The boys on the bandwagon

Back - Index - Submissions - - What is RSS? Date: Apr 26, 2000 Source: The Advocate Submitted By: Jason Haack As “boy bands” once more explode on the pop music scene, they’re discovering out youth among their most vocal fans, gay men among their behind-the-scenes allies, and at least one openly gay singer in their midst. Is the teen idol world saying “Bye, Bye, Bye” to the closet? By Jeffrey Epstein From The Advocate, May 9, 2000 Wherever there are boy bands, there are gay boy fans. That’s the way it’s always been. “I about died when I heard New Kids on the Block were coming to Sacramento in the late ’80s,” recalls Mike, now 25. “But because I didn’t want to make it look obvious to others that I had a crush on this guy group, I would go to the grocery store, do some shopping, and conveniently throw in a Teen Beat at the bottom of the shopping cart under the fruits and veggies so I wouldn’t attract attention.” Cut to a decade later: “I am an ’N Sync-aholic!” raves Jason, a 20-year-old in Maryland. But while Mike buried his enthusiasm beneath the produce, Jason buys “Teen Beat and Tiger Beat just to have little posters” to hang on his walls. “At first my friends were like, ‘He went from gay to supergay,’ ” he adds, “but that did not last long. Soon enough they found the same appeal to this group that I did.” Teen idols have long served as a bridge between childhood and sexual maturity. For pubescent girls, the sweet, soft young men who grace the covers and collectible foldout posters of 16 and Teen Beat represent safe objects of first affection—training crushes, so to speak. What’s been largely unspoken until recently is that these pop stars often serve a similar role for boys who are discovering their same-sex orientation. “We always knew that there were boys reading,” says Danny Fields, who was the co–editor in chief of 16 magazine from 1975 to 1977 and is himself gay. “I run into people all the time now who say, ‘Oh, my sister used to get it, and I used to pretend to be interested in the Beatles, but I was really looking at pictures of David Cassidy.’ It wasn’t figured into the marketing or the circulation of the magazine, but we all knew it existed.” Bolder and braver, today’s out youth have no qualms about joining the mainstream’s skyrocketing madness for boy bands, including ’N Sync, Backstreet Boys, 98°, LFO, and in Europe, Boyzone, which includes boy band–dom’s only openly gay band member, Stephen Gately. It hasn’t taken long for network television to hop aboard the boy bandwagon. ABC’s reality-based Making the Band is one of the hottest shows on the air, captivating viewers with the competition among aspiring members of a band-to-be named O-Town. Jonathan Murray, openly gay cocreator of MTV’s The Real World and now executive producer of Making the Band knows the adolescent longings his show plugs into. “I think I had a crush on Davy Jones [of the Monkees],” admits Murray, 45, recalling his own teen years. “But I kept that to myself.” “All of these bands have always had young gay admirers,” states Mike Glatze, managing editor of XY, a magazine for gay youth. “Now there are media outlets that represent young gay culture and provide an opportunity for young gay people to be more vocal.” That’s thanks in large part to the Internet, and not surprisingly, “All of these groups have official Web sites that are top of the line,” notes Thom Storr, the out senior sales and marketing director for Logic Records, which signed LFO as one of its acts. “And fans create Web sites for their favorite groups.” “Guysluv Nick!!!” proclaims the fan site dedicated to Backstreet’s Nick Carter and created by a then-teenage Tyson Stevens, now a 20-year-old University of Southern California student. “At the time I had this big thing for Nick,” he confesses. (He now thinks ’N Sync’s Justin Timberlake is “the cutest guy in any group I have ever seen.”) “I love the ‘pop-ness’ of boy groups,” he explains. “They just put across a sound and style that is easy to listen to.” For gay youth just coming out, the music can serve a double purpose: boys their age to idolize safely and sparkling, romantic songs to soothe their frayed emotions. “I have that age-old ‘They helped me through a hard time in my life’ thing,” says Jason, “because the music is upbeat and happy for the most part.” “What’s so incredible about the gift of music,” says 18-year-old O-Town hopeful Ashley Parker Angel, “[is that] you can write something, and even though maybe you’re writing it about one aspect of your life, someone can listen to it and have a totally different interpretation. If that’s ever able to help someone through something, then we’re doing our job. I hope that our music has that ability because that’s wonderful.” Epstein also contributes to Cosmo Girl, Teen Movieline, and other teen publications. For The Advocate’s complete coverage of the gay people involved in the boy band phenomenon—including gay boy band member Stephen Gately—pick up the May 9 edition of the magazine, now on sale. Comment on this item. Recent Comments Submitted by: markus http://imrdsoacha.gov.co/silvitra-120mg-qrms Comment on this item. Next Item: I Could Have Been A Star Prev Item: Why are the Backstreet Boys catnip to young girls?