The ‘old gays’ ascension into the pop culture stratosphere is soaring even higher these days. Today reports the mature fab four are working on a deal for a series that will take you inside their lives as they bravely and boldly navigate their unexpected celebrity as some of the most popular personalities on social media.
“TikTok” stars Robert Reeves, Mick Peterson, Bill Lyons, and Jessay Martin-have announced they have signed onto Brian Graden Media (BGM) to develop a docu-series. The new show will feature the hilarious internet sensations and their day-to-day shenanigans where they all live together in Cathedral City, California.
The foursome has over 3 million followers across different platforms like Instagram & YouTube combined, plus 320+million views of their online content.
With inevitable comparisons to ‘The Golden Girls,’ the four friends are humbled by their success.
The ‘old gays’ are delighted too that so many of their followers are much younger and include celebrities like Drew Barrymore, who had them as guests recently on her popular daytime talk show.
These guys really crack me up. They are like our grandfathers – just gay, campy and sometimes way over the top. You may have seen their honest and funny response to Cardi B’s WAP and Lil Nas X’s “Montero” in one of their many Grindr-produced promotional videos. Then after the appearance of the Drew Barrymore show, more mainstream press followed, including an article from Today magazine about how these queer pioneers are slaying the social media game with more voracity than Millenials who are a third their age.
Their popularity has also brought them top-tier brand collaborations with HBOMax, American Horror Story, RuPaul’s Drag Race,” Budlight Seltzer, and Shake Shack. I mean, seriously, these guys are not playing around here.
Well, they are; they are playful, fun, and revered for their being an example of the power of being your true authentic self —at any age. That is what makes the ‘old gays’ success so wonderful to witness. They don’t take themselves too seriously, and in fact, it’s their embracing of the generation gap between themselves and the ‘young gays’ that makes them so endearing.
The younger LGBTQ today generation is often accused of not understanding the tumultuous difficulties of queer life of the past decades. It’s far greater than the Stonewall riots, as years of anti-gay oppression led to that notorious night the gays fought back. Then, the emergence of the unforeseen enemy of HIV and AIDS decimated nearly two generations of gay men with painful untimely death, shame, ridicule, and discrimination from society.
The ‘old gays’ are survivors who in their youth, had to sustain a world that was primarily unaccepting of homosexuals.
This year, NBC News’ Today.com profiled the four men who still live life to the fullest during Pride Month 2021. They spoke candidly about how coming out ages ago was not an easy task for anyone – let alone 70 years ago!
“I think the most important thing that we’re educating people on is that 60 years ago, coming out was a real struggle,” said Lyons (who never told his parents he’s gay).
“You didn’t talk about coming out to your parents or anything,” Lyons continued; “In fact, a lot of situations I heard when parents found out that one of their children was gay, they kicked him out of the house right away. It really wasn’t easy in the beginning.” Media Exec Brian Graden shared his enthusiasm for the project, stating,
“We have always been very passionate about telling stories within the LGBTQ+ community with our series that have included ‘Finding Prince Charming,’ ‘Todrick,’ ‘Escape the Night,’ ‘Instant Influencer,’ and ‘Lance Loves Michael,’ and have had an extremely successful track record collaborating with social media influencers which also include Joey Graceffa and James Charles.”
With the help of the ‘Old Gays,’ Graden hopes to continue his track record of quality LGBTQ programming and attract a diverse audience and a show enjoyed by millions of people worldwide.
Let me just add, age ain’t nothing but a number and I actually think one of these old guys is sexy AF —even if he is old enough to literally be my grandfather. Can you guess which one?
Ok, perhaps that was TMI, but anyway, I know I’ll be tuning in to this fun new show when it airs. I can’t wait!
My guess would be the black guy? If not I think he’s sexy :))