Tab Hunter Confidential

Last night I finally got a chance to watch the documentary about 1950s mainstream heartthrob, Tab Hunter.

Of course they covered his life and his career throughout the film, however, the main focus was that Hunter was gay back when gay wasn’t even a word for men who are attracted to men. Back then, gay was a crime and considered a mental disorder. The nicest word they called us, among tons of pejoratives, was homosexual.

And I can’t recommend this one enough. Hunter brilliantly narrated most of the documentary himself, gave a clear picture of what life was like back then for men like him/us, and he did this all without exploitation or sensationalism. And that’s not an easy thing to do. He also did NOT play to our emotions like George Takei, trying to be the all-knowing wise gay men. Tab Hunter is a man. He’s telling his story. He does this with dignity and decorum. He’s not looking to become the next gayest meme sensation on social media. Plain and simple.

In fact, I think I liked Hunter’s discretion most of all. There’s nothing outrageous about him, but he can still turn heads to this day. 

Throughout the 1950s, Tab Hunter reigned as Hollywood’s ultimate male heartthrob. In dozens of films – and in the pages of countless movie magazines – Tab’s astonishing looks and golden-boy sex appeal drove his fans to screaming, delirious frenzy, making him the prototype for all young matinee idols to come.

You can check that out here.

I watched the film on Netflix.

Can You Be Gay and Asexual?

I’m not sure what to make of this. I have a good friend on Facebook…a gay author with some bestselling novels, with classic gay presses, not start up e-presses…who rants often about how gay culture and gay men are consistently being ripped apart by those who don’t totally understand that being gay is something completely different than being LGBT. In other words, LGBT people are all fighting for rights and equality together daily, however, individually there’s not much in common from a cultural POV. He believes we’re losing our culture and those who don’t know any better and aren’t gay are trying to change the rules…our rules.

With that said, I have seen this topic of being gay and asexual come up before and I’ve always wondered, because most gay men…at least most of the gay men I’ve ever known in my lifetime, and I’m gay…are strong sexual people. They embrace sex and sexuality, without shame or disdain.

This really makes me wonder…