For the Man in Your Life

Anyone looking for “beautiful images of men together,” as billed in the fledgling Arrow Magazine, will find a photo of James Coran and Walter Nelson-Rees, two balding pillars-of-the-community types, standing tall and proud in sport coats, overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. Then there are Leonard Green and Steve Langley, smiling in polo shirts at the reflecting pool in Washington, D.C. And Jeff Oakes and Jeff Sidell in a Berkeley park, bundled up in winter parkas.

Committed. Romantic. Domestic. Spiritual. A little boring. These are the types of gay men West Hollywood entrepreneurs Sam Francis and Paul Horne are targeting in their new magazine, which debuted last month online at https://www.arrowmag.com and will launch in print in June.

“We definitely want to bring some balance to the gay community,” said Francis, 23, a Jesuit-educated reporter who scrapped plans to become a priest when he realized what he really wanted was a meaningful relationship with another man.

Writer Horne, 33, said, “It’s not that we’re becoming more like straight people. It’s that what it is to be human is the same for everyone.”

The two met online, live together and dream of one day marrying legally and raising children.

The trial publication (motto: “Real men cuddle”) features gay wedding announcements, an advice column called “Hot Monogamy” and two straight male authors writing on fear of gays and a best friend’s coming out.

Saying they are surprised and gratified by the positive response from younger readers, Francis and Horne speculated that young gay men today are more comfortable with their sexual orientation than were previous generations and don’t need to extend their adolescence into their adulthood.

The partners promise not to abandon a “gay sensibility” in their magazine.

“Since we’re on the edge, we can comment on the mainstream a little differently,” Horne said. And, of course, there will be profiles of single men still looking for Mr. Right.