Like mushrooms after a rain, blogs cropping up exponentially all over the web has been something of a recent phenomenon. Doubt anyone could have possibly predicted that a humble web journal could have made such an indelible impact on the world today from jumpstarting avant garde fashion trends to uncovering clandestine government secrets.

Everyone has their own reasons – or hidden agendas – in starting a blog. Mine is simple enough. Secret encrypted journals have always been a passion of mine – one of the trademarks of a Scorpio, I’m sure – and this blog here is just an extension of the one kept locked up in my drawer, albeit with a snazzier template and scandalous shots of lounging half-naked hunks. Oh yeah, and you don’t have to deal with my horrible, much-maligned doctor’s handwriting that resembles nothing more than the minute illegible scribblings of a inebriated toddler on the wall.

One of the unforeseen side effects of the blog is the fact that more bashful men (otherwise more inclined to highway stops or midnight parks) are taking that quick peek out of the closet. With the relative anonymity of the web, there is some small sense of security – although it’s ephemeral at best – but that’s certainly encouragement enough for those deeply in the closet to slide a foot shyly out the door. Even that brief appearance is enough to make a note that not all gay men are stereotypically hairdressers, interior decorators and flight attendants! That we do come in all shapes and sizes from engineers to teachers to pilots – hell, even to doctors.

Even going by Kinsey’s infamous average, it’s still quite a sizeable community out there and we’re not all flawless ripped clones shipped out of gaytown. Not all gay men are spa-going perfectly-coiffed-and-plucked gymbots in fabulous Armani with wasp waists the size of a man’s handspan. Shockingly some of us ( gasp! ) are actually grungy, unshaven slobs who don’t actually give a shit about dinner parties and window trimmings.

And most importantly ( especially to the conservative fundamentalists around ) not all of us are genuine sex-crazed perverts who crouch around dark bushes behind public toilets in search of that next virile trick. Most of us are actually serious-minded average joes that you meet right on the street. Of course, I’m a lousy example of sensibility so don’t go around judging gay men by degenerate old me

Such a change from the times when I first came out and didn’t have a fucking clue how to go about it. With all the negative portrayals of gay men in the media and the neverending homophobic jibes in school, there were hardly any homosexual ideals that I could emulate ( apart from a ravishing transgender who sauntered back home in the early dawn behind the school – but I never looked good in heels dammit! ) and it was all my insignificant other and I could do to fumble through our hormonally-imbalanced adolescent years. Possibly the reason why we both turned out a little off-center!

So with more positive images of homosexuality in the media nowadays ( well, relatively speaking! ), that’s certainly good news indeed to the youthful ingenues who are just discovering that the handsome old buddy changing in the stall next door is giving them minor palpitations and a dangerous rise.

You’re certainly not alone