He's Got it Covered

Last February, Michael E. Crosby ’02 spoke on a panel in Harvard Hall on sports and sexuality, adding his unique perspective to the discussion as one of the few openly gay varsity athletes on campus. He was, by all accounts, fully clothed. This past December, in order to continue the dialogue on sports and sexuality, Crosby stripped down to his Speedo and posed poolside for a magazine photo shoot. Crosby’s issue of Genre, a travel and lifestyle magazine for gay men, hit newsstands late last month, and judging by the number of e-mail queries he’s received so far, his biceps made quite a statement.

Genre editors decided to feature Crosby after a teammate of Crosby’s from his West Hollywood water polo team recommended him for Genre’s “H20” issue. He says even though he had never heard of Genre before his star-turn, it didn’t occur to him to reject the offer. “I almost always agree to stories just because I’ve gotten so much feedback from stuff I’ve done in the past,” Crosby says.

But the concept Crosby originally agreed to wasn’t as high-profile as the ultimate cover-glamour shot that ended up on display on newsstands (or at least select bookstore magazine racks) across America.

“It was just going to be a photo and story, but the photos came out so well, and the photographer showed the photos to the editor-in-chief and they decided to make it the cover,” he says.

And even though he was not a Genre reader before he was approached for the shoot, he says he might start reading it if he ever travels to a featured location. “There’s some stuff in there that’s interesting,” Crosby says. “It’s like a travel guide with a gay slant. The stories aren’t very interesting unless you’re going there.”

Crosby says he didn’t alter his routine much to prepare for the photo shoot. “I’m pretty anal about working out five times a week for an hour and a half or a couple of hours,” he says. He then equivocates: “Well, I’ll admit, the shoot was at 1 p.m. and I did eat breakfast. But I didn’t eat lunch until after the shoot at 3. I usually don’t skip meals willy nilly like that.”

Even though he was—or claims to have been—rather relaxed about the aesthetics of the afternoon, Crosby says there were professionals on hand to make sure he looked his best.

“They had a make-up guy touching up stuff on my face and chest and I joked, ‘Oh, heaven forbid I look natural,’ and the guy was, like, ‘This is a magazine—are you kidding us?’”

Crosby himself didn’t even read the piece until a full week after Genre’s 40,000 or so subscribers got it in the mail. “The web page was behind, the Coop didn’t have it,” Crosby says. “I kept going to the Coop because the Coop carries it but they didn’t have it on time. It turned out okay because I found a lot of good books for 50 cents like Merchant of Venice and Gulliver’s Travels. I got like nine books for $9.”

He finally saw the issue and says he is happy with the way it turned out. So are the residents of Winthrop House, who can view Crosby’s photo in the dining hall courtesy of his roommate, who pinned it up.

But the Genre spotlight extends beyond pure print and web perusal. Crosby says the editor asked him to travel to New York City over St. Patrick’s Day weekend to sign copies of the magazine at a “gay business expo.” Also, the e-mail greetings keep coming in, though Crosby says most have been almost too subtle for his own taste.

“None have been that straightforward,” Crosby says, noting that no one has explicitly asked for his number. “Some people have been, like, ‘Oh yeah, if you’re ever in the area, give me a call,’ but there haven’t been too many people in the area who’ve had the guts to ask me out. I’m still hoping.”

—R.E. Dry