Lesbians have Sappho to get cute stuff from. I’m looking for something similar for men, that’s pro-gay or anti homophobe.
Needs to be subtle and an “if you know you know” vibe because I want to make art things in a homophobic area.
Any ideas?
How about some Shakespeare? A lot of his sonnets are about a young man, the “Fair Youth”. Then you’d even have some plausible deniability because there are many people and scholars refusing to accept that Shakespeare might have liked me as well as women.
Edit: Just saw that I wrote “me” instead of “men”. But I’m sure Shakespeare would have loved me (though scholars might disagree).
Achilles/patroclus, canonically but also somewhat subtly
If you’re looking for a poet, Walt Whitman is the traditional gay-but-subtle poet:
From the cinder-strewed threshold I follow their movements, The lithe sheer of their waists plays even with their massive arms, Overhand the hammers roll—overhand so slow—overhand so sure, They do not hasten, each man hits in his place
I love Walt Whitman!!!
I think a good equivalent would be Cavafy. Who was also Greek, like Sappho.
Example: The Afternoon Sun.
Not sure if this quite fits your bill, but John Ashbery was a gay man living and writing in New York through the 60s and 70s. His writing has this tendency to circle around and around without ever quite naming the thing - Soonest Mended being a pretty good example of his style. Not sure if there’s anything so much like a dog whistle in his work, but I personally found his occlusive style really resonated with me
Edit - I can’t read , disregard this
If the people you’re around are Christian - the phrase “David’s Friend Jonathan” can be a gay dog whistle , it’s a reference to the bible , but ppl blasphemously muse that it sounded pretty gay when Jonathan died and David said his love for him surpassed that of a woman
2 Samuel 1 - 25 How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! O Jonathan, thou wast slain in thine high places.
26 I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.
27 How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished!
NON RELATED GAY CRAP BELOW
Dunno if it’s related , but the Japanese Yaoi movement can be pretty cute and emotional ~
Yaoi is an acronym / initialism meaning something like "no plot , no point (just spicy guy love) Also “BL” Boy-love
It’s a genre started by underground female writers and comic artists writing gay fics for other ladies - comes in all flavours
But if you find art / fan art / comics or anime - there’s the range of being friends , affectionate , new lovers, relationshipping ~~
The trope is that the author and reader are embodied into a young feminine looking guy , and there is some love interest thats more manly and dominant looking - and so they’re being chased , kinda like man-woman gender stereotypes , but make it gay - There’s often great emotional stories , drama/love triangles , spicy gay stuff ~ can be very cute and gay
yes homo
So homo, if you will.