Most of their audience is 34 and under and a little more than half are estimated to be women. They want to dispel the belief that Palm Springs is “where the elephants go to die.”īy using the TikTok platform and, in some ways, going along with what younger influencers are doing, they're meeting youth where they are. “It used to be when you turned 30 in the gay community, you fell off the map,” Peterson said. “A lot of the straight guys in the comments say, ‘Hey, I thought this was the ‘old guys’ but I have to tell you how much I’m enjoying it,” Lyons said.Īside from the humorous conversations the friends have on camera, they try to do more than what Peterson called “old gays try the new day slay.” They have a mission statement: generating positive interactions between different generations of LGBTQ people. They’ve been mistakenly referred to as “Old Guys” several times. And, though they've embraced it, it has led to a few hiccups for their viewers. Lyons is Betty White's character "Rose." Peterson is "Blanche," according to the guys, but he identifies more with "Samantha" from "Sex and the City." And Martin, well, he has the same answer every time: “I’m none of them because we weren’t represented.” It was a cast of all white women. “I see a lot of myself in her personality.” “Being the oldest, I have to identify with 'Sophia,'” Reeves said. The Golden Gays, perhaps? They do often get asked about which "Golden Girls" characters they each identify with. There's even talk of them having their own reality show.
Older gay men vids series#
The four friends are earning income from their videos and, the bigger they become, the more opportunities they're getting. "Old Gays" have done endorsements for HBO, the FX series “American Horror Story,” burger chain Shake Shack and high-end intimate lifestyle company Lelo. “It was a different format than what we were doing on Grindr, and because (TikTok videos) are shorter, more immediate and done with one take, that’s where the growth has been,” Peterson said. In 2020, they joined Instagram where they have over 160,000 followers and, this past January, they joined TikTok. Since then, their popularity has skyrocketed. Their producer, who declined to be interviewed, has expanded the creators' audience by producing content for mainstream platforms.
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“It’s been over three years now and it just keeps growing.” “(The video) showed a very positive result and we started making more,” Reeves said. "Old Gays" ended up being featured on the platform in 2018. His partner happened to be a freelance videographer and, later, would become a producer for the dating app Grindr. The videos started when another man Reeves was renting a room to told his partner about how delightful watching the men interact with each other was. “We all knew each other and we’d get together frequently for holidays, celebrations, birthdays, and we all had this kind of natural at ease interaction.
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“It’s very organic what has happened,” Reeves said. Then, in 2015, Martin moved across the street. Peterson entered the picture in 2013 when he started renting a room from Reeves. Reeves and Lyons have known one another since the '80s when they both lived in San Francisco. Reeves, 78, Lyons, 77, Jessay Martin, 68, and Mick Peterson, 65 are doing what they've always done together, but now with the added bonus of a platform. So who are these men? They call themselves "Old Gays." This has made them internet sensations with 2.5 million followers on TikTok, including Rihanna, Drew Barrymore and Oprah Winfrey. Their subjects: what is being "woke," how they came out to their parents and who will be honorary grandfathers to Lance Bass' children if not them? On an inconspicuous street in Cathedral City sits the home of Robert Reeves where, for the last three years, instead of being pummeled by jets in his entryway jacuzzi, four seniors have been filming videos on the back patio. William Lyons realized this when he was in line at the Palm Desert Best Buy and the cashier recognized his voice, spitting out the words: "TikTok!" These men might dress like other seniors in the Coachella Valley, but unlike their peers, they're easily recognized by Gen Zers - even when masked. Hawaiian shirts, checkered short-sleeve button ups, compression socks. Watch Video: Social media stars the Old Gays answer our questions