“This has given me an opportunity to really use my voice and to just not to worry about what people are thinking of me. “I have not always had a voice,” he shared.
MUSCLE JAPANESE YOUNG OLD GAY VIDEOS SERIES
Martin added that the series has helped him rediscover his own voice. We don't know any questions, and that's why I love it, because what everybody sees is our realness.” “But also it’s our openness, because we never know what we're going to be talking about. “We are four really different people, but we get along great and have a blast,” Martin said. Authenticity is a word that's used often nowadays, but it seems to really be the key to their virality. The Old Gays seek to bridge the dialogue gap between the generations using the internet, while also giving more visibility to their own peer group after so many died during the AIDS epidemic of the '80s and '90s.Īnother other defining element of their success: They’re authentic. As a gay man myself, I’ve seen firsthand that when older men at bars try to strike up conversations with younger people, even with platonic intentions, they’ll often be ignored. Jon Premosch for TODAYīut in the LGBTQ community, many gay men aren’t interested in forming intergenerational connections. Brands are tapping them for sponsored content, too, turning their passion for storytelling into a profitable pastime for them all. The Old Gays still create content for Grindr while building up their own social media platforms. “I want to have a conversation with these guys and them to be my best friends,” another commented. “And so they're using us to show their appreciation to everyone of our generation.” “When I read the comments, many of the younger generation have adopted us an an icon of the older gay generation, to which they feel a great indebtedness because the strides that have been made over the past few decades,” he explained. Reeves quickly answers that there are a “multitude of reasons” that the Old Gays have become an internet sensation. "I know I should (feel beautiful), but I really never thought of myself in my late age as being beautiful, but this has opened a whole new door for me." Jon Premosch for TODAY "Well, it may sound kind of egotistical but in reading all the comments, I find that a lot of people find me attractive," he said. “I'm a hugger, and when I say on a video that I love you, it is from the bottom of my heart, it really is because I genuinely do, and that was an inheritance from my parents of loving.” Bill Lyons spent most of his life working in catering and interior design, but it's his latest gig as an influencer that's giving him a confidence boost he never knew he needed. “But I just love back, and if I could hug everybody that says something, I would,” he said. Martin has an answer for everything, it seems, but he struggles to find a response on why people love them so much. It's still like it was yesterday because she was my bestie.” “This happened just right on time, and we were best friends until she passed away 10 years ago. “She was just in tears because she felt bad because she couldn't be there to help me through it,” he said of her reaction when he finally did tell her. It’s a win-win for them, a win-win for us.” “It's like we seem to be making a difference in these young people and to some older people, as well. “I have cried, and they have been tears of joy,” Jessay Martin, 67, told TODAY. Louis, whenever I would go to a gay bar it was always through a back alley door." Jon Premosch for TODAY Louis and then San Francisco up until 1990, before moving to the desert outside of Palm Springs to focus on his sculpting. It turned out to be rather enjoyable.”įrom there, people of all ages, especially younger social media users, fell in love with them and started following their conversations, which include everything from their hilarious reactions to Cardi B's “WAP” music video to sharing their coming out journeys to a look back on the loves of their lives. “The first video we didn't really get paid anything for, we just went basically for the fun of it,” Robert Reeves, 78, told TODAY.
Based in Cathedral City, California, right outside the LGBTQ enclave of Palm Springs, the foursome of gay men, who range in age from the mid-60s to late 70s, were already friends when the dating app Grindr began using them as subjects in videos back in 2018.