Thursday 19 April 2007

Gay by Design, or a Lifestyle Choice?

Originally Published: April 12, 2007 NYTimes.com

RON GEREN, an actor in Los Angeles, commutes to auditions and jobs throughout Southern California in a sleek black Mazda MX-5 Miata convertible. But for a recent date with a woman, he rented a Cadillac Escalade because he was so used to friends saying his Miata is “gay.

Martina Navratilova in a 2001 ad for Subaru, known to some as “Lesbaru.”

“Guys say, ‘Hey, that’s cute,’ ” Mr. Geren, 40, said, adding that the comments come from gay as well as straight men. “You have to fend off that perception.”

A few years ago, Meghan Daum, an op-ed contributor to The Los Angeles Times, wrote about a promising first date with a man that never led to a second one because, she later learned, the guy saw that she drove a Subaru Outback station wagon and concluded she must be a lesbian.

And when Joe LaMuraglia, the founder of Gaywheels.com, an informational site modeled on the likes of Autoweb.com, told his partner he wanted to buy a Mini Cooper convertible, the boyfriend joked that he would not be seen in it because the couple “would look like such a gay cliché,” Mr. LaMuraglia said.

Cars are no more straight or gay than cellphones, office chairs or weed whackers. But in recent years that truism has not stopped a perception among some motorists that certain cars can, in the right context, be statements about a driver’s sexual orientation.

At a time when car makers are marketing aggressively to gay consumers and mainstream culture has become more literate about stereotypically gay tastes through television shows like “Will & Grace” and “The L Word” (on which one of the main characters, Alice, drove a Mini Cooper), it may not be surprising that some people make such assumptions about motorists based on their cars.

Indeed, the extravagant displays of muscle car machismo and sensuous, high-design femininity on display this week at the New York International Auto Show at the Javits Center would seem to cry out for deconstruction along gender- and sexual-identity lines.

But to some people, such stereotyping is homophobia, pure and simple. A poll seeking to determine the most gay automobiles, conducted by a South African Web site, was a topic of heated interest last December on Gizmodo, the New York-based technology blog, where one reader wrote: “Since when are cars gay or straight? We’re really polling people’s prejudices here.”

Others, though, including gay theorists, say many gay motorists happily embrace certain cars as reflections of identity.

“People presume you want to throw off a stereotype,” said Judith Halberstam, a lesbian who is a professor of gender studies at the University of Southern California. She drives a black Mazda 3 hatchback that she considers “butch.” But, she said, “If you are a masculine woman, you might not feel bad about it, so you might become excited about knowing how to fix your pickup, or driving a ’68 Mustang.”

“Not all gays want to present an image that is normative,” she said.

Ramone Johnson is a gay journalist and former Saturn engineer who compiles an annual “Top 10 Gay Cars” list for About.com, which is owned by The New York Times Company. Mr. Johnson said that “traditionally we are used to being defined by others.” Driving a stylish car can be a way of “taking control back” and saying “this is who I am,” he said.

Mr. Johnson maintains that “soft lines” and a “vibrant personality” — say like those on a Volkswagen New Beetle — are typical attributes of a gay man’s car, and fashion-forward red gauges and other styling cues, for example, make the Pontiac G6 more of a gay car than its sibling, the Grand Am, because the features express a taste for freedom and fun.

Neither automobile manufacturers nor dealers compile statistics on the sexual orientation of buyers.

Frank Markus, who is gay and the technical director for Motor Trend magazine, said auto companies tend to associate gay consumers with higher disposable incomes since fewer have children (one reason many are free to opt for less practical cars, like two-seaters or convertibles, as well). Tellingly, when the American Family Association, a conservative Christian group, pressured the Ford Motor Company to pull advertising from gay publications like The Advocate in 2005, the ads were for Land Rover and Jaguar, two high-end brands owned by Ford.

