Ade M"Cormack: the "Elephant Escape" kid grows up, gets a BFA, writes a gay movie, stars in "Castlevania," and doesn't come out. With bonus n*de dudes

Link to the n*de dudes

In The Great Elephant Escape (1995), 14-year old Matt (Joseph Gordon Levitt) goes on safari in Africa, where local boy Jomo (Frederick Tocumboh M’Cormack) falls in love with him.  It's a one-sided but very nearly textual romance.  Also they helo an elephant escape.

We know what happened to Joseph Gordon-Levitt.  

He played the aliens' son in Third Rock from the Sun (1996-2001).

A gay guy on  That 70s Show (1998).

A straight guy in the gay-themed Latter Days (2003)

A teenager turned gay by abuse in  Mysterious Skin (2004).

And then a lot of straight characters, like a cop in Dark Knight Rising (2012), addict Don Jon (2013), a party boy in Christmas in The Night Before (2015), and Jimminy Cricket in Pinocchio (2022)

But what about Frederick Tocumboh M’Cormack, now named Adetokumboh, or just Ade?

Great Elephant was the Sierra Leone-born actor's first film role. He grew up in Nigeria and Kenya, then moved to the U.S., where he attended the Conservatory of Theater Arts at SUNY Purchase.  He starred in The Cider House Rules, Julius Caesar, and A Comedy of Errors, and graduated magna cum laude with a BFA (and the President's Achievement Award) in 2004.

He lived in New York for several years, starring in the off-Broadway productions of The Three Sisters, Salt Chocolate, and My Children, My Africa (all about apartheid in South Africa), and the movie Whiskey Echo (about the war in Sudan)

Viewers of Lost know Ade as Yemi, the younger brother of the mysterious Mr. Eko (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, n*de on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends).  In three episodes (2006), he grows up, becomes a priest, is forced into an airplane loaded with drugs, and crashes on the paranormal island.

Viewers of Heroes know him as the mobster Tuko, who appears in four episodes (2007): he runs afoul of the superheroes while searching for an important shipping box with his buddies Will and Ricky (Dominic Keating, Holt McCallany)

He returned to Sierra Leone in 2006 for a small part in Blood Diamond opposite Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou.

Many more action-adventure, police, and serious political dramas followed, including Quantum of Solace, 24, NCIS, Criminal Minds, The OA, Los Angeles, and X-Men 97.

Ade's biggest role to date is Isaac in the animated Castlevania (2018-2021).  The "I hate all humans!" anad "There is  no such thing as love in this world!" thug started out as one of Dracula's generals in his war against humanity, but eventually mellowed and became king of Styria.  He doesn't display any heterosexual interest.

The animated Blood of Zeus (2020-25) is also getting a lot of fan attention.  Ade plays Kofi, an Ethiopian slave who joins Evios and Heron (Derek Philips, Chris Diamantopolous) to fight the demons and monsters threatening Olympus. He has a wife back home and a gay-subtext romance with Evios.

More after the break. 

Jonny Gray: Researching the "Max and Shred" skater and Boots boyfriend. With Jake's junk, Daniel's d*ck, and a bonus Jason Priestley

 

Link to the n*de dudes

I have so many guys waiting to be profiled that I forget who some of them are.  Today I looked in a folder entitled "Johnny Gray,", with a lot of screen shots, probably taken from the IMDB or his Instagram before I moved on to other tasks. They haven't even been adjusted (converted to .jpgs, cropped, reduced,  brightened, desaturated).  

Problem: I have no idea who Johnny Gray is.  

But he's obviously gay (one photo is entitled "JohnnyBoyfriend"), and probably an actor, so I don't mind conducting the research.  

The research sent me down quite an internet rabbit hole. Various configurations of John/Johnny and Gray/Grey yielded:

A famous brand of guitars.

A runner who won at the Olympics four times and holds the record for the 600 meter sprint.

A rugby player who received the Sir Willie Purves Quaitch Award in 2014.

The author of the gender-polarized and heteronormative best-seller Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus.

A Wall Street broker, played by Mickey Roarke, who gets involved in heterosexual BDSM games in 9 1/2 Weeks.

A "secretly gay" 18th century gentleman, played by Oscar Kennedy and David Berry (left), in the tv series Outlander.

