Despite freefalling ratings, last night’s American idol finale (the world’s premiere singing competition), tallied in more than one hundred million votes. For most fans, pop cultural enthusiasts and journalists alike, the expectation was that Adam Lambert, often dubbed ‘Glambert’ in the press – the man with the soaring voice, epic song productions and universal audience appeal, would undoubtedly take the title.

Indeed, for the first time, producers and audiences alike believed that Lambert had brought a genuine sense of musical credibility to the programme.

However, the Idol finale revealed that the winner was the affable Kris Allen, a married 23-year old Christian, known for his missionary work and his mild but pleasing performances.

With all of the hype that preceded the result, it is perhaps worth considering whether the probing media attention surrounding Lambert’s possible homosexuality played a role in his failure?

Certainly, in the weeks leading up to the finale, everyone from the New York Times to conservative pundits such as Bill ‘O Reilly were debating the significance of such a prominent gay pop icon.

This focus began months before when pictures of the flamboyant performer dressed in drag and kissing other men were released into the blogosphere and were later picked up by the mainstream US print and television media.

Surprisingly, much of the press coverage was positive. It seemed that an increasingly liberal America was willing to embrace a male homosexual pop icon. For a country that has yet to produce an openly gay mainstream singer this was a major step forward.

Many Britons won’t think that this matter is worth debate, after all, we have Will Young, George Michael, Elton, John, Dan Gillespie from The Feeling, potentially Mika and many more, who are all successful. But when we consider US chart achievements, the only thriving gay musicians tend to be females such as Melissa Etheridge or KD Lang.

So the question here remains. What backfired for Adam Lambert? Before the results, I teamed up with the editor of gay website After Elton to discuss some of the potential pitfalls that the contestant might face.

First of all, a point that we noted was that Adam’s not-so ambiguous sexuality, kept the press talking about the programme, which had been fledgling in the ratings.

Yet, when journalists queried Adam about his sexuality, he would come back with vague quotes such as “I know who I am…and I’m going to keep on singing”. Perhaps, what happened here is that Lambert became a political prop for the gay community? He wasn’t speaking out about his sexuality, but audiences were confused nonetheless. Teenage girls continued to scream and hold up posters asking him to ‘marry’ them, whilst others wanted him to come out on the record (which he never did, despite the explicit evidence suggesting his homosexuality). To fans, this insincerity might have swayed them.

Indeed, with nearly as many votes cast in an Idol finale as there are in an US presidential election, the illusion of sincerity is of the utmost importance. Undoubtedly, the discussion surrounding the Idol contestant’s orientation might have somehow isolated voters somewhere in the run up to the final.

On the other hand, a lot of attention should be focused on the gay contestant’s competition. As I mentioned before, Kris Allen is a married Christian man. And he’s not married to just any woman either. She’s a pretty, all-American blonde girl who eagerly cheers him on every week, alongside his parents, Kim and Neil.

Now, if the passage of Proposition 8 last November in California has anything to say about the American public, it is that they tend to relate to those who share the same traditional family values as themselves. Debatably, it wouldn’t be too much of a leap to assume that voters stuck with a conventional singer, who wouldn’t threaten traditional patriarchy.

Let us not forget that the USA is going through great social changes at the moment. Habitually conservative states such as Iowa and Vermont, which are often referred to as part of ‘The Heart of America’, have recently passed advances for same sex couples. To also suggest that the most visible pop icon will also be a homosexual during this very time might have been just a little too overwhelming for the public.

Some commentators will fail to understand the importance of this issue. But in the end, one must realise that the gay (male) community in America tends to lack a personalised visibility. An openly gay icon that Americans can adore, respect and cherish, who is not afraid to conceal his identity. Unfortunately, season 8 of American Idol did not bring the gay community the result that it had hoped for.

Still, there have been some advances. For instance, Simon Cowell in an interview with TV Guide noted that he has ‘never had an issue’ with Adam Lambert’s sexuality (whatever it may be) and he noted that Adam’s presence was a ‘huge step forward’ for the show.

