GayCities, 2010: The Year in Review

This could be the year we might have truly outdone ourselves. Gays were everywhere in 2010–from the biggest little city in the world to the biggest big cities we call home. How could we be missed? We wore white, we wore drag, we wore leather and (judging by these sets of photos) we were also pretty naked a lot of the time.

How could we top that? Well, now we can add military uniforms to our ever-evolving wardrobe. Yes, at the end of the day, boy oh boy, does it feel good to be gay. And it just keeps getting better.

Much to our joy, the GayCities year started with a kiss. A kiss photo challenge that is, just in time for Valentine’s Day. Matt and Bobby took home the big prize: two-night stay and romantic dinner for two at any Kimpton Hotel and Restaurant. Their photo not only captures young love at its finest, but it also features a touching backstory:

Bobby had to go back to America for Christmas break so I arranged to go too and surprise him. His parents confronted him about being in a relationship with me. Bobby told his parents that he had no intention of leaving me, so we left that night and drove to New York. Bobby had once said that when he had visited France he saw an elderly couple walking through a archway of curved branches and told me he wants the same for us in 50 years time. I noticed the trees right here in Central Park, so I told him to walk up the path with me.

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We have to admit, here at GayCities we got a little mushy after reading that and decided to keep spreading the love for the rest of the year. We sent a party boy to WeHo, a foodie to Sonoma County and a tanned hottie on a cruise. GayCities also gave away tickets to Kathy Griffin and to the GayVN Awards. And, of course, we are right now getting ready to send one lucky GayCities member to Berlin in Best of GayCities, 2010: The World According to Gays.

Spring is usually the time when bears come out of hibernation, but it’s also when the queen bees tend to fluster out of their coffins. For some of San Francisco’s fiercest femmes, Reno is the land of milk and honey–or at least Big Macs and McFlurries. Right out of a John Waters’ wet dream, Trannyshack Reno sees the exodus of 100 drag queens loaded into two luxury motor coaches in what has become an Easter affair to remember. (Even if the drunken queens don’t.) Leave it to those girls to outdo Mr. Christ.

Ambrosia Salad, Miss Terry and Joshua J at McDonalds (photo by GeneralMonty)

LadyBear is disgusted by on-bus shenanigans

White gets such a bad rep these days: the color of that nose candy that gets you all wired and weird, the color of stuffy people who can’t dance, the color of those foods that load on the calories that even the gym can’t burn off. So we’re thankful for the boys that flock to Palm Springs every year for the White Party months before Labor Day, so no one’s going to belittle you for wearing white. Or suspenders. Or a spray-on tan.

See, white makes it easy to match! Even if you’re crossed-eyed, blurry eyed or colorblind…

It’s never too late to learn how to swim – Palm Springs style!

And don’t forget the Miami White Party, for which GayCities Miami editor penned an unforgettable survival guide that serves as primer on how to have safe fun on any of the many incredible occasions this life offers.

Way before getting himself tangled in the LOGO show The A-List: New York, celebrity photographer Mike Ruiz gave us an exclusive on all his favorite hangouts. Who knew he was a stay-at-home gay? When asked by our New York editor JJ Keyes how he’d spend a night in New York, Mike wasn’t coy: “I’d have a fancy catered affair on my rooftop which has the most mind-blowing views in Manhattan.” We’d have to see it to believe it (hint: we want a personal invite).

And Mike Ruiz wasn’t the only A-lister getting up close and personal with GayCities. In 2010, our editors also interviewed the winner on the first season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Bebe Zahara Benet, bi-curious loudmouth comic, Sandra Bernhardt, high-flying female sensation, Pam Ann (below), and the stars of the new show Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys, Sarah Rose and Joel Derfner.

There is no event which brings us closer together (both physically and as a community) than good old pride. This June you submitted your best Pride photos to our yearly pride photo challenge. It was a tough decision, but in the end, after your votes were tallied, it turns out only one thing gets you cooled off during the steamy gay indepenDANCE…

Of course, it wouldn’t be pride without a healthy dose of fruits.

It’s hot out here! Where’s that hose when you need it?

Check out the colorful slideshow of all the finalists.

And when we needed to go that extra mile, give or take 5,000, GayCities recruited our very own athlete-turned-blogger and Copenhagen editor Paul Brummitt to cover the GayGames in Cologne. Paul competed in the triathlon on top of sending us photos and blog updates. Now that’s what we call stamina!

