Why “Hunting Season” Means A LOT To Me (And Why YOU Should Donate)

While I frequently recommend products on the blog, I don’t believe I have ever suggested giving/donating money somewhere- until now.

I am going to be blunt and I am going to lay this on the line- you absolutely, wholeheartedly, without a doubt should donate to the Hunting Season Kickstarter.

Please allow me to tell you more about why this show is so near and dear to my heart and why you should donate. 

I don’t tend to get personal on here, but I’m going to go there. Growing up as a gay child is not an easy thing. You watch television with your family and see straight couples galore- this is the “norm,” after all. If you happen to catch a glimpse of a gay couple on a television show, they maybe give each other a peck on the cheek or a nice, long hug. This is not the same for straight couples. You have absolutely no frame of reference for what being gay may look like or what gay people do. Hell, if you come from a smaller town, you may even question if they exist or if you’re all alone.

When I was growing up, the most popular television shows were Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place (that a gay kid could watch, at least). Sure, there was Matt on Melrose Place, but what exactly did he do in his relationships? Hug his boyfriends and hang with all of his straight friends? That truly was it. I don’t remember a consistent gay character on 90210. Then, in my teenage years, there was the influx of popular cable television, with Sex and The City and The Sopranos. While the gay character on The Sopranos ended up killing himself out of sheer shame, the gay characters on Sex and The City were the stereotypical, over the top gay men- oh and, yeah, they NEVER had sex. They left that for the STRAIGHT men on the show.

Of course, Showtime eventually came out with “Queer As Folk.” While this was brash and definitely was chock full of gay sex, it wasn’t accessible to everyone. You couldn’t watch it without paying for it due to the fact that you had to subscribe to Showtime to see it. Of course you could buy the DVDs, but what parent of a teenager (generally speaking) would encourage their child to go ahead and buy what looked like borderline gay pornography?

The point I am trying to make is that, growing up- and even today- there is no show that is accesible to the mainstream that shows gay men living their life- besides “Hunting Season.”

“Hunting Season” started last year as an adaptation of the book “The Great Cock Hunt,” which was based on a popular blog. The show details Alex, a gay man in New York City, and his group of friends. While the episodes are short, the show immediately wrapped me in. It is real, it is brash in its depiction of sex, it is current with its references (Grindr, anyone?) and it depicts reality for many gay men. It also shows teenagers you are not alone. There is life outside the small town and as a gay man, you can live a very normal and very exciting life. You will grow up and outlive the bullies. You will find a group of friends and you will live in a world where it’s okay to be gay. Not only is it “okay,” but it is accepted. I wish I had been able to go online as a teenager and see these normal, fun people living their lives and know that one day, everything would be okay. Unfortunately, the fact is that gay teen suicide is still a MAJOR issue mainly because gay teenagers feel all alone. While I’m not saying that “Hunting Season” will fix that problem, it certainly will help gay teenagers to see that it is perfectly NORMAL to be gay and that everything will be okay.

The creator of “Hunting Season,” Jon Marcus, paid for the entire first season out of his own pocket. While Logo helped to promote it, there is no backing for the second season. This is why they are going through Kickstarter to raise the money for the second season. As Jon Marcus said, they will not make the show unless they reach their goal.

Whatever you can donate- be it a dollar, five dollars, twenty, one hundred- ANYTHING please go and do it. You will not regret it. Just think if we saved ONE person’s life just from them seeing this show, then all of the backing would be worth it. If we were able to show ONE more person that being gay is NORMAL and ACCEPTABLE, it would be worth it. If we were able to continue to depict gays in the same way that straight people are depicted, it would be worth it.

If you want to watch the incredible first season of “Hunting Season,” I highly suggest you visit their website and do that. Until then, I will be continuing to promote this amazing, incredible, moving series and ask you to please do anything you can to help them continue to do the one thing that is most near and dear to all of our artistic hearts- create.