Gay Times: The Age Gap?

Interesting letters page in this months Gay Times. Since the magazine was re-branded "GT" earlier this year and took on a general new look the letters page has been packed with letters bemoaning the change from older readers and young readers welcoming the shift. This month there is a really interesting letter "Eddie". He wrote:

I now feel that I'm being ripped off by GT. I've read it since it was Gay News in the broad newspaper format. To find a copy then, even in London, took a 200-mile round trip to buy it from a newsstand. It was well worth it, though, with many interesting articles. The broad paper became a magazine, which was still full of interest. But...gone are the free National Club Ads. Gone is the ability to place an ad at reasonable cost, and have a post box number that others could respond to with nothing more than two envelopes with stamps. Gone is the "Meeting Place" and venues, as are lots of other things that were of use to the community. By trying to be more acceptable to the general public, GT is losing its way. In the advent of the larger magazine, the situation is getting worse. The front cover always looks appealing, but it's what's inside that counts. The advertisements are increasing month on month, and now spreading to the front of the mag. My partner says it's about 90% ads - I wouldn't go quite that far, but it's certainly a very high percentage. All this is good revenue for you, but are you giving your readers what they really want? It's possible to pick up magazines, free of charge, from various venues that do include the things that GT should...

This letter can be contrasted with the "Letter of the Month" from Laurence in Chippenham (interestingly he also gives a full name in contrast to Eddie). He writes:

I recently purchased my first copy of GT. It was liberating. I sauntered into my local WH Smith's and demanded they hand over a copy. The checkout girl gave me the bitchiest look ever. However, after a 20 second standoff, she waved her hand in the general direction of the magazine. I rushed over in a slightly frenzied manner and grappled my way though various gossip magazines till I spotted you snazzy front cover...

Now quite apart from the fact the Laurence sounds a complete arse he also sounds a young arse and very different from Eddie. The idea that it was "liberating" when he approaches the purchase as if entering into combat seems unlikely. He is confident, perhaps even arrogant and enticed by a sexualised cover. Eddie in contrast wants to engage with some form of community. For him Gay Times was a way of reaching that community, finding out what bars exist, where they are, what times the operate, what crowds they attract. It was also a way of meeting people through cheap "post boxes". The world Eddie knew has vanished. Replaced by the confident youth personified by Laurence. I remember in 1999 as a 19yr old student (yes, you can work it out)on my way back to a new term at Uni plucking up the courage to buy one from the WH Smith at Piccadilly station (surely they wouldn't notice as much as at Preston station my logic went). This is also reflected in the play/film Beautiful Thing where the central character steals a copy of Gay Times and uses the listings to find and then visit his first gay bar.

The "post boxes" have been replaced by the world of Gaydar and other "dating sites" that are focused on rapid and frequent sexual encounters. That creates a very different culture and I would suggest socialises young people into patterns of sexualised behaviour to a much greater extent than previous generations. If your over 30 forget it. As one 16 year old college student recently told me on a workshop visit: "you're alright for the next couple of years but then you're struggling". Another commented that 19 was "ancient". Is this typical of attitude amongst 16yr odls in genral I don't know. The traditional idea of the odler gay man supporting a young man on his journey into the gay community. Instead the over 30 generation are seen as just "wanting to get to my cock" and are cast aside with the same flair that Laurence walked into WH Smith. A casual glance at Gaydar reflects this with constant references to "respect my age restrictions" which usually end at 30 and almost always start at 18 (the youngest age allowed on the site).

For me, the loss of the listings section is more significant. They are now online and arguably more comprehensive than ever: The difficulty is that there is no link in the magazine. For someone exploring their sexuality they might not want to visit such a site. You can't hide it under the bed. If they live with their parents they might not have a PC/laptop available in a private space or not feel comfortable accessing the site if their parents can view their tracks. Of course, all this might just be showing my age.

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