Christmas Gifts for Gay Friends and Partners: Games, Scents, Books and Homeware
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Buying for your gay best friend, partner or brother usually means landing somewhere between an in-joke and a properly good-looking object. Whether he's into homeware, queer fiction or pop-culture humour, there's something below. The game is ours and the mugs come from our own Etsy shop, MindTheBehind; the Amazon UK links are paid links.
1. Party games
A party game written for queer friends is an easy way to get a group talking over the festive break.
Our pick: Headless Torsos
A party card game built on hookup apps, nights out and modern gay dating. Players compete to make the funniest combinations from 50 Inbox cards and 100 Answer cards, all taken from real messages. It plays with 3 to 10 people and the humour is explicit, so keep it for the grown-ups (17+). Bring it out on Boxing Day or at your next house party.
2. Scent: "Gays love smells"
Home fragrance and niche perfume both make easy luxury gifts.
Boy Smells candles and perfumes: Boy Smells calls its scents "genderful". The Kush candle mixes cannabis, suede, white musk, tulip and amber in the brand's black glass jar, and there's an Italian Kush perfume to match. Both are at Space NK. Shop Boy Smells at Space NK
Tsu Lange Yor by Troye Sivan: Troye Sivan's own fragrance and home brand. The name is Yiddish for "to long years", and the range runs from earthy eaux de parfum to an oil burner. The flex gift for a design-obsessed scent lover. Shop Tsu Lange Yor at Free People UK
3. Books
A sequel out this September, plus two from the last few years.
- Cemetery Boys: Espíritu (paid link) by Aiden Thomas: the long-awaited sequel to the bestseller Cemetery Boys, with Latinx folklore, paranormal romance and LGBTQ+ magic.
- 300,000 Kisses: Tales of Queer Love from the Ancient World (paid link) by Seán Hewitt and Luke Edward Hall: illustrated retellings of classical stories of desire and romance.
- Star Shipped (paid link) by Cat Sebastian: a funny, warm queer romance for readers who like cosy, character-driven stories.
4. Funny and pop-culture gifts
For the friend who spends hours on fitness memes or binges romance series.
The "Hyrox Gay" mug: For the friend who won't stop talking about his last HYROX session, or compromise on his morning espresso. Buy the Hyrox Gay mug on Etsy
The Heated Rivalry "I'm coming to the cottage" mug: For fans of Heated Rivalry, hockey romance and bookish in-jokes. Buy the Heated Rivalry mug on Etsy
5. Coffee table books
Big photo books that work as decor and give guests something to pick up.
- Loving: A Photographic History of Men in Love 1850s–1950s (paid link) by Hugh Nini and Neal Treadwell: a century of vintage photographs of men in love.
- Queer X Design (paid link) by Andy Campbell: fifty years of LGBTQ+ graphic design, symbols and protest flags.
- Tom of Finland XXL (paid link) or The Little Book of Tom (paid link) by Dian Hanson (TASCHEN): Tom of Finland's homoerotic art, in a huge edition or a pocket-sized one.
6. Homeware
Look for something that reads as a design purchase first and a cheeky gift second.
- Sculptural male torso vases and candles: a white ceramic body-form vase (paid link) or a gold leaf torso candle (paid link) for a mantelpiece or bookshelf.
- Cheeky ceramic coasters and trays: playful line art, odd motifs, or catch-alls styled like retro hotel keyrings.
- Design-led erotic objects: glass or silicone pieces that pass for abstract sculpture on a bedside table.
7. Art prints
Statement pieces for his walls.
- Homoerotic line art: minimal prints inspired by Jean Cocteau or Keith Haring, like a Cocteau "Thème Orphique" print (paid link).
- Fine art photography prints: gallery-wrapped prints of muscular forms and classical marble statues, like this Bold Bloc Greek Statue canvas (paid link) or neon pride motifs.