Every bookstore, gay website and so on, at least in the US is crammed with pictures of hot and handsome men. Isn't the internet everywhere (well, perhaps not Pakistan) also clogged with porn ranging from soft core to super down-and-dirty?
Yawn. I urge you to take a different approach. Keep in mind that sitting and looking at one picture of a guy for a month is going to be boring unless he is YOUR one true love. May I make the following suggestions: 1. focus first on your graphics and format. (one suggestion that comes to mind is having four pictures per month, or two for one month, four the next, three, then two again, and so on.) 2. develop a unifying theme that allows for a LOT of variation. a. The 50 most important gay people in history. Michelangelo was not a hunk, but he and his work will live forever. Consider pictures not just of him, but of his art and his architecture. [Aditya, you were on a longer list; I'm disappointed in your response of "take it off, baby!!!"] b. An enormous success in the US and around the world has been the film: "It Gets Better." In it, gay people of all kinds talk about how their lives have improved from the darkest hours of adolescence until their own adulthood. On this site I see letters all the time that say: "I'm trying to come to terms with my sexuality." How about some real, live stories of REAL people who have done just that? I would have welcomed pictures and testimony of actual, real human beings who had struggled through to a self-accepting life. c. India is an incredibly varied and rich mix of cultures. How about gay men and women talking about (gay) life in Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab, Orissa, Gujarat, etc.? Once again, think out an really good format. d. Specifically, I would love to see the gay-affirming or even gay-tinged history of Bollywood. There is a calendar waiting to be made. e. Highlighting the changes of the status of gay people around the world would be fascinating. Gay couples are marrying in Brazil, the largest Roman Catholic country. Montevideo, Uruguay has a huge monument to the struggle of gay people; adoptions are legal in Mexico City. Thailand has a beyond-active gay scene without government interference. The constitution of South Africa specifically includes human rights for gay people. Every province in Canada must recognize gay marriage. The US takes three steps forward and two steps back on gay rights: e.g. 11 states recognize gay marriage; more than 30 have constitutional amendments prohibiting it. Russia is oppressing gay people and coming under world-wide pressure on the eve of the winter Olympics. These are a few opportunities to explore. Commercial businesses are doing a more-than-thorough job exploiting the gay pin-up/hot sex market. Competing with that is foolish. Do not do the same ol' same ol'! Exception: for a while all the rage in the US and UK were calendars to raise money for charities. The ladies of the Rowlinton, Sussex garden club would appear nude on 12 pages of the calendar to raise money. Same thing the for Fire Station #63 or the Animal Humane Society, etc. The wave of this is pretty much over, but if you could find or figure out an untapped supply of real-life hunks and hot-dykes, you might be on your way. Good luck, Ted
