It’s not nice to stereotype. This may be especially true of homosexuals, who have borne the brunt of unkind pinpointing for so long that they believe it themselves.
…so begins an outrageously stereotypical article from the May, 1980 issue of Blueboy Magazine, titled “Is There A Typical New York Faggot?”
Now… before you lose your shit over the title, keep in mind that those were different times. The “F” word wasn’t taboo. Larry Kramer’s book by that name had been published just a year and a half earlier. So let’s put that sticking point aside. There’s plenty more to discuss.
Another caveat: This is from Blueboy. A gay porn magazine. It ain’t the Advocate or The Village Voice. Presumably author “J. Greller” was the pen name of a jaded queen with his tongue firmly planted in his own cheek and his head up his own ass. Who can say for sure? I wouldn’t want to, you know, stereotype… but Harold from Boys In The Band could deliver this piece as a monologue.
It’s mean and bitchy, but not in a fun way. It’s like the author had one martini too many and his New York City rant went to a dark place that was no longer funny or clever. The specificity of many of the “types” described gives the indication that he had an axe to grind with very particular unnamed individuals.
Have a read:
To be fair, the entire piece isn’t completely tone-deaf. There are glimpses that ring true, especially in the downtown neighborhoods. This is due in part to the quotes from others – Doley the Third’s observation on Harlem, for example.
I find the piece to be out of sync with the NYC neighborhoods as I have known them since the early 1990’s. But this is my perception over a 30 year period. I wasn’t there in 1980, but I have to wonder if the author has based his observations on, say, a 30 year period prior to that. Were there were really still old vamps & flappers on St. Marks in the CBGB era? Did 57th Street really have its own gay male type that needed dissection? Did nobody ever travel out of their own neighborhood to socialize? Were the streetcars not running?
Interesting to note that, for all this compartmentalizing of Midtown East neighborhoods: Kips Bay vs Turtle Bay vs. East Side… there is no mention of Murray Hill. At the time, according to older gay New Yorkers that I have known, it was referred to as “Mary Hill” due to the large number of gay bars and homosexual residents. J. Geller missed a golden opportunity.
Kudos to the graphic artist Favio Castelli, though.
See Also:
Kenn Duncan After Dark
In Touch For Men: Disco Danny (1979)
Costello Presley & 80’s Gay Porn Guilty Pleasures
Gay Times #69 (1978)
John Waters in Blueboy Magazine (1977)
New York City: In Touch For Men (1979)
San Francisco: In Touch For Men (1979)
Revisiting Blueboy Magazine (1980)
Armistead Maupin in Blueboy Magazine (1980)
Brian Ferrari's Blog 
I loved Blue Boy magazine! And I have a signed copy of Larry Kramer’s “Faggot”.
And I lived in “Mary Hill” ; )
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Yes, it’s all true Mommie.
via GIPHY
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Very interesting 👌 never really gave it much thought but that was a different time back then I was surprised to see that photo though 😀
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Yes – I didn’t want to alarm you but it just keeps popping up! 🙂
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let me first start off by saying that I find the word faggot offensive and like most gay people from back then there was not a typical person I think we finding ways to fit in most did it with their circle of friends and yes different neighborhoods had cultural differences but for us it was a way to find ourselves yes some neighborhoods had younger or older people in them or so many more differences in them but we excepted them and hopefully learned something rather it be good or bad and hopefully these typical new York faggots helped to pave the way for the next generations thank you for making me think of what it was like back then and how much we have grown
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