Oh, hi, Jake Shears! We totally did not expect to bump into you when we were out in the Castro this weekend, taping this fabulous “Hello World” video for the all-new Queerty.
But we’re glad you stopped to say hi; we’re tickled pink that you have, in fact, heard of us; and we hope that you put our gift of condoms and lube to good use.
Anyway, as you might have noticed, Queerty is back. We’ve got some of your favorite writers and a big bunch of awesome new staffers, all dedicated to bringing you all the most important news, analysis and attitude. And spelling everyone’s name correctly.
For our relaunch, we hit the Castro to find out what men on the street want the all-new Queerty to be. The answers ranged from “what’s that” to “haven’t heard of it” to “I don’t read blogs.” So, that’s pretty fantastic. What about you, Queerty readers? What do you want Queerty to be?
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.
Lefty
I’ve never heard of Queerdy, either.
What is it?
kernelt
Like the new look…
pithyscreenname
I love that I can get my politics fix here as well as some eyecandy.
A gayspy section like they have on the uk version of digitalspy.com would be fun.
Spike
HA HA HA, Jake Shears couldn’t have nailed it better,
‘Yea of course’ Translation . . . that mindless blog that endlessly promotes that mindless Davey Wavey, I’ll say yes if you will leave me alone.
Note to Queerty, leave gay celebs alone when they are living their lives amongst the rest of us. The red carpet and promotional tours are when it is ok to harass their asses with stupid questions.
Tony
I hope you keep reporting on the con artists at Regent/Here Media.
Most everyone else seems afraid to call these thugs out.
Shannon1981
What do we want Queerty to be, you ask? Well…I love the snark and the layout. Don’t change a thing there. I also love the lack of censorship. Barring extreme bigotry/hatefulness in the comments section, you let us carry on however we like.
What I WOULD change though, is as follows: more balance for letters in the acronym besides just gay men. Lesbians and trans folks are hugely under represented. Also, the quality of the journalism needs to step up. Sometimes I find the inaccuracies and spelling errors endearing, especially since I have been missing you guys so much. But mostly I just find them annoying. Other than that, just keep being the most awesome queer blog on the net.
Nerva
Bring back Belonsky. When he was with Queerty there was some good writing. But since he left, the site firmly subscribed to the “Sex Sells” stance of tabloid journalism.
So let’s have some decent stories that have been researched and written well – and is not confined to a couple of hundred words.
In the past year or so, Queerty has, on occasions, not flown the flag for the LGBT community – if fact I would say that it has in many ways damaged it. Yes, take the various LGBT orgs to task when they are not delivering!
Oscar Raymundo
@Lefty: Sure, make fun of the foreign kid!
John
Queerty is back, eh? Good! 🙂
Cam
@Shannon1981:
And there’s Shannon, already unloading the snark on the new owners. 😉
Jhames
Welcome back! Is it hyperbole to add “from the dead” to that greeting?
Here’s my wish list. Feel free to pick and choose what you will:
– Leave the snark in comments and give me articles that make me want to share them with friends and family. It’s 2011 already, haven’t we all endured enough websites where snark prevails but ultimately fails to attract new audiences?
– I agree with Shannon, it’s important to present a balanced staff and span of topics that address the LGBT community at large.
– If you’re going to keep the pictorials on the site, please include men that possess body hair beyond armpits. I mean honestly.
– I’d like to be able to visit the site from work, but that’s hard to do if the ads or site photos border on pornographic.
– No listicles. Seriously, I can go to Gawker for that.
– Oh! What about video games and the like? I’ve been searching high and low for a quality site about gay gaming, but I’m still not finding anything that I love.
Give me all this, and I’ll totally overlook your site design.
Shannon1981
@Cam: LOL Cam always. Just got SO TIRED of watching my mouth on the other sites when Queerty was down. But now its back!
Steve Sallis
I love Queerty and glad it is back. I like that it is serious, playful, irreverent, campy and gay. Don’t change a thing!
TMikel
Keep up the Queerty reporting of news that is important to the LGBT Community – and keep the sense of humor. I am glad to have you back!
matt baume
Hey thanks for all the feedback everyone! It’s super-useful to hear from you.
@Jhames: Yes we definitely plan to include more nerdy/techy/gamey stuff. And you can always check http://gaygamer.net — they write a ton of great content. And Destructoid, for those moments that Chad Concelmo pops up.
Nathan
I hope the new Queerty will change the old “Blind Items” into “Outing Closeted Celebs.”
Brian
What I want most from Queerty is a better class of viewers. For whatever reason, the old Queerty attracted a really motley bunch of racists. No matter what the topic, the comments quickly degenerated into crazy racist talk and equally strident attacks on the racists. I know censorship is a dirty word, but really the comment section became completely unreadable, and I’d recommend you try to keep comments on point.
Shannon1981
@Brian: The thing about snark blogs is that they are a double edged sword. Being one of the few black commenters on here, I TOTALLY get where you are coming from re: the racism in the comments section. But a snark blog is going to automatically attract trolling in many forms, including bigotry. And when things got really hateful, they did delete comments. The most refreshing thing about Queerty is the snark and the censorship, but, as with anything, you gotta take the good and the bad.
