Most people who visit Rome do so to visit the Vatican and maybe catch a glimpse of His Holiness on his balcony blessing the vast Sunday crowds in St Peter’s Square below.  When we were there, we were so aware that we were surrounded by hordes of excited Italians and very devout Catholics with such contagious energy it was hard not be carried away.

That wasn’t quite the ‘sight’ that Liam Campbell, the Editor and Photographer in Chief of ELSKA of our favorite queer photo zine wanted to see  he landed in Rome to meet local gay guys to feature in this his 54th edition.  He told QUEERGURu that more than almost anywhere else he’s visited, it was a huge challenge to persuade local men to take part. Perhaps it’s the looming shadow of the Vatican that casts an air of conservatism, or maybe it’s something else, but the fact that I managed to interview and photograph one person, let alone nine, felt like something of a miracle!”

We are not sure how he did it, or how he persuaded these ‘romans’ to share all, both physically and mentally, but he did.  His first surprise was to discover how diverse the local men were, and more than half of the men featured in this issue aren’t full-blooded Italians, even if they were born and raised there.  It wasnt his only lesson and by the end of putting the issue tiogther , Campbell realized that  being Italian isn’t such an easy thing to define. Overall, than half of the men featured in this issue aren’t full-blooded Italians, even if they were born and raised there , and thus he broke more stereotypes than in any other isseu”

Campbell kept extensive diaries of the trip in which he shared conversations with each of the men he met here. Topics include the role of the Catholic Church in daily life, problems with being queer in a sometimes rigid society, what it’s like to be a person of colour under Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government, and discussions of problems with dating Roman men. And there’s also frequent mentions of coffee and food, which are inescapable parts of Italian life.