After a many-year break, this issue of Out brings back the Most Eligible Bachelors list. Silly, yes. Wonderful? Absolutely. It is gay kitsch, something from the old days. A list of hot, single queer men in the public eye comes from when gay rags put straight, gay, possibly gay, and so-hot-we-wish-they-were-gay men on their covers — when they were less averse to being smut. We take ourselves seriously now. An eligible bachelor list is not serious: It’s fun. It’s fangirling with some sincere appreciation: Thank you for being one of us. You had the courage to come out and do something cool. And you’re hot.
I have not seen the list. I will when you do. But when the editors said it was coming, I asked the obvious question: What are its criteria? What makes someone an eligible bachelor in 2023? This is a good question for everyone to ask — for
