When Euphoria returned for its long-delayed final season, there were countless reasons why the new episodes weren’t as well received. But our number one complaint? Not nearly enough Hunter Schafer!

Seriously, how do you bring back one of your series’ biggest breakout stars and then just stick her in a high-rise apartment to paint for a minute or two in only a handful of the episodes?

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Thankfully, it looks like Schafer’s got plenty more to do in her follow-up TV role, kicking *ss and taking all sorts of names as one of the leads in Amazon Prime Video’s upcoming miniseries Blade Runner 2099.

Set in a dystopian future LA first introduced in Ridley Scott’s 1982 sci-fi classic Blade Runner, and taking place 50 years after its 2017 sequel Blade Runner 2049 (see, we can do math!), its story envisions a world where sentient androids called Replicants are barely indistinguishable from humans, yet treated as second-class citizens who are designed for specific labor purposes and killed if they go rogue.

By 2099, the robots have revolted and now run the city, with humans outnumbered and overpowered. The series stars Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh as Olwen, an older Replicant who serves as an eponymous Blade Runner, tasked with tracking down a missing group of Replicants.

And Olwen is partnered with Schafer’s Cora, a younger agent who is actually a human fugitive, only pretending to be a Replicant. Whoa, trippy!

This week at Comic-Con fans got their first look at the series, which is set to premiere on Prime Video on November 25. A first teaser trailer shows of the franchise’s signature retro-futuristic film noir style, as well as heart-pounding thrills, with Schafer in particular throwing herself head-first into the action.

And we do mean head-first literally. During the Comic-Con panel, Yeoh spoke highly of her co-star, saying she’s “never seen a more fearless action hero,” while also letting slip that Schafer got a concussion while filming—so she bought her a baby safety helmet for protection.

Schafer, for her part, struggled to avoid spoilers as she hinted at the journey her character Cora will go on throughout the season. What we do know is that she’s extremely excited to join the revered Blade Runner universe and explore some new genres, harrowing stunts and all.

And we’re excited, too! Since Euphoria, Schafer’s taken on small but memorable supporting roles in films like Kinds Of Kindness, Mother Mary, and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, even getting the chance to play a leading “Final Girl” in the gonzo body horror Cuckoo in 2024.

But Blade Runner 2099 feels like the true star turn she’s always deserved, leading an epic, action-packed extension of a beloved sci-fi franchise that’s coming to a mainstream streaming platform, with the no-doubt massive production budget and marketing support of Amazon behind it.

It’s not lost on us how incredible this is for a trans actress to get this kind of opportunity, and we have no doubt Hunter Schafer’s up to the task.

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Of course, we’re already bracing ourselves for conservative backlash. We saw what happened when Elliot Page was cast in The Odyssey, with hateful transphobes rejecting the idea that he could play a Greek warrior (well, jokes on them because, even though it’s a small role, Page is the heart & soul of the movie). And considering Blade Runner has its own massive fandom, we’re sure there will be bigots who can’t handle the idea that Schafer is this story’s newest hero, the heir apparent to Harrison Ford in the original.

And to them we say: Shut the hell up! Schafer’s a bad*ss who is going to eat this role up. And, besides, Blade Runner has always been pretty queer when you think about it…

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The Queerness of Blade Runner

Ever since the original premiered in 1982, folks have founds queers themes & allegories in the world of Blade Runner. Here, Replicants are ostracized outsiders, their very existence a threat to the norms of a patriarchal society not too far off from our own.

In that sense, Replicants are the other, who could ultimately represent any minority community, but there’s an extra potency in the question of whether or not they can “pass” as “normal humans,” evoking an entire history of queer & trans folks trying to pass as straight for their own survival, or otherwise doing their best to assimilate into a heteronormative world.

It doesn’t seem accidental that many of the Replicants we see in the movie are queer-coded in their behaviors and the way they present themselves, especially in contrast to the human characters, who are frequently shown to be cold and detached.

The Replicants want to live and crave connection, they’re passionate and show interest in the arts—Leon (Brion James), for example, has a photography hobby. Pris (Darryl Hannah) and Zhora (Joanna Cassidy) are sex workers. And then there’s Roy Batty (Rutget Hauer), leather-clad, bleach blond, and so in tune with his emotions he even sheds tears in the movie’s unforgettable rain-soaked climax. (“Batty,” by the way, is and old Jamaican slang word for gay—and we don’t think that’s a coincidence!)

