It was my third squeal during a figure skater’s performance to Madonna’s ‘Like A Prayer’ that unlocked a whole new level of gay in our household.
A reassuring realization that just when you think I can’t get any more gay, I totally can.
It was my third squeal during a figure skater’s performance to Madonna’s ‘Like A Prayer’ that unlocked a whole new level of gay in our household.
A reassuring realization that just when you think I can’t get any more gay, I totally can.
{It’s been more than a hot minute since our last Special Guest Blog, and I’m thrilled to return the feature to the frontlines by this featured blog post by one of our previous Dazzlers of the Day, Chad Putman. He writes about his foray into tantric touch, the way it enhances intimacy and trust, and how the practice can lead to relaxation, stress relief, and self-exploration. With an inherent sex-positive message at a time when prudish hypocrisy is wreaking destruction, it’s a powerful and mind-expanding take on what is possible when we open our consciousness. Photos by Chad Putman.}

SPECIAL GUEST BLOG by CHAD PUTMAN:
I was scrolling recently on Instagram and saw a post from Burning Man highlighting an offering
for bondage and breathwork. I had not considered the literal combination, but according to the
post the available slots filled up quickly, and the feedback was positive. Although my Tantra Touch and sacred intimacy sessions with clients has incorporated both elements, I had not considered them as a packaged offering.
So, I decided to do a little research with an additional question, what if you added sensual touch
with a focus on gay men?
The outcome: below you will find three general benefits for the combined experience of
bondage, breathwork, and sensual touch for gay men.
However, I wanted to add some of my own practice experience for additional context and steamy
content for your pleasure and personal practice.
Too often we are told to practice meditation and mindfulness with little to no experience. Too
often, ending brief attempts with frustration and miniscule benefits.
My personal breathwork practice and work with clients has provided me with an active method
to experience and witness others in a meditative state.
Various forms of breathwork over a brief period, from 5 to 15 minutes, can be enough to increase
oxygen (prana-life force), reduce carbon dioxide in the body, and help release stored tension and
energy.
The combination of breath, music, smells, lighting, movement, guided meditation, touch, and
stimulation creates an opportunity to surrender, ground, let go, experience the moment, and drop
into the immense amount of pleasure the body can receive and experience.
It is during these extended moments that I engage the imagination to adventure beyond the limits
of the body and the room. Invoking sacred journeys and connections with Pachamama (earth)
and father universe, one’s higher self and spirit guides. These connections often tie back to the
original intention set by the participant. Seeking out their higher-self or inner child for direction,
insight, and impactful downloads.
Feeling empowered, grounded and connected, the outside world and endless list of demands and
to-dos slip away, and pleasure begins to take center stage. Breathe, release, engage your throat
chakra and give voice to every cell of your body.
After a 60-, 90- or 120-minute session the peace and tranquility in the room is palatable.
Butterflies circling and landing on the beautiful naked soul, grounded and at peace on the table
under a light sheet to assist with grounding and integration.
Whether your pleasure practice is solo, partnered, group or part of your regular self-care, consider including breathwork, bondage and sensual touch for an enhanced intimate and erotic
experience. Allow me to guide you or connect with someone you trust. Your body is waiting, are
you ready?
For your own pleasure practice, I have noted some steps you can take to create your own tantra,
personal pleasure practice or to engage with another for some steamy, sensual, full body
pleasure.
Your practice: start with setting the stage. Set aside some time, pick a space, create a vibe, and
think about what you want your personal or shared experience to entail.
Do you need a moment of surrender and passion? Are you feeling dominant and particularly
kinky?
Incorporate mood lighting and music, essential oils, and toys (ropes, ice cubes, blindfold, silk,
nipple claps, massage oil candles, get creative).
Having set the stage, start with some grounding breathwork and music to help you drop out of
your head and into your body. An effective practice includes belly breaths, taking deep breaths
through your nose, filling up your belly, and releasing out of your mouth through pursed lips.
You can count to four on the inhale and six on the exhale to help with focus. Do this for 3-5
minutes, then hold for 30-60 seconds at the top or after the exhale. Then repeat for 2-3 cycles.
