Gay men in love

In a series of photographs, men from around the world kiss, hug, picnic and gaze into each others’ eyes.

gay men dating

So far, more than 4, such images—all taken between the s and s—have been found. How can you tell when two men are in love as opposed to close friends hanging out, well, closely? Treadwell and Nini operated on the you-know-it-when-you-see-it principle: the telltale look in. Hundreds of photographs from the 19th and 20th centuries offer a glimpse at the life of gay men during a time when their love was illegal almost everywhere.

Throughout history, same-sex couples have fallen in and out of love and experienced joy and heartbreak, just like anyone else. For anyone who can't get enough of vintage love stories, here are. The new documentary from Emmy-winning actor and producer David Millbern, Years of Men in Love: The Accidental Collection showcases intimate vintage photos of gay men who had the courage to celebrate their love and authenticity, long before LGBTQ rights or marriage equality was even thought of.

Learn why gay men often experience difficulty when it comes to dating, and how these challenges aren't about dating apps or tactics, but rather about unresolved emotional wounds and internalized trauma that make a genuine connection difficult. I've sat across from hundreds of gay men in my therapy practice who came in thinking they just needed better dating tactics.

As both a gay man AND a therapist working exclusively with gay men, I have learnt the painful truth: no dating app on earth can fix what's really keeping most of us from the connections we crave. God, I hate most articles about gay dating. They're either sickeningly optimistic "Just be yourself! Neither captures the messy, complicated reality most of us live. Here's what's actually happening: You're swiping through profiles feeling increasingly numb.

Or you're sitting across from yet another first date, performing the version of yourself you think he wants. But here's what nobody's telling you: The problem isn't Grindr. It's not your profile pics. And it's definitely not that you're "too picky" I sigh every time someone suggests this.

The real problem? We're trying to build intimate connections while carrying invisible emotional wounds that make genuine vulnerability feel like walking naked through gunfire. I see this pattern constantly with my clients. One guy—I'll call him Marcus—came to me after his fifth "almost relationship" crashed and burned. He was attractive, successful, and funny as can be, yet relationships kept imploding right when they got serious.

In therapy, we discovered he had an unconscious talent for finding men who confirmed his deepest fear: that he was fundamentally unlovable once someone really knew him. This isn't just a Marcus problem. It's a pattern I've witnessed hundreds of times across continents and cultures. Imagine this alternative: You approach dating not from desperate need but genuine curiosity. You're not performing or hiding. You're not obsessing over text response times or constantly checking your dating apps.

You're actually present. This isn't some fantasy land. I've watched men transform their dating lives—not by getting better at dating tactics, but by addressing the inner barriers to connection they didn't even realize were there. Take my client James details changed, obviously. After a devastating breakup, he became a dating machine— first dates weekly, endless chatting, zero second dates.

He'd internalized this brutal idea that being gay meant he was inherently "less than," so he approached dates with this desperate energy of needing to prove his worth. No surprise, guys picked up on this instantly. It screamed insecurity. Once we addressed the shame driving this pattern, everything shifted. He started dating less but connecting more.