Brokeback Lismore: The gay cowboys

Real-life cowboys Dan Smith and Miki Velickovski are as hunky as Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain, even if they are always “covered in cow shit.” The couple’s simple, sexy (and messy!) farm life has been documented on Australian TV’s SBS2 network.

“I moved to the city, I tried to listen to the music that everyone else was listening to, I tried to dress like everyone else was dressing, I spent a lot of years, I guess, conforming to a stereotype of what I thought a gay person was,” say the 34-year-old Smith. “Then Miki came along . . .”

Smith met Velickovski, 32, in Queensland, and it was love at first sight. The cowboys settled down on a 155-acre beef cattle farm in New South Wales. Check out a video of their serene country life complete with morning rooster calls, long walks in the misty valley and shirtless horseback rides:

Keep Reading

Six members of the Rideau Speedeaus hold a sign with the league's name on it in front of a pool

Queer sports leagues offer safety and joy

Recreational sports leagues across Canada are offering LGBTQ2S+ people something essential: the freedom to just show up and play
The cover of 'I Remember Lights'; Ben Ladouceur

‘I Remember Lights’ is a time machine trip to Montreal’s gay past

Ben Ladouceur’s rigorously researched new novel is romantic, harrowing and transportive
A black and white photo of speakers at a rally; a sign that says "Love and Let Love" hangs behind them

‘Parade’ invites us to embrace queer history to tackle the present

Noam Gonick’s new documentary turns the spotlight on Canada’s long-overlooked LGBTQ2S+ activists to tell their stories
Countess Luann holding a microphone

Countess Luann on cabaret superstardom, Kenya Moore and life after ‘The Real Housewives’

“Elegance is learned, my friends,” and the Countess’s class is in session