You can also increase the speed and focus of your breath. Inhale through your nose expanding
your chest, exhaling fully through your mouth. Or take short, quick (fire) breaths in and out of
your nose for 60 to 90 seconds. Making sure to take breaks, sitting, or lying down or doing so in
unison with your partner. Added benefit with eye gazing, interlocking lower body and legs and
being nude.
You can also use this time to concentrate your breath and energy in different parts of your body
from your belly, heart, throat to the soles of your feet, sit bones, top of your head and most
importantly your root chakra at the base of your spine. Activating your sexual, Kundalini energy
and getting the juices flowing.
Tantra Touch is about conducting sensation with intuition and allowing your body to be the
instrument. Giving a well needed break to your conscious mind and ego. Allow your sensual,
erotic, and animalistic self to lead the way. If it helps, wear blindfolds, including oils and ice for
sensual touch and sensation play. Do not be shy, include touch and massage of your nipples, lips,
cock, balls, and hole. Either laying down, tied up or cuddling with your partner.
Build the energy and then take a step back to breath, move the energy around the body with lite
touch and breath. Then stir the pot allowing the vibe of the room and music to stimulate and
accentuate the feeling.
When it is time we welcome the release with your entire body. Breath into your orgasm and
allow your throat to expand with moans and groans of pleasure. Let the universe know your
orgasm is profound, magical, and primal. Burst with the spark of life that transcends time,
galaxies, and gravity.
But do not stop there. Allow yourself to remain in the moment. Resist the old training that forced
us to clean up and shy away from our body’s potential. Allow your drip, your cum to breathe, to
taste the air you breath. Lay still, relax and release.
The angles and butterflies are on their way. Resist the temptation to check back in with your ego
and conscious mind. Drift away into a timeless experience of meditation brought on by the full
body experience of pleasure.
These moments, these experiences are equally as important as the countless other moments that
take up so much of our time. I am of the opinion that our new opportunity in this age of Aquarius
is to spend more time experiencing the pleasures of our body solo and with others. Just maybe,
with more practice, more awareness, and more intention the peace and joy we all seek will be
less illusive and more palatable in the world around us. ~ Chad Putman

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Chad Putman, MSW has been practicing tantra for the past two-and-a-half-years. Having studied under seasoned tantra and energy practioners in Costa Rica & Tampa, FL. His mid-life crisis, turned opportunity, lead him to San Juan, Puerto in 2022 in search of a fresh start and renewed zest for life.
Today his practice of tantra is a spiritual way of life. He has developed his own intuitive services for gay, bi and queer men grounded in breath, embodiment and transformation. He offers tantra touch, intimacy coaching, small group sensual experiences, workshops and international retreats. His celebration of the male body, intimacy and sexuality has empowered clients to reconnect with their bodies, pleasure and intuitive self.
If you would like to connect with him please visit makeyourithappen.com, Instagram @chadputman75, YouTube @chadputman and Onlyfans @Rearontogo or Text 518-225-0957 or chadputman1@gmail.com
My friend Chris – straight, white, cis male friend Chris – wished me a Happy Pride yesterday, and without thinking I snapped/texted back, ‘Pride is dead.’ (In my defense it had also just started raining a-fucking-gain and my mood was decidedly homocidal in a fabulously homosexual way.) I followed it up with a more lengthy explanation of how, after 49 years of fighting (because when you’re gay every day can be a fight when you are being raised in a hetero-centric social world construction and always out of your element) I was simply worn out and exhausted. In the face of the regression that this country seems to be embracing, I am genuinely too disheartened to do any sort of pride stuff.
I realize this is exactly what oppression is, and what it wants, and why it works – I just don’t care at the moment. Someone else will have to take up that mantle – for my own mental health, and my own happiness and well-being, I can’t do much more than try to live this pretty little life with Andy and my friends and family, and hope that the bulk of America does something to make things better. (Voting for Republicans, or not voting at all, is clearly destroying this country.)
