HOMOBILIA: Homobilia owner Barry Harrison has published a book I highly recommend, The 60 Second Excitement: A Private Collection of Gay Polaroids: 1963-1969. These pre-Stonewall images are from the collection of a West Coast physician who clearly had access to great models — and who had an appreciation for male beauty. Nothing is really known about what happened before and after he took the photos, but the images are evocative of another era, as well as innocently sexy.
Check out the book HERE!
ANOTHER MAN: On a related note, check out this feature on the work of Stanley Stellar, whose 1970s NYC photographs are sexy, are art and art documentary pieces of LGBTQ+ history.
It promotes the publication of Don’t Worry Boys (Loose Joints), an exhaustive new look at Stanley’s work.
KAREN OCAMB: LGBTQ+ FREEDOM FIGHTERS: Don’t miss Karen Ocamb’s exhaustive obituary for Michael Kearns.
ATTITUDE: The Awards Issue of Attitude is flexing with a cover featuring Obsession star Michael Johnston. Growing up in North Carolina, when he realized he was gay at 11ish, he was “absolutely horrified”:
“It was the worst possible thing that could ever happen to me because all I had learned in church was that being gay was the worst thing that you could be, that you’d go straight to hell.”
Moving to L.A. at 18 allowed him to acclimate to being gay and not being a monster.
“Playing those [gay] roles early on definitely helped me to accept and to change my view on my sexuality. I used to think it was a weakness, and now I think it’s a strength because it’s just made me more empathetic.”
HUFFINGTON POST: An unfortunate leak is further plaguing Ken Paxton’s floundering campaign in Texas. Unfortunate for Ken, fortunate for James Talarico.
MPR NEWS: I might be persuaded to attend a sporting event called the Gay Bowl.
MODUS VIVENDI: The Knitted Stripes Line is the latest Modus Vivendi creation.
ABC6: Homophobic Republican State Rep. Aaron Bernstine has resigned from all Pennsylvania House committees after it was alleged he called a fellow lawmaker a gay slur.
DAVID KORDANSKY GALLERY: The New York City AIDS Memorial and the David Kordansky Gallery (520 W. 20th St., NYC) are presenting In a Dream You Saw a Way to Survive and You Were Filled with Joy. This exhibition is organized by Keith Fox and Stephen Truax in order to honor the 10th anniversary of the New York City AIDS Memorial.
The piece pictured is by General Idea, and I am obsessed with their work.