Now that the competition is officially over (and producers have lost their stake in the contestants’ lives), it will be interesting to see how Mr Lambert tackles the issue of his sexuality in the public forum. One can only hope that he is able to articulate his sexual preference honestly and that he will still be able to continue to develop a successful musical career.

Omar Hassan is a UK-based writer and freelance journalist and has spent many years living in the USA. He contributes regularly to a range of publications including: Primer Magazine (as a Contributing Editor), What’s On Stage Magazine, Orange Music/Somethin’ Else Productions, PinkNews.co.uk, Push It Magazine, The Advocate, After Elton and Film International (forthcoming). 

Omar Hassan speaks to the filmmaker about the film’s inspiration; its public reception, as well as the greater issue of LGBT rights in the Arab-speaking world.

What inspired you to make All My Life?

The film was a reaction to the Queen Boat raid that took place in Cairo in 2001. The security police arrested 52 men for ‘deriding religion’ in Emergency State Security Courts, which are special courts that were established to try terrorists (and certainly do not meet international standards of justice). The newspaper coverage of these events was outrageous. Some even went as far as to suggest that these men were members of a Satanist group.

At that time, when I was trying to organise a defence group to help the arrested men, I was shocked to find that some of the human rights activists didn’t want to interfere in the case because they did not want to discredit their other work, which they considered more important. But what was more shocking to me was that there were gay men who passed judgment on the victims and even disassociated themselves from them.

It was then that I started writing the film.

What kind of pressures did you face getting the film made and financed?

After writing the script it was obvious that it would stay in my drawer forever if I didn’t make it myself. The subject matter meant that it wouldn’t get any support from Middle Eastern production companies. The second resort was to seek western funding and grants. But I brushed off this option because I wanted to make a movie for us by us [for an Arab audience by an Arab filmmaker]. The main reason for this decision is that government-controlled-media in our part of the world insist that homosexuality is a Western vice. If I made the film myself, they could not accuse my views of being Westernised.

For this reason I had to finance the film myself using my money, my credit cards and my friends and family’s credit cards in addition to loans and donations.

It was shot against overwhelming odds in Cairo and California, and it took three years to finish shooting.

Was it difficult to find actors and crew to work on the project?

Absolutely, professional actors (even the ones who sympathise with the subject matter) won’t play the roles because they are afraid of destroying their careers. I had to use amateur actors and people with no previous experience.

I depended on volunteer work and the assistance of the community. Shooting in the street in borrowed locations and the homes of my friends and actors. There wasn’t any crew, in the sense of the word, so the cast of the movie doubled as key grips, boom operators, set builders and refreshment servers.

All the Egyptian street scenes were shot guerrilla-style due to government restrictions on street filming.

What was your goal with the project? Was it to benefit the lives of the LGBT community in Egypt and the Middle East?

Visibility was my first goal. We are starved for images of ourselves. All of the LGBT characters in Egyptian cinema tend to be pathetic. I wanted to change this and also encourage a straight audience to find familiarity in the story.

Have you depicted or told LGBT stories in the past? In other theatre or film work? If so, how was it received?

I wrote and directed The Harem (El-Haramlek) in 1998, a play about the roles we [the LGBT community] play and the expectations people demand of us. It was received well on the three nights we performed it, before it was cancelled. We had a full house on the first two nights and on the third night (because we knew it was our last chance to perform), we let everyone in, so people were standing on the isles and sitting on the floor.

The reactions were positive, and even the gay and lesbian scenes were greeted with applause every time, despite the fact that the majority of the audience was straight.

Of course, theatre audiences are more liberal then the average film viewer.

How was the All My Life received by audiences and critics in Egypt and abroad?

Unfortunately, the film hasn’t been screened publicly in Egypt. There have been a few private screenings and that’s it. Yet, the ex-Mufti [A Mufti is a scholar of Islamic Law] of Egypt, Dr Fareed Wasel, called for the banning and “immediate burning” of the movie, even without seeing it.

At the same time, Dr. Zein el Abedeen, Egypt’s Anti-AIDS Program Director stated that the film was “a painful blow to all our efforts to combat the spread of HIV.”

