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Video and pics from the Mr. Gay World competition

Posted by
Michael Jensen
 on March 4, 2009


Max Krzyzanowski, Mr. Gay World 2009

This report from the Mr. Gay World competition ran in the Best.Gay.Week.Ever. column, but since the organization does such great work we wanted to run it on its own as well.

Enjoy!

When I attended Winterpride at Whistler, British Columbia last month in order to interview Forbidden Love's Jo Weil and Thore Scholermann (who are even more adorable in person than on TV!) I also knew there was something going on called Mr. Gay World. Honestly, I sort of figured it was kind of a cheesy excuse to parade around a bunch of hot guys in speedos. And, yes, that aspect definitely came into play.

Mr. Gay Argentina, Mr. Gay Austria, Mr. Gay South Africa

Mr. Argentina went on to win Mr. Photogenic and it's not hard to see why!

Also included in the event was the fellows wearing costumes representing their country.

Mr. Gay Paraguay, Mr. Gay India, Mr. Gay Philippines

Mr. Paraguay was smoking hot, but Mr. Philippines stole the show with his colorful outfit and ceremonial stick that shot confetti over the crowd. He was also named Mr. Gay Popularity and Mr. Gay National Costume.

And the event also included a fashion show with the various contestants wearing a variety of outfits.

From the fashion show. Apparently shirts are so yesterday!

But once I got past the more superficial aspects of the event, I quickly realized Mr. Gay World was about something much serious — improving gay visibility and gay lives around the world. Mr. Gay World wasn't really about choosing the hottest guy, but rather aimed to choose a gay man who could travel the world speaking out about gay issues, especially in countries where gay rights are seriously lagging.

And those involved in Mr. Gay World — Erik Butter, Dean Nelson, Tore Aasheim and others — have already put their money where their mouths are by participating in gay rights marches in countries such as Russia and Poland where they were actually in physical danger.
Indeed, one of the most moving parts of the Mr. Gay World finale were clips shown from marches around the world highlighting the harassment the GLBT community still faces in too many places. The finalists answered questions as to how they would use the title to improve gay visibility and it was Mr. Gay Ireland who really knocked that question out of the ballpark.

While we hadn't planned on filming the finale, we happened to have a camcorder with us and managed to catch some of the hot guys in speedos, the announcement of the winner and even an interview with the fellow who wasn't the man I expected to win! Enjoy the footage (and apologies for some of the lighting and occasionally shaky picture. Like I said, we hadn't planned on shooting it!)


Next year's contest is going to take place in Oslo, Norway and based on the success of this year's debut, I highly encourage you to participate. Heck, maybe you could be the next Mr. Gay World! For more on Mr. Gay World visit their website!

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