Wh thoands of followers, extravagant liftyl and nonstop gym selfi, Instagays are easy to envy. But their rise marks a gay cultural shift, promptg big qutns about what all those nocent snapshots might mean.
Contents:
- INSTAGAYS, UNFILTERED
- I A'T GAY, BUT...
- YOUNG BUCK ON TRANSGENR VIRAL VIO RUMORS: "A'T SH GAY ABOUT ME"
- THE DANGER OF INSTAGAYS
- GENEVA COLLEGE ALLEGEDLY FIR GAY SOCCER ACH AFTER INSTAGRAM POSTS ABOUT CLIVENS
- GAY WATER, A NEW NNED CKTAIL, WANTS TO BE THE ANTI-BUD LIGHT
- JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT COACH KEV MAXEN COM OUT AS GAY HISTORIC ANNOUNCEMENT
- IS TYLER, THE CREATOR G OUT AS A GAY MAN OR JT A QUEER-BAG PROVOTR?
- JADAKISS ON INTER RUMORS, “I A’T BROKE & I A’T GAY” [VIO]
- ONE TIME A’T GAY?
- GAY WATER, A NEW NNED CKTAIL, WANTS TO BE THE ANTI-BUD LIGHT
- DIPLOMATIC TENSN REPORTEDLY RISG BETWEEN UNED STAT AND JAMAI OVER GAY AMERIN DIPLOMAT
INSTAGAYS, UNFILTERED
* instagram i ain't gay *
The other night, a stranger wh an ambiguo-lookg avatar and a private acunt DMed me on Instagram to tell me he was gay. He then asked how I rencile my homosexualy wh beg Mlim (he'd likely jt seen a vio about my relatnship wh my Mlim father. I wished him luck and signed off, “Congrats, beg gay is great.
Meang the box of a succsful Instagay—the burgeong cult of betiful gay men on Instagram, wh follower unts that reach to five or six digs—mt be undated. Chanc are, if you’re a gay man, you eher follow or have enuntered an Instagay onle.
I A'T GAY, BUT...
A gay ach was fired om a nservative Christian llege Beaver County. * instagram i ain't gay *
”Perhaps unsurprisgly, the Instagay phenomenon is often cricized for beg vapid and misreprentg morn gay life. It seems like many Instagays know each other, and so their world is unique.
Dpe some ridicule, there’s no shortage of Instagays who have crossed the elive 500, 000 follower mark, om wrer/director Max Emerson to Jt and Nick, a gay uple based Ptsburgh.
Ask a gay man to close his ey and picture one, and he might see Charl-Lrent Marchand, a 26-year-old former nway mol studyg to be a pastry chef. He broke 400, 000 followers last not unlike his peers, brands faiar to any Instagay follower are peppered throughout Charl’ feed, om Daniel Wellgton watch to the datg app Chappy.
YOUNG BUCK ON TRANSGENR VIRAL VIO RUMORS: "A'T SH GAY ABOUT ME"
In a sea of nned cktails, Gay Water wants to stand out. * instagram i ain't gay *
And while gay culture has always slavishly worshipped unrealistic ias of bety, om physique mol magaz and the cult of Tom of Fland, Instagay culture may take this worship to a new all, Instagays are algorhmilly-librated thirst traps, a new kd of social media star whose fame is predited on a heady batn of sculpted abs and the lavish trappgs of “fluencer” culture. What if the are our new gay ins?
Is the superficialy of Instagay culture really somethg they should look up to? How many of them are reachg out to Instagays for help through dark tim, as they do to me? I sought to ask the Instagays directly.
And if you’re lookg for Instagays, there’s one surefire way to fd them: On New York-based artist John MacConnell’s page, where he’s sketched hundreds of men, most of whom are Instagays, their unrwear or DMg John, 33, to talk about his experience, he ved me over to his Nola apartment. By the time I climbed six flights to reach him, I had sweat through my whe drs shirt, and no filter uld glamorize me—I was the oppose of an Instagay. I ask if he thks his work ntribut to body dysmorphia the gay muny.
THE DANGER OF INSTAGAYS
Maxen is the first ever male ach Amerin men's sports to e out as gay. * instagram i ain't gay *
He’s an artist, this is his art, and the role—if any—that Instagays play body dysmorphia wh our muny is almost impossible to ’s more fortable talkg about the good he’s seen om Instagram. And he talks about his upbrgg, and I’m surprised to learn he spent high school gay nversn therapy, twice a week for three years.
