Monday 04.11.16
Homosexuales en La Habana
With the normalizing of diplomatic ties, visiting Cuba is now an option for Americans. But is it worth it?
In March 2015, my husband and I traveled to Cuba. After decades of crippling sanctions, overbearing state control and relative isolation from the rest of the world, the Caribbean country is changing. You immediately get the feeling on the streets of Havana that things are opening up. It’s just in the air. And that’s true for Cuban queers more than anyone.
Under Fidel Castro, homosexuals were considered “undesirable,” and homosexuality was deemed counter to the spirit of revolution. In the early ’60s, gay men were sent to “re-education camps.” But over the last 20 years, anti-gay laws have been steadily eliminated and the LGBTQ community has enjoyed growing social acceptance. Much of that, particularly in the last few years, has been helped along by the fact that the current Cuban leader, Raúl Castro — Fidel’s brother — has a daughter, Mariela, who is active in the government and a champion of LGBTQ rights.We were excited to connect with Cuban queers to get their perspective on all the changes…and maybe get lucky, too. This proved much easier and more complicated than we expected.
Some things to know about Cubans: 1) They are some of the most friendly and attractive people in the world. 2) Very few of them speak more than basic English. 3) They are very poor. Just how poor? The average government job — which, until fairly recently, was the only kind of job you could get — pays the equivalent of 20 USD per month. Even in Cuba, where mojitos can go for $2 or $3, that won’t get you far, so pretty much everyone is somehow on the hunt for foreigners and their currency.
Friday 04.08.16
MAGAZINE: GAYLETTER ISSUE 4
We’re writing this while gagging with excitement. The fourth issue of GAYLETTER Magazine is out right now! We are so thrilled to finally share it with you. We are not gonna bore you with details about all the hard work that went into it, let’s just say it was an enormous endeavour. We are very, very, very thankful to all the contributors who helped us at the house of GAYLETTER. This issue features original artwork, photography and stories by Campbell Addy, Alvin Baltrop, Ricky Cohete, Vincent Dilio, Hal Fischer, Slava Mogutin, Daniel Marin Medina, Lauren Mortimer, Daniel Nicoletta, Daniel Rampulla, Jacob Sousa, Cyle Suesz, Devin Wallace, Chad M. Weaver, Zena Zipora, Austin Dale, Drew Harper, Landon Gray Mitchell, Leo Racicot, Eric Torres and more. For this issue we decided to do two covers: one by photographer Kostis Fokas, followed by his bright and beautiful story shot in Greece, and a limited edition cover by Gerardo Vizmanos featuring 4 beautiful butts, in honor of our 4th issue. Thank you to the hundreds of people who pre-ordered the issue online. For everyone else, go get it!
A spread from GAYLETTER Magazine Issue 4. Photography by Vincent DilioA spread from GAYLETTER Magazine Issue 4. Photography by Vincent Dilio
Thursday 04.07.16
“Falling in Love Again (I Can’t Help It)” by Slava Mogutin (NSFW) Starring Edmund White and Lev Ivankov
A NSFW film made about our Edmund White shoot for GAYLETTER Magazine Issue 4.
Friday 01.22.16
1 Boy 2 T-shirts
ONETSHIRT: GENERATION X BY SILVIA PRADA
ONE.T.SHIRT is a fashion brand offering limited-edition T-shirts from collaborations with talented peeps.
For their latest edition, Spanish artist Silvia Prada created a series of portraits of “iconic Hollywood figures that have each shaped and marked GENERATION X in their defining years.”
Choose from Tom Cruise and Matt Dillon (both seen here on our model Thomas Gibbons) along with Drew Barrymore, Demi Moore, Johnny Depp, Lisa Bonet, Corey Haim, Winona Ryder and many more. onetshirt.eu
For more, click here to get a copy of the magazine…
Wednesday 01.06.16
Daniel Pitout is my man
If there’s one thing South African–born, Toronto-dwelling Daniel Pitout hates, it’s laziness. As the singer, guitarist and songwriter for alt supergroup Eating Out and drummer for scuzzy Vancouver punk trio Nü Sensae (not to mention his former stints in Hunx and His Punx, Shannon and the Clams,Terror Bird and Groovy Temple), Daniel has a brand of restless energy that has manifested itself into a consistently strong work ethic. That energy bleeds into Eating Out’s ’90s-indebted music videos, too. For the catchy song “That’s My Man,” Daniel drew inspiration from classics like Clueless for a distinctly retro feel in line with the group’s alt-rock style. Daniel also happens to be one of the few openly gay members in the D.I.Y. punk scene, and he’s a very active, forward-thinking one at that: In 2012, he launched the AIDS Day Music Project, a nonprofit organization that promotes HIV/AIDS awareness through music and art every December as part of AIDS Awareness Month.
We dropped Daniel a line to ask him a few questions about Eating Out, skateboarding, gay groupies, the ’90s movies that inspire his music videos, and what being queer in the D.I.Y. punk scene has meant for him.
Who came up with the name Eating Out? I did. I just thought it was a funny name for a band and thought it would be funny to have a gay guy front a band called Eating Out.
What’s your process for writing music? I usually start with a gui- tar line because Eating Out songs are pretty melody-driven, and then I build everything on top of that. …
Monday 12.28.15
2 Boys 1 Duvet
The Tom of Finland Foundation has teamed up with Finlayson, one of Finland’s oldest textile manufacturers (established 1820), to create a bedding collection featuring artworks by the legendary artist Touko Laaksonen aka Tom of Finland.
Our friends, the Dupont twins (Jake and Joseph), got comfortable in a bed made up with one of the duvets. They are right at home.
We thought we would share some additional photographs of the Dupont twins that we couldn’t fit in the magazine. Enjoy them below!
For more, click here to get a copy of the magazine…
This story was previously printed in GAYLETTER issue 2.
…
