I eventually stopped working out harder than him so he could feel better about his progress.”Īccording to Waltman and other sources, Dovak reached out to an online acquaintance - another popular online gainer named Dylan Hafertepen - who told him where to go to get the illicit procedure.
“Whenever we left the gym, he would feel like shit about it. “He took more steroids and he definitely got bigger and stronger, but he never felt good about it,” Waltman says. It’s also where he gained his internet fandom for growing huge, or “a monster,” as Waltman put it. It’s this community where Dovak found most solace in his size. It’s a site for all the guys who spent their childhoods stuffing pillows under their shirts or staring a little too long at big-bellied men in the supermarket.” (Grommr does not advocate for silicon injectors, which is a small portion of the gainer subculture, and the site’s online community has been adamantly against silicone enhancements.) The site coins itself as a place, “for guys of a similar mindset - that bigger is, most often, better. Gay men are also more prone to eating disorders and other body dysmorphia conditions that result in poor self image.īut until the gainer community became more popular with the introduction of a niche hook up app dedicated to them, “Grommr,” larger gay men had few places to find satisfaction or admirers of their bigger appearance. But the community isn’t only based around fetish - the gainer community is well known to encourage body positivity, which is sorely needed among LGBTQ communities.Ĭompared to straight men, gay men are more prone to focus heavily on their weight and appearance. The community lives online, mostly, with Tumblr blogs dedicated to idolizing bigger guts and monstrous testicles. Though the trend has appeared to decline recently - at least among trans women in New York, according to Radix - as quality care for trans-identifying people continues to grow, it’s now become more visible among the body modifying subculture of gainers. “You’re desperate to change your body, people will go through great lengths. “When people come in and say silicone, they don’t really know what they mean because it could be anything,” says Asa Radix, senior director of research and education for Callen-Lorde in New York City, an LGBTQ-focused health center, adding that some of his patients even had quick cement or peanut butter injected in them. It makes health experts reticent to even call the mixture “silicone,” at all. In one Florida woman’s case, tire sealant and cement were both injected into her face. But over the past five years, there have been a number of news reports exposing “pumping parties,” where groups of trans women pool their money to get injected with silicone, and the practice has now become more underground and more risky.Īnd much of that has to do with what’s being put in the mixture, which many times is unknown by those who receive the injections. The Private Lives of Liza Minnelli (The Rainbow Ends Here)Īmong trans women, silicone injections are a well known way to achieve the ultimate body: curvy butt, thick thighs or larger breasts. Tickets are £15 in advance (more on the door) and are available from Earworm Records, the venue in person or online via See Tickets.The Beatles in India: 16 Things You Didn't Know They’re earworm poppy, they’re feel-good, they’re heavy, they’re your annual Detroit dose and it sells out so don’t sit on ‘yer hands… Phew.ĭick Valentine’s genre-flipping Top 10 gatecrashers just wanna take you to a disco, synth pop, glam and arena rock heaven and all wrapped up in macho flippancy and tongue-in-cheek pomposity so be warned … High Voltage! Utterly joyous.Īnd they’re also back with fourteenth studio album Bride of the Devil, examining (it says here) “the concepts of evil and corruption, humanity’s various falls from grace, the nine circles of purgatory and of course, the internet itself”. Here in York for your annual dose of the ELECTRIC SIX raucous, funny, slicked-back pop juggernaut. Warning! Danger! High Voltage! They want to take you to a gay bar, gay bar, GAY BAR… All tickets purchased for the original date will remain valid but refunds are also available from your point of purchase.** **This show is rescheduled due to governmental social distancing measures put in place to combat the COVID-19 outbreak. Tickets are £15 in advance (more on the door) and are available online via See Tickets.