These Incredible Gay Home Movies Bring The Past To Life

From: Queerty

We regularly marvel at how snapshots of LGBTQ life from the past are able to do what even the most impassioned history lesson cannot — provide a relatable visual texture to the lives we might have led had we entered the world at a different blip in time.

Movies are even more immersive for obvious reasons, however few and far between.

In a recent New Yorker piece, a treasure trove of queer cultural preservation is profiled, starting with the personal home video collection of Harold O’Neal, who was born in 1910 and spent much of his life in San Francisco.

Harold was a rehabilitation officer for the Veterans Administration and later worked in personnel for the Army Corps of Engineers, and like many gay men and women of his time, led a very different private life than the one he broadcast publicly.

Also an amateur filmmaker, over the years he recorded the fabric of his hidden-in-plain-sight life — the parties, the drag shows, the intimate moments with his partner. These things we take for granted today, but were still somewhat radical in the ’40s and ’50s.

The clips spent decades tucked away in boxes in O’Neal’s home, until he responded to a documentary filmmaker’s request for footage of the Castro. While the filmmaker ultimately only used a few brief clips of O’Neal’s, he recognized the historical value of the deeply personal collection.

Now the movies live at the G.L.B.T. Historical Society, and you can watch a couple of them, as well as some other archival gems from other sources, below:

1. 

Sunbathing in Vallejo

1947

Watch this on The Scene.

2. 
Houseparty
1946

Watch this on The Scene.

3. 
San Francisco lesbian bar Mona’s Candle Light 
around 1950
 (discovered in an unmarked can at a San Jose flea market):

Watch this on The Scene.

4. 
Tape from the collection of author Allan Bérubé of Garrisson von Habsburg, San Francisco
1991
Garrison died two years later at the age of 29:

Watch this on The Scene.

Head here to read the full, very worthwhile New Yorker piece.

There’s Absolutely Nothing Gay About Competitive Tickling, Right?

"Tickled," a new documentary, pulls back the curtain on tickle porn
From: NewNowNext

 Tickling is an early pre-verbal form of communication between babies and their parents. For adults, though, it can be a way to make someone smile, or to get someone’s attention. For others, it’s a form of foreplay.

Entertainment reporter David Farrier was surfing the Web when he encountered an ad looking for men ages 18-24 to enter a “competitive endurance tickling contest” in L.A.. Curious about the project, he reached out to organizers.

“Their first reply was ’We don’t want to deal with a homosexual journalist,'” the out Australian writer told Indiewire. Considering how homoerotic male-on-male tickling is on the face of it, Farrier was only inspired to dig deeper.

 The result is Tickled, a new documentary that unveils an underground empire dedicated to a singular fetish—an empire full of secret identities, dashed hopes and illicit activities.

“They have tickle cells all over the U.S.,” reveals one subject in the film’s trailer (below). “They’re everywhere.”

Farrier and co-director Dylan Reeve paint this seemingly silly endeavor with sinister strokes: In the course of making Tickled, they were deluged with hateful emails and threats of legal action from tickle-video producers.

During the film, we hear from participants whose lives have unraveled after their videos went public.

And when Tickled premiered at Sundance in January, one of its subjects was in the audience and became so furious that the cops were called.

Is this just for laughs—or are we looking at the next Making a Murderer? Find out when Tickled hits theaters June 17.

The Captive

From: H2H-images

 In a shed, lit only by a naked light bulb, the Captive listens for his Captor.  The Captor has already begun to undress him, and his intentions are becoming clear.  Although the Captive  can't know his Captor, and being shackled and blind-folded is scary, he can't help himself from getting more and more excited with each disrobing touch.  The captor runs the tips of his fingers lightly down the small of the captive's back, and up the inside of his thigh.  Finally the Captive's body betrays him, and begs for the Captor's touch. 

Teacher Arrested After Sending Grindr Pics To Student

"That's the last thing I thought would happen to our school."
From: NewNowNext

A high school social studies teacher turned himself into police after being caught sending nude photos to students over Grindr.

Bruce Lanctot, a 40-year-old teacher at Nashua High School South in New Hampshire, had allegedly been communicating with several underage boys on Grindr for months before one stepped forward to police.

The victim first opened up to the Division of Children, Youth and Families about the explicit texts and photos he had received from Lanctot. They sent a report to local Nashua police who launched an investigation of their own against the teacher.

Lanctot then turned himself into police this past Wednesday. He faces several charges, including two felonies related to using a computer device to lure minors into sex.