So I find myself facing two authorities a religious one and a scientific one, both ignoring reason and issuing negative judgment that most people [in the Middle East] accept and adopt.

Did you receive any threatening or violent reactions after the film’s release?

I received hate emails calling me names and warning me of the wrath of God and promising me His Almighty punishment. Some recite verses from the Koran describing the day of doom or verses from the Koran that describe the punishment of Sodom and Gomorrah and promise me a similar fate

One even said that I’d turn into a salt pillar like Lot’s wife because I promote homosexuality. I also received an email with verses from the bible in Arabic [informing me that] Jesus will love me if I repent the message.

On the other hand, I received many more emails thanking, praising and encouraging me from LGBTQ people of the Arabic-speaking world as well as from heterosexual members of the Arab community.

Do you think the film has struggled to find an audience because of its subject matter?

On the contrary, the film has sold out at every festival it has been screened at. The Arab LGBTQ communities around the world are starving to see themselves presented on screen, and the heterosexual Arab communities are curious as well.

What are your future plans for the film?

It is traveling around the festival circuits and I hope to be able to distribute it on DVDs. When the festivals are over, I believe it’ll be for sale on the sidewalks in Cairo, Beirut, Damascus, Baghdad and Riyadh like all banned films are (through video piracy). This way, I know I may not recoup the money I spent on the film, but at least I will have achieved self-fulfillment.

Do you think that film/the Arts can be used as a means to help protect and defend LGBT rights in the Middle East?

Yes, visibility is a main factor in fighting prejudice and bigotry against LGBT community and other minority groups. Film, theatre and other forms of art are some of the means that this visibility can transpire. Having the LGBT society on screen can make the issue familiar and what is familiar is not scary and what is not scary becomes humane and deserves rights.

Links: http://maraiafilm.com/ http://www.frameline.org/festival/film/detail.aspx?id=1407&FID=42

Omar Hassan is a UK-based writer and freelance journalist. Born in Cairo, Egypt, he has lived in the USA and Saudi Arabia and currently resides in the United Kingdom 

A recent study by the British Medical Journal found that one in six therapists and psychiatrists have attempted to ‘cure’ homosexuality. Next week, a convention featuring notorious ex-gay advocates such as Joseph Nicolosi is to be held in London. Despite all scientific evidence which states sexuality cannot be changed, it is clear that the use of such techniques continues.

In light of recent news around ex-gay therapies and my own personal battle with my family over changing my sexual orientation, I thought it would be an opportune time to speak to Peterson Toscano, a performer who survived over 17 years of ex-gay programmes including the well-known live-in treatment facility, Love In Action.

Toscano has subsequently founded an online community called Beyond Ex Gay, for those who have endured reparative therapy who wish to share their experiences and speaks regularly about his struggle with the Ex Gay movement.

In the following interview, he details his own experiences and the reasons why he first sought treatment. He uncovers the truth about a bigoted community, which refuses to accept the equal protection and rights of homosexuals. In the end, he raises important questions about society’s responsibilities towards the LGBTQ community, as well as the future of the Ex Gay supporters.

Did you find reparative therapy useful? Why or why not? 
I found that reparative therapy and ex-gay ministry caused me more harm than good. When someone elects to go into one of these programs or treatments, typically they have lots of stuff going on in their lives that needs attention – depression, addiction issues, low self-esteem, family problems, unresolved abuse or trauma.

None of these things have to do with being gay, but in our society, and particularly in many churches, they teach that being gay is the cause of all these things. They are wrong, but still this is powerful message to a young impressionable mind.  

Overall, I found reparative therapy to be destructive to my psyche, my spirituality, my career, relationships within my family, my finances and even my physical health.

It is no surprise that extreme lower back problems ultimately resulting in a herniated disc began at the same time when I initiated to de-gay myself.

Once I came out of the closet and began to undo the damage of the ex-gay treatment, the lower back problems went away.  

Why were you trying to rid yourself of homosexual tendencies? Was it because of personal, social, religious or cultural beliefs? 
There was a strong mix of reasons that compelled me to pursue reparative therapy. I believed that my primary motivation was religion.