GENEVA COLLEGE ALLEGEDLY FIR GAY SOCCER ACH AFTER INSTAGRAM POSTS ABOUT CLIVENS
“When I me out, my fay took my phone and puter away so I uldn’t nnect wh other gay people. Maybe his feed—and maybe the Instagays—are more harmls than people thk.
GAY WATER, A NEW NNED CKTAIL, WANTS TO BE THE ANTI-BUD LIGHT
”He talks briefly about Instagays who are speakg out and c exampl of posts where they tell their g out stori or support an iative like GLAAD’s Spir Day; he qualifi that the speakg out is somethg, even if ’s only “twenty percent of the time.
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT COACH KEV MAXEN COM OUT AS GAY HISTORIC ANNOUNCEMENT
I also wanted to know whether he approach Instagram differently given his reer (molg and actg) is most directly impacted by ; John works as an art director and Logan works early nversatn was more aligned wh my expectatns of an Instagay—he posssed a nfince that borred on arrogance, and threw around words like “my brand” and “my art” when referrg to his feed and his body. “Many people, pecially whe gay men, treat me like an rt. ”Watch therapist Zach Rawlgs discs body image issu the gay muny:A uple of weeks after terviewg Logan, he referenced our nversatn and posted wh a lengthy ptn about his g out, nversn therapy and all.
But 's barely surprisg, given the quick scroll nature of Instagram anythg, Instagays are as flawed and plited as the rt of . (And is astoundg how creatively an Instagay n draw a nnectn to a brand.
Sce I am also buff and geo, I don't really notice my own assets others (even though my morately-homoerotic appreciatn for 2 hot guys is the topic of this blog).
IS TYLER, THE CREATOR G OUT AS A GAY MAN OR JT A QUEER-BAG PROVOTR?
Begng wh DaBaby's homophobic remarks at Rollg Loud to fenrs and tractors, here's a look at how thgs have unfold after the rapper's ments.
But the “Rockstar” rapper didn’t stop there, and what me next fueled cricism: In clips om the livtreamed performance, DaBaby ma homophobic and misogynistic ments. Shared a nearly five and a half mute vio which he fend his fellow artist, while also sharg his rpect for openly gay artists such as Lil Nas X and Frank Ocean. “My gay fans, they take re of themselv.
JADAKISS ON INTER RUMORS, “I A’T BROKE & I A’T GAY” [VIO]
They a’t no nasty gay n—as. You know what my gay fans did? Put that motherf—g light up, n—a, ’e my gay fans a’t gog for that.
The sger-songwrer shared a seri of Instagram imag on July 27, startg wh the photo of a bare cht featurg a msage red that reads “HIV is not a gay disease.
“BoohooMAN nmn the e of homophobic language and nfirm we will no longer be workg wh DaBaby, ” the fashn brand shared a Twter statement. “We’ve been shocked to read about the HIV misrmatn and homophobic statements ma at a recent DaBaby show, ” inic performer John wrote on social media July 28.
ONE TIME A’T GAY?
He nclud: “HIV misrmatn and homophobia have no place the mic dtry.
The rapper aga addrsed his homophobic ments, this time a new mic vio released the afternoon of July 28. In his msage, he fend DaBaby’s homophobic ments, ed slurs when discsg Lil Nas X, llg the “Old Town Road” artist “the most disrpectful motherf—er the world, ” and threateng to “beat his a–.
“Somebody Gotta say : Homophobia/Transphobia/Xenophobia/Misogyny/Racism–this should go w/o sayg is morally wrong.
GAY WATER, A NEW NNED CKTAIL, WANTS TO BE THE ANTI-BUD LIGHT
That was the gist of DaBaby’s rponse on Instagram Stori late the eveng of July 29 after The Roots -founr cricized his homophobic ments. One week after DaBaby ma his homophobic ments at Rollg Loud, Lollapalooza dropped him om s lp hours ahead of his schled performance on Aug. In the days after DaBaby’s homophobic remarks, rad programmers who play Dua Lipa’s mic have stripped the rapper om the air, shiftg to her solo versn.
7-8, fans noticed that DaBaby’s official apology, which he addrsed his homophobic Rollg Loud remarks, had been removed om his Instagram acunt.
DIPLOMATIC TENSN REPORTEDLY RISG BETWEEN UNED STAT AND JAMAI OVER GAY AMERIN DIPLOMAT
50 Cent shared an terview that he believ DaBaby’s reer would survive the ntroversy surroundg his homophobic ments.
J., where he aga addrsed his homophobic ments. ” In the rhyme, DaBaby — who was dropped om several ftivals after his homophobic and misrmed ments, refers to himself as a “nceled a–” and raps about how he “n afford to qu do’ this s— right now.