Delegates from Mr. Gay World with the mayor of Knysna, Eleanore Bouw-Spies
MR.GAY
THE AUSSIE CHEF WORLD WITH A BIG HEART By KEVIN DU PLESSIS | Photography by Kevin du Plessis, Gerhard Meiring & Rubin van Niekerk
“IT’S NOT ABOUT WANTING TO BE SOMEONE, IT’S ABOUT WANTING TO DO SOMETHING”
C
hef and fierce gay rights campaigner Jordan Bruno from Australia had the crowd at Villa Castollini in Knysna roaring when he took the title of Mr. Gay World 2018. After a demanding competition before and at the annual Pink Loerie Mardi Gras and Arts Festival he came out on top among the nineteen other delegates attending. Each contestant had to go through twelve demanding rounds, which includes interviews, written tests, a social campaign, a social media challenge, online voting, a sports challenge, a photogenic challenge, national costume, swimwear, formal wear, they had to make a presentation video and then there was the final Q&A live on stage. So, it is truly not just a walk in the park for the prettiest or most popular gay guy from each respective country and Mr. Gay Australia truly deserves the support of the entire gay community as our new international ambassador. The week of the competition was packed with emotion and genuine people, all of whom truly stood a chance of taking the crown. The most significant part of the event was seeing so many beautiful, fully rounded gay men from all over the world come together, connect, and learn from each other. I cannot count the amount of times I teared up just watching
68
the process from behind my camera lens. And how could I not, being in the privileged position to be one of the only members of the media to sit through all the judging and being able to interact closely with the organisers and judges? When our new Mr. Gay World presented his social awareness campaign to the judges, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. Jordan is a reality TV chef in Australia and has run a campaign called The Gay Chef: Cooking for a Cause. He has released a free E-book packed with recipes and inspirational messages, as well as contact info about where gay people can find help if they need it. The book can be downloaded at www.jordanbruno.org. “I had an outpour of messages from gay youth after my sexuality was so publicised in the media; they were telling me that they were depressed and isolated because of their sexuality. I have created this E-book not because the meals have been tailored to the gay man, but because of the journey I have experienced with cooking. Food has the power to unite people and make them feel loved and I think we need that more than ever,” Jordan said. He also gave up working fulltime last year to be able to campaign for marriage equality laws in Australia which has since been legalised.