As a Christian I did not then see how I could also be gay. As I have explored my reasons further, I discovered many factors that influenced and pressured me to de-gay myself.  

I had many reasons why I went ex-gay. These included a desire to marry and have children, fear of loneliness, pressure from society, fear of AIDS and other STDs, low self-esteem and many others.
 
Did you believe that homosexuality should be frowned upon, or was it something that you simply did not want to be a part of? 
At the time when I pursued treatment I believed that it was wrong to be gay and normal to be heterosexual. Of course I received this message in nearly every TV show, pop song, advert, religious ceremony, and book I read.

I had an aversion to being gay because of the aversion I experienced in the world around me.  

Now I see that a gay orientation and gender diversity are normal phenomena in the natural world and throughout human history.  

Has the therapy altered your sexual orientation in anyway? If so, have you ever been in a relationship with a female? 
Gay reparative therapy and ex-gay ministries did not alter my sexual orientation in the least. In fact, most ex-gay therapists today will tell you that a change in orientation is not a realistic goal.

At the time, the message was not so honest. Instead therapists and ex-gay proponents filled my head with myths promising me the impossible – transformation from gay to straight. As a result of these promises and my quest to be heterosexual, I married a woman back in 1990.

We were together for five years before the marriage ended in flames. I loved her as a person, but sadly never desired her as a lover.

What did alter was my emotional well-being. It was during this marriage that I became more and more discouraged and depressed over my sexuality to the point where I seriously considered taking my life.  

Can you divulge some of the therapeutic practices that were used on you? 
I spent 17 years and over $30,000 on three continents attempting to de-gay myself. I attended weekly support groups, one-on-one counseling sessions, conferences, and even two years at a residential facility. In addition I purchased and read over 20 books about reparative therapy and the ex-gay process.  

Each programme and practitioner offers a different method. This is not a regulated industry and typically most ex-gay therapists have no formal training in mental health, psychology or counselling. I had been in programmes and with counsellors in the UK, US and South America.  

Some use pastoral counselling, using the Bible and traditional Christian teachings as a means of correcting what they see as transgressive behaviours and desires. 

One programme used an altered version of the 12-Steps traditionally used in Alcoholics Anonymous. 

Often therapists tried to correct gender variance instructing me to be more gender conforming. They taught me how to play football, change the oil in my car, walk, sit and dress in a more straight-acting masculine way. 

Many counsellors target parents as the culprits for why someone is gay and drag family into the “therapy.” I spent two years at a residential facility in Memphis, Tennessee and this program convinced my parents that they had failed me and were to blame for problems I faced with my sexuality.

These programs often offer up their own template of how someone becomes gay. It is a mish-mash of debunked Freudian theory, Bible lessons and development models attempting to explain how someone became gay. They then want the client to create a new mythology about they’re past to adhere to their template. 

At times the “treatments” became outright bizarre including three exorcisms I endured, one of which was is Kidderminster, England.

Why did you spent so many years in ex-gay programs? 
As I mentioned before, I had many reasons for pursuing a change in orientation. Added to that mix were fear and shame, toxic emotions that keep people from thinking clearly. I felt terrified that I would piss off God, get AIDS and die, and I lived in the shame that society heaped on me about being gay.

I also lived in a country (the USA) that stressed that one could be whatever one wanted to be. I ceded my brain over to our oppressors and let them give me the weapons and tools to go to war against myself.

Bottom line I was a coward – afraid of what would happen if I chose to be authentic. Little did I know that I would experience a fullness of life and health I had never dreamed was possible.  

Peterson Toscano is a theatrical performance activist who travels internationally with original one-person shows that address LGBT concerns as well as issues of race, gender, environment and faith. He will be in the UK from 23 April speaking about reparative therapy. For a full schedule please see: www.petersontoscano.com/schedule

Omar is a writer and freelance journalist. He has also been involved with a range of TV production companies, working predominantly in the area of factual programming. Born in Cairo, Egypt, he has lived in the USA and Saudi Arabia and currently resides in the United Kingdom.

Brian Whitaker, of the Guardian, who authored the book ‘Unspeakable Love’, notes that the subject of homosexuality is as unmentionable in the Middle East as it was in the UK 60 years ago.