There’s even a moment when Ford’s Rick Deckard gives an advanced Replicant named Rachael (Sean Young) a test to see if she’s human, showing her the image of a nude woman: “Is this testing whether I’m a replicant or a lesbian Mr. Deckard?,” she asks. Yes, she’s making a joke, but it can also be taken as a signal to draw comparisons between the two.

Because Blade Runner is ultimately about identity and what actually makes us human, questioning the very systems that determine that. And in turn, it calls to mind the way the anti-LGBTQ+ movement will try to paint queerness—and transness—as unnatural, as if it’s up to them how we can or can’t exist in this world.

But don’t just take our word for it: There are plenty of thought-provoking pieces that ponder the queer reading of this particular sci-fi series, like this one that explores ” The Querness Of A Replicant” and another that lays it all out quite simply: ” Blade Runner is Gay and I Can Prove It.”

All of which makes Hunter Schafer’s casting in the upcoming Blade Runner 2099 incredibly fascinating. It’s both an opportunity to finally see a trans actress as an action hero in a major mainstream piece of entertainment, and a continuation of the queer legacy of one of our most thought-provoking sci-fi stories.

Blade Runner 2099 will premiered November 25 on Amazon Prime Video.

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In fourth grade, Ben Patterson just didn’t have the breakdancing chops of many of his friends.

Growing up in Oakland in the 1980s at the height of the breakdancing craze, Ben could certainly make the moves, but his skill just wasn’t where it needed to be to join in on the circle kids his age would form to impress one another.

“All my friends who were doing it were good at it,” Ben said of his early dance and music memories. “I just wasn’t good at it. Certain kids were forming breakdance crews and dance parties, and I just couldn’t hang.”

Spinning his body on the dance floor wasn’t his calling. 

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Yet it was a chance stroll with a friend after a haircut in sixth grade that landed him in the apartment of a DJ who was spinning music behind the turntables, seamlessly weaving between songs and capturing Ben’s imagination. 

“I was sitting on the edge of the bed, and this guy was scratching and all that. And for the next few months I was hooked. I got up there behind the decks and I couldn’t stop until I figured out how to make the cross fader work.”

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By ninth grade he had found his passion, buying up every single that hit the charts and hit his music taste. 

It was the age of MC Hammer, the early 1990s when the rapper from Ben’s hometown sold 10 million copies of his seminal album “Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em” fueled by the breakout smash hit, “U Can’t Touch This.”

It was also the age of turntables. 

With today’s technology DJs are everywhere, utilizing online classes and smart software in the digital age to seamlessly match beats, match keys and cut the learning curve to a fraction of what it was before Pioneer and Rekordbox became essential words in the language of DJs.

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Ben learned old-school, with two decks spinning vinyl, listening to the BPMs, manually matching the beats and weaving together sets. 

Today, Ben’s skills span the generations. His home studio boasts countless vinyl records from Michael Jackson to Salt N Peppa to Run DMC. 

Yet he also has a digital catalog of tracks – including many he’s produced – that allow him to produce and mix sets today in his studio, at house parties or even large-scale dance parties like Halloweenie.

“This is the result of years of writing and DJing. I have 10 albums of music. I also create house and techno and instrumentals.”

Ben takes the dance floor seriously when he spins. 

Every gig has the core genre a party promoter is looking for. Combining a broad knowledge of music, as well as keeping people alive on the dance floor for literally decades, Ben has learned to listen, watch and adjust, like any skilled DJ.

“I don’t pre-record when I mix. I’ll see a bunch of people on the dance floor loving the vocals, and I’ll stick to vocals. I’ll make sure peoples’ climaxes have happened before I switch.

“DJing is communicating with the audience, but it’s also leading them. Some people are dancing and some are just letting go of the stress of the week.

“I thrive in deep house, vocal house, 90s stuff. I tell a story when I DJ. You’re not going to hear the stuff you hear next door.”

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While some may better know Ben from his acting roles on ” Noah’s Arc“,” Greenleaf” and other TV shows and movies, the role that is bringing him so much joy today is dad. With his husband, Mike, he’s raising young Zachary in Los Angeles. 

He is already following Dad’s footsteps behind the decks.

“He just grew up listening to Prince, Chaka Khan, David Bowie. At some point he was listening to my mixes, and I showed him my controller and how to insert a cue point. 