Subaru has been the most prominent company to embrace the gay market. As long ago as 2000, the automaker created advertising campaigns around Martina Navratilova, the gay tennis star, and also used a sales slogan that was a subtle gay-rights message: “It’s not a choice. It’s the way we’re built.” Little wonder that many lesbians refer to their Outbacks as “Lesbarus.”

Even General Motors recently began to include questions about sexual orientation on some internal market surveys, although data are not yet compiled, said Adam Bernard, who tracks the product strategies of G.M.’s competitors and who also coordinates an advocacy group for gay employees at the company called GM Plus. Since 2003, he said, the group has consulted with marketing executives at the company about increasing sales to gay consumers.

Lacking a precise portrait of its gay car buyers, the company still has taken increasing strides to break into this market, Mr. Bernard said, advertising its Cadillac, Saturn and Saab divisions in gay publications and Web sites like PlanetOut.com.

Company executives, he said, do not seem to feel skittish about losing market share among straight consumers if gay buyers suddenly seize on a particular model. “I don’t think internally we ever asked the question, ‘If we put Cadillac in The Advocate, are we going to lose straight Cadillac buyers?’ ”

“Frankly,” he added, “the money’s all the same color.”

Mr. Markus of Motor Trend said clichés about gay drivers tend to collapse on close inspection, like the gay man who is a “gym bunny” and gravitates toward Jeeps and convertibles “to show off his hot body.” But, he added, “If you could actually push a button and see what every gay person drives, it’s probably not too different from what the average person drives, but it might skew higher in price.”

On Gaywheels.com, one indicator of actual gay buying trends is the list of vehicles most frequently researched. As of last October, the Toyota Yaris, a $12,000 economy car, led that list, followed by the Toyota Camry, which was the No. 3-selling car in America last year.

It would be hard to find a more conventional automobile.

By ALEX WILLIAMS

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Thursday 5 April 2007

Television MotorQR: Entourage's Lloyd

If you're as much of a TV fan as I am, you're probably looking forward to the start of the new series of Entourage this weekend. It's a Hollywood show that pokes fun at Hollywood life. It's full of hot boys and girls, incredibly hot cars and bikes, and Lloyd, one of my original inspirations for MotorQR...

Lloyd is a gay hero. His ethnicity and sexual orientation are targets for his boss Ari Gold's constant verbal assaults, yet Lloyd remains unfazed. What's more, Lloyd's loyalty and support is what ultimately keeps Ari sane. Details about Lloyd's character are scarce - we learn he IS NOT Japanese, IS a top, and is definitely a motorqueer. When Ari loses his job and had his Mercedes confiscated, he needs a lift home. "I drove to work in an $80,000 Mercedes," Gold replied. "I'm driving home in a prop car from The Fast and the Furious."

ForbesAutos discusses Lloyd's 2003 Hyundai Tiburon:

For the great majority of recurring Entourage characters, the vehicles they drive serve as confirmations or outward projections of their one-in-the-same personal and professional demeanor and industry station.

Enter Lloyd's tuner car. "It instantaneously told you something about him that you didn't expect," said series creator Doug Ellin.

Indeed. Black with red stripes, a red roof and sporting a rear wing, Sparco seats and Veilside and Street Concepts decals, this vehicle stands far out amidst the monotony of monochrome — and conservative, luxurious conformity — that the rest of the cast steer.
We love you Lloyd!

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Tuesday 3 April 2007

KITT, Knight Rider's Gay Car for Sale

from Towleroad 03/04/2007

KITT, the talking car from the 80's show Knight Rider (starring 'The Hoff' of course), is for sale, but fans expecting magic from the vehicle may be disappointed:Knight_rider_poster_2

"Although it cannot achieve the 300 mph speeds that KITT reached, soar 50 feet in the air or throw smoke bombs, key features of the star car are intact. Perhaps most important, the red scanner light on the nose glows and makes a humming noise. The car has two working video screens on the dashboard, and the cockpit features buttons that light up in green, yellow and red: ski mode, rocket boost, micro jam, silent mode, oil slick and eject. Most of the buttons don't do anything..Nor can the car hold a conversation or drive itself."

