Gay MySpace anyone?

Written by Troy Barker

“The gay muscle clones of the 80s and 90s are out,” declares New York City party promoter and co-founder of DList.com, Daniel Nardicio.

“Young gay guys today do not subscribe to the ideology that men must have muscles to be sexy. They are confident in their own bodies and are not trying to mimic straight men.”

If you haven’t heard of DList.com, it may be because you’re still clocking in hours at the gym. Get with the times, Grandma.

DList.com is a gay Myspace where members build their own personal pages and invite other members to become their friends. It is specifically targeted towards the new gay: men in their early twenties (or who at least appear to be in their early 20s) who live outside the gay ghetto, count straight men among their friends, eschew tribal dance music, and though proud and not afraid to flaunt their queerness, do not want to be classified as gay. Gay is just one facet of their rocking personalities.

Celebrating its one year anniversary this month, DList.com boasts over 150,000 subscribers with over 6,000 added each week. “Most of our growth to this point has been from positive word of mouth,” says DList CEO Todd Sowers, the other man behind the phenomenon.

A large part of its success is that anything goes on DList.com. Members are not shy to reveal the many different sides of their selves. “We’ve learned a lot about the gay community by the photos our members have posted,” explains Nardicio. “For example, pubic hair may be out for straight guys (many straight men shave them off) but they’re back in for gay boys.

“Not Borat style pubes,” he points out. “Medium, manscaped pubes are the rage.”

There are a few restrictions on the site, however. “Obviously, we won’t allow anything that involves minors,” continues Nardicio. “Or miners. I hate miners. All that coal dust getting on my sheets. We also delete fat people.”

He waits three seconds before burst out in laughter. “Kidding! We love fabulous gays of all sizes.”

Membership on DList is free (at least for now) and open to anyone 18 years of age and older. Go to DList.com to join the fun.