Returning to the folder for clues, I found photos of two n*de guys.  Maybe boyfriends or co-stars?

1. Brazilian actor Daniel Rangel, who appears mostly in telenovelas like Novo Mundo (2017) and Amor Perfeito (2023-205).

2.  Jake Goodman, right (n*de photo of the grown-up Jake on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends).  In the Disney Channel teencom Max & Shred (2014-16):  he plays the superego in the gay-subtext buddy bond, science nerd Shred, who must mentor a professional skateboarder, the indefatigable id Max (Jonny Gray).  

Found him. 

Our Jonny Gray was born in 1999, and grew up in a suburb of London, Ontario   His on-screen career began in 2012, when he reported on the King's Cup Elephant Polo Tournament in Hua Hin, Thailand.

It's to support elephant conservation, but it still looks strange.

Next came Disney stardom with Max & Shred, and three Bruno & Boots movies: Go Jump in the Pool (2016), This Can't Be Happening at Macdonald Hall (2017), and The Wizzle War (2018).

Based on the Macdonald Hall book series by Gordon Korman, the movies feature two students at an exclusive private school near Toronto.  Jonny changes from superego to id as the impulsive "let's put an iguana in the headmaster's bed" Bruno, who buddy-bonds with the wet-blanket "but I have to write a report on thumbtacks" Boots (Callan Potter).  

The book series seems to push up the gay subtext and eliminate the hetero-romance.  I'm not sure about the movies.

More after the break

Bryan Blanco and Brandon Rossel: Are the "Ultraviolet" teens boyfriends or buddies? With a n*de baseballer and possible Brandon d*ck

Link to the n*de  photos

There are 17 guys in my "Profiles to Complete" folder, so in order to catch up, I'll spend some time doing one or maybe two per day.  First, a pair of boyfriends in a long-forgotten file.  

The one on the right is Bryan Blanco, born in Miami in 2007.  His IMDB bio says that he is a martial artist, painter, dancer, and actor, with commercial, theatrical, and tv work.  Two screen roles are listed: 

Screwball (2018), about  "the MLB's infamous doping scandal involving a nefarious clinician and his most famous client:  Alex Rodriguez."

Translation: MLB means Major League Baseball.  Alex Rodriguez played for the New York Yankees.  He made a lot of home runs and won a lot of awards, until he and other players were caught doping (using performance enhancing drugs).  They were provided by "nefarious clinician" Tony Bosch (Bryan).

Wait -- Tony Bosch was 48 years old when the scandal broke out in 2013. Why was 11-year old Bryan playing him?

Aaron Rodriguez's d*ck is on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends.

Next Bryan got a starring role in the Disney teencom Ultra Violet & Black Scorpion (2022): a luchador mask transforms a teenage girl into the superhero Ultra Violet, so she has to negotiate middle school while fighting crime and butting heads with her city's existing superhero, the Black Scorpion (J.R. Villareal).  

Bryan (far left) plays Luis Leon, a classmate who runs a snarky gossip blog and snoops around, trying to discover her secret.  No girlfriend is mentioned on the fan wiki, so presumably he's gay-vague.

Bryan graduated from high school in 2025 and as of this writing is attending Florida International University.  Since he just turned 18, I won't look for any n*de photos.

But maybe I can find some of the boyfriend (after the break).

How Fans Deny Queerness in "The Righteous Gemstones" and Other Recent TV Series

 

New book on fan reaction to queer codes in tv series, especially how and why some fans on social media refuse to admit that a character is gay.

Gideon Gemstone's room is plastered with pictures of musclemen.

He's obviously straight.  He wants to look like them, not at them.

On The Middle, Sue's friend Brad begins "I'm...."  and is cut off when she says "I know" and hugs him.  

Obviously he was going to confess his love for her.

On What We Do in the Shadows, Guillermo tells the vampires, "I was about thirteen when I realized that I was..." and is cut off.

Obviously he was going to say "shy around girls."

On The Hollow, Adam tells his friends, "I'm gay."

Obviously he didn't mean it like that.

Gideon and Scotty have a romantic candlelight dinner while the background song tells us: "The way you look when you get down, you knock me out."  