This tension can be attributed largely to Islamic conservatism. In 2006, it was reported that radical Islamic militias were attacking homosexuals in Iraq; and it was only a year later that Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed that there were “no homosexuals in Iran”.

“Ironically, Ahmadinedjad’s remarks and the laughter from his audience probably did a lot to bring [the issue] out in the open’, Whitaker told us. Indeed, soon after, filmmaker Tanaz Eshaghian released a documentary entitled ‘Be Like Others’. The film revealed that the government had been paying for homosexual men to have sex-change operations. Arguably, this was the Iranian administration’s humane ultimatum to the death sentence, which is bestowed on any two men who wish to engage in a homosexual relationship.

At the time of the film’s release, the filmmaker stated that it was easy to find her subjects, noting that gender reassignment surgery is a “public phenomenon [even] encouraged by the Islamic clerics”.
These instances do not begin to explain the extent of the pressures that one faces for being gay in this part of the world.

Even at a basic level, one can argue that Arabic language in itself does not accommodate a neutral definition of the term ‘homosexual’. The most inoffensive branding for an LGBT man for instance is ‘Luti’ or ‘Shaz’, which roughly translate to mean ‘pervert’ or ‘deviant’. How then, is anyone who identifies as part of this minority group going to be able to stand up to such political, social and linguistic barriers?

Human rights activists the world over had hoped that a UN joint statement released last December would help alleviate the situation. Signed by over 60 countries, the assertion called for the decriminalization of homosexuality and the protection of various other LGBT human rights, including the protection against discrimination.

However, according to human rights campaigner, Peter Tatchell, it is important to note that this is not a resolution.

“It has no force on international law. [Still], it is an important symbolic benchmark, being the first time that the UN General Assembly has ever heard such a statement,” he said.
As expected, the statement was opposed by Islamic states such as Saudi Arabia and Iran. “They will ignore it…[and it will] have little moderating effect on their abuse of LGBT citizens”, argues Tatchell.

Undeniably, Middle Eastern politicians and religious figures are prone to use arguments relating to cultural rights and relativism, claiming that the West (and its allies) have no authority to infringe on any nation’s legal system, regardless of whether the matter concerns the seemingly universal human rights to life, freedom and personal liberty.

Indeed, one can make an example out of the public reaction to the Queen Boat raid, which took place in Cairo nearly eight years ago. At the time, the relatively liberal Egyptian government enforced a crackdown on an unofficial floating gay nightclub, which was moored on the Nile. The raids subsequently lead to 52 arrests, with many of the victims claiming to be arbitrarily detained whilst simply passing by the docks. The men involved were publicly humiliated (whilst in court, they were placed in cages) with their faces splashed across the covers of newspapers.

Although there is no law in Egypt that explicitly bans homosexual practice, the accused men were charged on the grounds of ‘debauchery’. In the end, over twenty of those arrested faced sentences which ranged between three to five years in prison. Many of those who were released returned home to find that they had lost their jobs and were rejected by their families.

Hossam Bahgat, an Egyptian human rights activist and journalist who was working at the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) at the time, protested against these injustices. He argued that the administration was using the raid as a means to sidetrack public focus from the impending recession, its Western alliances (which are unpopular with the public) and to quell the tensions growing in the Islamic Brotherhood (who are of increasing importance in the Egyptian political arena).

Soon after speaking out, Bahgat was removed from his position at the EOHR. The EOHR’s secretary-general, Hafez Abu Saada told the press at the time: “Personally, I don’t like the subject of homosexuality, and I don’t want to defend them.” He also went on to explain that sexual preference was not a human right.

At the same time, the Egyptian government went so far as to arrest individuals who used online chat rooms and social networking websites as a means for sourcing homosexual relationships.Futhermore, reports were circulating that government officials were masquerading as potential suitors in order to set gay men up for arrest. Scott Long of Human Rights Watch has spoken previously about this matter, asserting that when governments crack down on homosexual gathering places, whether real or online, they do it for political rather than purely moral reasons. “They are saying to their people that they are defending what is authentic, what is Islamic,” he said.

