Straight guy and gay

Tom knows that. At the time, he considered his church progressive. See on Instagram. And when they hit the right party, Gregg sheds his shirt beside Felix in a sea of sweaty, writhing men. 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.

Tom Felix was the director. 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. By junior year of high school, he had come out to himself.

Still, the experience stuck with him. 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. Felix grew up in a working-class Catholic household in central Connecticutwhere he says it took time to make peace with being gay.

The two hit it off immediately: witty banter, creative chemistry, and, yes, a little bit of undeniable mutual attraction. Asked if the relationship has ever crossed into romantic or sexual territory, both are disarmingly candid. 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. Felix, 46, is quieter and more careful. Now, this guy was fairly effeminate so I figured he was probably chatting me up because he was interested, but he wasn’t being flirty, and I love talking to people, so I didn’t want to throw out a ‘by the way, I’m straight.’ “I ask him about his dancing, he asks me about work.

He now works as director of operations for a spirits portfolio—think bourbon, vodka, rum, ready-to-drinks. Their new podcast, No Homo with Jonathan and Tomis a weekly riff on life, masculinity, queerness, parenting, politicsand everything in between. The other is gay.

Felix officiated at Gregg's wedding.

7 Reasons Every Straight

When Felix and Naquan get married next year, Gregg will return the favor. 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.

It became family. And the bullying he endured as a kid, taunts for doing theater, not playing sports, still lingers in memory. 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.

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. Their rhythms may differ, but the friendship is seamless. Gregg, 43, lives in Queens with his wife and two young kids.