Blog
Straight Is the Gate
Straight. A play by Scott Elmegreen and Drew Fornarola. Directed by Andy Sandberg. At the Acorn Theatre, NYC. THE SITUATION that confronts the central character of Straight could…More
The Gay Side
When Oscar Wilde Tours designs gay history tours, we always try to show people the gay side of famous places. We do for instance “gay secrets” tours of Westminster…More
Heroes Tour: A Tribute
For the past year, artist Doug Meyer has created fifty portraits of creative people who died of AIDS and AIDS-related causes in the 1980s and ’90s. For his Heroes Tour: A…More
Guilty Pleasure
We’ve encountered the Atlah Church before, a church in Harlem whose pastor, James Manning, enjoys posting viciously homophobic statements on the building’s marquee, such this charmer. Call it Schadenfreude,…More
Shady Ladies
People often ask how I went from doing gay secrets tours to shady ladies. How did a gay historian get interested in the history of female prostitution? First of all, a gay historian…More
Little Big Man
Marco Rubio is long gone as a presidential contender. In the end, the Florida senator’s run may best be remembered for his bizarre exchange with Donald Trump over th…More
GAY HISTORY OF ENGLAND
England is a great country for the traveler interested in gay history and culture. London is one of the great gay cities, and there are also places of gay…More
Malaysia on My Mind, or Why Nothing Changes Here
WHEN I was growing up in rural Florida in the 1970s and ’80s, gay life was secreted behind closed doors. Gay bars had names like “Secrets” and were hidden in nondescript…More
Demonic Circle
It was announced that a right-wing church called Open Door Baptist Church of Easley, SC, forgot to renew the name of their popular website, WarningsOfWrath.com, and the domain name…More
Scandinavian Underwear
Baseball legend Derek Jeter is being sued for pulling out of an endorsement deal with a Swedish company, RevolutionWear, the maker of “Frigo” underwear. All the Jeter people would…More