Gay Related Stud Stories of 2011
"No Fats, Femmes, or..."The Ugly Side of Online Dating
This is a recent post, and if it's within the top 15 most-visited stories of the year you know we struck a nerve with readers.
While Gay.net is the editorial site to online dating site Gay.com, we thought it was appropriate to address the mean-spirited dialgoue happening on every dating and cruising destination. From thinly veiled racism to body Nazis seeking perfection, we hoped to bring up situations our readers have faced in the past. The idea was to open a conversation, and to hopefully get some guys to consider the impact their actions and words may have on others.
There's no way of knowing what the outcome of this story will be, but it clearly demonstrates that you guys come to Gay.net because there's a place to discuss and debate the issues that directly impact gay readers.
“Hotel Room Portraits” by Richard RenaldiThis one honestly surprised us. It focused on New York-based photographer Richard Renaldi (right), who has produced collections focusing on elderly gays and lesbians, the trans community and HIV infection long-term survivors, and more. He began his “Hotel Room Portraits” series with partner Seth Boyd (left) back in the late ‘90s. Initially, the photos were a documentation of simple and almost mundane moments in the life of a traveling gay couple. Today, after adding images for more than a decade, the collection also beautifully documents the normalcy in the lives of gay couples who wake up to the same person each morning. We presented a collection of those photos in this post.
Sure, these guys are sexy, but they can't possbily fit every reader's idea of "hot." Was your attraction to this post because it was real men in a real relationship living their real lives? You tell us.
14 Couples Who InspireOur first of two big Valentine's Day stories, this one focused on successful LGBT couples in the media. Who made the list? Ellen DeGeneres & Portia de Rossi, Jonathan Adler & Simon Doonan, George Takei & Brad Altman, Wanda Sykes & Alex Sykes, Richard Buckley & Tom Ford, Rufus Wainwright & Jörn Weisbrodt, Jane Lynch & Dr. Lara Embry, Scott Gill & John Barrowman, David Burtka & Neil Patrick Harris, Jane Wagner & Lily Tomlin, Elton John & David Furnish, Terry Miller & Dan Savage, Cynthia Nixon & Christine Marinoni, and of course Bert & Ernie.
13 Gayest Halloween Movies EverYou guys love your lists, especially when it comes to
pop culture topics (you'll see what we mean when you look down at the other popular posts of 2011). For this batch we wanted to move beyond the obvious films that straight people love, and skip the standards like Rocky Horror and Death Becomes Her. Instead we went for the obscure, the fun, the quirky, and the gayest of them all. And with titles like 1962's What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, the stop-motion Rankin-Bass movie Mad Monster Party? from 1967, the camptastic Elvira, Mistress of the Dark from 1988 and the Abercrombie & Fitch-style 2006 fantasy/horror flick The Covenant, we think we covered all our bases.
25 Vintage Photos of Gay & Lesbian CouplesJust when we think you guys will only click on photos of sexy shirtless men, you surprise us with this high-impact post.
This was our second post in honor of Valentine's Day, and this time we presented 25 of our favorite vintage gay photos. It was a simple slide show, showing sweet, tender, loving moments from a time before Stonewall. You guys flipped for it, and it's still getting traffic to this day.
We're definitely digging around for more of these great images for 2012.
2011 Golden Iris Nominees:Fashion Model of the Year
Eye Candy is our most popular editorial hub on Gay.net, and it's no surprise: the section regularly offers up a tasty bite of hot shank for you to enjoy. The Golden Iris awards are our "best of" Eye Candy, and when it came to readers voting for their favorites, you guys definitely had your opinions. There was statuesqueRob Evans, rugged David Gandy, androgynousAndrej Pejic, sophisticated Zhao Lei and dreamy River Viiperi— all of whom had their Twitter and Facebook followers come in and vote as well, making this a real event.
Who won? Reader results are in December 22nd in theGolden Iris section.
The Gayest TV Characters EverThe list was long but, well, it seems you guys like things that are long.
From as far back as Richard Chamberlain’s Dr. Kildareof the 1960s, fussy Felix Unger of The Odd Couple in the '70s, to semi-insulting portrayals of Jodie Dallas (Billy Crystal) on Soap, all the way to Queer As Folk, True Blood, and beyond, we took you on a trip through the greatest gay characters ever on TV. Sure, some were missing—there was just too many to cover—but you guys were more than happy to add your picks to the comments.
How will we adapt that in 2012? We shall see...
10 Sluttiest Cities in The USAWith a word like "sluttiest" in the title, is it any surprise you guys clicked through to see where your city rated?
This article actually focused on cities with the most people online looking for casual hookups. It was short, so to save you some time here's what TheStir.com discovered.