It’s unclear if Lanctot knew the men he was communicating with were in fact underage or even attended his school, which has a large enrollment of over 2,200 students. Regardless, members of the community are upset and surprised by Lanctot’s actions.

“That’s the last thing I thought would happen to our school,” said senior Carlos Flores. “It’s kind of embarrassing.”

Lanctot had been teaching in the district for 15 years and was beloved by many students who found him to be warm and engaging. Since the news broke, school officials placed him on administrative leave.

“He was a great teacher, actually,” senior Isela Flores said. “Nice and friendly.”

Though Lanctot did attempt to arrange meetings with a few of the boys, police are still investigating to see if any of them came to fruition and resulted in sexual contact.

Lanctot has since been released on bail.

Soccer Players Just Can’t Stop Kissing Each Other

Scoooore!
From: NewNowNext

Soccer turns from brutal contact sport to intimate foreplay event in this wonderful video on YouTube, titled “Top Gay moments in Football/Soccer.”

As you can probably tell, it’s a brilliant collection of clips of soccer players getting close on the field. As an added bonus, it’s set to the tune of Alan Walker’s “Faded.”

We couldn’t tell you the first thing about the rules of the sport but we do know a thing or two about locking lips with hot guys in uniform. Put us in referee drag on this field and we’d declare everyone a winner!

Scientists Discover New HIV Weakness That Could Lead To Vaccine

A vulnerable spot has been detected in the virus.
From: NewNowNext

A new study published in Science reports that a team of researchers have discovered a new vulnerable site in HIV which they could target to develop a vaccine.

According to Time, the team at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases “studied the blood of a unique HIV positive person who happened to make antibodies against parts of HIV that aren’t normally targeted, and discovered this special antibody stuck to a part of the virus that it uses to bind to healthy cells. By attaching to the virus at that point, it prevents HIV from properly fusing with the cell and infecting it.”

 “The region of the virus that is recognized by the antibody is what’s different here,” says Peter Kwong, chief of structural biology at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and one of the authors of the paper.

“The new target is a part of HIV called the fusion peptide, a string of eight amino acids that helps the virus fuse with a cell to infect it. The fusion peptide has a much simpler structure than other sites on the virus that HIV vaccine scientists have studied,” the research explained.


The scientists studied the HIV positive blood of a person who made antibodies against parts of HIV that aren’t usually targeted. They discovered the antibody stuck to the part of the virus that it uses to attach itself to healthy cells in the body. “By attaching to the virus at that point, it prevents HIV from properly fusing with the cell and infecting it,” reports Time.

The discovery of this weakness could help scientists develop a vaccine for the virus by educating the immune system to target the vulnerable area and strengthen itself against the infection.

Rob Gronkowski Dries His Buns With A $630 Hermès Towel In New GQ Spread

"Gronkowski seems to exist in a permanent shower of champagne spray and nightclub-foam-party foam."
From: NewNowNext

 New England Patriot Rob Gronkowksi shows why he’s a tight end in the June issue of GQ, his first cover issue for the men’s mag.

 On the cover, the pro baller is hoisting model Hailey Clauson on his shoulders, but inside, he’s (barely) covering his prodigious backside with a $630 towel from Hermès. (We’d totally shell out the money if Gronk was included.)

 In the issue, out next week, the NFL star talks about partying, fans and his “signature sex moves,” among other brotastic topics.

“Gronkowski seems to exist in a permanent shower of champagne spray and nightclub-foam-party foam,” writes GQ’s Devin Friedman, “all without ever seeming like a creepy douchebag.

 Gronk is clearly comfortable showing skin, whether its for ESPN’s Body Issue or a flash of butt on the gridiron.

Below, more photos from GQ, shot in Miami Beach by photographer Peggy Sirota.

 

Relive “Top Gun’s” Gay Legacy On Its 30th Anniversary

From: Queerty

Ah, Top Gun — the 1986 alpha male saga of Pete “Maverick” Mitchell and Nick “Goose” Bradshaw as they intercept combatant aircraft over the Indian Ocean.

Right?

Well, not really.

While the film may have fit appropriately into the confines of mid ’80s mainstream masculinity, the Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer bro-fest now rests squarely in the gay camp/innuendo corner. Chalk it up to shifting perceptions and a more knowledgable public when it comes to gay subtext.

Thirty years  since it’s release, let’s relive that hilarious (and hot) legacy:

1.

The volley ball scene

The glistening shoulders, the shirtless players, the tight jean-shorts, the shirtless onlookers, the music! This could easily be the beginning of an adult film.

2.

