DNA #271

Kash Cooper leaps off the cover in a brilliant blue Pump jockstrap, and inside there are three stunning fashion spreads. Rufskin take their favourite model, Logan, to the desert to shoot their wild Tulli Fruit stretch tulle range. Then there’s Roberto Chiovitti’s scorching series with Michele Vitacca on a rooftop in Rome, featuring ThePack, TOF Paris and Rufskin. And, finally, Unwrapped reveals Michael in some chunky knits, faux furs and not much else in an intimate shoot by Ethan James.

We get serious with a feature on The Mattachines who, decades before Stonewall, were working quietly and lawfully to overturn discrimination in employment, and working to achieve civil rights for LGBTQIA+ people. We go back to the 1940s and ’50s to rediscover these pioneers.

We look at Pride this year around the world and ask, “Why are LGBTQIA+ people increasingly feeling unsafe at Pride events?” we look to the deadly events in Norway and the thwarted attempt by right-wing extremists to cause a riot (or worse) at Pride In The Park, Idaho.

We interview Dr Norman Swan who says gays are super-healthy and lots of sex is good for keeping you young. “In the gay community, sex is an important part of social engagement,” he says. “It also denotes fitness – if you want to be good at sex, you’ve gotta be fit.” Great news!

We speak with dreamy UK singer Callum Scott about his up-coming tour to Australia. “I’m looking forward to creating more memories with people Down Under… In my speedos, yes!”, and Sage Suede who “slipped out of his shorts” at a party recently and wrote a song about it!

Our Straight Mate is actor Sean Johnston, getting his quiff up for Hairspray and revealing his man crush on Zac Efron. “He’s a fantastic actor… one of the most good-looking men on the planet and so shredded! He lives in Byron Bay now so I might have to send him a ticket to Hairspray!”

We chat with award-winning author and “proud gay bogan” Holden Sheppard who says, “There’s an emerging cultural trend of the gay male as pure, sweet, happy and safe… I’m pushing back against this in my books.”