Gay Michigan gymnast Charlie Larson hard-launches his CrossFit boyfriend

0

University of Michigan gymnastics star Charlie Larson just took his love life from soft launch to full floor routine, and yes, we are clapping from the stands.

A month ago the All-American hinted he had a boyfriend, but kept the mystery man’s identity tucked away like chalky hands under grips.

This weekend he finally posted cozy game-day photos on Instagram, confirming what the gays already suspected in their hearts and comments.

The lucky guy is Matthew, a CrossFit athlete, coach and Michigan cheerleader who looks like he was built out of protein shakes and pure sunshine.

Speaking to Outsports, Charlie gushed that Matthew is “the best thing to ever happen to me and a genuine good person,” which is basically gay hallmark poetry.

He added that Matthew has become a support system he never knew he needed, and excuse us while we briefly mist up between thirst scrolls.

Charlie admitted relationships always felt impossible because elite gymnastics life is hectic, relentless and about as forgiving as a landing with bent knees.

With Matthew though, he says he can feel himself growing, not just as an athlete but as a person outside the gym.

“I’m learning to find myself outside of gymnastics as he values me as Charlie and not just a gymnast,” he explained, instantly raising the boyfriend bar for the rest of us.

The couple’s photos show them in University of Minnesota gear, which briefly sent fans into conference realignment levels of confusion.

Outsports kindly cleared it up, explaining that Charlie is a Minnesota native with close friends on the Gophers team, so the maize and blue stans can relax.

On the mat, Larson is already a star, winning multiple floor titles and helping Michigan chase more NCAA glory.

Off the mat, this romance is turning him into exactly the kind of out, joyful role model men’s sports desperately needs.

For queer athletes who still feel pressure to keep their partners off camera, seeing a national standout grinning beside his boyfriend is quietly revolutionary.

There is something beautifully ordinary about their story too, just two college guys juggling practices, classes and stadium dates like any other young couple.

Only in this case one of them can casually throw a world-class floor routine while the other can probably deadlift our entire friend group.

Together they radiate the kind of goofy, golden retriever energy that makes even cynical sports fans hit replay on their posts.

So here’s to Charlie and Matthew, proving that the real winning combo is love, core strength and a killer sideline smile.

May their biggest drama this season be deciding whose school hoodie gets stolen for cuddling nights in Ann Arbor.

And if they end up kissing on the big screen between tumbling passes and touchdown shots, we promise to score it a perfect ten.

📷 IG: @ _CharlieLarson

Jonathan Bailey says ‘Brokeback Mountain’ sparked his queer awakening

Some movies entertain you for two hours, and some reach into your ribcage and rearrange the furniture, and for Jonathan Bailey that movie was Brokeback Mountain.

In a new chat around his striking Esquire UK feature, the Bridgerton and Wicked star says the Oscar winner didn’t just move him, it “completely activated” him as a teen in Oxford.

Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal’s forbidden romance wasn’t background noise for Bailey, it was a neon sign pointing to a truth he was ready to name.

He was so shaken in the best way that he switched his school project midstream to study “the representation of homosexuality in film,” because sometimes the heart writes the syllabus.

Bailey describes that awakening as the moment he realized love on screen could mirror love in real life with tenderness instead of tragedy, and whew did that mirror reflect possibility.

Fast forward to now and he’s not only one of Britain’s busiest leading men, he’s also PEOPLE’s first openly gay Sexiest Man Alive, which feels like progress wearing a perfectly tailored suit.

In the Esquire UK profile he talks candidly about shame, pride, and the power of showing up exactly as you are, and you can feel the liberation vibrating off the page.

He also spotlights The Shameless Fund, the charitable initiative he launched to channel stardom into concrete support for LGBTQ+ causes, because pretty pictures hit harder when they come with purpose.

The photos are spectacularly theatrical with cravats, coats, and smolder for days, but the message underneath is beautifully simple, and it is that visibility is a gift we pass forward.

Bailey admits he once worried openness might limit his opportunities, yet choosing visibility cracked doors that hiding never could, and that testimony matters to the next kid in a cinema seat.

It is no coincidence that the actor who fell in love with Ennis and Jack’s story now picks projects where queer people are complex and central and not just a wink at the edge of the frame.

