Gaytimes

[milkmonitor]

One of my friends brought round a few copies of this and forgot to take them home again. I was going to drop them back to him after I'd flicked through them and see how it compared to the only other boy bummer publication I've read, Attitude.

I was really impressed. Unlike their sister publication (the rather shit Diva - a £25 subcription that I wish I'd spent on 25 lottery tickets instead), it's not aimed at the media image of gay. The articles were really, really interesting and not centered on being so self-righteously political. Diva has articles about how all lesbians should be like Kitten and how you should invest in books and films by lesbians because, er, they're lesbians. Gaytimes is much less about being aggressive and changing the world but much more focused on dealing with what you've got. As well as some articles about serious matters, there's lighthearted ones about fit boys you might want to bum. Diva doesn't have stuff like that cos hey, there's right-wing homophobes in the world and why oogle girls when you can be marching in your Doc Martens?

Obviously a lot of it didn't apply to me (I'm not likely to get aids from a blow job, for one thing) but I felt better for reading it.

Does anybody here read it?

[Lita]

It is a lot more interesting and insightful articles than Attitude most of the time, which can only be a good thing, but my problem with it is that it is all about being gay.

I may be a gay, but I'm quite happy with that and my life and don't really feel the need any more to read about it regularly.

Things used to be different when I was a teenager - when I was 13 and used to see it on the shelves of newsagents I always wanted to buy it but was too scared. I eventually plucked up the courage when I was 16 and devoured every page of it, and it was really empowering to read positive articles about being gay.

[mikemk]

I haven't read it for years, and certainly don't intend starting again.
However, I am not sure that heterosexuals will ever feel that mixture of scaredness and curiosity when you see your first gay magazine in a newsagent, then finally pluck up the courage to buy it, and realise that there is a whole gay world out there. I suppose Gaytimes is the key which opens this world to a lot of people.

[Lita]

I still have my first copy somewhere at my parents house. That first copy of gaytimes told me that there was actually a gay bar in my hometown, which I had never realised. If it wasn't for that magazine, it might have taken me a lot longer to come out.

[billybathgate]

MikeMK said:

I haven't read it for years, and certainly don't intend starting again.
However, I am not sure that heterosexuals will ever feel that mixture of scaredness and curiosity when you see your first gay magazine in a newsagent, then finally pluck up the courage to buy it, and realise that there is a whole gay world out there. I suppose Gaytimes is the key which opens this world to a lot of people.

The whole scaredness and curiostity was far too much for me. I picked the Gay Times off the shelf once when I was about 15 and almost made it to the counter. Instead I picked up The Sun, chucked the GT inside, and paid the 25p or whatever it was for just the paper.

I also stole a copy once rather than face the old lady in WH Smiths at Waterloo.

[elmsyrup]

billybathgate said:

The whole scaredness and curiostity was far too much for me. I picked the Gay Times off the shelf once when I was about 15 and almost made it to the counter. Instead I picked up The Sun, chucked the GT inside, and paid the 25p or whatever it was for just the paper.

I also stole a copy once rather than face the old lady in WH Smiths at Waterloo.

Whereas I, not even being a lesbian, complained loudly in WH Smiths about Diva being in the men's magazine section next to Attitude et al. After a few times complaining they moved it, too. Result.

[Cherubic]

lockedintheattic said:

It is a lot more interesting and insightful articles than Attitude most of the time, which can only be a good thing, but my problem with it is that it is all about being gay.

Maybe all problems could be solved my merging all the titles for sexual freaks (gays, lesbians, the transgendered and intersex, swingers, teenage mums, Jane MacDonald's husband etc.) into one, and then, when you find yourself comfortable with yourself you can laugh and be puzzled by the lifestyles of others not celebrated in the works of Garry Bushell. It could be called Pervs, and have a man and woman cover (on either cover). The extremities of all positions would be tempered by the presence of others on the editorial team. Mark my words, it would be a triumph.

[rockkid]

I preder GTs to Attitude as it's not as "trendy" or camp. GT always has men on the cover, which in my humble opinion is what should be on the cover: men. I dont want to see women on the cover like Charlotte "drunk slag" Church or the inflatable bimbo aka Jordan. Sometimes Axm can be good as well.

[Danniiboy]

I like Gay times but I wish they sold an edition without all the shit at the back. I'd pay £1 more for it!

That's one of the things I hate about gay mags. They can be good reads, but the porn stuff at the back can be rather embarassing if your mag falls open at the wrong page while you are on the train!