But as these pictures will attest, just because my pride isn’t blatantly apparent or on parade all the time doesn’t mean it’s not there. It’s in me always, in every single way I live my life – openly and unabashedly, defiantly or acceptingly, loudly or quietly. I don’t need a sanctioned month of token allyship or corporate posing to make me feel worthy or whole. That said, Pride month still matters, perhaps now more than ever, so keep celebrating, keep parading, keep doing what we’ve been doing for decades in the hope of something better happening. My denim-clad rainbow ass will always have your back. On with the weekly blog recap (and one more subtle pride pic below…)
In the name of comfort, a pink doughnut.
For those who need a little pump and bump.
Four male celebrities in white briefs.
Three decades ago I met my tribe.
A brief pubic pause in the name of divinity.
A scent on the verge of summer – this is Tilia.
A midnight post to share with you.
Our Ogunquit Adventures began in the rain…
… and ended quite happily in the sun.
Dazzlers of the Day included Chris Colfer, Vincent Chong, and Ricky A. Schroeder.
I first came out publicly in July 1997, when I wrote a letter to the editor of my hometown newspaper (I guess I didn’t want to repeat the same conversation with everyone in my hometown). I have to say ‘first’ because coming out is a process a gay person will be doing for the rest of their lives – a burden and a blessing that straight people may never understand. Gay is not the assumed default that straight is, and while coming out may simply be a casual offhand reference to my husband, it’s still very much a thing. Here’s a look back at various National Coming Out posts – some are more profound than others, so peruse at your own risk of banality:
Social anxiety may have saved my life.
Coming of gay age in the era of AIDS was obviously not without its perils. Just as I was awakening to my own sexuality, the world was awakening to the epidemic of AIDS, and suddenly sex might mean much more than pregnancy or STDs – it could equal death. That’s a bit of a boner killer, even for a teenager who could get it up at the wispiest breeze in the air.
My years of adolescence took place at the height of the AIDS epidemic, and by the time I was old enough to start exploring sex with men, condoms were mandatory and routine, and the wild, hedonistic abandon that called deeply to my primal soul was studded with the prickly warnings and admonishments of how to safely navigate such a scene. Sex suffers when spontaneity requires planning and precaution.
By the time I was old enough to date a man, I was aware of AIDS in a general sense, but for someone so young, it was still a scary time, and I had questions and concerns – all of which were not welcomed or even tolerated by the first man I would kiss.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Another journal entry from October 1994 that illuminates my innocence, earnestness, and foolishness:
We made it into Harvard and started to walk to the theater to buy tickets when Tom stopped to stare at a street musician. I just wanted to get the tickets, eat dinner, and get out of the bad weather. But Tom stayed and watched this old guitar player. We were getting along all right no. Mostly it was he and I bantering with sarcastic comment. It was fun. Finally I got him to get up and get the tickets. We were walking away from the theater, looking for a place to eat. I asked him a few more questions.
“When was the last time you were tested for AIDS?” was one of the last ones I dared.
“Yesterday, like I do every day.”
I laughed but asked again seriously.
“When were you last tested?” he asked.
“I’ve never been tested.”
“Well.”
“But I haven’t been with over thirty people either. So when was it?”
“Two years ago.”
I know it shouldn’t have, but somehow it surprised me. That would have been 1992. I thought of his current cold. What if…
“And how many people have you been with since you were tested?” I asked, somewhat afraid of what the answer might be.
“Umm… about ten.”
“Ten?! You’ve been with… how do you know…”
“Look, I told you,” he began sternly and loudly, “I didn’t want this education crap. Now if you have questions, ask someone else, do you understand? I told you that. I don’t want to be mean, but I told you this before and I don’t want any more of it.” And that was it.
In that one moment my world turned form something over which I had some control into something that whirled and whisked me in whichever whim it had. The wind caught up. Before this year I would have been bawling in this situation. Now I just walked stoically with Tom. He looked back at me. It wasn’t a joke. Did he think I thought it was? I just looked back at him, giving him a slight ‘Well that’s that’ smile. And we went into Bertucci’s and sat down for dinner. Then the mending began. I almost hated him for what he had just done. But I didn’t.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the 90’s, I was old enough to legally get into clubs and bars, I wasn’t the club kid that certain people thought for sure I would be when let loose in Boston. In fact, I went to Chaps maybe once every few months, for the occasional wild tea dance, and rarely if ever did I bring anyone back home with me. My social anxiety was too high for that, and if any guy did happen to make their way back to my place, I didn’t do much beyond oral. Usually it wasn’t much beyond kissing. And therein may have been the lifesaving bit of happenstance – my shyness acted as my protection, at a time when many gay men were falling sick everywhere. My inability to be the full-fledged slut I privately longed to be was a saving grace; by the time I really let loose, we had gotten safe sex down to a science.
