I own, realistically I’m not a stripper or model, the only six pack I will ever own will be beer. I don’t train every day nor am I ever likely to. Of course I have had snide remarks from vicious queens over the years because of my size but they don’t live in the skin. The only opinion I truly care about is the person who stares back at me in the mirror, because I have to look him in the eye for the rest of my life.

    Confidence is not an absolute it is a state of mind. I had a wobble and momentarily compared myself against someone else and came up short in my own mind. So what did I do? A couple of days later I was supposed to go swimming before work but felt unmotivated to get up.

    I talked to myself sternly, it’s ok to feel unhappy with your body from time to time, but there is only you that have the power to make any change mentally and physically. I used the negative energy to drag my arse out of bed and into the pool.

     

    Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, its management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.

  • COLUMN | Stay Lucky

    This month disco chart duo Daft Punk tweeted a picture their own range of condoms. The “Get Lucky” range is named after their recent hit and the packaging features the cover art from their latest album “Random Access Memories”.

    At first it was thought that this was a promotion with Durex, however they have stated that they are not involved. This maybe a cheeky bit of self-promotion or clever marketing synergy however it has got people talking about the band.

    This is not the first time musicians or bands have promoted condoms.

    In 2011, glam rock icons Kiss launched a range of their own condoms. The initial design featured Gene Simmons legendary tongue across the- ahem- length of the product. Although they passed all the relevant safety tests and requirements that condoms are required to, they were very much a novelty item based around the link between rock and roll and sex. They were licensed as an official kiss product. Wills and Kate, David Beckham and Mischa Barton have found themselves on condom wrappers although these are unofficial products.

    On the more serious side of the spectrum, Lady Gaga dressed as a giant condom on breakfast television in America promoting safe sex. Outrageous.

    Popular boy band and reality TV stars JLS released their own range of condoms last year. At the time this certainly raised some eyebrows due to the young age of their fan base. The band were partnered with Durex for this campaign and saw each member of the group have their photo and individual colour scheme on a wrapper. In comparison to the other examples, The JLS condom range was released as part of the Just Love Safe campaign through the JLS foundation, a charity the band had set up to empower and excite young people. The sales from the condoms went back into the foundation. The press release at the time stated that the UK had the highest rate of teen STI’s in Europe.

    Realistically we live in an age of celebrity, whether it’s for talent, ability or simply good positioning, ordinary people are elevated into positions of notoriety and that’s really what celebrity endorsements are all about, bringing attention to both the celebrity and the product being sold. Some will use that fame responsibly to promote important causes such as safer sex.

    Celebrities maybe used as a mouthpiece to promote different causes because on some level we may respect them, but when it really comes to safe sex does it matter?

    Realistically the only person you need to have respect for is yourself. Does it matter what a singer from a TV programme thinks about your sexual health? You are in control.

    The Gay UK’s No Excuse project is about you having that control. It means that condoms, lube and sexual health screening are all available online. If you are self-conscious about buying protection or just struggle to afford them, the option for you to get help and support is there. It’s not about following trends. It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks as long as you are protecting yourself.
    www.noexcuseproject.co.uk

  • How gay is X Men?

    X-men the gay metaphor.

    This month sees the release of “The Wolverine”. Marking the 6th time that Hugh Jackman has portrayed the character on screen. His portrayal of the physically unbreakable muscle bear obviously has attracted a huge gay fan base, but this is not uncommon for the characters from Marvel’s Mighty Mutants.

    The X-men series actually debuted back in 1963, unlike other heroes at the time who were human and gained their powers through radiation, the X-Men were a different species that carried the “X” gene that granted their powers. They were born that way baby.

    The series initially focused on five straight white American teenagers who attended the “Xavier School For Gifted Youngsters”. The team would operate in costume to conceal their real identities, in day to day life they would take lengths to conceal their unique abilities for fear of being outed as mutants. Most of their parents were even unaware of the true purpose of the Xavier School, thinking it was just a finishing school. It was a series about diversity and tolerances as long as you were willing to look and act like a “regular” person.

    All of this changed in 1975 with Giant Size x-men #1. The team became an international collection of Mutants. Wolverine, a yellow-cla Canadian secret agent was introduced to the team, alongside a Nightcrawler, a German who had the appearance of a devil, a Russian Strongman, a Native American and Storm, the first black female super hero in main stream comics. The X-Men now truly represented diversity. The team was at odds with itself as much as the rest of the world.

    As the Series continued, Nightcrawler refused to mask himself in public and appear human. He was proud of whom and what he was and was no longer prepared to hide anymore. In the classic “Days Of Future Past” the X-Men tried to prevent a dystopian future from coming to pass. Evil robots had taken over the world and enslaved humanity. The surviving members of the team lived in a concentration camp. They were forced to wear uniforms that had the letter “M” emblazoned on them, drawing parallels with the pink triangle from Nazi Germany.