“He was 6 years old.”

Today, young Zachary, 10, is building a little name for himself amongst his peers, finding chances to spin at parties. 

“He’s able to transition from song to song seamlessly. He doesn’t get off-beat.”

It may not be too long before the father and son duo show up at clubs in L.A. playing B2B.

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Now would be a great time to check on the girls, gays, and theys in your life.

Not only was Heated Rivalry hottie François Arnaud just announced as the Global Brand Ambassador for Under Armour, but the news arrived with a sizzling hot campaign video.

In the clip, which dropped yesterday, the 41-year-old actor pumps some iron in the HeatGear collection, which bears the completely appropriate tagline, “For when it’s hot.”

And dear reader, when we tell you it is, indeed, hot, that’s a complete understatement.

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Watch.

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The advertisement, which is already being hailed as the biggest thing to happen for the bisexual community since cuffed jeans, features Arnaud working up a sweat in his garage during a heatwave in Los Angeles County.

The thermometer and a Challengers reminiscent soundtrack soar as a woman stops in her tracks to get a closer look and a man washing his car squeezes his sponge in thirst.

Things get so hot, in fact, that Arnaud eventually rips his shirt off and tosses it at the camera, at which point another distracted individual runs straight into a trashcan. Relatable!

It’s a playful nod to the Canadian actor’s own sexuality, and perhaps the steamiest ambassadorship to come out of the Heated Rivalry craze thus far.

(Honorable mention to Hudson Williams and his sweaty Peloton moment.)

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Furthermore, the partnership marks an unbelievable milestone for Arnaud.

“If you’d told the skinny awkward kid I used to be that one day I’d be an ambassador for a sportswear brand, I would’ve laughed,” he said in a statement.

“What makes this moment feel so special is that it’s a reminder that we don’t always end up where we expect, and growth can look very different from what we imagined.”

To be fair, he makes a good point: We never imagined we’d be this invested in purchasing Under Armour, either.

Between the campaign video and all the behind-the-scenes content Under Armour has been blessing us with, the gay internet is understandably misbehaving.

“I guess we found the reason behind the Canadian wildfires,” one commenter wrote on Under Armour’s Instagram.

“I’ve never wanted to be an Under [Armour] shirt so bad,” another added.

That said, @franconedits might have put it best when they proclaimed: “Bisexuals, we won in ways never seen before.” LOL.

Below, check out some of the thirstiest reactions on Gay Twitter X.

I've literally never seen pecs like that. Magnificent

— Sofia Cop-a-feel (@JakeSalza) July 24, 2026

This is more erotic than literal porn. I need him to obliterate my physical form into dust

— Kryzkarek (@ThrowAwayBussyx) July 23, 2026

I would let him hit me in the face with a dumbbell

— Feelulu (@FLEEreality) July 23, 2026

Mr Arnaud oh my god- pic.twitter.com/WT3N1aT65q

— ASadWeeGhostie (@ASadWeeGhostie) July 23, 2026

I would well and truly never shut up if I looked like this

— Steff (@stev_kotz) July 24, 2026

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In the 1980s, as the AIDS crisis began claiming the lives of more and more in our community, an antiretroviral medication known as AZT was introduced to help treat & prevent HIV. The first of its kind, the miracle drug came with a number of side-effects, yet was hailed as a live-saver, cutting disease progression rates by half.

But this was a global crisis we’re talking about, and not everyone had access to AZT. For many, AIDS was still a death sentence.

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So, when word got out abroad of this miracle drug in the U.S., some took matters into their own hands. In Brazil, a network of flight attendants & airline employees began a covert operation to smuggle the medication back into their country.

In that sense, they were Robin Hoods of the air, crossing lines—and borders—to get help for those in dire need. Many continued to carry out this practice in secret until the Brazilian government finally pass a law to offer treatment in 1996.

Now, Brazilian miniseries is bringing this amazing true story to the screen.

With a title that references an oft-quoted airplane safety reminder and the government’s failure to protect those in need, Oxygen Masks Will (Not) Drop Automatically is a five-part dramatization of those who risked their lives to bring AZT to Brazil.

At the center of the story is young, gay flight attendant Nando, played by handsome out actor Johnny Massaro, who previously appeared in The First Fallen, another drama about the early days of the AIDS crisis in Brazil.

