DNA 2023 Recap: Extra! Extra! Top News Of The Last Year
We are fast approaching the end of the year, and it’s time we reflect on the year that was. We’ve had our fave celebrities get engaged (and get divorced), we’ve had incredible LGBTQIA+ media, and we’ve explored politics around the globe. There is real value in hindsight and this recap is dedicated to looking back through the year at the top headlines of 2023.
Historic Win At The Grammys For Sam Smith And Kim Petras – February 2023
In February, Sam Smith and Kim Petras made headlines when they won a Grammy for their song Unholy. Together, they took home the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance Grammy, which made Petras the first out trans woman to win an award in this category.
Before Petras won her Grammy, only one other out transgender woman has won, and that was Wendy Carlos, a pioneer for electronic music who won Album Of The Year, Classical; Best Classical Performance – Instrumental Soloist Or Soloists (With Or Without Orchestra) and Best Engineered Recording, Classical in 1970. Petras mentioned Carlos in her acceptance speech.
“Sex/Life” Has Done It Again With The Full-Frontal Male Nudity – March 2023
If there’s one thing we love at DNA, it’s when TV series have full-frontal male nudity. There’s something refreshing about it not being a woman objectified, perhaps. Regardless, this feature we wrote about Sex/Life on Netflix including full frontal in season 2 went gangbusters. We thank Jonathan Sadowski for his service!
Why “Heartstopper’s” Kit Conner Transformed His Body – March 2023
Another great feature from March 2023 – Kit Connor has been a breakout star from Netflix’s sweet teen drama Heartstopper. Fans were eager for season 2 to come out, especially after seeing how Kit transformed his body in the gym.
Season one he was a built young man, but after hitting the weights he’s become jacked and imposing – we clearly love to see it!
“Straight Male Friend (Available Everywhere Except Therapy)” – An Actual Good SNL Skit – April 2023
With so much turmoil in the world, it’s good to laugh sometimes. This Saturday Night Live skit with Bowen Yang with Travis Kelce pokes fun at the differences between gay and straight men. This is a hard thing to do without stepping on any toes, but the comedy stands up still, and we love to see a straight guy and a gay guy be besties (in an unproblematic way, no less).
We Love Sea Men! “The Little Mermaid” Actors Show Off In New Images Online – May 2023
Another great reason to do a recap of the year is so we can remember the biggest trends. This feature we did on the three male mermaids from Disney’s live-action The Little Mermaid was a fun walk down memory lane to when the film first came out.
Having now watched the film, we know they’re barely in it but, for this brief moment, we enjoyed seeing three beautiful guys in mermaid tails.
Gay Comedian Michael Henry Shows Us Exactly How To Deal With HIV Shaming – June 2023
We love to have fun at DNA when creating content, but every now and then we find a golden opportunity where the story is fun and engaging but also informative. That’s exactly what we found in comedian Michael Henry’s short clip about tackling HIV stigma.
This skit provided a format for behaving in a social encounter where one person may be shaming another for their status. HIV awareness is about more than making sure people are engaged in safe sex. It’s about making sure people who are positive aren’t made the subject of gossip.
The Jonas Brothers Performed In Their Underwear! Or Did They? – June 2023
The proliferation of AI technology has become a focal point of the internet in the last year. With Chat GPT making improvements with every update and with the technology for photo-editing also making leaps, we can understand why this story about the Jonas brothers being edited out of their pants caught our readers attention!
Then again, it could have just been because it was the three Jonas brothers in their underwear.
Our Hearts Go “Padam Padam” For Kylie’s New Single – Has Kylie-Mania Taken Over The World? – June 2023
After taking a breather, Kylie Minogue returned to the music world with a fiery passion and a track that would take over the internet! Yes, we are recapping the release of Padam Padam!
Looking to the now, Kylie has a Vegas residency at Voltaire and Padam Padam has been nominated for a Grammy.
“Minx” Is Back For A New Season – More Laughs More Action And, Most Importantly, More D*cks – July 2023
This was an easy enough story for us to cover, seeing that Minx is the fictional magazine that features sexy male photography with Zeitgeist-centric feature articles – it felt very familiar for us at DNA!
The second season was announced and has since been streaming! And indeed, there WERE more laughs, action and dicks.
Everyone Fantasises About Gay Sex At Least Once – Even Former President Barack Obama – August 2023
Oh yeah! Remember that time this year when Barack Obama admitted he used to fantasise about having gay sex? If you don’t, no worries, that’s what a recap is for! Essentially, the gist here is that the former president’s love letters to an ex were discovered wherein he talks about imagining sex with men.
It was a great way for us to promote the idea that fantasies are not indications of a person’s sexuality. Nor do they tell us anything about the value of that person.
Canada Issues Travel Warning To LGBTQIA+ As Parts Of America Become Unsafe – August 2023
With the current state of the US legislature being so divided between conservatives and progressives, the US’s northern neighbour decided it prudent to place a travel warning on certain states for LGBTQIA+ travellers.
When a neighbouring nation believes it necessary to warn its citizens about travelling to your country, it shows just how fragmented and disjointed the situation looks on the world stage.
Bad Bunny Stuns Us All With His Carrot Stick In The Shower – September 2023
The gist: pop star Bad Bunny posted a VERY cheeky selfie in the shower where you can almost see his shaft. He knows his audience, and we know you’re going to love revisiting this memory!
“He Kneeled Down Behind Me…” Senator Reads Gay Passage To Committee – September 2023
In another US world politics story, we visited congress as senator John Kennedy read out explicit passages from All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M Johnson. The absurdity of this news travelled far and wide. Especially when you watch the clip of Mr Kennedy saying: “I got him on his knees and began to slide into him from behind. I pulled out of him and kissed him while he masturbated…”
The point of this stunt was to highlight why certain books should be banned in classrooms when they discuss gender identity or sexuality.
To Twink Or Not To Twink… Is “Twink” Now An Offensive Slur? – October 2023
Now, this story attracted a lot of attention from our readers! Some believed we were being ridiculous for even asking the question. DNA was genuinely curious though, we’d seen rhetoric bubbling online and thought we’d use our platform to ask everyone what they thought. The answer we got: “shut up”.
Love And Life Lost Amid Israel-Palestine Conflict – Queering The Map Stories – October 2023
With the current war in Gaza between Hamas and Israel, we thought about how to give a voice to the thousands who are suffering.
Seeing the heartbreaking stories from LGBTQIA+ people in Gaza through the website Queering The Map was more than enough for us to be motivated to write this article. As of December 12, 2023, the conflict continues to rage on with casualty rates rising.
We Hear You Mr Speaker… And We Wish We Didn’t – November 2023
The Republican Party of the US won the majority in the House Of Representatives and, therefore, had the opportunity to elect a new Speaker of The House. The position was taken by Mike Johnson, a lifelong Republican member who has gone on record many times with controversial opinions such as: “Homosexuals do not meet the criteria for a suspect class under the equal protection clause because they are neither disadvantaged nor identified on the basis of immutable characteristics, as all are capable of changing their abnormal lifestyles.”
We’re Off To See The Rizzard! The Hottest Men Who We Got Got By In 2023 – December 2023
We have finally arrived at December! The year has been full of news and stories worthy of mentioning but, again, we like to offer a balance of fun and serious articles. So, we leave you with our final recapped item.
“Rizz” is the Oxford Dictionary word of the year and we thought it gave us the perfect chance to provide examples of men with rizz! We hope you enjoyed reading this one as much as we enjoyed writing it.
