Mark Carter: Mr. Gay UK

A new queen king was crowned in the UK this week as Mark Carter, a twenty-three year old policeman from Birmingham who entered the competition at the spur of the moment during a night out, became the new Mr. Gay UK. But don't think he did it just to indulge everyone's hot cop fantasies, since he says that one of his reasons for entering the competition was to "change the public perception of the stereotypical gay man": "I am happy that people will be able to see that there are police officers who are gay and we are not necessarily the usual people that they see on TV programmes like Big Brother ... It will be good for other young gay men to see someone like me who has been successful in a professional job like policing." (Lucky for Mark that his colleagues were more understanding than those of a fellow contestant who was kicked out of his navy position for having consensual sex with a male partner.) There's plenty of pics of Mark changing public perceptions on the Mr. Gay UK website (wow, gay men actually work out?); as for us, we're just happy to admire his nightstick through that swimsuit.
-DD

· Mr. Gay UK Winner Mark Carter (mrgayuk.co.uk, via towleroad.com)
· See also: "Mr Gay UK Navy Sex Scandal" (bgay.com - thanks James)