He knows the triangle of privilege exists and he says it out loud, and then he does the work to widen the circle anyway, which is the assignment and the extra credit.

There is also a gentle honesty about timing and family and what the future might look like, and it reads like a man building a life with intention instead of performance.

If Brokeback Mountain was the spark, then this era feels like the bonfire where everyone is invited to warm their hands.

The takeaway for us is deliciously clear, and it is that stories save lives when they are told with care and seen without apology.

So yes, swoon over the pictures because we certainly did, but stay for the testimony because that is the part that lingers when the magazine closes.

Somewhere a teenager is watching a love story and feeling the floor shift under their feet, and Jonathan Bailey is proof that the quake can become a compass.

From Oxford cinema aisles to global red carpets, the boy who was “activated” grew into a man who activates others, and that is what star power looks like when it’s used well.

More of this energy please, more of this courage, and more of these beautifully messy, gorgeously human queer coming-of-age chapters on and off screen.

Because representation is not a trend, darling, it is a love letter that keeps getting delivered, and today Jonathan Bailey signed his name in bold ink.

Gio Benitez baptized at an LGBTQ-inclusive Catholic church with husband Tommy DiDario by his side

Love, faith, and a little holy water made for a tender full-circle moment as Gio Benitez was baptized and confirmed at an LGBTQ-inclusive Catholic parish in Manhattan.

The Good Morning America and ABC News anchor shared an emotional video as his husband Tommy DiDario stood at the altar with a steadying hand on his shoulder.

Benitez, who recently turned 40, described the experience as a homecoming to the Catholicism of his youth after years of feeling pushed away.

He said his journey back was sparked by the welcoming ministry of Jesuit priest Father James Martin, whose messages about LGBTQ+ dignity and God’s love landed right where it was needed.

“It was the first time I had seen a Catholic priest speak so beautifully about LGBTQ people,” Benitez reflected, noting how those words opened a door he thought was closed.

The ceremony took place at St. Paul the Apostle Church, a parish on the border of Hell’s Kitchen and the Upper West Side known for active outreach to queer Catholics.

Witnesses said DiDario served as Benitez’s sponsor, beaming as the priest anointed and blessed his husband before the congregation.

Benitez also received Communion, completing a sacramental milestone that clearly meant as much to his heart as it did to his history.

He teared up while recalling how he was first baptized at 15 and later drifted away as anti-gay rhetoric made church feel less like a refuge and more like a reprimand.

“If God created me, how could He not love me,” he remembered wondering, a question that quietly became a compass pointing him back toward grace.

As part of the couple’s Manhattan faith life, Benitez has been moved by Father Eric Andrews’ gentle sermons urging neighbors to “love one another” in word and in action.

That message was all over the video, where the images of husband, husband, and holy water felt like a tiny miracle in a very modern pew.

Afterward, Benitez wrote that he had found the “Ark of the Covenant in my heart,” which is about the loveliest way to describe inner peace we have heard all week.

DiDario called the moment one of the greatest honors of his life and said he was endlessly proud to stand as both sponsor and spouse.

The visual of two men at the altar, loved by their community and loving each other, undercuts years of cruel narratives with one simple truth.

Faith is bigger than fear, and love is bigger than any rulebook that forgets why the rules exist.

For many queer Catholics, scenes like this are not just touching but transformative, because representation at the altar reshapes what belonging looks like.

Benitez’s return sits within a wider shift as more parishes explore pastoral care that actually reflects the families in their pews.

It is not politics so much as hospitality, and hospitality is the oldest sacrament of all.

Whether you worship weekly or simply cheer from the sidelines, it is hard not to feel the resonance of a blessing freely given and gratefully received.

The couple’s quiet smiles said everything, and the congregation’s warmth did the rest.

Consider it a reminder that the holiest stories often begin with a hand on a shoulder and the words everyone longs to hear.

You are loved, you are wanted, and there is room for you here.

Amen to that, and amen to Gio and Tommy’s beautiful day.

Noah Schnapp Promises “Gayest Ever” Stranger Things Finale As Will Byers’ Sexuality Takes Center Stage

Hawkins is officially coming out of the closet.