Whenever I wonder whether I made the most of those younger years, I think back to what our world was like, and I’m grateful to have been so shy. Sometimes social anxiety saves lives.
Forget Taylor Swift.
Forget Chappell Roan.
Forget Kesha’s damnably catchy ‘Joyride’.
This summer’s greatest guilty pleasure in my happily-cloistered world was John Duff, who started the season off with the glorious ‘Be Your Girl’, kept things hot with follow-up ‘Forgotten How To F@ck‘ and is now coasting through the end of the season with ‘Hoe Is Life’ featuring the legendary Lillias White. He spent the summer traveling and performing, from Pride shows in Chicago and New York to a celebrated residency in Provincetown, and his music has made an ideal soundtrack to the sunny season. Stay tuned for his upcoming ‘Clothes Back On’ to see how he enters the fall.
A few people I know make a habit of reading the obituaries. I’ve never done that. I don’t even like reading the obituaries of loved ones I’ve known. Even the better renditions that artfully weave words and stories as more of a tribute than documentation of someone’s death are often difficult to read. I think I’ve always been rather commonly afraid of death, up until last year when I had no choice but to face it and confront it.
Every once in a while, however, an obituary comes along to capture my heart, and remind me of the importance of honoring those we have lost, especially when it comes with a posthumous revelation that may make a difference for certain ones going through similar struggles. In this case, the end of Edward Thomas Ryan’s obituary did what he felt he couldn’t do for all his lived days:
Edward wanted to share the following: “I must tell you one more thing. I was Gay all my life: thru grade school, thru High School, thru College, thru Life. I was in a loving and caring relationship with Paul Cavagnaro of North Greenbush. He was the love of my life. We had 25 great years together. Paul died in 1994 from a medical Procedure gone wrong. I’ll be buried next to Paul. I’m sorry for not having the courage to come out as Gay. I was afraid of being ostracized: by Family, Friends, and Co-Workers. Seeing how people like me were treated, I just could not do it. Now that my secret is known, I’ll forever Rest in Peace.”
At first it was heartbreaking to read. I’ve known men like Edward. They carry a hollowed-out, haunted desperation to some of their days and actions, while somehow managing to be braver and stronger than I could ever imagine having to be. I wonder at an entire life lived within the proverbial confines of the closet, a life lived with subterfuge and secrets, and what moments of freedom men like Edward might have known, grasped at, lived for… It always crushes the soul a little to dwell upon what kind of world would allow for such an existence – and what kind of people would want to suppress or force someone to be something other than what they truly are.
And then I feel grateful. Grateful for having had the fortune and privilege and fortitude to come out when I was young, when I was still finding my way and growing into the person I was born to be. Grateful for the existence of Pride Month, for others who paved the way without such fortune and privilege. Grateful for being able to surround myself with people who would never think of suppressing or forcing anyone to be someone they weren’t. And grateful for the Edwards of the world – especially Edward Thomas Ryan – who did in death what he felt he could not do in life, becoming at last the person he was born to be, and reminding us of our own history.
As the problematic world of AI artwork swirls around us, it’s good to re-enforce the idea that I and so many others hold, which is that the artwork produced by human hands and our greatest living artists will never be successfully duplicated by any program, no matter how advanced. Human passion cannot and will not be reproduced by artificial intelligence; it will always ring hollow, because humans innately recognize and resonate with the work of another human. That brings us to this Dazzler of the Day, which goes to Daniel W. Green, an artist whose work bleeds with the fiery passion and exuberance that can only be produced by a real person invigorated and inspired by real life. Green specializes in oil paintings, many of which focus on the male form. Witness his work progress as seen in one example below (there are many, as Green is wondrously prolific). Check out more on the Dan Green Male Art page as well as his eBay page to purchase his work.