Hasselhoff outed the car last year at Trinity College in Dublin, telling a crowd there that KITT was gay: "We have some fairly X-rated outtakes on 'Knight Rider.' Kitt was constantly asking, 'Do you want me to take you home Michael?' in that very camp voice of his."

Knight Rider is currently in development as a feature film. You can buy the car for $149,995 at an auto dealership in Dublin.

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Scooter Queers Across the Nation

Scooters were practically invented for fags. Enrico Piaggio, the mastermind of the Vespa, specifically wanted a gas-efficient motorbike that one could ride in one’s most stylish clothes...
The first edition of e-zine ScooterFag goes on:
Mod style is a natural for scooter fags. I’m especially amused by the Euro Mod look, which features tight shirts with bold prints, tight pants, pointy shoes, and, best of all—ascots, those fluttering bandanas of 70’s faggotry. Having been a teenager in the 70’s, I can tell you that no straight kid would be caught dead wearing an ascot, lest they be immediately ripped to shreds as a bun-fucking faggot. It was THE sign of flaming queerness.
I don't know how many Mod fags are still out there, but there are definitely quite a few scooter queers. In fact, a network of queer scooter clubs has sprung up across the United States.

SQREAM stands for for "Scooter Queers Riding Everywhere and More". The club was started by David Westman in Denver, Colorado in July 2004. There are now chapters in Buffalo, Cleveland, New England, Phoenix, San Diego, Seattle and Wichita (Kansas!). The club is open gay, lesbian and friendly scooter riders and gets together at least once a month to ride. As with most MotorQR activities, SQREAMers (or sQReamers) like to start with a good coffee. If you are a ScooterQR and know a great coffee place you can follow this link to find out how to start a SQREAM chapter in your city.

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Saturday 31 March 2007

BiQR Links - Resources for queer bikers

I've been collecting good links since before MotorQR was launched. I'll work on putting them together in a useful format. I've started today with links to BiQR clubs:

Canada

Canada / US
United States
Australia
Europe
Belgium
Denmark
France
Germany
Italy
Netherlands
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
United Kingdom

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Sunday 25 March 2007

Gay Trucker Culture

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

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Wednesday 21 March 2007

So Long To Gay Sex With Straight Truckers Day!

- Thursday September 21, 2006 -

You live in a really boring town where the only sex you've ever had has been gay sex with straight truckers who have been on the road so long they don't care what they have sex with, just as long as he or she or it is tender and will listen when they whisper their dreams and secrets in the back of cab. It keeps the loneliness at bay, but you can't help but think there has to be more.

"Is this all there is?" you'll say to Buzz, a Portland man sporting a wedding ring who's driving a couple hundred radios down to Tennessee. You and he will be laying together in the back of his cab on a blanket he bought in Mexico. Buzz will be absently running his fingers through the hair on your chest.

"No offense," you'll say. "But all you straight truckers are all the same. You buy me some pie. You put your thing in my mouth. Then you chase me around the parking lot with a tire iron. I want romance."

"Who says I'm straight?" Buzz will say with a smile.

You'll look at his ring. "Commitment ceremony," Buzz will say. "Stephen's a pharmacist, and he understands that I get lonely on the road."

Your heart will do a little dance. "So I just had gay sex with a gay trucker?" you'll almost sing.

Buzz will say, "I'm gonna be driving a couple hundred thousand Pokemon cards out to New Mexico next month. You gonna be in town?"

"I'll be here," you'll say through a big smile.

"It's a date then," Buzz will say.

A date. A real date. With a real gay trucker. There've been so many empty experiences over so many weekends, but you knew that if you kept wearing a half shirt to the truck stop parking lot, one day your prince would come along, and he would cheat on his husband with you. Anyone who thinks romance is dead has never had a slice of pie at the The Rachel Rose Diner & Gas off of I-81.

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This story is from the Girls Are Pretty website and is meant to be darkly humorous. I have, however, recently discovered that there are a lot of gay truckers out there and that they are definitely finding each other. Stay tuned for more...

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