    Religion was also used to illustrate the point, many Christian hate groups appeared of the classic run of the series, denouncing mutants as the devil’s children and abominations. In “God Loves, Man Kills” the X-Men are targeted by such a group who use the team founder Professor X against them. With the super powered threat defeated, the team march into a hate rally to confront the real enemy, Prejudice.

    As the years went on other writers used the metaphor in different ways. In the 90s the legacy virus was introduced. It was a virus that only affected mutants to begin with. At the time it was comparable to HIV/ AIDS. However as the story continued, one of the X-Men allies who had been working on a cure became the first human to be diagnosed. Northstar, a mutant who had debuted in X-Men, also became Marvel’s first open Gay Superhero. He joined the team for a brief stint and later became a fixture.

    More recently, the X-Men relocated their base of operations to San Francisco and refused to be closeted or hid away anymore. In stark contrast they courted the media by working directly with the mayor’s office and their own PR firm. Northstar also wed his partner Kyle in 2012, a move that led to online Christian groups calling for a boycott from Toys R US selling X-Men comics.

    The comics industry has changed so much in many ways since the X-Men’s debut 60 years ago. Many other series across the different publishers have portrayed LGBT characters and storylines, but the X-Men will always be important to me. As a teenager I could relate strongly to the characters and the prejudice they face. Rather than become bitter or resentful they used their abilities to fight for a better world and defend those that hate and fear them. It’s a powerful draw to many LGBT teenagers, to see a group of people who stand together, support each other and dream of acceptance. Of course it doesn’t help that Hugh Jackman is buff and easy on the eye but that won’t be the only reason I’ll be watching “The Wolverine”

     

    Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, its management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.

  • 8 Celebrities who share their birthday with THEGAYUK

    As you may have noticed TheGayUK is celebrating its first birthday this month and we’re very proud of this! Who else will be blowing the candles out on a cake this month?

    Lindsay Lohan- former child star, former mean girl, former girlfriend of DJ Samantha Ronson and current tabloid darling thanks to her very public meltdowns.

    Julian Assange- the  Wikileaks founder and international tourist. Assange is currently living in London at the Ecuadorean Embassy under political asylum, to prevent his deportation back to Sweden and the United States. As such he is unlikely to be tucking into a rainbow coloured cupcake this year.

    Tom Hanks- Hollywood’s go to nice guy. Way back in 1993, Tom Hanks starred in the film “Philadelphia” portraying a gay man with AIDS fighting an unfair dismissal case against his former employers. This was considered ground-breaking at the time as it was one of the first mainstream Hollywood films to tackle Aids/HIV and Homophobia. It was for this role that Tom Hanks collected his first Oscar.

    Matthew fox- everybody’s favourite “Lost” boy and male grooming promoter. There’s no other reason to why he is include on this list other than for some eye candy.

    Jane lynch – Everybody’s favourite Glee Villain, Jane Lynch portrays cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester in the popular musical comedy which has brought her multiple awards. Lynch lives as an openly gay woman and frequently appears on lists of influential out celebrities. Unfortunately, earlier this year she announced her divorce from wife.

    The Hoff- the Man the Icon, David Hasselhoff has huge gay appeal, from the camp talking car to the tight red lifeguard shorts and the dodgy pop career. He counts Radio One DJ Scott Mills as a friend and a fan.

    Daniel Radcliffe- Free from the days of his bespectacled wand waver, Daniel has embarked on many different dramatic roles. In the upcoming film “Kill Your Darlings” he plays Beat poet Alan Ginsberg. Role. The film is already being discussed in terms of the graphic gay sex scenes featuring Radcliffe and I’m sure that it will be the biggest gay audience since “Magic Mike”

    JK Rowling- Author and philanthropist. The only person to have ever bumped themselves from the top of rich list by giving too much to charity. Earlier this month, JK was “outed” as a crime writer Robert Galbraith. This ensured a surge in sales for the novel meaning that Rowling had more money for balloons!

  • COMMENT | What’s your magic number?

    So what’s your magic number? You know the number that I’m talking about…

    Some of you might have shifted uncomfortably upon reading that or being asked? But don’t worry I’m not looking for answers.

    The number in question, of course, refers to the number of sexual partners that you have had. What quite defines a number varies from each person’s list and each conversation. I suspect that this is due to each person’s desire to either increase or decrease the total for their own reasons.

    Of course, this is commonly asked at the start of many a relationship, but why the hell do we care? And what is the impact? Coming into a relationship we may have many questions about our partners, while the questions may be free from judgment, what we are doing is trying to get a better picture of who that person is and their suitability as a partner.

    As human beings, we tend to fill the gaps with our own imaginations and therefore we create an idealised view of that person from what we know. By getting to know them better we are testing to see if our perception matches reality. However, we all have history and that can be very different from the place that the other person finds themselves in at present.