In the late ’80s, Nando lives a charmed life in Rio de Janiero, flying all over the world for work—and meeting all kinds of men. But when he suddenly gets sick, he refuses to accept his fate, especially after hearing about a miracle drug in America during his travels.

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Inspired by his lover (Ícaro Silva) and with the help of a sympathetic doctor, Nando begins working alongside his best friend & colleague Léa (Bruna Linzmeyer)—who’s also dealing with an unexpected pregnancy—to sneak AZT on-board their flights and bring it home to those in need.

Speaking with Variety, series director Marcelo Gomes provides some context for life in Brazil and the time and shares why this story feels just a relevant today:

“This is a story set in Brazil at a time when we were coming out of a brutal dictatorship and ready to be happy again, to enjoy freedom and be with each other again. Then this epidemic comes in, with a very sexual element to it, and the conservatives rejected it terribly in Brazil. I think it’s important to tell this story to Brazil and the world because every once in a while throughout history, we are faced with waves of conservatism that destroy human connection.”

Gomes goes on to note that younger generations don’t really have a grasp of how impactful—and deadly—the AIDS crisis was, and so his hope is that the series opens their eyes to our all-too-recent history:

“I knew so many people who died of HIV, so it was very emotional to me to think back to that time. We also wanted to reflect on the level of prejudice Brazil experienced in the 80s and to think about how we very recently had a government that once again promoted that way of thinking.”

Oxygen Masks Will (Not) Drop Automatically already premiered in its native Brazil via HBO Max last summer, but we’re still eagerly awaiting a U.S. streaming date. However, the Toronto International Film Festival did just announce the series as part of its TV showcase program in September (alongside Hudson Williams’ Heated Rivalry follow-up Yaga, by the way!), which might be a sign a stateside release is on the horizon.

In the meantime, in advance of its TIFF premiere, a new international trailer has dropped online which you can watch below:

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The problem with aligning yourself with the MAGA death cult is that you’re signing up to spend time with some pretty awful people. That’s what House Speaker Mike Johnson seems to be learning all too late after a tiff with a fellow MAGA-ite escalated into a full-on battle royale. The usually-reserved Johnson officially lost his cool, and for once, we can’t blame him.

Johnson lashed out at anti-LGBTQ+ Tr*mp apologist and AI outsourcer Anna Paulina Luna earlier this month when the Florida rep. tried to crush a bill intended to protect veterans. The Take Care of America’s Veterans Act would have helped service members access retirement funds with certain dubious consequences, but in a “screaming match” that saw Luna fighting with Rep. Zach Nunn front of another representative’s child, Johnson finally snapped.

“I’m sick of this sh*t,” he said, according to witnesses.

Johnson “immediately” apologized to Lune, Nunn, and the child who happened to witness it all. As a supporter of the bill, Johnson had a lot at stake: he’s in need of a pre-midterm win, and he knows it. If the veteran benefits bill had passed, he could have claimed credit. As it happened, the bill was crushed shortly after the blowout between Luna and Nunn in Johnson’s office.

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This isn’t the first fight between Nunn and Luna over the bill. Politico reported a heated exchange in mid-June over the measure, with Johnson trying, and ultimately failing, to convince House members to pass it through. As we know all too well, Johnson doesn’t have the rizz to pull it off. Now, he’s entering the final pre-midterm stress with a shaky majority and a handful of dissenting, anti-MAGA Republicans fighting his every step.

The fact that Johnson publicly lost it is notable: if there’s one thing we know about Johnson, he tends to keep his cool, no matter what fresh hell Tr*mp and MAGA keep throwing his way. But after this week, where cameras caught the speaker sounding less than certain about the midterms, it’s clear he can see the writing on the wall, and it’s getting under his skin.

To make matters worse, this week saw a significant threat to Johnson’s uncertain majority via a Tennessee twist. While rep. Andy Ogles was the Tr*mp-endorsed favorite, his recent homophobic Pride Month tweet about reclaiming June as “Nuclear Family Month” didn’t do him many favors, even in one of the reddest of red states. Now, a new Republican challenger has come forward.  Tennessee Agricultural Commissioner Charlie Hatcher won the endorsement of the state’s former governor, and it looks like he bet on the right horse, because Ogles’ chances post-Pride Month have slipped from 95% to 65%. Whoops!