As Netflix’s Stranger Things heads into its long-awaited fifth and final season, Noah Schnapp has confirmed that Will Byers’ sexuality will not just be background subtext but a major plot point driving the show’s emotional endgame.

The 20-year-old actor, who came out as gay in 2023 and later said his own journey mirrored Will’s, is leaning fully into the character’s long-speculated queerness after season four finally acknowledged Will’s feelings for best friend Mike Wheeler.

In new promo interviews, Schnapp teases that season five is “the gayest it’s ever been,” hinting that Will’s arc will move beyond coded glances and heartbreak in the backseat into something far more open, powerful and explicit.

For queer fans who clocked the rainbow-colored clues all the way back in season one, it sounds like the Duffer brothers are ready to pay off nearly a decade of storytelling.

Schnapp explains that seeing audiences embrace Will as a sensitive, anxious, different kind of hero helped him accept himself in real life, calling the response to the character a lesson in how being authentically queer can resonate far beyond LGBTQ+ viewers.

He describes Will’s journey as one about identity, belonging and courage, promising that the final chapter will give him space to step out from the shadows of both monsters and internalized fear.

At the world premiere of Stranger Things 5, cast members echoed that message, teasing more queer energy across the board and celebrating “gay” as a joyful word rather than a punchline, a far cry from the 1980s setting they’re playing in.

Season five will roll out in three parts, with Volume 1, Volume 2 and a New Year’s Eve finale turning the end of Stranger Things into a months-long event, giving fans plenty of time to obsess over every frame of Will’s story.

For many viewers, this isn’t just about shipping or fan-service; it’s about finally seeing a tender, complicated gay boy at the heart of one of the biggest genre shows on the planet, treated with the kind of narrative importance straight characters have always been given.

And with Schnapp himself now proudly out and vocal, the collision of his personal growth and Will’s long-teased coming-of-age could make this last trip to the Upside Down the most meaningful yet.

If Stranger Things really does go out on its gayest note ever, we’re more than ready to have our hearts shattered, healed and snatched right alongside Will Byers.

📷 IG @netflix / noahschnapp

Sam Smith beams with pride as Christian Cowan makes dazzling Broadway debut

Sam Smith just turned Instagram into a red carpet of pure queer joy and Broadway sparkle.

A few hours ago, Sam shared a glowing selfie with boyfriend Christian Cowan, both suited up and soft-lit, celebrating what they called a “beautiful night” at the theater.

The occasion was not just date night, but Cowan’s big moment as costume designer for the new musical “Queen of Versailles,” where his over-the-top glamour is now taking a bow on Broadway.

In the post, Sam gushes over Christian’s “Broadway debut costume designing all the clothes” for the show, wrapping it up with heartfelt congratulations to the cast, crew, and everyone involved.

It is proud-partner energy turned all the way up, and we are eating it up with a rhinestone spoon.

Cowan’s signature style is bold, camp, joyful, and defiantly queer, and watching Sam cheer him on to this next level feels like a natural extension of their love story.

The pair have been linked since late 2022, slowly shifting from rumors to red carpet confirmations, and by now they have fully established themselves as one of the most intriguing power couples in pop and fashion.

Sam has long used their platform to talk about self-love, gender freedom, and queer visibility, while Christian’s designs have wrapped some of pop culture’s loudest icons in sparkles and attitude.

Together, they make perfect sense.

This new post is especially sweet because it flips the usual script.

So often we see partners quietly in the background while the pop star takes the spotlight, but here Sam is using their massive reach to center Christian’s achievement.

No drama, no coy hints, just open affection and genuine professional admiration.

It is the kind of soft, supportive visibility queer couples deserve to see more of, especially in industries that still love a closeted crush and a “no comment.”

Instead we get Sam in a tux, Christian in full glam, and a caption overflowing with pride, pink hearts, and gratitude.

It shows a romance that lives in the real world, not just the rumor mill, grounded in showing up for each other’s big nights and celebrating hard work as loudly as hit singles.

Queer love, queer art, queer success, all in one frame.

And honestly, if “supportive Broadway boyfriend” is Sam Smith’s current era, we are fully here for the cast album, the costume changes, and every future selfie from the back of that theater car.

📷 IG @samsmith