Gay Porn As Blog Content. Mediaite Weighs In.
So I thought I’d share a few of mine.
I wrote Michael to thank him for doing the piece because, as I said, our community still needs to and wants to have this discussion. What I’ve learned about the discussion is, perhaps unsurprisingly, my readers, by a large majority, don’t find “porn as content” acceptable, and readers at other sites, like, Bilerico, do. That’s not a judgment, merely a statement of fact, no more surprising or judgmental than some folks like Pepsi, and some like Coke.
But the Mediaite piece does, as one commenter put it quite well (and, full disclosure, I do know the commenter,) “conflate sexy ads, about which no one is complaining, with editorial content of a sexual nature, which was the subject of David’s concern.”
To be clear, as many have missed the point, I resigned because I don’t believe in porn-as-content. Sexy ads, OK. Porn as editorial content, not OK. Not in a serious news and opinion site.
That point, unfortunately, appears to have been cloudy, and even blogger Joe Jervis of Joe.My.God, for whom I have great respect, originally missed that. Of the Mediaite piece, Joe, in “How Sexy Is Too Sexy For Gay Blogs?,” first wrote that I quit over a porn ad. He later changed his post to read that it was a editorial piece, not an ad. But when I read Joe’s original piece, there were already 115 comments, so the point was missed by many. Oh well.
I have to hand it to Joe for actually asking the question, as I did of my readers. Joe (wryly!) wrote,
“Is JMG too porn-ish? Do you tend to dismiss an LGBT activism site as non-serious if they occasionally veer into sexual imagery? Obviously, this is a decades-old dilemma for gay print, but a relatively recent issue for gay blogs which are mostly read at work. Like you are doing right now.”
Back to my comments to the author of the Mediaite piece. I trust Michael won’t mind if I share with you some of my comments to him. Here’s a portion:
Most of all, I wish the discussion had veered into the issue of perception. If we want to be taken seriously as a community striving for equality, we need more people doing real journalism and not packaging it in between pornographic “editorial” content.
I think, and perhaps appropriately for the venue, you looked at the issue from, as you put it, “reality.”
“The reality, however, is that sites with a large gay male following like a little sexy with their news.”
I’ve always worked from the perspective of not trying to do what is expected, but what is possible. And I believe far more in journalism and in credibility and integrity than in “sexy pictures.”
Does sex sell? Of course. But that’s the easy way out. To me, and to many I know, quality, credibility, honesty, integrity, and working hard to achieve our equality is a lot sexier.
I’ll leave it at that.
OK, one last point.
Thank you. Thank you to everyone who emailed me, tweeted me, commented on this blog, DM’d me, texted me, called me, and offered their support. I am so very grateful for the wonderful readers I have here, and friends I have on Twitter and Facebook, and of course, in “real life.” Thank you for supporting me and my work and my goals, and thank you for sharing my work with others. That is a compliment so gratifying you cannot imagine.
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Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney drew a standing ovation at the World Economic Forum in Davos after warning that the global order has ruptured.
“Let me be direct: We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition,” Carney said, as The New York Times reported.
“I will talk today about the breaking of the world order, the end of a pleasant fiction and the beginning of a brutal reality where the geopolitics of the great powers is not subject to any constraint,” he explained.
“Every day we are reminded that we live in an era of great power rivalry,” he said. “That the rules-based order is fading. That the strong do what they can, and the weak suffer what they must.”
Carney did not say President Donald Trump’s name, but he did tell his audience, “recently, great powers began using economic integration as weapons. Tariffs as leverage. Financial infrastructure as coercion. Supply chains as vulnerabilities to be exploited.”
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“You cannot live within the lie of mutual benefit through integration, when integration becomes the source of your subordination.”
He also said that “there is a strong tendency for countries to go along to get along. To accommodate. To avoid trouble. To hope that compliance will buy safety.”
“It won’t,” he warned.
Carney said that “intermediate powers like Canada, are not powerless. They have the capacity to build a new order that encompasses our values, such as respect for human rights, sustainable development, solidarity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the various states.”
And he warned that those powers “must act together, because if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu.”
The Times noted that Carney’s speech came “not long after” President Donald Trump “posted an A.I. image on social media that included a map of American flags superimposed over both Canada and the United States,” along with the U.S. flag on Greenland, Venezuela, and Cuba.
