Gay and straight guy

As he left Alabama, first for Nashville and then New York, the distance made clear how insular his upbringing had been and how much space there was to grow. Felix, 46, is quieter and more careful. Felix officiated at Gregg's wedding. He waited until college to come out to others, on his very first night in New York, sitting in a diner with a group of fellow freshmen.

The phrase grew out of lived experience. At the time, he considered his church progressive. Their new podcast, No Homo with Jonathan and Tomis a weekly riff on life, masculinity, queerness, parenting, politicsand everything in between.

Their rhythms may differ, but the friendship is seamless. And he respects it. The two hit it off immediately: witty banter, creative chemistry, and, yes, a little bit of undeniable mutual attraction. Felix grew up in a working-class Catholic household in central Connecticutwhere he says it took time to make peace with being gay.

It became family. By junior year of high school, he had come out to himself. Similar to questions that loom about whether straight men and women can ever truly be platonic friends, the same question lingers over the friendships between gay and straight men.

Together, these best friends are reimagining masculinity Courtesy Jonathan Gregg & Tom Felix (provided) Tom Felix (left) and Jonathan Gregg (right) are gay and straight best friends. See on Instagram. By senior year, he was quietly living a double life, closeted at school, where he was prom king and class president, but beginning to explore his sexuality through community theater.

Their closeness has shaped Gregg's public persona, too. And the bullying he endured as a kid, taunts for doing theater, not playing sports, still lingers in memory. Gregg, 43, lives in Queens with his wife and two young kids. As a queer man in a fraternity, my college career was straight men trying to explain away their queer tendencies as jokes and misunderstandings.

Tom Felix was the director. And when they hit the right party, Gregg sheds his shirt beside Felix in a sea of sweaty, writhing men. Asked if the relationship has ever crossed into romantic or sexual territory, both are disarmingly candid.

The other is gay. But the friendship that followed, spanning city apartments, career pivots, marriages, late-night texts, vacations, and barbecues, grew into something beyond flirtation or creative synergy. He now works as director of operations for a spirits portfolio—think bourbon, vodka, rum, ready-to-drinks.

By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. They met in a Brooklyn theater nearly two decades ago — an audition, a role, a spark of camaraderie. When Felix and Naquan get married next year, Gregg will return the favor.

Still, the experience stuck with him. Tom knows that.