UK gay mag Attitude has released its annual Naked Issue and, in honor of the London Olympics, they put out rugby stud Gareth Thomas on the cover.
Joining Thomas in the buff are reality star Jay of Geordie Shore, singer Rod Thomas, Olympic high jumper Robbie Grabarz and out actor Andrew Hayden-Smith (Doctor Who). The au naturel spread helps raise awareness of the National AIDS Trust HIV testing campaign.
Source: Attitude
ousslander
one sexy man
The Real Mike in Asheville
Hot as fuck!
timncguy
So, if this is what we think is “Hot as Fuck” and I agree with that 100%, why the hell does Queerty keep showing us pictorials of 21 year old hairless twinks and trying to pass them off as HOT?
jason
I don’t know if I like this. I much prefer the Gareth of modesty. This looks a bit try-hard. It’s also as if some sleazy gay businessman offered him a lot of money to pose naked.
There’s so much sleaze in our community, it’s not funny. It doesn’t help our image with the broader public, either. We are simply fulfilling their expectations of us as sex-crazed and disturbed.
dazzer
@jason: He’s a rugby player posing naked for a UK magazine. Apart from the fact that it’s virtually impossible to find a professional rugby player of any orientation in Britain who hasn’t posed naked for a magazine or advertising campaign, the cultural climate of the UK is that modesty of the human body is less important than modesty in political or religious beliefs.
As such, the broader British public would be more disturbed by someone describing gay people as ‘sex-crazed and disturbed’, rather than seeing Gareth Thomas naked (not least because they’ve probably seen him naked before – and expressed great approval for his physique).
mx
@timncguy: Because everyone has their own view on what is hot and what is not. I agree this is hot as fuck, but some people like their guys younger and leaner. Who are we to judge that? To each their own. There’s enough love out there for everyone.
timncguy
@mx: I would agree with you in theory. But, Queerty doesn’t publish pictorials in any valid ratio that would prove there is enough love for everyone. I would estimate that over 95% of what Queerty publishes is 20 year old, hairless twinks. I’m just asking for some balance.
MJ
awww no ass backside photos?
Oh, ok
@dazzer: Jason. Is. A. TROLL!
Well
Hmmm. The gay magazines in the U.K. and Europe are so much better and hotter than the couple of pamphlets we have here in the U.S., like Out and Instinct. Publishers here in the U.S. can learn a lot from our European brethren on how to put out a good magazine.
Lefty
He’s become a total media whore now.
Celebrity Big Brother, courting Mickey Rourke for a film about his life which will never happen in a million years, etc.
Still, he is beautiful, so I can’t complain…
WillBFair
I think the naked photo is a bit counter productive. The issue is prevention, remember. And the photo diverts attantion from it with the gay obsession with looks. The issue is prevention. Remember.
Raphael
The body is flawless, as expected of an athlete, but the face needs work. I don’t know whether it’s because he’s old, or because his face has always looked like a simian skull with skin stretched gauntly over, but either way it doesn’t do his olympian body justice.
TracyDom
@Lefty
He’s a retired athlete who has plenty of time on his hands. How else do you expect him to piddle away the hours?
If every “media whore” has had a positive impact as Thomas did, the world would be a much better, much more tolerant place.
Lefty
@TracyDom: “He’s a retired athlete who has plenty of time on his hands. How else do you expect him to piddle away the hours?”
I love your idea that a retired athlete has only two options: be a media whore or… erm…
JayKay
Don’t see the appeal. The body is nice but he’s still old and ugly…
Toby
@Well: Tetu.fr
timncguy
@JayKay: He’s only 37, what age does “OLD” start for you? What are you, 16?
Well
@timncguy, LOL yes! But leave them to their teenage fantasies – more “old” HOTTIES for the rest of us!
Uppity
@jason: I rarely agree with Jason but in this case I do. I started following Gareth on Facebook about a year ago because I admired him as non stereotypical, and was dismayed that his posts revealed him to be an attention seeker who just wanted to partay. He’s obviously going through the delayed adolesence so common of gay men who come out late, and I’d projected onto him an image that he wasn’t. Facebook can be very illuminating of celebrities in that way. Gareth is making all the mistakes that Ian Roberts made after he came out; posing naked in mags, partying, seeking sexual admiration from other gay men. Ian Roberts got burned by all of that and lives under the radar these days. In the same way that female celebs lose respect and credibility by taking their clothes off, so do gay male celebs. It’s a gradual, indefinable process but straights ultimately don’t like it and many gay men don’t either. But it’s part of Gareth’s journey and he’ll figure it out for himself.