Straight guys can go out to dinner.  There's such a thing as friendship, you know.

 On Solar Opposites, the aliens Korvo and Terry hold hands, share a bed, discuss sexual positions, and kiss.  

"They're just imitating human behavior.  It's not sexual or anything." 

Kelvin and Keefe have an explicit s*x scene that comes right out of an adult video.  Keefe friggin' swallows.

That's what it looks like, but obviously it's not.  Why would two straight guys do that?

The main analysis is The Righteous Gemstones, with three seasons of refusals to acknowledge that Kelvin and Gideon are gay and had romantic relationships with Keefe and Scotty.  But there are also examples from about 40 contemporary tv series, including Animal Kingdom, Shameless, Modern Family, Workaholics, Solar Opposites, True Blood, What We Do in the Shadows, The Last of Us, Young Sheldon, The Middle, and The Walking Dead.

The paperback is $49 on Amazon, but the Kindle version is only $29.00.  And you can read about 30 pages for free on Google Books.

See also: Did the Solar Opposites Valentine's Day Special really change everything?

Gemstones Episode 2.6 Deep Reading: a frame-by-frame analysis of the s*x scene

"The Hollow": Adam is Gay

"Danger Force" Episode 1.3: Gay dads, a hot supervillain, Captain Man's muscles, and a boy in a tiara

 Danger Force (2020-24) on Nickelodeon is Henry Danger Part 2: instead of one teen apprentice, bumbling superhero Captain Man gets a whole crew.   I reviewed Episode 1.2, "Say My Name," which reputedly has gay characters.

Scene 1: KLVY Studio. Captain Man (Cooper Barnes) is doing damage control after accidentally releasing hundreds of criminals from prison, including super-villains The Toddler, Arson Boy, Dr. Minyak, and Dr. Guilty.  Ok, those guys might be dangerous, but most incarcerated persons are being punished for minor drug possession and property crimes.  He's sent his Danger Force team out into the streets of Swellville to apprehend them.  But at that moment, the team arrives with pizza and wings!

Trying to save face, Captain Man argues that they at least caught The Toddler.  But there's a real toddler in his bag.  And they don't remember where they got him.  He's pre-verbal, so he can't tell them. This is a teencom, so I'm sure the parents realize that their kid is not in danger, just misplaced.

Introduction: There are four kids in Danger Force, two girls (one who looks more like a boy, and may be nonbinary), the "dreamy" Bose (Luca Luhan, left), and a "comic relief" Miles (Terence Little Gardenhigh, below). They apparently have superpowers of their own; I thought that the original Henry Danger was a non-powered teen sidekick.

Also in the cast: Captain Man's assistant Schwoz, whom I know from research to be played by trans actor Michael D. Cohen.

Scene 2: The kids practicing boxing while Captain Man snacks.  Whoa, look at those biceps! Could I just watch Cooper Barnes flexing for 23 minutes?  He's angry because they embarrassed him on tv, ao he insults their superpowers.  They do seem to be rather rudimentary.

An alarm rings -- "Stranger approaching!"  -- so the headquarters remodels into a classroom (rather a cool transformation).  It's a delivery guy named Guy (Josh George, center), who turns out to be Assistant Swoz, checking the security system.

More after the break

Pontius Gemstone, the Boy Named Stacy, and the E*rotic Alphabet. With a special appearance by Gideon Gemstone

 Previous: "My Three Gay Sons and...ugh...Vance Simkins": A Jesse Gemstone Adventure, with Guest Star Karl Montgomery

 Link to the n*de dudes

Stacy awoke with Pontius' arms wrapped around him, his head on Pontius' chest.  He could resist reaching down to stroke his.....

"Mmm...keep doing that." 

"Sorry, I didn't know you were awake."

"I try not to sleep when you're lying in my arms.  I don't want to miss any of it."  He leaned up, and they kissed.

"Good morning."  Pontius' gaze was intense, yet warm, comforting, loving.  

"I love you," Stacy said.

Instead of saying "I love you" back, Pontius leapt out of bed.  "Be right back -- gotta pee."  He bounced to the bathroom.

