In which The Gay Recluse updates his informal but rather telling quantitative analysis of Modern Love, the weekly Style Section (of The Times) column in which openly gay writers almost never appear, and even less frequently describe a romantic relationship.

This week’s piece: As a Father, I Was Hardly A Perfect Fit by Tim Elhajj

Subject: A father describes buying a hat for his son mostly as an act of vengeance against his ex-wife and as a way to make up for never visiting the kid. Feelings are hurt, but of course it all ends up happily ten years later. Zzzzzz. For our more impressionistic version, written from the son’s perspective, click here.

Filed under: Straight Man on “Family”

The updated tally (or why we feel like animals in the zoo): 7 out of 183 columns by openly gay writers; 2 out of 183 on female gay relationships; 0 out of 183 on male gay relationships. In what is arguably the “gayest” section of The Times, more women have written about gay men than gay men have.

Straight Woman on Relationships iiiii iiiii iiiii iiiii iiiii iiiii iiiii iiiii iii (43)
Straight Woman on Family iiiii iiiii iiiii iiiii iiiii iiiii iiiii i (36)
Straight Woman on “Looking for Love” iiiii iiiii iiiii iiiii iiiii iiiii iiiii (35)
Straight Woman on Breaking Up iiiii iiiii iiiii iiiii iii (23)
Straight Man on Relationships iiiii iiiii ii (12)
Straight Man on Breakup iiiiii (6)
Straight Woman on Gay Men iiiii i (6)
Straight Man on Family iiiii ii (7)
Straight Man on “Looking for Love” iiiii ii (7)
Gay Man on Family ii (2)
Gay Woman on Relationship ii (2)
Gay Woman on Family i (1)
Gay Man on Self-Hatred i (1)
Gay Man on Prom Date i (1)
Ambiguous/Nurse on Drugs i (1)