JoshP
OMG I hope you don’t listen to people who never read Queerty to determine its future. How about you ask old readers what they liked and what they what to see. Friendly, nice kind are what got Davey Wavey ridiculed in the comments.
mconyc
I remember (and loved) when you could give the comments a thumbs up and thumbs down and then the ones with the most thumbs up would get highlighted and the ones with the thumbs down would be hidden but still available if you clicked on them. Well, I think you should bring that back. It helped when going through all the comments and reading what the community thought was good and what was not. Bring that back. It’s interactive, fun and really useful.
declanto
@Brian: Just what we don’t need, more censorship and regimentation. What I love about Queerty is the mix of the viewers. Who needs all that “correct party-lline crap? Give me the mosh-pit commentary as a daily reality check. Oh, and could you drag Davey-Wavey out with the left-overs?
Shannon1981
that is LACK OF censorship. declanto is right no censorship.
Most
I’m new here but I think the site is great! Looking forward to more. Good luck guys!
Meowzer
SOOOOOOO happy Queerty is back!! I missed you guys! BTW… new site looks great!
aleric63
okay i dont know where all that stuff came from but ill go with it but i can tell you one thing about the castro when i was there it was great to be accepted by them and not have to worry over ignorant rednecks from my state chasing me but i did have one issue no one wanted to talk about the gay icon al parker whys that from my gay brothers get back to me we out.
declanto
@Shannon1981: Schmoozez to yoozez, darling. Off the official gblttxyz agenda, fuck the gay inc.’s. I be me, you be you.
ewe
eh. you should not go around chasing people down who want to think they are better than you. It is unbecoming.
Marcus
That guy at the 1 minute mark is hot!
declanto
@ewe: I should maybe just “talk down” to them, like you. I picture you as the grand duchess in “Murder on the Orient Express”. I can appreciate that. I like to occasionally skip my meds and go hunting after dark.
ewe
@declanto:Be original. Get a new line.
ewe
@declanto: And please feel free to continue coming to the defense of those that just don’t have the time to talk with you as they whisk themselves down Castro street as if there is something pressing on that street to do and see. If you cannot grasp the meaning of what i said then i will explicitly tell you. My comment was in support of you and instead you came to the defense of those that shit on you by attacking me. I call that dysfunctional Declanto.
ewe
Uh. I should have known. It’s just celebrity worship. Silly me. Let me get you a dog bowl of water for your hanging tongue to lap up.
declanto
If it came to a real choice, dear Ewe, I’d defend Ewe. You’re soooo quick to take offence! But I do enjoy rattling your restraints now and then. And I did appreciate your support, and I Loooove the Agatha Christie Character. I saw that part played by Maggie Smith- awesome. Have a nice life.
declanto
Do you feel insecure? Does irony challenge your humor? I’m feeling just dreadful you misunderstood my comment when i thought we stood shoulder to shoulder against the dweebs and grannies…
Zack
my first thought was who is Jake Shears?
declanto
@Zack: Ditto, local somebody. As Ewe so succinctly pointed out, he doesn’t seen interested, so why bother?
declanto
Is Jake Shears the new Davey Wavey?
Spike
@Zack: Let me guess, you know the words to every Britney song and have been to every concert, multiple times.
declanto
@Zack: http://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1GPEA_enNO322NO361&aq=f&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=jake+shears
Rainfish
What do I want the new Queerty to be like? Well…to start, please don’t cease to misspelling everything. I am dyslectic and it all made perfect sense to me reading your copy. So, you see, it would be a grave disservice to dyslectics everywhere if you changed that.
Thanks…and welcome back!
(translated by courtesy of Dyslecticon Transcriptions Software)
————original text below—————-
Wat I do wnt teh nwe qeerty to be lkie? Wll..ot srtat, plesea do’tn cesea to mssspeling eveythgn. Iam dsyletc and ti all mdea pefectr senes to em raedngi yuro cpoy. So, yuo se, ti wuold be a gaeve diservcie to dsyletcs evyerweher if yuo chgnaed thta.
Thnaks…adn wlecoem bcak!
Rainfish
Seriously, no, the “Thumbs Up and Down” crap was a terrible idea. Too many right-wing thugs would daily bomb the site and “thumbs down” all of regular contributors. A great way to intimidate and drive away readership. That is why it was, no doubt, abandoned on Queerty before.
An opinion is just that — an opinion. It should not be subject to some asinine rhetorical gladiatorial death gesture. Talk about PC gone wild or encouraging high school cliquish bad behavior.
But, for those who need a little pat on the ass for a witty quip or a profound observation, I could understand a simple “thumbs up” only option (such as on many other popular sites), but with no anti-social thumbs-downing option which many vengeful queens, trolls and Repugnicans would no doubt abuse with abandonment and glee.
“There, see my giant thumb cometh down up you like the wrath of God! I am omnipotent! Bahwaaahaaahaaa! Ooga Booga!”
Nope…but a “Thumbs Up” alone option could be good. Someone needful could metaphorically sit upon it, then spin and giggle with all of their heart’s delight at what a wonderful contribution they made to the universe of cyber anonymity. God love us all!
Uh…just sayin’…this is just…my…humble…opinion…that…is.
THUMBS UP!!!!
Greg from Denver
I’m glad to see you are back. I missed you. I like when you include serious stuff with the funny stuff, but I wouldn’t mind if it was easier to tell the difference without clicking on the story.
Josef Aviance
Queerty is one of the original queer new blogs, but now there are tons of queer new blogs, not the least of which is my favorite, Towleroad. I think what I appreciated most was that Queerty had a lot of videos, and was sort of the queer news station that everyone else fails to deliver. I’d love it if Queerty became a full on online streaming news channel.