 While listening to the pee-sounds  -- why was that *rotic?  -- Stacy looked around the room: New dresser, desk cluttered with books and headphones, a map of the world taped to the wall, drawings of car designs, a bookcase with mostly Matchbox car models, three dusty guitars that no one had ever used, a glowing neon P.  

Pontius had replaced a poster of a bikini babe with a muscleman because Stacy asked him to, and cleared a drawer for some shirts, socks, and underwear, but it was still his room, Pontius with capital P, in the house he shared with his brother. 

They met last July, when Stacy was shot in the Gator Farm Massacre, and Pontius visited him at the hospital.  Since they, they had hung out almost every day.  

There were movies, concerts, plays, Queer Youth Game Nights. dinner at Jason's Steakhouse after church, volunteer work, a Halloween Party, Thanksgiving with Stacy's family, Christmas with the Gemstones, New Year's Eve in Myrtle Beach -- yet whenever Stacy hinted at moving in together, or getting their own place, Pontius deflected, changed the subject, or bounced out of the room, and God forbid he say "I love you."  Did he think of Stacy as a boyfriend or a buddy? 

Sound of the water running, a towel being yanked, and then Pontius rushed out of the bathroom. "So, what we were talking about?"

"Me on my stomach, I think."

"No, on your back.  I want to look at you."

The full story is on  RG Beefcake and Boyfriends . Hint: there's kissing and stuff.

Next: Gideon Gemstone's Secret Life, Part 1: Jimmy Olsen finds out that the Gemstones do it big

See also: Kelton Dumont's Hot Photos, Part 3: Birthday biceps, bare bottoms, ruggers, and brothers for life

Pontius Gemstone and the Boy Named Stacy

Johnny Berchtold: I have good news and bad news.  The good news is his junk 

Jordan Scott and Noah: Stunt performer, n*de model, and Zac Efron double with a bodybuilder son and some d*ck pics

 

Link to the n*de dudes

Jordan Scott is a Fayetteville, Georgia-based actor and stunt performer with 66 credits listed on the IMDB, including Sleepy Hollow, Captain America: Civil War, The Originals, Miracle Workers, The Righteous Gemstones, and The Walking Dead.

He has doubled for Nick Jonas, Jeremy Renner, Jack O'Connell, Josh Fadem, Casper Van Dien, and many other actors.

Including Zac Efron three times.

I haven't found out much more about Jordan.  He seems to be doing some fitness training, and he has some sponsors.

He's apparently done some gay adult modeling (on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends) 

And he has a bodybuilder son.

More after the break

Ricky Nelson

Ricky Nelson was the first teen idol produced by television.  He was born in 1940 to show biz parents, band leader Ozzie Nelson and singer Harriet, who played "themselves" on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet on radio.  Both Ricky and his brother David began playing themselves in 1952, after the switch to television.

His plotlines were standard Boomer-kid stuff -- paper routes, bullies, homework --until the night of April 10, 1957, when Ricky performed the Fats Domino classic "I'm Walkin'."

Teenagers -- never big fans of the program before -- went wild.  Envisioning a whole new market, Ozzie had Ricky sing every week after that.  At first he used the pretense of a "talent contest" or "school dance," but then he gave up, put a guitar in Ricky's hands, and let him perform to audiences of rapturous teens.




Ricky stayed on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet until it finally ended in 1962, but his parts became increasingly smaller as his performing career took off.  Between 1957 and 1962, he hit the Top 40 charts 30 times, more than any other performer except Elvis and Pat Boone. In the interest of maintaining closeness with his brother, he also performed in "The Flying Nelsons," a trapeze act, as the flier to David's catcher.

Many performers in the 1950s were androgynous or slightly gender-transgressive -- singing itself was coded as a "sissy" activity -- but Ricky was the first teen idol to promote a gender-transgressive image, as soft, shy, introspected, and somewhat dark, as if he had a secret pain.  Though he was attracted to women and married multiple times, his primary relationships -- his most fulfilling, intimate relationships -- were with same-sex friends.  My friend Drake claimed to have dated him.

At the same time, he was rather homophobic.

Teen magazines didn't do a lot of beefcake shots in those days, but that didn't matter.  Ricky looked good in chinos, and he could fill out a cowboy outfit.

