The seriousness of ascending to the title of Mr. Gay Europe cannot be understated.
Through grueling competition one man must rise above the rest, proving his gay mettle and securing a place in history alongside the cultural architects.
Oh, and he’s also gotta look cute in a speedo.
And with that we introduce 20-year-old Swede Jack Johansson — dancer, breaker of hearts and newly crowned Mr. Gay Europe.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
The competition took place last weekend in Vienna, and Johansson had these kind words to say:
And when I won, I realized that a lot of people, especially young boys, saw me as a role model – to be a role model for boys and girls who don’t really know who they are, and to be able to guide them through their hard times has been a true privilege. I have received a lot of mail varying from young boys needing guiding to old men needing acceptance.
Johansson will fly all across Europe promoting Pride events, which isn’t a bad deal at all.
But enough about that. Since we don’t have any photos of the swimsuit portion of the competition, here’s a sampling of selfies from Jack’s Instagram.
Don't forget to share:
JennyFromdabloc
WOW…this man is stunning. May be time for a vacation to Sweden.
yaletownman
The Swedes and the Danes possess some of the most beautiful men on the planet. It’s worth it to go there just to see the endless eye candy these two countries possess!
Desert Boy
Adorable! And no ink! Perfect!
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
Huh?!? Nowt special..certainly no Jeremy Meeks!!!
redcarpet
No gratuitous comments about “Swedish meatballs”? None? Really?
Fine, I’ll do it: (in Jennifer Coolidge voice) “I want Swedish meatballs reeeal bad.”
Curtispsf
All I can say, Jack, is this:
Jag älskar dig. For your beauty both inside and out.
L.Rowan
Congratulations, Jack! 🙂
Bryguyf69
You can see Jack and Hector Lopez on a competition reality show, Talang Sverige. The host even mentions his title as Mr. Gay Sweden at 0:24 (I’m surprised that the title is in English). Love the little twist at the end where they so EFFORTLESSLY take off their shirts. And the diverse audience, which includes kids, older people and straight men, clearly had no issues with his sexual orientation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtRp2QVvDtg
Billy Budd
VERY cute and lovely guy.
ontheupandup
@Bryguyf69: That video is what really made him attractive to me. Great spirit, personality, and talent. I also found it hilarious that this show was essentially Britain’s Got Talent for Sweden…right down to the grumpy Simon Cowell type on the end! Just take a formula and run with it…to every country, I guess!
stranded
best photo is of the black and white where he’s eating a meal. SO adorable.
Bryguyf69
The guy isn’t just a vapid pretty boy. As you can see from the above video, he’s a pretty accomplished dancer (those leaps!!!). And although I only know a little Swedish (my ex-girlfriend did her medical training in Sweden), he seems intelligent and well-spoken.
As for the country, Sweden, it leads the way in gay activism. When Uganda first proposed harsh anti-gay laws many years ago, Sweden led an international effort to suspend financial aid. Many experts credited the effort with the delays in passing the anti-gay laws. And Sweden’s effort continue to this day.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/06/us-uganda-aid-sweden-idUSBREA2509720140306
When the US illegally invaded Iraq, causing a flood of war refugees, Sweden led the world in terms of the numbers of victims it took in.
Lvng1tor
@Bryguyf69: Swedes speak the most beautiful English. They have the strictest education standards in Europe and English fluency is required. Half of the tv is in English. They are so common sense it’s almost maddening, low low crime rate, clean streets…except for the winters (and only for the lack of sun) it’s close to perfect in my eyes. I’ve been lucky enough to spend extended time there and trust when I say you see this guy walking down the street in groups…the men are stunning. It’s like a freakn super model parade. Why do you think all of H&M’s clothes are for 7ft tall men with 28in waists!
Bryguyf69
@ontheupandup: Heh. This resembles Britain’s Got Talent because it’s official version of the show from the same company! In fact, there have been over 50 official versions of the show throughout the world, including China, Israel and South Africa. And as you’ve noticed, most of them have a grumpy judge similar to Cowell. In fact, many international versions even feature British/Australian/American (aka English-speaking) judges. It’s no different than other “reality” franchises such as Idol, The Voice, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader, Survivor, Big Brother, Dancing with the Stars, etc. All of them have permeated the world and follow the same format. Even the sets and camera work are identical. I watched a Chinese (Hong Kong) version of A Minute to Win It, and camera had the same annoying habit of turning to the host, despite action on the stage.
While the format is identical, the contents, of course, is tailored for the region. For example, the Israeli version of Dancing with the Stars had a female couple a few years ago. That would never happen in the neighboring Lebanese version! And Australia’s Big Brother features male frontal nudity. Can you imagine that happening in the US version? Finally, Scandinavian versions have gay and homoerotic contents regularly, reflecting their view that homosexuality is a normal part of society. That’s why the above Swedish host casually mentioned that Jack was Mr. Gay Sweden.
Here’s another GREAT example of Sweden’s progressive treatment of male nudity and homoerotica. In fact, male nudity and male bonding isn’t even automatically labeled gay there. As far as I can tell, this was not a gay act and these high school boys are straight. Also note the diverse audience and how everyone — kids, straight men, older people, etc — loved the performance.
I’ve actually not made this video public yet on YouTube, so this is a special treat for you guys. Subscribe to my YouTube channel if you want to see more (click on the video to go to YouTube).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjzRRxRl2B0
Billy Budd
He is adorable.
Polaro
Best travel advertisement ever. Sweden, here I come.
Bryguyf69
@Polaro: @Polaro: Well, make sure to wipe your hands afterwards. Otherwise, your keyboard might be a sticky mess….
Bryguyf69
@Bryguyf69: I haven’t had the chance to write a YouTube Description for the above video yet so here’s a draft… Those high school boys are doing a version of The Balloon Dance, using large crackers instead of balloons (the Swedish name of the dance is “biscuit dance”). The craze started in Britain around the 80?s, possibly from a Monty Python skit. The goal is to cover your privates using balloons in witty and whimsical ways. Somehow that morphed into large crackers (aka biscuits) in Sweden, and it’s a popular act in high school shows,
Check out this photo of other HOT Swedish guys doing the balloon dance in a High School talent show, circa 1984. You can read the uploader’s description in the second link, last paragraph under the heading, “7-21 year.”
http://stefanolth.org/Me/MyHistory/images/DSC00199.JPG
http://stefanolth.org/php/index.php?i=Me/MyHistory
Bryguyf69
@Bryguyf69:
Here’s a photo of the 4 guys with clothes
http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb349/CalMac62/FMF/Knckebrdsdansenclothed.jpg
Three more Swedes doing the cracker dance. Look at the woman handing out the crackers trying to get a better look!
http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb349/CalMac62/FMF/Knckebrdsdansen2.jpg