As the MAGA implosion continues, temperatures remain high, and Johnson’s job remains in danger. He’s used to ruling over a silent, obedient majority in the House. But thanks to Tr*mp’s many Epstein files-related screw-ups and Todd Blanche’s threatened confirmation, Johnson’s job isn’t looking so easy. Republicans are splitting into two distinct factions: those who want to keep Tr*mp’s favor, and those who are sick of playing nice.

Will Johnson survive the midterm flip that will almost certainly kill his power in the House? We’ll just have to wait and see.

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Ever since a little show called Heated Rivalry landed on streaming late last year, the straight world has been discovering what the gays already knew: watching guys make out is pretty darn hot!

But despite the fact that, yes, plenty of straight and bisexual women have helped push the queer hockey drama into the mainstream, sometimes the mainstream is a weird place for queer media to be. Case in point: the recent GQ drama concerning an IG post that compares the gay love story at the heart of Heated Rivalry with the FIFA phenomenon of straight men showing affection toward each other.

And while yes, we love to see straight men kiss as much as the next red-blooded American, let’s hold our horses here. Especially since someone thought to caption the post “no homo—FR.”

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The since-deleted post clicked through to an article about the broader trend of men—of undisclosed sexuality—getting cozy with each other in public, from Love Island’s “girth-check” bromance Zach and Bryce to the Harry Styles-Ben Marshall SNL smoochfest.

It’s a trend piece, and yes, men of all sexualities showing PDA toward other men is on the rise, and perhaps the success of Heated Rivalry has something to do with that. But as plenty of other commenters have already pointed out, there’s a problem here.

Straight guys kissing, touching, or showing PDA doesn’t equate to queer representation, and when it comes to representation—and basic human rights—things aren’t looking so good for LGBTQ+ people right now, Heated Rivalry or no.

GLAAD’s recently-released “Where We Are On Film” report shows we’re in our third straight year of representational decline in mainstream film, compared to the pre-Tr*mp boom. Only about 20% of major studio movies bothered to include LGBTQ+ characters, and the report found zero trans characters in the 225 films released by top distributors in 2025.

Heated Rivalry‘s success has proved that, on TV at least, queer stories can equal huge profits. But that still doesn’t mean that we’re living in some kind of queertopia where we can bandy about the phrase “no homo” with impunity. While the show’s impact has been huge, in the world of sports, the closet still reigns supreme. A New York Times piece from earlier this year tells us that in spite of the Heated Rivalry effect, LGBTQ+ acceptance by straight society seems to have peaked in 2020. Now, it’s on the decline again.

In the world of LGBTQ+ rights and protections, I hope I have to tell you how bad it is. The attacks on transgender rights are daily and devastating, while broader LGBTQ+ rights continue to face threats under the punitive Tr*mp administration. So yes, as thrilling as it is to believe that the “trend” of men of all sexualities openly kissing, hugging, and bro-ing down with each other on TV equals some kind of yaoi utopia, the reality, for queer people, is quite different. As the writer of the piece admits, these “viral guy-on-guy moments” don’t ask viewers to deal with the reality of gay existence. They allow viewers to take what they like best about queer life—the titilation factor—and ignore the rest.

But you can’t remove the queerness from Heated Rivalry. That’s the part that makes it so special. As sexy as it is to watch Ilya and Shane hook up, there’s more to the story. It’s the harsh realities they have to face as closeted players and how hard-won the freedom they find in each other feels when they do get together. It’s the way they’ve both protected themselves from love, until it sneaks up on them. Everything about Heated Rivalry, from the source material to the indirect lighting in Ilya’s apartment, is gay. There’s nothing “no homo” about it.

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In the past few months, JD Vance has caught strays from his childhood bully, his boss, his new neighbors, and a cat meme account with more followers than him. Last week, when we learned that even Vance’s secret service detail can’t stand the guy, we started to wonder: is there literally a single person who still likes this guy, including Usha Vance?

I mean, it’s not looking like it, especially after Vance decided to strike back at the people whose literal job it is to keep him and his family safe… with predictably poor results.

To be fair, they started it. Because of Vance’s history Kash Patel-style private jet trips at $24,000 a pop, he’s gotten something of a reputation among the detail for using up a crazy amount of resources for someone who’s only the VP.

Last month, a last-minute (ultimately cancelled) trip to his son’s private golf lesson had agents in a spin, especially after they’d spent way too much time flying Vance and his family to scout potential new homes in Middleburg, Virginia, another place where nobody is happy to see the VP’s face.