In turn, the politicians, journalists and even the human rights activists of the Middle Eastern world are arguing back at egalitarian impositions that beg for the equal rights of the LGBT community.

Considering the sensitivity of the issue and the rise of anti-Islamic attitude in the West, it is very easy for Islamic states to claim that announcements (such as the UN statement) are imperial infringements by the secular West on the Islamic world. Accordingly, it is evident that the UN’s efforts will reap only meagre benefits for the distressed LGBT community in the Middle East.

How then do we begin to envisage change in the region for this vulnerable community? On an individual basis, many Middle Easterners seeking an escape believe that Western states should implement more liberal asylum policies towards LGBT groups.

However, if we are going to be realistic about safeguarding the rights of these communities than we need a new strategy. The West must use political leverage to bring LGBT rights up on the international agenda as, undeniably, many of the biggest gay rights’ abuses committed in the Middle East are by Western allies.
Undoubtedly, this will require significant effort, especially considering that many of the Arabs and Muslims who live in the diaspora also occupy negative attitudes towards homosexuals. Still, the beliefs of an increasingly blindsided religious majority should not take precedence over anyone’s basic humanity.

According to Tatchell, what is most likely to change is the self-organisation of LGBT people in Muslim states, as has happened in Lebanon, through the work of the LGBT group, Helem.

“Some…changes might also come through HIV prevention work, where governments will have to reluctantly recognise the LGBT communities in order to combat the HIV pandemic,” he added.
Whitaker argues further that “it is becoming more difficult to keep a lid on discussion of homosexuality in the Middle East”.

“Western debates about gay priests, films like Brokeback Mountain, and even George Michael’s arrest [coupled with the use of the internet] are all heightening gay awareness” in the region, he says.

However until these governments recognise that gay rights are of importance, it should be the obligation of the international community to take a holistic approach to ensuring the protection of this vulnerable LGBT population. Only then, will the new UN statement be able to ensure that our universal human rights are protected.

Omar is a writer and freelance journalist. He has also been involved with a range of TV production companies and currently has a film project in development. Born in Cairo, Egypt, he has lived in the U.S.A and Saudi Arabia and currently resides in the United Kingdom.

But things weren’t always this easy. When I was thirteen, my medic father joked that I would one day succumb to gastric band surgery. This instilled a crisis of confidence in me, which encouraged long bouts spent hovering over the bathroom sink – shoving a toothbrush down my throat in an attempt to throw up.

Now, almost a decade later, the gender bias in the medical community suggests that men are still less likely to be diagnosed with an eating disorder.

But with children as young as eight being treated for anorexia it should come as no surprise that the number of grown men suffering from physical insecurity is on the rise.

In fact, a presentation at the American Dietetic Association’s Food and Nutrition Conference revealed that at any given time, 25 per cent of men are on a diet, with over 40 per cent complaining that they are dissatisfied with their bodies. Where do gay men fit into all of this?

The non profit organisation, Anorexia Nervosa and Related Eating Disorders, Inc. (ANRED) found that gay men make up over 40 percent of males suffering from eating disorders, despite only occupying approximately five to ten per cent of the population.

Travis Mathews, the director and counselor behind the documentary film ‘Do I Look Fat?’ believes that gay men (not unlike women) are more likely to develop such habits because they have historically been subject to more negative feedback from society.

Mathews informed me that societal prejudice prevents gay men from developing a sense of security, which makes them “more likely to use outside influences as a barometer of [their] wellbeing”.

“However, what is most unique to gay men is [that] body obsession [is used] as a reaction to a long-standing sense of emasculation”, notes Mathews. Undeniably, “whether it is implicit or explicit, most gay men have experienced bullying” and in light of this, “they have had to struggle with what masculinity means to them”.

For many men, they try to overcompensate by becoming ‘hyper-masculine’ – symbolically overturning what used to be an effeminate body. This preoccupation can often lead to Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), or a ruthless obsession with slight defects in appearance. This leads to further abuses involving over exercise, supplements and steroids.