[puppydogstail]

Gay Times is shit. Its nothing more than a jazz mag these days. Thanks to the pictures of buff men adorning every page we can now all feel even shittier about our less than perfect bodies. Every copy should come with a free razor blade selotaped to page 8 so we can end our poxy lives as we dont live up to the lifestyle, body, homes, etc which this rag tells us we should be living. Fuckers.

[Deleted]

danniiboy said:

That's one of the things I hate about gay mags. They can be good reads, but the porn stuff at the back can be rather embarassing if your mag falls open at the wrong page while you are on the train!

Sadly that's pretty much how they make their money. When you've got a niche market like the gay audience, you know your monthly sales are only going to be a certain amount - and filling the second half of the magazines with page after page of STRAIGHT MEN FUCKING and HOT LADS WAITING FOR YOU is the only way to cover the revenue costs.

Just take a Stanley knife with you and cut them out before you leave the shop.

[rockkid]

Milk Monitor - most of the lesbians (well the ones i've met) are more interested in marching in Doc martins and buying lesbian films than ooogling girls, having sex. I suspect most 'lesbian' sex takes place between str8 and bisexual women rather than lesbians.

[paulio05]

I still find it odd that gay times is stacked on the back shelf of almost EVERY newsagents, alongside the porn magazine's and the other weird fetish stuff...

Gay times has about 3 pages of actually articles all about how proud we shud be and the rest of it is articles about gay cheerleaders, what to buy your boyfriend for birthday (as it obviously differs from what a woman would buy her straight boyfriend) and like already suggested gay advertising agencies. I hate the fact that people assume we need our own magazine, i don't read gay times, attitude or Diva and never ever plan to, i'd much rather waste my money on heat and a packet of forks to stab into my eye's.

[puppydogstail]

paulio05 said:

i'd much rather waste my money on heat and a packet of forks to stab into my eye's.

Wooden Chip Forks? Classy Girl!

[pauliepoos]

paulio05 said:

I hate the fact that people assume we need our own magazine, i don't read gay times, attitude or Diva and never ever plan to, i'd much rather waste my money on heat and a packet of forks to stab into my eye's.

I hate the fact that people assume they represent gays and their likes and dislikes and needs. What I love about being a gay at the moment is that there is so much diversity. You can be whatever gay you want to be and no one will attack you for it.

Lots of gays like GT and Attitude and Diva because they have been in publication for a long time now. Lots of gays hate heat, but being gay means you have that right.

Gay pride!

[David Hunter]

pauliepoos said:

paulio05 said:

I hate the fact that people assume we need our own magazine, i don't read gay times, attitude or Diva and never ever plan to, i'd much rather waste my money on heat and a packet of forks to stab into my eye's.

I hate the fact that people assume they represent gays and their likes and dislikes and needs. What I love about being a gay at the moment is that there is so much diversity. You can be whatever gay you want to be and no one will attack you for it.

Lots of gays like GT and Attitude and Diva because they have been in publication for a long time now. Lots of gays hate heat, but being gay means you have that right.

Gay pride!

I get Attitude and occassionally GT but they don't really have anything to do with the gay life I lead. I realised this more when I picked up a copy of BOYZ over new year whilst in London. It had top tips for a better life like doing less coke, trying sex without poppers and trying to get a healthier heart as opposed to building up muscle with steroids.
It's a world so far removed from mine. I'd almost forgotten people out there still do all those things.

[Cherubic]

davidhunter said:

I get Attitude and occassionally GT but they don't really have anything to do with the gay life I lead.

Why do you get them then? If you don't mind me asking.

[David Hunter]

cherubic said:

davidhunter said:

I get Attitude and occassionally GT but they don't really have anything to do with the gay life I lead.

Why do you get them then? If you don't mind me asking.

There's a reason for getting Attitude I prefer not to reveal, but GT I'll pick up if going on holiday and there's nothing else there. They don't have anything to do with my life apart from my being gay and they're aimed at a type of gay man I'm really not.
Having said that, I'll buy Elle Decoration even though I can't afford anything in it. And buy 'Heat' even though I don't have any interest in Paris Hilton's weight problem. I'll buy them as they're the most appropriate magazine for me, there being nothing else to fit the void.

[Deleted]

Is "Paris Hilton's Weight Problem" slang for Nicole Ritchie?

[Gordon]

mrmarzipan said:

Is "Paris Hilton's Weight Problem" slang for Nicole Ritchie?

It's the fact that she resembles a T-Rex now that she is piling it on at her hips yet remaining a skinny cow at the top. Nicky is the 1 who has got "fat" though.