So much locker room

These guys just had so much to process with one another…naked…still glistening.

3. 

The overtly sexual dialogue

The Telegraph sums it up nicely:

“Giving me a hard-on!” whispers one flyboy to another while watching videos of dogfights. “Don’t tease me!” replies his buddy. “I want butts! Give me butts!” shouts an angry air traffic control officer. “You can be my wingman any time!” says Iceman in the final reel consummation of his coquettish dance with Maverick. “Bulls***, you can be mine!” comes the reply.

And then come the references.

4. 

Quentin Tarantino argues the film is actually about queer sexuality in the 1994 film Sleep With Me, saying, “What is Top Gun? You think it’s a story about a bunch of fighter pilots? It is a story about a man’s struggle with his own homosexuality.”

5. 

Bill Hader as Harvey Fierstein calls it out on SNL in 2011

 (head here if video isn’t showing up):

On the film’s 25th anniversary, SNL put together a mock audition reel featuring Harvey saying:

“This is not a gay thing? But it says in the script we play volleyball in jean shorts. I say, ‘Iceman’s on my tail. He’s coming hard.’ I literally said that to a bathroom attendant last night.”

“The last line in the movie is, ‘You can ride my tail anytime’? You guys–that’s like my mantra.”

Pat

Orgy-Loving Priest Outed For Keeping Secret Grindr Account

From: Queerty

A well-known Catholic priest in Ireland was outed for having a secret Grindr profile two months ago… and we’re just now learning about it!

35-year-old Rory Coyle is, er, was a priest in Armagh, a town in Northern Ireland. That is until it was discovered he had been keeping a secret Grindr account with some rather scandalous photos of himself.

Coyle was outed when an unnamed source contacted the local Catholic newspaper to confess he had sexted with the holy man on Grindr on several occasions.

In an email to the whistle blower blog Thinking Catholicism, the source, who is over the age of 18, explains: “[Coyle] spoke to me on Grindr a few times and kept wanting to come to my mum’s house for sex with me while she was at work. He sent me lots of naked pics of himself too. When I realized who he was I sent them to a journalist along with the screenshots of his sex chat.”

Not long after that, the source says, Coyle’s Grindr account was deleted and his Facebook page was deactivated.

“I assume the journalist contacted the diocese,” the source continues.

In the email, he goes on to call Coyle a “dirty bastard” and a “total pervert” who admitted via text to participating orgies, going to gay beaches, and renting rooms by the hour for “sex meets.”

“He’s just a hypocrite. Denouncing gay people from the pulpit and then shagging guys when no one is looking.”

Days after the story broke, Coyle was quietly removed from his clerical duties. His photo was also briefly removed from the Armagh Parish’s official website. No explanation was given.

Then yesterday, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Armagh confirmed to Irish News that Coyle is taking a temporary leave of absence, though the statement stopped short of explaining why:

Early in March, Father Rory Coyle asked Archbishop Eamon Martin for time off to obtain personal and spiritual support. Following this, on March 22 he asked the Archbishop to extend his leave so that he could ‘engage in a period of personal discernment and receive further help’. Father Coyle’s request was granted and he is currently on leave of absence.

Queerty reached out directly to Coyle for comment but have not yet heard back.

Olly Murs Celebrates Soccer Team’s Victory With Naked Trophy Shot

The "Troublemaker" singer got his kit off to celebrate his team's win.
From: NewNowNext

 Olly Murs loves two things: Soccer and taking his clothes off. The “Troublemaker” singer got to indulge in both Wednesday night when his local team, the Coggeshall Town Football Club, won their division championship.

In a photo that has gone viral on Twitter, Murs stripped down naked with only the trophy preserving his modesty.

Well done it Boys!!! Championssssss 2016!!! @CoggeshallTown 😜👍🏻 brillianttttttt buzzing!! Get in!!! pic.twitter.com/oRYKvKYIyp

— Olly Murs (@ollyofficial) May 11, 2016

“Well done Boys!” he wrote in the accompanying tweet. “Championssssss 2016!!! @CoggeshallTown brillianttttttt buzzing!! Get in!”

Murs has been a big backer of the team, sponsoring their uniforms and even playing for their reserve team.

The 31-year-old singer played semi-professionally after school, but was sidelined by injury about a year before appearing on The X Factor UK in 2009.

He still promotes the game heavily on social media and has played in charity games alongside Robbie Williams.

He’s also worked hard on his fitness in the last year, chronicling his progress on social media.

Looking good, Olly. But frankly, you look just as appealing in both pics.

Michael