Wearing orange for man gay
Somewhere on your timeline you have seen it: a navy blue, short-sleeved button-up shirt, printed with impossibly bright oranges. This one shirt has appeared in the selfies of countless queers over the course of spring and summer 2022. Though it has been particularly embraced by non-binary people and gender non-conforming lads, its appeal reaches far beyond our borders. Indeed, within a several short months, the Ancient Navy orange-print shirt—hereafter referred to as, simply, The Shirt—has become an unofficial queer uniform.
How did The Shirt achieve universal prominence so quickly? What does it signify about the queer condition? What if I like the pink one with lemons better? What is the root of The Shirt’s might, and can it be stopped?
Using my skills as a journalist, I put out to answer these questions. What follows is a tale of Twitter virality, corporate greed, fame, family, HBO Max subscriptions and at least one legitimate celebrity who took time to do a Zoom with me. Without further ado:
The birth of a legend
Get free Xtra newsletters
Xtra is being blocked on Facebook and Instagram for Canadians as part of Meta’s response to Bill C18. Stay related, and tell a comrade
How to dress male lover when you look straight
Within my first few weeks at Trinity, I realized I didn’t feel any pressure to like men, so I didn’t. It wasn’t until months later that I realized I was a lesbian. First I came out to myself, then to my friends.
My family still doesn’t know I’m a lesbian, and — quite frankly — I was hesitant to write this for that reason. I have, however, decided not to let fear regulation my life — although not coming out to your homophobic family is just as valid.
I started telling everyone I knew, “Did you hear, I’m gay!” and I was met with nothing but love and support from the Trinity community. Then I called my lesbian friend from back home — we’ll call her Sarah.
Sarah has always had a very “lesbian” look; all the queer women knew she was gay. She wanted to be a police officer, and all the men felt intimidated by her. Then there was me. All those years of tennis had hardly made my wimpy arms any stronger; I didn’t want to be a police officer but rather a writer; I liked to wear skirts and cute shoes. To be honest, I felt intimidated to tell her that I w
You might be familiar with the six-colored rainbow flag that is widely used to represent the LGBTQ+ community. But did you recognize that this is a relatively recent rendition of the original?
The original flag (shown here) was designed by activist, veteran, drag queen, and artist, Gilbert Baker, and made its debut at the San Francisco Gay and Woman loving woman Freedom Day Procession in 1978. He was inspired by the Rolling Stones song She’s a Rainbow, and the 1960s hippies movement, assigning each hue with a specific meaning:
Pink: Sex (later removed)
Red: Life
Orange: Healing
Yellow: Sunlight
Green: Nature
Turquoise: Magic (later removed)
Indigo: Serenity
Violet: Spirit
The evolution to the six-colored flag used today happened out of practicality.
After the parade in 1978, demand for the Pride Flag increased, but the hot pink fabric was difficult to find in enormous quantities. Then, the Paramount Flag Organization started making a version out of the standard rainbow colors to assist meet demand, and a seven-color event flag was the new norm.
A year later, the flag evolved once more…
When two men are negotiating a sexual encounter or even compatibility to go out, the phrase “What are you into?” will inevitably come from one or both.. Quite often in “Grindr” chat, this is shortened to be simply “into?” — just enjoy ships used cyphers (flags) to communicate, we same-sex attracted men have our retain way to communicate sexual preferences and proclivities. It’s called the Hanky Code.
Originating in the early 1970’s in either New York or San Francisco (let’s not even try to settle that debate), the hanky code is a system of signaling sexual preferences, fetishes, and roles by choosing to wear a specifically colored bandana on a particular side of the body. With just a glance at your rear end, (the bandana being tucked in your back pocket) anyone who is in-the-know will know what you’re “into!”
So how do you realize which color to wear, and where to wear it? The first critical variable is the side of the body on which you choose to wear your colors, because this signals your preferred role:
- Left side of the body = Top/Dominant Role
- Right side of the body = Bottom/Submissive Role
As a way to remember which is which, consider that we read left to right, so left comes first. Simila
Fifty Shades of Same-sex attracted – The Hanky Code
Fetishes fascinate me.Actually, it’s not the particular fetish that I find intriguing, but more the journey of self-discovery that leads a person towards a particular fetish.For example, there is a fetish known as Tamakeri (Japanese translation: ball kicking) Yep, it’s just what it sounds like; the erotic pleasure of being kicked in the nuts.Uh… that’s a ‘hard pass’ for me, but I contain questions.
How does a person with an erotic paraphilia (a condition characterized by abnormal sexual desires, typically involving highest or dangerous activities) discover these desires? What was their “A-ha” moment? When does a dude realize that he derives sexual stimulation and satisfaction from getting smashed in the balls? Was it a unpleasant bounce on the playground? An unfortunate ricochet on the tennis court? And once a bloke discovers that hammering his nut-sack turns him on, how does he discover others who participate this very specific inclination towards CBT (cock and ball torture)? Inquiring minds want to know.
Fetishism today has get commonplace enough to be considered cocktail chatter. We’ve been spoiled by the internet, which has taken the mystery out of almos