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These last-minute, zero-warning joyrides had the secret service grumbling, leading at least one member to spill the details to the press, as well as images of joke badges they made about the “Bobcat OTR Survivor’s Club.” Bobcat is Vance’s codename, and “OTR” refers to the many taxpayer-funded “off the record” trips that, because of their last minute nature, make the secret service’s job much harder to do.

Vance wasn’t happy about that, and he had the guy fired. But whoops! Because the VP can’t do anything right, this move, too, quickly blew up in his face. CNN just reported that the main whistleblower was just placed on administrative leave, while the rest of the team is slated for “internal review.”

“Any conduct that undermines the trust and confidence between a protectee and their protective detail is fundamentally incompatible with our mission and will not be tolerated,” the Secret Service Chief of Communications wrote in a statement this morning.

Maybe the matter—and the firing—could have been settled quietly under a different, more professional, more emotionally mature VP. But since Vance is universally hated, the move instantly came back to kick him in the rear, because now it’s all over the headlines that Vance fired a secret service agent for butthurt reasons. Even worse, the agent could face a criminal probe simply for talking about his obnoxious treatment by the VP.

Which is an even bigger problem, because at what point does leaking necessary details about your boss abusing his position—and thousands of taxpayer dollars—turn from a breach into a whistleblowing event?

Vance might have fired the leak in question, but that doesn’t change the fact that it takes more than one person to make an in-joke. It’s not just a single “bad” apple in the security detail. It seems like pretty much everyone assigned to him isn’t a fan, especially if they all went through the trouble to create joke badges and stickers about how his poorly-planned travel is making their lives hell.

And because we’re talking about Vance, of course it gets even worse.

Last month, even before the loose lipped agent spilled to the press about Vance’s joyrides, Democratic rep. Tom Suozzi quietly requested a probe into Vance’s use of funds at a Long Island event. Even without factoring in the (most likely OTR) request to be flown to the event, Suozzi found that Vance had paid an entertainment company “$110,000 to supply the stage, seating, lighting, sound system, security barriers, and other infrastructure.”

So yes, it’s not just the secret service that’s fed up with Vance’s insane tour rider. He’s making bigger, more powerful enemies by the day, both in Washington and his new home of Virginia.

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Hi Jake,

This might sound like a weird question, but I honestly don’t know if I’m hot.

I only came out a few years ago. Before that, I was hooking up with guys in secret, so I pretty much went along with whoever showed interest in me.

But now that I’m actually dating openly, I finally get to decide who I’m interested in instead of just taking whoever comes along. The problem is… I have no idea where I fit.

How about we take this to the next level?

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Some days I think I look pretty good. I’m a little husky, but I have a handsome face, and more than one guy has complimented my legs. Other days, all I can see are the things I’d change. My hairline has started receding, I wish I were a couple inches taller, and suddenly I feel average at best.

Then the bars make it even more confusing.

Sometimes a guy I’m not attracted to comes over and starts flirting with me, and I immediately think, “Oh…is this my league?” Other times, I’ll catch a really attractive guy checking me out, and I wonder if I’m selling myself short. Then I’ll see someone gorgeous across the room and spend the next twenty minutes trying to decide whether talking to him would be confident… or completely delusional.

So how are you actually supposed to know where you rank in the gay world? Is there some secret gay hotness scale I’m missing?

Mirror, Mirror

Dear Mirror, Mirror,

Back in the early 2000s, desperate (and maybe just a little masochistic) gays could upload a photo of themselves to a dreadful little website called HotOrNot.com, where complete strangers rated their attractiveness on a scale from one to ten. It was the internet’s version of emotional self-harm, but at least you walked away with an answer.

Thankfully, those days are behind us. We no longer ask random strangers on the internet to assign us a numerical value as a human being. Now we’re left to figure it out ourselves.

That’s exactly what you’re trying to do. You’re looking for a way to calculate your place in the gay ecosystem so you’ll know who to approach, who to swipe on, and who to skip.

But I don’t think you’re actually looking for a number. I think you’re looking for protection.

If you knew exactly where you ranked, you might avoid the sting of flirting with someone who was “out of your league.” At the same time, you’d stop overlooking people who might genuinely be a great match because you assumed they were beneath you. In other words, you’re trying to find the sweet spot between rejection and selling yourself short.