Ricky tried to rename himself "Rick," but it didn't work -- fans called him Ricky through his life.  He was busy through the 1960s and 1970s, writing new songs, experimenting with new genres. "Garden Party" (1972), about Hollywood hypocrisy, became a hit for a new generation.

He died tragically in an airplane crash in 1985.

"The Thursday Murder Club": Retirees solve murders. With Pierce Brosnan, Tom Ellis in a kilt, some gay hints, and bonus d*cks

 

 Link to the n*de dudes

The Tuesday Murder Club is currently #2 on Netflix.  Residents of an old person's home solving a "cozy murder" doesn't sound appealing, except that one of those old people is Pierce Brosnan, the suave, sophisticated, and well hung (according to Adam Devine) leading man of 1980s tv. 

Scene 1: In May 1973, a man is walking back from the pub to the flat of his girlfriend (heterosexual identity established in Minute 1), when he  heard two voices arguing.  Suddenly the girlfriend falls from a second-floor window.  She has been stabbed.  A masked intruder rushes away.  By the time the police arrive, she is dead.

In the present, three old people discuss the case in a palatial drawing room.  I'll call them by their jobs before the retired: Labor Union Activist (Pierce Brosnan), Psychiatrist (Ben Kingsley), and Spy (Helen Mirren).  Nothing had been taken from the flat, so robbery is an unlikely motive. The boyfriend, Peter Mercer, mechanic (played by Will Stevens), disappeared soon after the murder.  But did she die from the fall or the knife wound?  How long does it take to bleed out?  They need someone with medical expertise to help.

Scene 2: Establishing shot of the old people's home, Cooper's Chase, an ornate palace that must belong to royalty. A retired Doctor and her adult daughter tour the painting classes, archery lessons, and llamas used as comfort animals. Whew, I'm moving in.  Inside, they run into the Murder Club with their diagrams and crime scene photos.  Daughter is shocked, but Doctor is intrigued. 

Daughter doesn't want her mother living there, but Doctor insists (it's usually the opposite in the States).  She wants to make new friends, and she can't do that in an apartment in a city full of young people: they don't want anything to do with her.  Really?   Since I turned...um, whatever age this is... the twinks have been banging down my door. 

When Daughter leaves, the Doctor rushes downstairs to get the details of the Thursday Murder Club. They can use her medical skills to solve the cold case, so she's in!

Scene 3:  Evil Ian (David Tennant, left) drives through a quaint village (now I'm depressed; we don't have quaint villages in the States).  On the phone, Lloyd (not listed on the IMDB)  tells him that his wife wants the house, the car, and the apartment in Majorca.  Back story: she's divorcing him because he was unfaithful.  Heterosexual identity established immediately.

At the Red Lion pub, Evil Ian tells his Buddy Lloyd his evil scheme: to maximize his assets, he's going to go forward with clearing out a cemetary to build something disrespectful.  Who cares if grandma's remains are still there?  "Oh, and we're also tearing down Cooper's Chase, the old people's home."

"But the old people won't like it.  And some of them were very rich and powerful in their day."

"Who cares? It's my bloody land. The only real issue is Tony Curran, part owner of Cooper's Chase.  He won't agree to the demolition because his Auntie is a resident."

Left: Lloyd isn't listed in the IMDB, but maybe the subtitle writer made a mistake, and his buddyy is Bogdan, played by Henry Lloyd-Hughes (d*ck on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends).

Evil Ian wants to hire Buddy Bogdan to manage the destruction project.

"Sure, I'll take the job, but Tony Curran is a dangerous man. Maybe he kill you."

More about Bogdan: he's a Polish immigrant who needs the work to send money home to his elderly mother.

Scene 4: At Cooper's Chase, Dangerous Tony Curran has brought biscuits (cookies) for his Auntie ("your favorite," of course -- everybody in movies is always told that whatever they are eating is their favorite).  

The Thursday Murder Club walks by and says hello.  The Doctor asks who he is, and they explain -- but we already know, so the explanation is unnecessary, except the assertion that "he's on our side," against Evil Ian's scheme to destroy the home.  Another movie about people saving things, yawn.  When are we going to get to the murder?