The 10th most popular city was Houston, Texas, followed by San Diego, California in 9th place; 8. Denver, Colorado; 7. San Bernardino, California; 6. Dallas, Texas; 5. San Francisco, California; 4. Miami, Florida; 3. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; 2. Seattle, Washington. And the sluttiest of them all? Portland, Oregon.
Perhaps people are just bored in those cities. Who can say?
Being on Top (or Bottom) of the WorldGay men love sex—talking about it, reading about it, and doing it. And when it comes to sex articles, discussions of being a top or bottom are clearly the most popular. We've covered tips on how to do it and a guide for first timers, but this story covered a lot of the outstanding emotional issues many gay men face when dealing with anal sex. From guilt and shame to hidden misogyny, the belief that being a bottom makes you "less" of a man and more like a woman, this article stirred incredible conversation and debate.
Like hooking up with a hot trick, we know we'll be revisiting this bedroom soon.
I, Daddy: Growing Older in the Gay CommunityTopics that focus on gay male identity and image—working out, body hair versus shaving, cruising behaviors, etc.—always draw big numbers, but few articles inspired as much conversation as this one on aging.
It makes sense. We're a culture that thrives on youth and beauty. Nearly all the images used on Gay.net even reflect that sensibility, and if we don't use those kinds of sexy photos you guys don't click as often. This article brought that conversation to the forefront and stirred wonderful conversations, both on the hotness of older men as well as how to age gracefully amidst a culture that doesn't seem to embrace it. We're definitely looking for ways to bring the topic back in 2012.
Caught on Film: Our 11 Favorite Sex ScandalsYou love celebrities. You love nudity. Combine the two and you've got a popular post that is still getting comments to this day. From Vanessa Williams and Madonna's classic Penthouse covers to Tommy Lee and Colin Farrell's now-notorious monster schlongs, we refreshed your memories with a dash of wit. No, we couldn't show the actual nude pictures because this is a family-friendly site, but you certainly enjoyed the article and sent it to friends. Perhaps it was because we'd created such an exhaustive list.
I mean, we still get people coming in off searches forReal World Las Vegas pictures of Dustin Zito's porn stills, and we even offered Austin Powers' Verne Troyer's nude film. How many other sites can say that?
Mason Wyler’s Raw Shoot Causes ControversyHere's something that won't shock you: Gay.net readers love porn. Whenever we write about a porn star our traffic spikes to high-heaven, but when you add in barebacking to the equation it goes off the charts.
Wyler looks like the boy next door, he says he likes rough sex, and he's been public about being HIV-positive, saying in an article that he only has himself to blame and, “I take responsibility for my own actions.” The word “responsibility” became the focal point surrounding Wyler when he announced he would be appearing in two bareback scenes with Owen Hawk and Brandon Hawk — porn stars, and boyfriends, who are also HIV-positive. You guys weighed in about everything: porn and porn stars, safe sex, the adult industry's responsibility toward it, and much more. Arguments ensued and it was very clear that gay men are divided on all of those topics.
The Sexperiment: Straight Men - Gay ActionThere are many stories of gay men hooking up with self-identified straight guys. Are these guys really gay? Bi? Living in denial?
Our most popular sex-based story interviewed a number of gays who have had encounters with heterosexual men. We also interviewed sexperts on their theories for why this happens—and with increasing frequency. It caused a huge debate among readers, with many of you offering up your own accounts and counter-arguments on the subject.
While we'll probably never have a definitive answer as to why these dudes will occassionally dabble with a gay, we do know it happens and with some frequency.
The 20 Gayest Cartoon Characters EverWe realized we had a huge pop culture audience with this post— the second most poplular of them all. From Yellow Dancer in Robotech and Cobra Commander inG.I. Joe, to The Transformers' Starscream and Bugs Bunny in drag, it seems as though our childhoods were all filled with incredibly gay animated characters. Indeed, you guys thought of so many other possible candidates for this list that we're considering a revisit in 2012.
What’s America’s Gayest City?Anyone who thought New York, Los Angeles, or San Francisco were the queerest places in the U.S. was in for a shock. The Advocate’s yearly article got a ton of mainstream press, and many people didn't agree with the results; but, honestly, that' s part of the point to this story. The Advocate called their calculation method a “completely unscientific — but still strangely accurate — statistical equation.” How'd they do it? The news mag's research team “took a number of signifiers of gay-friendliness”—including elected openly gay officials, gay-friendly religious congregations, and number of Gay.com profiles — for each city, assigned points for each signifier, added them, and divided the scores by the city’s population to arrive at the per capita homosexuality.
Minneapolis was voted "Gayest City," with Santa Fe, Las Vegas, and Orlando trailing not far behind.
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