From the magnificent artwork of J.C. Leyendecker through to the gay pastiche of Ariana Grande’s latest song and video for ‘…yes, and?’ (with references and knowing nods to Madonna’s ‘Vogue’ and Paula Abdul‘s ‘Cold Hearted’) these not-so-hallowed electronic portals have been providing gay artistic fodder at all levels of such content. It may feel like blasphemy to place Grande aside such an artist as Leyendecker, but there is room for all styles and situations here, and I have no tolerance for anyone being snobby about it.
The world wants to put everything and everyone into their own category and label. I’m all for the obliteration of such dividers, and the elimination of the hierarchical organization of art, and the way it’s critically received and graded. Too often we deny something value if it becomes incredibly popular, as if being wildly popular somehow detracts from its worth. Stuff and nonsense, and silly at its very heart.
Like what you like and love what you love. You do you.
Designer and owner of the charmingly sexy Pillow Top shop in Provincetown, MA, Michael DiMartino has been creating designs for the self-proclaimed ‘Queer Pop Home-O Shop’ in an effort to bring art into our everyday lives and objects. Currently the shop is offering some fantastical wrapping paper, which everyone needs right now, and the designs are delightfully queer-friendly. DiMartino earns this Dazzler of the Day thanks to inspiring whimsical designs with a sexy edge – the ideal juxtaposition for good-hearted holiday fun. Visit The Pillow Top website here for more information, and some dazzling home goods.
A Renaissance man who has moved deftly between modeling and music, Stewart Taylor is also an actor and song-writer who earns his first Dazzler of the Day feature with this post. He recently released a new song ‘Favorite Ex’ which can be heard and seen on his website here (along with much more magic).
Much like this gratuitously-shirtless post of male celebrities, this post narrows in on those shirtless male celebs who happen to identify as LGBTQ+. The gays came to slay, starting with Jim Verraros, whose recent renaissance has been sparked by the anthemic dance club knock-out ‘Take My Bow’ – a welcome return to the musical landscape by the ‘Do Not Disturb’ singer.
Tom Daley’s armpits get an airing in this very knowing photo he released, proving he knows exactly what he’s doing.
Gus Kenworthy knows what he’s doing too, as this auto strip-tease reveals. Kenworthy bares even more here and here.
Matt Bomer in shirtless motion could be a post unto itself and perhaps it will be again, as it was in the beginning.
LGBTQ+ trailblazer and heart-throb Wilson Cruz has a body matched only by his winning smile.
The preferred wardrobe of Luke Evans should be the Speedo (when it isn’t total bare-ass nudity), as he has illustrated time and happy time again.
Matthew Camp knows how to give good face, and even better body.
With vocals as appealing as his visuals, Tom Goss presents a perfect package yet again.
Josh Sabarra dazzles with his good looks as much as for his witty way with words.
Finally, Olympian Adam Rippon has put his physically-honed body to good use on this blog, here and here and here.
In the unlikely event that anyone has forgotten, this is a very gay blog.
ALANILAGAN.com is, and always will be, a gay blog.
That’s all.
Gay.
Blog.
Periodt.
PS – Yes, this is a filler post because I don’t have a proper one in me today.
Self-professed Italian Jersey boy Tony Ardolino is our reigning Mr. Gay World USA, and was just named runner-up for the international title. If you were as big a fan of the Miss America Pageant as some of us were growing up, this has all the right twists to earn him the Dazzler of the Day. While there’s no literal crown that comes with being a Dazzler, it’s all the honor I can bestow upon someone who is representing our country on the world stage. We need more feel-good moments like this.
He’s been sober for 25 years, and that’s more than enough to merit this Dazzler of the Day, but in addition to that footnote, Leslie Jordan has been entertaining the world for decades. He’s finally come into his own social media prominence, thanks to his surprising success on Instagram – which was no surprise to anyone who’s followed his hilarious antics. Known by many from his turn on ‘Will & Grace’, Jordan has made appearances on about a bazillion shows over the years, thanks to his wit, hilarity and natural charm and charisma.