Hornet Is Hosting #GreatGayStayIn, the Livestream Festival for a Community in Quarantine
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In these days of living through a global pandemic, leave it to members of the LGBTQ community — comedians, actors, bloggers, drag queens, fitness pros and health experts alike — to make the most of a sticky situation. Gay content creators haven’t changed so much what they’re doing, just how they’re doing it, and there’s currently no shortage of members of our diverse community who are continuing to share their gifts with the world, often straight from their living room to ours.
Thanks to social media platforms, those of us who are self-isolating are able to stay connected to family and friends. As one of those such platforms, Hornet, the world’s leading gay social network with its more than 25 million users worldwide, has proven to be a valuable resource for gay men around the globe to stay connected and stay sane while keeping physical distance in the time of COVID-19.
But after more than a month in #LGBTQuarantine, we could all use a little entertainment, right? Hornet is the latest platform to join the recent craze of livestream content, and on Thursday, April 23, the app is hosting the #GreatGayStayIn festival, a full day of live programming presented by a talented international roster of LGBTQ content creators.
The #GreatGayStayIn will feature a little bit of everything for a community in quarantine — home workout sessions, a live cooking demonstration, some frank discussion of love and relationships with a leading sexpert, an HBO premiere, and some much-needed comedy.
Hornet users will be directed to the day’s several livestreams right from the app’s feed, while others can stay tuned to Hornet’s social media channels for info throughout the day. All of the #GreatGayStayIn festival content will also be made available after-the-fact on both the Hornet app and website.
Check out some of the programming Hornet has planned for the #GreatGayStayIn festival on Thursday, April 23:
11 a.m. PST / 2 p.m. EST: Cooking live with Ricardo
Ricardo Peralta is one half of beloved Spanish-language YouTubers Pepe y Teo, in addition to his work as an actor and co-author of the best-selling self-help book La estupenda guía para vivir la vida a tu manera (The great guide to living life your way). As part of the #GreatGayStayIn festival, Ricardo will be leading us through a cooking demo of one of his favorite dishes, Chicken Tinga, from his home in Mexico City!
Noon PST / 3 p.m. EST: A home workout with fitness star Kenta Seki
Fitness star and entrepreneur Kenta Seki has made a career of guiding and inspiring people to achieve their health and fitness goals — even now while we find ourselves self-quarantining at home — and as part of Hornet’s #GreatGayStayIn he’ll be leading all of us in a home workout session focused on boosting energy and burning those quarantine calories! It’ll be a full body routine for all levels of fitness, and you won’t need any equipment!
1 p.m. PST / 4 p.m. EST: A lesson in comfortable quarantine fashion with Maurice Style
France-based style blogger Maurice Style wants to make sure we’re all comfortable — but stylish — while we’re all stuck in #LGBTQuarantine at home. In this sartorial tutorial he’ll offer some useful tips on how we can look our best for ourselves while home alone.
2 p.m. PST / 5 p.m. EST: Cocktails and crafting with Dixie Longate
Dixie Longate is the fast-talking, gum-chewing, ginger haired Alabama gal who brought your Grandmama’s Tupperware parties out of the living room and into the 21st century — and she happens to have one of the longest-running Off-Broadway tours in history, Dixie’s Tupperware Party. As part of Hornet’s #GreatGayStayIn festival, she’ll be offering a Southern story or two — cocktail in hand, natch — and some crafting and isolation tips to keep you from going crazy during lockdown.
3 p.m. / 6 p.m. EST: “Sex Talk” with Dr. Chris Donaghue
He’s a PhD, LCSW, psychotherapist, sex therapist and activist, but maybe you know Dr. Chris Donaghue as host of the hit nightly Sirius XM radio show Loveline and author of the book Rebel Love: Break the Rules, Destroy Toxic Habits, and Have the Best Sex of Your Life. As part of the #GreatGayStayIn, Dr. Chris will be answering Hornet users’ questions about sex, love and relationships — live!
4 p.m. PST / 7 p.m. EST: A sweaty workout with Mr. Gay Japan, Shogo
Born and raised in Japan and currently living in Australia, Shogo is a high school teacher, sexual health promoter and the very first Mr. Gay Japan! As part of Hornet’s #GreatGayStayIn festival, he’ll be leading Hornet users in what he calls “A sweaty workout to lift your booty and make it perky 🍑.” We can’t wait.
5 p.m. PST / 8 p.m. EST: Livestreaming story time with L.A. comedian Teddy Margas
An actor and comic, Teddy Margas is a regular performer at famed L.A. comedy venues like the Laugh
Factory, The Comedy Store and the World Famous Improv. (And maybe you caught him recently in RuPaul’s Netflix series AJ and the Queen!) While in quarantine he’s been sharing “Teddy Tales” with the world, in which he sits down on-camera to share funny stories about “growing up a big fat gay.”
6 p.m. PST / 9 p.m. EST: Live premiere of new HBO seres We’re Here
This Thursday, HBO will be premiering its latest series, We’re Here, in which Drag Race alums Shangela, Eureka O’Hara and Bob the Drag Queen recruit and train small-town residents for a one-night-only performance. In addition to airing on the premiere cable network, the series will debut on YouTube, where you’ll be able to experience the magic of the series — all about the transformative magic of drag — while chatting live with the queens using the YouTube Premieres chat function.
7 p.m. PST / 10 p.m. EST: Dance party DJ set live from San Francisco
Closing out Hornet’s #GreatGayStayIn festival is a live music set by DJ Mark O’Brien repping for the San Francisco Bay Area Queer Nightlife Fund, a fund created by local community and nightlife leaders to provide valuable financial relief (more than $146,000 to date!) to workers in the nightlife industry during this COVID-19 crisis. The fund hosts a weekly Sunday “Quaran-Tea Dance” full of disco, house and techno tracks and featuring local talent performing from their homes. O’Brien is also a co-founder of the party Polyglamorous and recently began a party called Club Virtual that keeps the music going while we shelter in place.