Gays stateside also went balls out when it came to sports in 2010. The Castro erupted in a toilet-papering celebration as the eccentric San Francisco Giants became the World Series Champions, and even the Kentucky Derby got our imaginations racing with contender names sounding awfully familiar to the studs in our porn fantasies.

Later in the summer, though, the south left nothing to the imagination with the return of Southern Decadence, where it was all about drinking bourbon in briefs while somehow trying to collect as many beads as possible.

The theme this year was “Leather and Feathers” and those Southern boys busted out their kinkiest gear. How many beads for a leather wardrobe malfunction?

Of course, when it comes to leather, nothing tops Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco. Take a stroll down fetish lane and check out our photo galleries from this year’s fair here and here.

Hey, dude, nice outfit!

There was more than just leather in the air.

The GayCities iPhone app, no doubt!

This year, San Francisco got a bigger dose of testicular power as the GayVN’s were awarded the Friday before Folsom Street Fair. Host for the night, Alec Mapa, commented: “I’ve watched so much gay porn lately I now actually think group sex is a great way to meet someone new.”

Don’t I know you from somewhere? Yes, maybe from that locked folder on your desktop labeled, ‘XXX-Files’…

The GayVN’s weren’t the first time we got to talk to hunky porn stars. Earlier this year we interviewed porn star turned author, Aiden Shaw, iconic porn entrepreneur, Michael Lucas, and erotic superstar and safe sex advocate, Steve Cruz.

In the summer months, we couldn’t think of anything else but lounging half-naked on the beach. We featured the top 10 gay beaches in the world, then followed with a list of top 10 nude beaches. But, apparently, that wasn’t enough, so we then compiled your comments and released your top 10 picks. The more to bare, the better, apparently.

As the leaves turned yellow, we knew we had to escape to a place where the only yellow were the margaritas: Puerto Vallarta. GayCities sent Courtney Act on an Atlantis cruise from L.A. through the Mexican Riviera so she could blog and snap photos of the goings-on, aboard and all-over. Vacationing vicariously through the Australian drag darling, it was every man for herself. Check out Courtney Act’s cruising adventures herehere and here.

As for us, here at the GayCities HQ? Well, it’s been a big year, too. We sent a troupe of GayCities-branded go-go boys through the Castro Street Fair to get the neighborhood even more excited about our fabulous iPhone app “Check-In” feature. And of course, we knew just the thing to get your attention: bright American Apparel underwear with our logo festooned prominently across the backside.

And 2010 was the year we went bi… bi-costal! Our team left their San Francisco chill at home and put on some New York swagger as we partied at Therapy in Hell’s Kitchen and hung out with some of our East Coast comrades.

Key elements of the GayCities team – Dan, Matt and Scott – enjoy the perks of party-throwing.

The open bar really got everyone happy. What can we say? GayCities makes you feel that connected.

Now, don’t get it twisted: 2010 wasn’t all about mankinis and make-out sessions. Public displays of gay-affection came in more politically-minded ways as well. In August we saw the overturning of that noxious, party-pooping Proposition 8. A rally in San Francisco, from Civic Center to the Castro, complete with a traveling DJ, was in order.

After reports of gay teen suicides took over the headlines, you volunteered to help local at-risk LGBT youth, just in time for National Coming Out Day.

In November, Equality Illinois encouraged residents of the state, where mail-in voting is allowed, to drop their pants… er, votes. Vote Naked Illinois featured voters gladly showing some skin in order to rile up interest in voting by mail from home.

Just in time for the ho-ho-hoe holidays, our New York editor JJ Keyes surveyed some of the naughtiest drag queens in the world to see what they wished for this year. The gifts ranged from shopping sprees to oversized toys of a different variety…

If only Santa looked one inch like these guys who participated in the Santa Skivvies Run to raise money for the SF AIDS Foundation. Well, we’d wait in line for hours just for a moment on his skinny lap.

Santa’s workout routine: chimney climbing, late night cookies-and-milk binges and…

…shots, shots, shots!

November saw the launch of Best Of GayCities, 2010, in which GayCities members voted on their favorite gay places across the globe. Artist Wendy McNaughton illustrated the satirical map The World According to Gays.

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