JayKay
@timncguy:
Jesus fucking Christ, 37? Father Time is kicking that guy’s ass hard.
Karl
Dont think much of him…He was brave to come out, as its still very homophobic here in England, but when he was on Big Brother he tried far too hard to come over as the ‘good guy’, never getting involved in any arguments, always sitting on the fence, never expressing any opinions…the press kept insisting he was going to win the show but the public saw thru him and his games. He was so shocked when he was booted out!
normand
i adore Gareth Thomas he is so sexy and masaculine, baby cum to me.
Lindoro Almaviva
someone CUT HIS RIGHT HAND, RIGHT NOW; DAMN IT!
Nicaan1
These images are almost enough to make me believe there may be a god after all. Simply, deliciously devine. Oops, I just dropped the soap and I’m not even in the shower.
Storm
Some of us actually fight for equality – and equality doesn’t mean only the right to hide and blend in like little chameleon lizards with the rest of boring, white-bread middle america behind nice little white picket fences and two-car garages. If that was all equality meant, it would be too high of a price to pay.
Gareth Thomas is hot for any age, and if he uses his celebrity to bring attention to HIV causes or to any gay issue, I appreciate his efforts.
Well
@Storm, you are so right. A lot of American gay guys seem to have regressed to the mentality of the 50s. Especially a lot of the younger ones are like this. A large section of the subculture seems to have forgotten what gay liberation was supposed to be all about; among other things freedom to live one’s life as one wishes and freedom from personal and sexual oppression. Instead, as we see in some comments above, many gay people are now in turn oppressing other gay people who do not fit into their narrow definition of how to be gay. Even some gay marriage advocates, for all the good they do, have been guilty of this oppression of the “other” gays for “rocking the boat” and not coloring inside the lines they drew.
Pinky
@Oh, ok: Thank you. I stand corrected and will remember in future.
jason
The UK gay scene is basically trash. It’s built on a sex act. There’s no dignity or class in it. There’s also a lot of fetish associated with it, which is quite typical of Europeans.
I’m afraid that Gareth Thomas is simply adding to the questionable aspects of the UK gay scene.
jason
Equality isn’t posing naked with your hand over your cock. Equality is going out and fighting for your rights, not sitting in a smelly gay bar drinking beer after beer.
The constant sleaze factor in our community is proving the old adage once again: men always think of sex. We’re no different from straight guys who constantly think of women with large breasts and ogle the men’s magazines.
James
Gareth is magnficent in body and soul. I am so happy for him. Live in the light, man.
James
Gareth is magnificent in body and soul. I am so happy for him. Live in the light, Man.
James
(oops)
Alexi3
@Well: Thank God. Someone has finally had the courage to say it. I have become increasingly angered by the marriage advocates as well. If they want to get married and this is where they want to make your stand, fine, I’m with them that the the Religious Right has no business deciding who is “equal enough” in this society to enjoy all the rights and benefits of this society. And I hope and will help work for the day that everyone is equal before the Law. But, not all of us want to take that route and we have as much right as they to pursue our version of gay life and I would appreciate some support for joy of the diversity of our community.
jason
I think old hotties are great but it all seems a bit excessive and tacky to be showing yourself off in the way Gareth has done.
infidel
Yummmm!
Alexi3
@Uppity: What are you talking about in regards to Jason’s post? I have a degree symphathy for some of the more thoughtful positions you put forth, but, Jason is acting as if Straight society isn’t saturated with sex. Most of the advertisements on tv and in print are using sex to sell their products, admittedly some more explicity than others, but the principle holds. Look at tv shows and movies or is Jason only watching Disney products, and even there now that I think about it. The whole culture is sexobsessed. I’m not knocking it, just pointing out that it’s so. this puritanical streak among some gay people is new; at least since Stonewall. In the 1950’s the Mattachine Society’s goal was to blend in with the broader society. And, please, I am not putting down the Mattachine society. Those founders were very brave to do what they did, given “The Fathers Knows Best” image America had of its self at the time. (fictional though it was). Seems to me all this started with the conservative positions of the Log Cabin folks and has somehow spilled over into other sections of our community. To echo another commentor the whole idea behind Gay Liberation was about diversity. So let people be who they are and evolve as they continue on their own journey of discovery of what being gay is going to ultimately mean for them.
bill(Guillermo3)
UGLY FUCKER.
Chadboy
Beautiful body, BUT why in the world didn’t he take care of his face the same way? That is not a 37 year old face. He looks over 50. He needs to stop partying, stay out of the sun and get some sleep.