    By challenging our perspectives of other people we are inviting change into a relationship, for example if you felt your boyfriends figure was too high, would you still hold them in the same regard. Of course they have not changed as a person the only shift is our perception of them; of course if they are on grindr with their junk hanging out in their profile picture, you’ve got a pretty good idea that they aren’t sat at home at night sewing quilts for the church fete.

    In male-male relationships, this can sometimes cause additional frictions, as there may be an on-going power struggle for the dominant male. If one man perceives himself as the alpha male in the relationship, he may feel emasculated upon discovering his partner has a higher number. In the short term, he may become isolated and jealous. In the longer term, it may become resentment.

    Of course there is the flip side, I have known someone in the past who has called off an engagement because he found out that she wasn’t a virgin, and yes he was Catholic but when you’re in your 40s chances are against it? He admitted that it was a silly situation but the woman he had loved had become someone different in his eyes.

    I think the crux of the argument is how much of your past defines your future. As a person centred counsellor I work with the here and now, clients are powerless to change the past but making sense of it allows them to begin to shape the future. The important thing to remember at the start of any new relationship is that both parties have intentions to leave the past behind and create a new future together.
    If you feel that you want to know your partners number, ask yourself why? What are you hoping to gain? Asking that question is like opening Pandora’s box, once it is open there is it cannot be closed again and the consequences will need to be dealt with.

    Can a leopard change its spots? Yes, absolutely. If someone has an especially high number it may mean that they were unsure about what they were looking for, but they find something appealing in you that makes them want to change. Should they be ashamed of the person they were? Certainly not and neither should they be defined or judged by it.

    And I’m not telling you my magic number.

     

    Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, its management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.

  • MANCHESTER: Spread The Sparkle

    As different cities up and down the country are gearing up and winding down from pride events, it’s an entirely different scene in Manchester’s village.

    (more…)

  • OPINION: Going Gay For Pay

    With the release of Behind the Candelabra, Michael Douglas and Matt Damon are playing Liberace and his Lover. So is it right that straight actors are portraying gay characters in film? Does it say anything about the diversity of the cinema industry?

    Hollywood has a long history of straight actors playing gay characters; Philadelphia, Milk and Brokeback Mountain all have Hollywood A Listers portraying gay characters. All of these films were hugely successful and nominated for multiple awards. Maybe it’s cynical to suggest that portraying a gay role in a serious drama is a guarantee for an Oscar nod. It’s par for the course now in Hollywood, to play gay is to show your acting versatility and ability to inhabit a characters space that is different from your own. There are cases of openly gay actors playing gay characters. In Gods and Monster’s Sir Ian McEwan portrays James Whale, the Frankenstein creator from the golden age of Hollywood. Rupert Everett has spent most of his career as the gay side kick comedy relief.
    But is this any different to able-bodied actors playing disabled characters? Glee has a character using a wheelchair user portrayed by an able-bodied actor. How is this different? Looking further back, is this the modern day equivalent of the black and white minstrel band? , where white men would “black up” in order to portray black performers. This practice is now longer thought to be politically correct and is racially insensitive.
    Of course, gay for pay is an established part of the porn industry, hitting a Google search reveals literally thousands of hits and literally thousands of straight guys willing to go “gay” for the first time. Of course, this is all construct, it’s a known fact that that gay porn pays more than straight porn it can be an attractive prospect to a broke young guy. Of course, there is the issue of exploitation, everybody involved are consenting adults and they have been paid for their involvement. Are the viewers’ being exploited in their desire to seek straight guys having sex, Yes, but that again comes down to personal choice. The beautiful thing about capitalism is that people are able to show how they feel about a commercial product by either purchasing it, and it looks like business is booming.
    With porn, gay for pay is more problematic, the term implies that there is only straight or gay. It leaves no allowance for bi-sexuality, guys maybe willing to have sex with other men on screen for money but might not do so in their private lives. I personally feel that people’s sexual orientation is irrelevant when it comes to performance. The person is not representing himself or herself any more than someone in a film or a soap opera is. The sex for is there as spectacle and simulation. When watching two guys having sex it can be that there is no chemistry between the guys and they are going through the motions with only the paycheck in mind. Does it matter what someone is up too off screen or who they go home to?
    So should we be offended by all of this? I think realistically if we are we’re not going about it in the right way, the best power against the entertainment industry is to vote with your money. If you believe that going gay for pay is morally wrong then don’t watch any of the films that mainstream Hollywood puts out. It may be the case that the best actor for the job is cast. The involvement of Marque names is to ensure the film is financed and made. For me it feels like a dangerous statement to say that only gay actors are allowed to play gay characters. What’s more important to the fans of Liberace that his story is told in an entertaining way by the best actors suitable to the role or that the actor playing him happens to be gay.

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