On to cake and the cold case: In 1973, the boyfriend of the defenestrated girl was questioned and released, not a suspect.  But the only female police officer, Inspector Penny, wasn't so sure. She asked to bring him in for re-questioning, but "the boys' club closed ranks," and he vanished.  Something fishy about it.  Still not important to the plot.

Inspector Penny, by the way, was a member of the Thursday Murder Club, and brought in the case.  But she is in the hospice wing now, dying, so she can't contribute any more.

Scene 5: Cut to the hospice wing where the Spy is telling the comatose Inspector Penny about their new member.  Holding her hand and calling her "darling"?  Are they girlfriends? No, there's a man sitting with her, too, doubtless her husband.  And he asks the Spy "How is Stephen?", thus establish her heterosexual identity at Minute 14.  Tease that she's gay, and then immediately mention her husband!  They did that on purpose.

The Spy and Inspector Penny's Husband spend a lot of screen time discussing how much they love their spouses.  Then Spy returns to her apartment to interact with her husband, who has dementia and doesn't remember thiings.  

I'm fast-forwarding.  I signed up for murder, not "Silver Threads among the Gold."

Darling, I am growing old. Silver threads among the gold
Shine upon my brow today. Life is fading fast away.

Scene 6: A Cop is is giving a roomful of residents tips on home security.  The Spy asks about the 1973 murder, confusing her.  Plus, when she glances out the window, Cooper's Chase security has booted her police car for illegal parking, har har. 

Since she won't be going anywhere for awhile, they invite her to lunch and a tour of the grounds.  The Activist gets a visit from his son, Jason (Tom Ellis), a famous boxer, now retired after an injury and taking gigs like Celebrity Master Chef and Dancing on Ice.

  The Activist is established as heterosexual in Minute 21, and I'll bet this whole scene was just a set up for Jason to fall in love with the Cop.

And where's that murder?

They notice Evil Ian and Dangerous Tony Curran arguing: "Destroying Cooper's Chase and kicking out all the old people is essential to my evil plan!  I'll do anything -- anything -- to get it done!" 

"My Auntie's here, so I won't permit it!  It will never happen, as long as I'm alive!"

More after the break

"My Three Gay Sons and...ugh..Vance Simkins": Jesse find out about Abraham and his boyfriend

  

Link to the n*de dudes

Previous: "Dad Can't Know I'm Gay": An Abraham Gemstone Romance, with a special appearance from Pontius and Stacy

October 18, 2025:

When Jesse walked into the media room, he saw Priscilla, Queen of the Desert on the big tv -- drag queens in the Australian outback -- and Pontius with his arms wrapped around someone.  They were kissing.

For a moment he thought it was a girl, proving that this "bi" stuff was just a phase.  But no, it was Stacy, the long-haired femme guy who was shot and almost killed at the Gator Farm Massacre.  How did he and Pontius manage to find each other?   

Sure, Stacy was a nice guy -- maybe too nice for his a*hole son.  But after Kelvin coming out, then Cousin Karl, then his friend Levi, plus both Daddy and Uncle Baby Billy mentioning gay romances in their past, and now Pontius. Who was next,  Martin?  Aunt May-May?  Jesse was getting a little tired of being an ally.

“Hey, cool off," he called down.  "Give your tongues a rest.  Is that all you ever do?”

Pontius raised his head.  “Of course not," he said with an evil grin.  "We do a lot of stuff. Wanna watch?”

"Don't be a smartalec.  You gonna go to the Queer Youth Game Night at Kelvin's house, or you gonna stay here and make out?"

"Stay here and make out?" Pontius asked, looking expectantly at Stacy.

"No, we're going. It's important for us to socialize with other queer youth."  He stood, took Pontius' hand, and pulled him to his feet.

"You're always going to get your way," Pontius said, smiling.  "If only you weren't so gosh-darned cute."

Gosh-darned?  Jesse thought.  Maybe Stacy is a good influence on him.  

"One more for the road," Stacy said, "And then we'd better get to that party."  He leaned up and kissed Pontius.

"Disgusting display!" 

It was Vance Simkins, the megachurch pastor whose homophobic rants almost pushed Kelvin back into the closet, before he rallied, came out on national television, and won the Top Christ Following Man of the Year Award.  