Mark
He should have been fully naked and not covering his d!ck even if it’s limp.
He’s from the UK so he’s probably intact and not mutilated.;)
Mark
He’s hot but I wish they’d take pictures of him actually showing his d!ck and not covering it up even if he is limp.
He’s from the UK so he’s not mutilated and has an intact penis. 😉
JP
I’m not usually into older guys but Gareth looks smokin’ hot. What a hunk, with that great body of him. However, I am a little suprised to find out that he is only 37 as he looked a little older than that.
Agree with Chadboy
Yes he does not look 37, he looks like shit for his age. Too much booze and too many drugs.
Uppity
@Alexi3: I take your point Alexi. I guess I’m just coming at it from this angle. Imagine: you’re Gareth Thomas. You’ve come out. And apart from a minority of homophobes, everybody else is absolutely with you; admiring your extraordinary athletic prowess and your courage to be true to yourself. There’s an outpouring of love, compassion and support. You’re essentially at the apotheosis of serious, credible, respected status at home and abroad. Next move? Well, why not pose naked for the cover of some minor mag which has sex ads in the back pages? This is where I scratch my head. Fame does strange things to people and people do strange things with their fame. It’s the kind of thing a D-lister does to try to make the C-list. And don’t try to tell me it’s all for HIV prevention. He could make a bigger impact by appearing (fully clothed) on Graham Norton and promoting HIV awareness. If we take the reaction in queerty’s comments section as any indication, then the reaction can be distilled to this: he has a hot body I’d like to have sex with, but his face is old and ugly. So there, all of this man’s exceptional qualities jettisoned. It’s a reductive outcome, but all of his own making. But like I wrote earlier, it’s his journey and he’ll figure it out in the end.
dazzer
@Uppity: Uppity, there are a variety of things wrong with your statement. First of all, Thomas is in a relationship with his boyfriend Sean Smith, which I believe was made public around six months ago.
Secondly, while Attitude caters to the gay population of the UK, it is probably the best-selling gay mag in the UK. If you are a gay man and you’re trying to get the safer sex message across to other gay men, Attitude seems like a pretty good place to start. When Attitude deals with issues of safer sex for gay and bi men, it does a better job than many other outlets.
Third, why is it better for Thomas to appear fully clothed on the Graham Norton show to get his message across? After all, Norton himself got naked for Time Out magazine some years ago.
Your problem with Thomas seems to be that he got naked, rather than anything else. From this, I’m going to assume that you’re not in Britain and have an entirely different cultural perspective in which you conflate nudity with sex. This is not the philosophy in the UK. For example, it is entirely acceptable on morning TV to have daytime shows tackling issues of men’s health and have testicle examinations broadcast, or an arts programme at lunchtime that has artists drawing painting nudes (male and female) with genitalia fully on show.
In British media, at all times nudity can be seen as aesthetic, educational, comedic or necessary to a story line so long as it is done discreetly and not for sensation. If nudity is there in the context of sexual activity, then it has to be broadcast after 9pm or published in speciality magazines.
And finally, you seem to be taking Queerty’s comments as indicative of a wider analysis. Really? Queerty? Given that Queerty is a largely American site and you’re commenting on a British celebrity in a British publication for the British market, I can’t decide whether your comments are astonishingly xenophobic or absurdly imperialistic (and as a Brit, I have extensive experience of both).
From your comments, Uppity, I suspect the journey that needs to be highlighted here is your own, rather than Thomas’s. You seem to see an unclothed body and see it as an ‘object’ (if I’m wrong here, I apologise), whereas Thomas and most of the people in the UK who see the photos will know: i) that there is more to the man than his six-pack; and ii) they’re exceedingly unlikely to have sex with him.
declanto
@jason: Poor you. “I don’t know if I like this…” Well I know, and he’s definitely what steams the wrinkles from my foreskin. All this chatter about “old” is so laughable to an ancient old hag like me, I just can’t help wondering which one of these precious twinkies would actually say “no thanks” or “E-e-we” given the opportunity. My guess, zero. Age gives such a refreshing perspective to what’s real and important, like Gareth’s gracious (and steamin’)participation in an aids awareness effort. That’s real.
Lefty
I love the way some automatically assume his face is a bit rough because of drugs and alcohol. He was a rugby player ffs – they do tend to look a bit battered after a few years.
I think he’s beautiful tbh…
michael
God his body is perfect! My navel fetish is going nuts with this one!
