Lots of beautiful men in the new L’HOMO

About the author

Sabrina (who is old as fuck) has more energy than a Duracell bunny, and uses it to dance in the newest clubs, eat too much junk food, play all the videogames, examine apps and shop - even though she has more than enough clothes. Sorry Earth.

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Recently, Annelijn and I had the incredibly hard task to attend the launch of Linda de Mol’s annual magazine L’HOMO. Interviewing athletes, drinking ridiculously expensive champagne and giggly blushing about men in surprisingly small swimming trunks: it’s a tough job, but someone has to do it.

The magazine, dedicated to gay men, has been the centrepoint of a few controversial topics. Who doesn’t remember the first issue with Arie Boomsma? He lost his job over his appearance on the cover. But this time it was all about sports. None other than Kenneth Perez, Ronald de Boer, Demy de Zeeuw, Evgeniy Levchenko, John van Lottum, Mike Verschuur and Jeffrey Wammes are on the cover, wearing nothing but a pair of shorts.

Coming out

Mike Verschuur already had his one a couple of years ago, but for Jeffrey Wammes this magazine is his ‘official’ coming out. I spoke to him briefly, but he wasn’t too nervous about the reactions. “The nervewrecking part was telling my parents. I don’t care what the rest of the country thinks, it was my family I was worried about.” The rest of the athletes all support openness about sexuality in the sportsworld. When I asked Demy de Zeeuw if nothing would change in his team if a player told them he was gay, he replied: “Of course sometimes you think about a person differently, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t just say it.” John van Lottum was surprised there is not a single openly gay tennisplayer: “That can’t be right?!” Even though he now plays soccer in his spare time, he doesn’t get why people wouldn’t come out. “Yes, it’s more of a macho culture in soccer, but you should still be able to just tell people who you are.”

The cover also teases with the coming out of Jim Bakkum, but don’t think too much of it. He still has a girlfriend. This is his -and I quote- ‘coming out as a man’. He wants to get rid of his boyish image through a serie of photos inside the magazine. The real attention went to the athletes though.

The whole soiree buzzed with gossip and heated discussion about who looked the best on the cover. If you ask me, it’s a tie between John van Lottum and Mike Verschuur. Annelijn made some pictures, but buy the magazine if you want to decide for yourself. It’s easy on the eye, for both men and women.

Pictures by Annelijn Hooij