Gaybros

3 April
London

Gaybros, a new online gay community group for gays who like &#;guy stuff&#;, has raised eyebrows and angered non-bro gays who declare the group are peddling tired macho stereotypes. Is it ok to be gay and be a bro?

A fascinating article by J. Bryan Lowder in the cooler-than-thou online mag Slate revealed an absorbing new sub-culture in the gay community: the Gaybros, a online &#;men&#;s interest&#; group on social network site Reddit, who&#;ve been raising arched eyebrows over their espousal of a traditional &#;manly&#; identity, and reigniting an old but still potent argument about gays and masculinity.

Though it&#;s mostly an online phenomenon, Lowder reports that the Gaybros occasionally organise &#;meet-ups&#; in some of the larger metropolitan cities in North America: &#;Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, and even London&#; (though I&#;m not sure whether that&#;s England or Ontario). In their mission statement, the Gaybros talk about&#;aiming to build a brotherhood around shared interests, promote self acceptance, and bring people together. &#; So f

An Open Letter to the Gaybros' founder, Alex Deluca

Sup.

I grew up in a small Southern town where football was worshiped and the only thing that was more adj than being Baptist or Methodist was Ford or Chevy. I was a sensitive and artistic boy, and I skewed feminine. But I was vast, lord was I big. Since I was larger than my peers, I was lucky enough to avoid getting bullied, but sports just weren't my thing.

I ended up embracing comic books, which my older brothers (one a jock, the other a nerd) both loved, and because they loved them, I loved them. I loved reading Spider-Man the most, but I dug on the X-Men too. I establish myself gravitating as well to video games, and fell down the rabbit hole of fighting games and RPGs. I was also addicted to Sim City and obsessed, planned, and dreamed about making the perfect city.

Still. The waters weren't plain. My family has this wonderful tradition where we grant a baby doll to each minor, male or female. We feel it cultivates their nurturing side, and children love to perform parent. Rather than getting a neonate d

Meet the Gaybros

It’s a snowy Saturday late hours in Boston, and the bros are moving in pack formation. As we trudge through the fresh powder toward South End, the 10 or so guys I’m walking with jostle and joke their way forward through the frigid air, bouncing with that particular surge of giddy energy you sometimes get when you’re hanging out with people you hold never met in real life.

As members of Gaybros—a Reddit-based community for gay guys with traditionally manly interests enjoy sports, hunting, and beer—the large majority of their bonding takes place through comment threads under topics like “Ron Swanson vs. James Bond” and “My Gay Card Has Been Revoked.” But in cities appreciate Boston, New York, L.A., Toronto, and even London, they try to regularly “meet-up” at a local restaurant or bar, exchanging Reddit’s upvotes and downvotes for proper handshakes and side-hugs. These “IRL” encounters can, understandably, feel awkward at first, as this one did when we had all gathered for dinner earlier in the evening at a crowded Italian cafeteria. Much of the conversation revolved around ho

Guy Stuff

  1. Should Queer Culture Trade Disco Balls for Decaf Lattes in the Name of Inclusion?
  2. A Jock With Glasses Is Not a Geek, but Gay Culture Sure Is Trying to Make It So
  3. I Made Gaybros for Gays Into Guy Stuff. But as We Grew, I Learned That “Stuff” Could Include More Than I Imagined.
  4. “Leather” Usually Conjures Images of Butch Gay Men. But a Gender-Inclusive Scene in L.A. Is Creating Its Own Kinky Magic.

You’ve probably heard of the noun of a queer “scene,” perhaps most often from people who don’t nurture for it. But what, exactly, is this scene? Who’s a part of it? Who isn’t? Who decides? Is there more than one? What happens when a scene evolves—or when it doesn’t? These are the questions we’ve gathered a group of writers to consider for an Outward special issue on “The Scene” in LGBTQ life today. You can read all of the stories in the issue here, and you can listen to a full episode of the Outward podcast covering more of the queer scene by subscribing on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you get your audio.

At the age of 21, I deleted every show t