Tessie Tura
If I woke up with that face next to mine, I would not complain at all. C’mon, queens, he was a professional athlete for years! Do you expect him to pluck his eyebrows, moisturize and exfoliate, and resort to Botox when nothing else will help? This 52-year-old proud Alabamian would take him just as he is, thank you. We like a little “I’ve been out in the sun and bitch, I wasn’t tanning” in our men.
Sheldon
So what if he was a professional athlete? There are pro athletes who don’t look like shit for their age. He looks this way not from playing rugby but from alcohol and drugs. I’m sure he’s snorted a fair amount of coke in his life and drank a lot of booze.
I don’t want him to be pretty like a twink but he does look like shit for his age.
dazzer
@Sheldon: I’m going to take a wild guess here and suggest that you’ve never seen a game of rugby have you? Also, I’m relatively sure you’ve not seen a mature rugby player whose never been afraid of getting in a ruck.
And if I’m wrong on this, Sheldon, could you post the recently retired rugby players who look so much better?
What the f**k
@jason: Whilst not needing to take part in anyone’s scene but my own….are you simply bitter that you can’t get a shag….or did you get an offer but they asked you to wear a gimp mask…just asking!
bill(Guillermo3)
THIS has got to be one of the SILLIEST groups of comments ever, on any blog.
ALL THIS INFANTILE TWADDLE ABOUT AN OVER THE HILL , UGLY TATTOO TROLL.
GIVES TROLLS,LIKE MYSELF A BAD NAME.
Mike
I wouldn’t kick him out of bed but he does look very bad for his age. I would not have guessed that he’s only 37!
There are Rugby players who do actually take care of their faces and don’t look like shit like Gareth does from too much booze and blow.
T
My oh my, aren’t we a catty bunch of queers!
Roddo
Well he is hoy for his age and does not look like the typical british gay boy full of make up. To you that criticise him. You must be the Terrible Twinks from Brit that we refer to he in South Africa. RSA, USA and Aus gay men look good and Gareth looks like one of us. Manly***you go boy!
Roddo
Well he is hot for his age and does not look like the typical british gay boy full of make up. To you that criticise him. You must be the Terrible Twinks from Brit that we refer to he in South Africa. RSA, USA and Aus gay men look good and Gareth looks like one of us. Manly***you go boy!
Guillermo3
@Roddo: @Roddo: In WHAT LANGUAGE are you attempting to communicate,Roddo????????!!?!
TRANSLATION,Please.
Guillermo3
@T: Don’t PANIC,T!!! Having yourself SPAYED will surely fix the problem.
kae
Dazzer – he is not in a relationship with Sean Smith. Smith has told lies and is wanted by police for fraud also read this
http://www.people.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/2012/03/18/gay-rugby-legend-gareth-thomas-in-the-dark-over-his-close-pal-and-business-associate-fleeing-justice-102039-23792358/
GT has also denied any involvement with him.
Attitude seem to focus almost exclusively on GT’s body and takes very poor pictures of his face from the worst angles; its as if his face is an after thought. He has appeared on a programme in wales recently where he was taking part in a welsh learning exercise and was voted the winner by his celeb team mates. He is a genuinely, lovely and caring guy and much better looking than the Attitude cover suggests; it doesn’t do his face justice. Having played rugby since he was a kid, he has taken a lot of knocks – broken his nose several times, had stiches in his face countless times etc. all of which will perhaps make him look less than perfect but I think he looks like a real man; his passion for rugby and love for his country was much greater than his vanity – he isn’t vain enough to care about looking like a model, unlike a lot of men.
Uppity – I agree with your assessment. Little bit disappointed to see him doing this but on other hand, he’s such a lovely guy with a real desire to help, I can forgive him just about anything.
Kasnar
@mx: You might find them younger but I would think that Gareth is about as lean as anyone could hope for. I cannot find fault with that body. Personally, I don’t care for my men looking like they’re on meth. ( maybe coke….just kidding).
As for the affects of father time, we should all remember he was a rugby player – not exactly a low risk profession. Almost like American Football without helmets and pads. I personally think he looks great. I would say, though, most photos of Gareth have him looking so mean – like he’s on defensive. Perhaps, it’s a sports metaphor. Perhaps, the photogs cannot get enough of that tough guy look.
Ghiaccio
@timncguy:
Because beauty is subjective. For some guys, Gareth Thomas is the perfect specimen; for others it’s a hairless 21 year old twink; and for others, it’s the opposite sex altogether.
I’m just shocked this even needs to be pointed out to you.