Very important and very well put remarks by 🇨🇦 PM Mark Carney. It’s time to take down the sign and speak up. pic.twitter.com/Ky00CNMYVM
— Carl Bildt (@carlbildt) January 20, 2026
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Image via Reuters
In a stark warning on the first anniversary of President Donald Trump’s second term in office, The Bulwark’s editor, Jonathan V. Last, suggests that under Trump, America may adopt Putinism as its domestic policy, having already adopted it for its foreign policy.
“Will Putinism take over American domestic politics, too?” Last asks, in an opinion piece titled, “This Is the End.”
“America has adopted Putinism as its modus operandi for foreign affairs,” he says. “Why would America not also adopt Putinism in its domestic affairs? Why would the American regime tolerate free and fair elections or the transfer of power to an opposition party?”
Pursuing the question, Last continued: “Are there examples of expansionist, rogue regimes which ignored international law and attempted to subjugate free people abroad, but respected liberal democratic outcomes that terminated their possession of power at home?”
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To those who suggest Trumpism is temporary, Last suggests he disagrees.
“Many people comfort themselves by saying some version of ‘Donald Trump is an aberration’ or ‘This isn’t who we are,'” he writes.
But, he continues, “If Trump was an aberration and his actions did not have sufficient public support, then he would be removed from office. There are two mechanisms for doing so—impeachment and the 25th Amendment.”
“Trump will not be removed from office; which allows one of two conclusions. Either: Trump’s policies are supported by a sufficient percentage of Americans to be viable; or America’s constitutional order is so ossified that it no longer functions to safeguard the will of the people.”
“Neither of these is an alibi,” Last warns, noting that, “either one supports the conclusion that the problem is not Trump. It is America and Americans. This is who we are. Like it or not.”
Last also makes several other predictions:
“The days of intelligence sharing between America and our former allies are drawing to a close.”
“The death of NATO.”
“Germany, Poland, and Canada will acquire nuclear weapons. So will Japan. Sweden, Australia, and South Korea may develop nuclear capabilities as well.”
“Europe will draw closer to China.”
“Greenland will become disputed territory.”
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Image via Reuters
Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent was met with mockery after explaining he wants to protect “mom and pop” owners who have up to a dozen homes they’ve bought as retirement investments.
Bessent and President Donald Trump have declared they want to ban large institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes as housing becomes more scarce and less affordable.
“We are going to give guidance at some point to see what is a mom and pop, that someone — maybe your parents — for their retirement, [bought] about 5, 10, 12 homes,” Bessent told Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
“So we don’t want to push the mom and pops out,” he continued. “We just want to push everyone else out.”
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Bessent, a former hedge fund manager, has an estimated net worth of $521 million, according to The Street.
Critics were quick to ridicule Bessent as out of touch.
“Good news for the forgotten man,” declared The Bulwark’s Tim Miller. “The mom and pop real estate investor who has purchased 12 homes can breathe easy, the Treasury Secretary is looking out for you.”
“These people are completely out of touch with how life is for you,” observed The Lincoln Project.
Governor Gavin Newsom’s Press Office commented, “Scott, people are trying to buy 1 house — to live in. Could the Trump Admin be any more out of touch?”
Bessent: “Someone, maybe your parents for their retirement have bought 5, 10, 12 homes.” pic.twitter.com/eUZXTmnhpH
— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) January 20, 2026
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‘Code Red’: Newsom Tells Europe They’ve Been Played by ‘T-Rex’ Trump
Treasury Chief Draws Ridicule for Wanting to Protect Americans With ‘5, 10, 12 Homes’
‘Enemy Is Within’: Trump Boosts Post Casting NATO as a ‘Threat’ in Social Media Spree
Canadian Prime Minister Warns World Order Has Ruptured
US Could Slide Into Putin-Style Rule After Trump Foreign Policy Shift: Journalist
Canadian Prime Minister Warns World Order Has Ruptured
US Could Slide Into Putin-Style Rule After Trump Foreign Policy Shift: Journalist
Treasury Chief Draws Ridicule for Wanting to Protect Americans With ‘5, 10, 12 Homes’
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