According to Brad Kennington, (a director of an eating disorder treatment centre in Texas), “while women tend to focus on weight, men focus on shape, spending hours in the gym [in the belief] that this will make them feel desired, wanted and empowered.” In turn, the gay man’s body becomes his identity. He uses it as a means to assert his manliness and to disavow the curvier, voluptuous female body type.

Because of self-perpetuating peer pressure, it becomes a common belief that attributes such as narrow hips and flat stomachs are what define masculinity. And so, gay men often believe that they must aspire to these norms in order to be worthy of another gay man’s love.

On the other hand, some gay men respond to this community pressure by overeating, developing a love-hate relationship with food. One such case occurred to a man called Stu, who is portrayed in Mathews’ documentary.

Stu complains that he found himself isolated from the gay community because of his size and insists that his only coping mechanism was through further binge eating. Ironically, Stu states that the happiest time in his life was when he developed AIDS and rapidly lost 70 lbs.

Dr Ted Weltzin of Rogers Memorial Hospital argues that this kind of physical vulnerability is a product of low self-esteem. The stresses of coming-out, dealing with the reactions of family, friends and strangers is often a matter that is out of a gay man’s control.

By developing a physical obsession, a homosexual man can now modulate how he feels. He can develop a psychological sense of control and this becomes addictive, like any form of drug abuse. Starving, binging, purging and over-exercising start to make him “feel high”, concludes Weltzin.

After all this, one must ask, how this physical obsession perpetuates itself? Researchers at the University of Central Florida discovered that men who watched television commercials with muscular actors felt unhappy about their own physiques.

This led them to the conclusion that the “culture of masculinity” may be linked to eating disorders and steroid abuse. Further to this, it is hard to deny that to some extent, the gay press might propagate this sense of low self-esteem.

Mathews argues that “like any press [the gay press] feeds on what it sells”. The resulting images of the impossible to achieve ‘Adonis figures’ continue the spread of low self-esteem and encourage a desire to buy products that may improve their appearance–propelling the nasty cycle of physical obsession.

The irony here, Mathews argues, is that gay men have in themselves become bullies. By enforcing physical ideals, they are bullying each other into conforming to generalised standards that may be unhealthy.
Dr Weltzin notes that the best way to deal with this problem is to recognise that the emotions that come with being a homosexual, are not bad. By finding alternative ways to deal with their low self-esteem, gay men will be able to avoid such isolating and debilitating illnesses.

However, Matthew Breen, the executive editor of The Advocate (America’s foremost LGBT news source) argues that the male ideal of the gym-built body is “not a function of the gay media” but of “the mainstream media”, he said speaking from his LA office.

He also points out that the aspirational nature of the gay press is largely the reason why men consume it. He even goes as far as to state that “to hope for [the] day when the hot models with six-pack abs go away to be entirely replaced in the media by average Joes of all shapes and sizes is futile. It won’t happen and if it did [many] publications would wither from lack of audience.” This goes for both straight and gay publications.

This commentary is mirrored by evidence from Professor Hubert Lacey of St George’s Hospital in London who reported that she had treated more male than female anorexia referrals for the first time in the summer of 2008. This information suggests that there need not be as much of a stigma placed on men (gay or straight) who struggle with their physical appearance.

In 2008, eminent designer Tom Ford penned an essay challenging both the press and the public to change their hostile attitude towards the image of the naked male body. His argument is that society’s antagonism has conditioned us to believe that only one form of beauty is acceptable.

Maybe now is the time to let go of this view and to allow men of all shapes and sizes a place in the forum. Advocate editor Breen believes that the gay press is more ‘complex’ than before and that they are increasingly willing to cater to variety, as opposed to a ‘single ideal’.

Perhaps then, the gay press will attempt to strike a balancing act between the images of ‘perfection’ and more natural physiques, as this would allow the community to come to terms with its beautiful and inherent diversity.

Undeniably this kind of attitude towards the masculine model will help men like myself, who have tirelessly fought to conform to the status quo.

Omar is a writer and freelance journalist. He has also been involved with a range of TV production companies, working predominantly in the area of factual programming. Born in Cairo, Egypt, he has lived in the U.S.A and Saudi Arabia and currently resides in the United Kingdom.