culture
RED HOT: 10 THINGS WE LOVE ABOUT GINGERS
GINGER GAYS COME INTO THEIR OWN, WITH A COTTAGE INDUSTRY HONORING REDHEADED SEX APPEAL, AND NOW WITH A SPECIAL NIGHT IN ATLANTA JUST FOR THEM
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hether it’s his eye-catching crop of hair or the alabaster skin and gorgeous eyes that come with it, nobody forgets his first redhead. Fiery, fierce and flaming, gay men love a ginger.
But often, these carrot-topped cuties get a bad rap. Sure, there are celebrated gingers through the ages, but even they have taken extra knocks for their unique appearance. Now gingers are gaining an increasing number of admirers. Gay photographer Thomas Knights is dedicated to this very phenomenon. His ongoing book and calendar series Red Hot is devoted to the sexiest ginger men on the planet. Knights, a ginger himself, didn’t always embrace his sex appeal. “I had that whole Aussie surfer thing going on. I dyed my hair blonde because I hated being ginger,” Knights tells the Star Observer. “Ginger men are traditionally emasculated and desexualized. You get to a point as a gay person when you’re proud of being gay, but until we did Red Hot, there wasn’t anything to be proud of being ginger. We’re turning that around. In Atlanta, DJ Diablo Rojo’s signature is a red goatee matching his fiery beats. Now Woofs gets in on the love of all things ginger with its Ginger Appreciation Night. The next one is scheduled for July 16. Before you hang with the reds and their admirers, check in with our list of 10 of the reasons we go gaga for gingers. 1. Passion Everybody knows that a fiery redhead is a formidable force. Channeling all of that fervor and zeal into a loved one makes these guys a perfect partner. 2. Pride If you’re looking for a guy who flies his true colors, look no further than the nearest ginger. And like gay culture, they often band together to campaign against discrimination, even including Ginger Pride Walks. 28 | 7.13.16