The problem is that attraction doesn’t work like chess ratings or tennis rankings. There isn’t a universal gay draft board where everyone secretly agrees you’re a 7.2. Every guy you meet has his own tastes, turn-ons, and blind spots. The score one guy gives you won’t be the score the next one does.

Now, before I get hammered in the comments by people telling me I’m naive, and that yes, the gay community does reward certain traits like muscles, height, fitness, youth, and, ahem, size, I’ll readily admit there are always ideals and comparisons that influence first impressions. Pretending otherwise isn’t helpful.

But those are only part of the equation. Once you move beyond a split-second glance across the gym floor, things like humor, warmth, confidence, kindness, charisma, and the way someone makes another person feel start carrying a lot more weight than any imaginary number ever could.

So instead of asking, “Who’s in my league?” I’d encourage you to ask a different question: “Who seems interested?”

Chemistry is a two-way street. Rather than trying to calculate whether you’re objectively attractive enough to approach someone, pay attention to what’s actually happening between the two of you. Is he making eye contact? Smiling? Lingering in the conversation? Asking you questions? Flirting back? Those clues will tell you far more than any imaginary ranking ever could.

Ironically, the people who seem the most attractive usually haven’t figured out exactly where they rank. They’ve just stopped obsessing over it. They flirt. They take chances. They get rejected sometimes. Then they move on.

So remember: You don’t need a hotness score. You just need the confidence to go after the people you’re interested in without one.

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Have a question? Email Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist Jake Myers at jake@askjaketherapy.com or send a DM on Instagram. Questions may be answered anonymously.

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Tr*mp pick Todd Blanche thought he had his Attorney General nomination in the bag. But after he admitted last week that “mistakes were made” on the Epstein front, not to mention that training tape bombshell, he’s facing a host of controversy around the once-secure nomination. Last week, Senator Thom Tillis told Blanche that he wouldn’t hand over his vote until Blanche met with Epstein survivors protesting his nomination. Blanche did so, treating the victims with condescension and disdain.

Today, a new Epstein ghost has risen to remind Tillis and other Republicans of exactly what’s at stake should Blanche be confirmed.

On Wednesday, in the midst of an already-embattled hearing process, family members of Epstein victim Virginia Guiffre released a letter urging Tillis to stand his ground and refuse to confirm Blanche. The letter was also addressed to senator John Cornyn, a Republican who has also pushed back against several Tr*mp nominations this week in an effort to protect PEPFAR’s emergency HIV funds from being gutted by the president.

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Guiffre ended her own life in 2025. Her posthumously published memoir Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice, details her abuse and exploitation by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell after being poached from Tr*mp’s Mar-a-Lago spa, where she was groomed by the predators and ultimately sold to powerful men when still a minor.

Guiffre’s surviving family, along with two dozen more Epstein survivors, ask Cornyn and Tillis—without whose votes Blanche’s confirmation cannot survive—to remember their daughter’s legacy and the Epstein survivors exposed by Blanche’s sloppy handling of the files.

“Plain and simple,” the letter says, “Todd Blanche is bad for the business of justice.”

The letter goes into detail about how Blanche treated the survivors Tillis forced him to meet with last Thursday.

“Mr. Blanche had an opportunity to show leaderhsip, humility, and accountability. Instead, when he finally met with us after nine months of requests, he deflected questions, denied the existence of meaninful leads, pushed responsibility onto the FBI, and treated survivors and Virginia’s family as though we were a political obligation rather than people who deserved answers.”

The family goes on to tell Tillis that while they’re grateful that he forced Blanche to take the meeting, it was clear to them that Blanche only complied because he needs Tillis’s vote. In a different world, with Lindsey Graham still alive and Mitch McConnell well enough to participate in the vote, Blanche would have been confirmed by now. Luckily, that’s not the case.

Throughout the confirmation hearing, Tillis and Cornyn have been the only Republicans in a weakened majority to hold Blanche’s feet to the fire concerning the Epstein files. Though Cornyn initially voted against forcing the DOJ to release the files last year, he’s been unexpectedly vocal in the matter of Blanche’s confirmation in light of the ongoing scandal.

Whatever happens with Blanche’s confirmation, Epstein survivors will continue to raise hell and hold the GOP and Tr*mp’s DOJ to account.

“What message does it send,” the letter asks, “when survivors are exposed, preadtors remain protected, and failure is rewarded with power?”

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