David Hockney on Boring Gay Men
I found this link about Britain’s “greatest living artist,” David Hockney, on social media with a rather negative commentary attached. The gay man who originally posted the link to Facebook seemed to take a personal offense to what David Cockney said in the interview…and he made a few good points. I didn’t take Hockney’s comments as offensive. I just thought he overlooked a few things. In fact, I think Hockney points out an interesting observation that many other gay men have talked to me about behind the scenes. Although, I do think this is more about how diverse gay men are instead of how boring they are.
Hockney is an artist who from what I gather lived an openly gay life during a time when many weren’t. I think his only mistake in the interview is that he’s underestimating the gay men of HIS generation. We all just assume there are so many more gay men nowadays because they’re more visible. The fact is that the “boring” gay men he talks about now were all around when he was younger. It’s just that back in those days the “boring” gay men didn’t dare come out of the closet and make themselves known.
So in Hockney’s quest for a more bohemian gay culture now, he’s missing the fact that the real gay bohemians are now the ones moving right into mainstream territory that was never a place they could even visit before.
New Jersey’s Gay Wrestler
Here’s a perfect example of what I was talking about above. In David Hockney’s day a young gay man who was a champion wrestler was not allowed to even dare mention he was gay. Just a hint of him being gay could have ruined his chances as a wrestler completely. In fact, in David Hockney’s day this young gay wrestler would have been the last person anyone thought to be gay…even though there were plenty of gay athletes in Hockney’s day in the closet.
If you can tell me this is not spectacular, there’s got to be something wrong with you:
While on a recent college recruiting trip, the New Jersey state wrestling champion Alec Donovan was asked by a fellow recruit: ‘Rumor is you’re bisexual. Is it true?’
Donovan replied: ‘The rumor isn’t true. I’m not bisexual… I’m gay.’
Read it in full to see what he has to say about how he feels now as opposed to how he felt not too long ago.
I think it’s interesting because they mention Brick, New Jersey. I have relatives in Brick, New Jersey and every time they see me, my husband, or my gay brother and nephew they get all tongue tied and don’t know how to react. Usually it’s just a smile and a nod.
Will Grindr Be Sold?
According to all company statements, no one has commented on these rumors.
Gay Star Business approached Grindr to confirm or deny the story, but a company spokesperson declined to comment. Raine Group have also been approached but have not yet responded.
I know very little about Grindr from personal experience because I don’t have an account there. I don’t need one. But the rumors seem to be coming from good sources.
According to Bloomberg, the hugely popular gay dating app has hired banking firm Raine Group LLC to provide it with advice on a possible sale.
Bloomberg said it had received its information from sources which wished to remain anonymous. The sources were unable to say what value might be placed on the company.
Grindr was founded in 2009 by Joel Simkhai with $5,000 of self-funding. One of the first hookup apps to take advantage of smartphone, location-based technology, its popularity and growth amongst gay and bisexual men around the world has been phenomenal.
You can check the rest out here.
But again, they are rumors and if there’s one thing I’ve learned about everything online these days is you never, ever take any rumor seriously.
