If you work in tech, Wired’s new cover story is not exactly going to shatter your worldview, but it is a genuinely great read all the same. Reporter Zoë Bernard spent months talking to 51 people, 31 of them gay men, to map out a subculture that has been an open secret in Silicon Valley for years. It details how gay men in the upper echelons of tech have quietly built their own support networks, the way powerful people have always done.
One angel investor puts it plainly, stating that gay men in tech are succeeding vastly because they support each other, whether that means hiring someone, angel investing in their companies, or leading their funding rounds. Another source frames it almost philosophically, noting that straight guys have the golf course while gay guys have the orgy. He clarifies that this is not necessarily problematic, but simply a way to bond and connect.
The piece does not let the culture off the hook entirely. As is true wherever power dynamics exist, nine of the gay men interviewed describe experiencing unwanted advances from more senior colleagues. Bernard does not shy away from examining where networking ends and coercion begins. However, her sources are careful about the implications, warning that it is a complex subject. They stress that readers should not confuse some bad men being gay with all gay men being bad, noting it can be a slippery slope into homophobia.