 “Who let you in?” Jesse asked, frowning.  "I defeated you in that duel, remember?  So stay on your own side of the state."

“The security station was letting everybody through, if they said they were coming for the party.  What party?"

“Kelvin and Keefe's Game Night," Jesse said, omitting the "queer."

But Vance caught on anyhow.  "Good thing I dropped by.  Is this one of them decadent parties with little holes in the wall, and guys hanging in stirrups? ”

“It’s just board games,” Stacy said.

"But the party you're planning sounds fun, too," Pontius added.  "Can Stace and I get an invitation?"

Vance grinned.  "Well, if it’s perfectly innocent, you won’t mind if I come along.”

“It’s for queer youth and their allies under age 25," Jesse said.  "Now, you’re obviously queer, but you haven't been 25 since...The Battle of Fort Sumter?”

"Besides," Stacy added, "A lot of the kids are traumatized by growing up in homophobic churches.  Some are closeted, worried that their parents will reject them, even kick them out of the house.  It's supposed to a safe space -- no  homophobes allowed."

“I am not a homophobe, young lady, or fella, or whatever you think you are.  I just want to see the kinds of games homo...um, queer youth play.  Or should I call the police and tell them about the illegal stuff going on in Kelvin's little den of iniquity?"

Jesse sighed.  He was probably bluffing, but... "Ok, Vance, you talked me into it.  We'll go over and check it out. Boys, you go on ahead.  We'll be there in a bit."

There were only two ways to get into the party: they had to either turn 21 again, or bring food.  Jesse dragged Vance to the kitchen, and they loaded up the two trays of lemon bars that Amber was planning to bring to the Marital Problem Group tomorrow -- he would drop by the all-night bakery and replace them later.  

They had to park on the lawn at Kelvin's house.  There were about a dozen cars parked outside, plus two church vans.  Assuming that they carpooled, Jesse estimated that there were about fifty teenagers and young adults at the party.  Hopefully none of them were kissing!

Kelvin's boyfriend Keefe answered the door with his fists raised.  "Pontius and Stacy told us you would be trying to get in.  But we don't allow homophobes."

"Down, boy!" Vance said with a laugh. "I promise to be on my best behavior."

"We're just dropping off some snacks for the group.  Two dozen lemon bars -- Amber and our housekeeper Tanya made them."

Keefe looked suspicious, but he dropped his fists.  "Well, I do love a good lemon bar. Come on in."

They carried the trays from the foyer into the formal parlor, where about twenty people were sitting in small groups.  Kelvin, leading what sounded like a Gay Trivia game, nodded at them.

"Hey, Buddy," Vance said, "Isn't that your son Geraldine?  The one who wants to be a preacher?"

It was definitely Gideon and his friend Clay, the Classics major -- really, who majored in Latin? -- sitting with their backs to them, playing a "How well do you know your partner" game with two girls, one with pink hair. 

"They must be here as allies.  See, they're with their girlfriends."  Why hadn't Gideon mentioned having a girlfriend?

The question was “What tv show does your partner watch, but feel guilty about?”  One of the girls guessed “Euphoria!”  The other:  “Wrong – the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.” 

Gideon’s turn: “Cobra Kai.”  Clay: “Cobra Kai!  You're right!”  They got the point.  They kissed.

Vance laughed.  "Why so surprised, Jesse?  Didn't you know that your son was gay?"

A few years ago, when Gideon was with Scotty, Jesse figured that they were a couple, and went out of his way to be accepting.  He announced "I love my gay son."  But Gideon said he wasn't gay...right?  Did he change his mind?

The full story, with n*de photos, is on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends

Next: Pontius Gemstone, the Boy Named Stacy, and the *rotic Alphabet. With a special appearance by Gideon Gemstone.

See also:  A Perfect Southern Gentleman: A Karl and Percy Romance

Gavin's Cute/Cool Photos, Part 3: A boy and his monkeys, a boy and his fish, n*de bikers, and bodybuilder buds

Gideon Gemstone and the Return of Scotty Steele

Nick Arapoglou: A Hasidic boy, a straight drag queen, a gay Muppet, the Adult Toy Teen's Dad. With his backside and a n*de Chris Evans

Link to the n*de dudes

In Righteous Gemstones Episode 3.4, the Sex Toy Guy (Nick Vardakas) attends Keefe's Ice Cream and Wieners Party with his Dad (Nick Arapoglou).  Biker Clarence happens to be there, and  tells them that Keefe bought out his adult store's entire inventory.   Afraid of being outed, Keefe says "that's just something we used to do with the kids." Great idea, buddy.  Now they don't think you're gay, they think you're...

