Gawker Media founder Nick Denton threw a Summer of Love soiree in support of marriage equality on the roof deck of the Gawker HQ Wednesday evening, with proceeds from party tickets going toward the Empire State Pride Agenda Foundation. It was attended by a horde of media gays, as well as Real Housewives of New York City Ramona Singer, Sonja Morgan, and Alex McCord, and MSNBC’s Tamron Hall and Thomas Roberts. Denton, who is gay, is rarely seen publicly supporting any political cause — even one as worthy and presumably dear to him as marriage equality — but perhaps Gawker Media’s mores are changing. “We have a reputation for being snarky and jaded and without principle here, and that’s a little dated,” Denton told us last night. “I’m a little tired of it.”
The man of the hour, looking dapper in a tight button-up (and being noticeably gracious toward the waitstaff, for what it’s worth), said he does not have any current plans to come out and support other legislative decisions, however. “[Marriage equality] doesn’t really seem like a political cause,” he explained. “In five years’ time, it will be seen to have been a matter of historical inevitability. It’s not a matter of right or left. But this is one of those issues that, if you polled the Gawker audience, it wouldn’t be very controversial. If you were to poll the Gawker writers, it wouldn’t be very controversial. This is one of the queerest media companies in New York.”
Denton told us he’s fallen in love “once or twice” in his life, and he does consider himself the marrying type. “Yeah, I do [want to get married],” he said. “I think straight couples have a schedule: You’re together for two years and then there’s the ‘where is this going?’ question, which wouldn’t necessarily be good for everyone, but I think it’s pretty healthy for relationships, for there to be a presumption that there is a decision to be made. If it’s straight guys that are the ones that need to be convinced to vote for gay marriage, then I think our argument to them should be: ‘For whatever perverse reason, gay guys want to go through the same misery that you do. At least some of them, they might actually want to be put on the spot the way that you guys are and asked, “Are you serious about this?” And if you’re not serious, then maybe we should break up.’” Of course, we asked Denton if he had any potential husbands in mind, and he said he does not. However, he added, “I would have gotten married to my ex.”
