But if femininity is a performance, largely meant for patriarchal and public display, masculinity likewise is no less a scene staged in public--otherwise it loses its point. In this respect, bodybuilding might be said, still, to be sorting out the narcissism inherent in the gendering, not of femininity, but of masculinity.

Sponsor Message.

Bodybuilding in general asks the question that its actual contests all more-or-less explicitly ask: who is the real man? The gay or lesbian body-builder, then, becomes entangled in the larger cultural panic surrounding the issue of gender.

The history of bodybuilding reflects this panic; to the presumptively heterosexual weight-lifter, "real" women are the threat to the masculine, but in addition, so is the symbolic (i.e., homosexual) woman within. Consequently, in the effeminized discourse most commonly used to stigmatize homosexuality, bodybuilding's status remains that of gender failure--ironically, despite, and perhaps because of, the show of muscularity.

Thus, if muscles, to the Greeks, were a sort of armor, today they signal a kind of gender campery. One critic, clearly straight, whines, "Muscles are the latest props of the dandy." By failing American gender in such a spectacularly butch venue, then, gay bodybuilders such as Paris (and his lover of the time, bodybuilder Rod Jackson), can be said to have demonstrated what women and body-builders have known all along: Gender is something to be performed, in public, for show.

While sports, at least on the major competitive level, may be the final closet for gay men, there have nevertheless been a number of gay male elite athletes.

Although lesbians and athletics have long been identified with each other, lesbian athletes, despite great achievements, still face numerous obstacles.

A quadrennial sporting and cultural event designed for the glbtq community, the Gay Games has become a lucrative attraction for host cities.

American designer Calvin Klein has created an extraordinarily successful fashion empire through his simple and elegant designs and his skilful employment of provocative advertising campaigns that are saturated with homoeroticism.

The first American professional athlete to acknowledge his homosexuality publicly, former National Football League player David Kopay stands near the head of the short list of openly gay and lesbian elite athletes.

Widely regarded as the greatest diver in history, Olympic champion Greg Louganis has acknowledged both his homosexuality and his status as a person living with AIDS.

One of the greatest tennis players in history, Martina Navratilova has become an outspoken supporter of gay and lesbian rights.

Acclaimed for his artistic and insightful images, many of them in black and white, American photographer Herb Ritts infused his work with homoeroticism and "homosexual iconography."

One of the world's most popular commercial photographers, Bruce Weber has re-envisioned male beauty through his erotic, yet nostalgic take on American adolescence.