Later, the parents meet with Kelvin to complain that Keefe is "weird" and not qualified to be a youth leader. Dad continues: "With all the rumors swirling around you, can't you see how strange this all looks?"

"There's rumors about me?" Kelvin asks, shocked.  

Jack: And then Kelvin said...he said...

Karen: That no one knows he's gay!

The real-life Nick Arapoglou (a gay ally) was born in Huntington, New York, but moved to Atlanta as a child.  He was a Drama Club Kid in high school, appearing in an al-fresco production of Midsummer Night's Dream (in a real forest).  

He received a B.A. in drama from Indiana University in 2007, then returned to Atlanta, where he became a mainstay of the theater scene.

Nick's theatrical performances include:

A closeted gay guy in Speech & Debate (2009)

A straight guy in the queer-themed Spring Awakening (2011). 

My Name is Asher Lev (2012), based on the classic coming-of-age novel by Chaim Potok, about a Hasidic Jewish boy torn between his religion and his art.

The Gifts of the Magi (2012), based on the O. Henry story, where Nick met his future wife Caroline.

Bobby Strong in Urinetown: The Musical (2013). 

Romeo in Romeo and Juliet (2015)

The Toxic Avenger (2016), based on the 1984 movie about a slime-covered superhero.

A straight Elvis impersonator turned drag performer in The Legend of Georgia McBride (2017).

Straight Muppet Princeton and gay Muppet Rod in Avenue Q (2023), which won him the Suzi Bass Award for best actor in a musical.

Plus he has 33 acting credits listed on the IMDB, beginning with Frat Guy in the short Married Sex (2009) and Fashion School Kid (probably queer coded) in a 2011 episode of Single Ladies.  

More after the break

Chaim Potok: The Gay Jewish Romeo and Juliet

During my junior year in high school, our English teacher assigned My Name is Asher Lev (1972), the novel by Chaim Potok about a Hasidic Jewish boy torn between his artistic talent and his extremely conservative religious heritage.

I could relate: I was being torn between my artistic interests and my extremely conservative religious heritage (no theater, no movies, no science fiction, no rock music, no nothing but church and the Bible).

And I didn't miss the fact that Asher Lev displays no heterosexual interests.  He does, however, become the apprentice of established artist Jacob Kahn, who teaches him about life and love, an interesting parallel to the "coming of age" movies that pair a young boy with an older woman.

I quickly sought out Chaim Potok's other works.  The Chosen (1967) is also about culture clash, but this time it's the Orthodox Reuven bonding with the Hasidic Danny (played by Robby Benson in the 1981 movie).  The novel follows them from their initial meeting at a baseball game (where Danny's pitch hits Reuven in the eye).

They remain partners to college, where Reuven's Zionism angers Danny's father, Rabbi Saunders (Hasidic Jews believe that establishing a secular state in Israel is blasphemous). He forbids Danny from speaking to Reuven again.

Danny complies, but the loss of his life-long friend has a devastating effect.  After years of anger, depression, and pain, Rabbi Saunders relents, and the two joyfully reconcile.

I finished the novel, speechless.  An amazing, touching Romeo and Juliet story!

(Robby Benson isn't shirtless in the movie, but it's impossible to write about him without at least one shirtless photo.)

How did a conservative Jewish writer manage to create two touching portraits of same-sex romance?

Certainly not by design.  But maybe the gender-stratified world of Hasidic Judaism, where men rarely interact with women outside their families, left a space free of the  heterosexist shouts of "Look at the girls!  Aren't girls great! Aren't you glad that you are attracted to girls, like every other boy in the world?"  When heterosexism stops yelling, gay voices can be heard.

See also: Nick Arapoglou: A Hasidic boy, a straight drag queen, a gay Muppet, Adult Toy Teen's Dad. With his backside and a n*de Chris Evans