In their weekly YouTube show about all things gay, Artem Art Bezrukavenko and Cooper Hayes complained they havent seen theEmpireState Building illuminated in rainbow colors for Pride Month this year, as it has been in the past. They said theyve seen other New York skyscrapers lit up for Pride Month and wondered whats going on.Bezrukavenko, a 28-year-old native of Ukraine, who moved to the United States in 2017 and creates content for several social media platforms, lives in a Manhattan high-rise from which he can see three tall buildings with lights that change color to mark different events. Related Hey right-wingers: You can try, but LGBTQ+ Pride cant be canceled! Geez. havent you ever read How the Grinch Stole Christmas? I dont know if its a hot take, but I thinkEmpireState Building is being homophobic, he said in his sweet Ukrainian accent. EmpireState Building usually switches to rainbow, and this year its just gold. And the two other buildings are rainbow, when I look outside my window. So yeah,EmpireState is not even trying. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Its pretty sad to look up and see that theyre obviously not participating, agreed Hayes, 23, who lives in the same high-rise.Bezrukavenko had prefaced his remarks by noting that many companies arent using rainbow graphics and packaging to market their products during Pride Month this year, either.Companies are not changing their logos anymore, he observed. I think its our fault a little bit, too, because were like, OK, why do you change your logo? We dont need this. But I was like: I really wish theyd change all their logos because then Id feel more iconic.While he was more or less philosophical about the corporate logos, Bezrukavenko appeared to be taking theEmpireState Building situation as a personal affront.They betrayed us, he said, sounding wounded.Bezrukavenkos lament was one of several provocative observations voiced during a recent episode of the Cooper & Art Show, a podcast that drops every Wednesday on YouTube. The two content creators film each episode from Bezrukavenkos apartment on the Upper West Side. The format is always the same: the two of them sit side by side on a couch, sometimes shirtless, almost always in tight shorts that show off their thighs and bulges, with Manhattans skyline in the background. The first program appeared in February. Theyve since posted more than a dozen episodes, each lasting roughly 30 to 40 minutes. The show has more than 100,000 followers on Facebook.Its a simple, refreshingly wholesome concept: Two young men just sort of shooting the breeze about whatever subjects come to mind. Bezrukavenko is the inquisitive outsider who has graduated from the kiss or slap? interviews that earned him more than a million followers on TikTok. A New York City resident since 2021, hes still learning about and questioning the ways of America. Hayes, who was raised in Philadelphia, is a rabid Eagles fan who has a deep, soothing voice that makes anything that comes out of his mouth sound profound and convincing. Plus, he can sing. This is his first time co-hosting a podcast. The two have great chemistry, but they arent a couple. Bezrukavenko has a partner, whose nickname is Pumpkin. Hayes is single and dating. Theyre both Capricorns and consider themselves twunks.Although they kid about moving in together and forming a throuple with Pumpkin, theyre showing that it can be possible for two easy-going gay guys to be comfortable with each other and enjoy each others company in their underwear while engaging in nothing but conversation.From binge-worthy shows like The White Lotus to the wildest internet phenomena like Duolingo Death and the latest in pop culture, nothings off limits, they say. Each week brings a grab bag of topics, drawn primarily from current events. They tend to talk about things that either bother them or are on our minds or that people cant stop talking about. They dont dwell on any one subject for very long, which keeps their conversations fast-paced.Theyve talked about living in New York; their favorite TV shows and performers; favorite foods; going to the gym; going to the doctor; their plans for the weekend; negotiating a lease; Uber horror stories; moving stories; karaoke; allergy season; ChatGPT; Tesla; Jeff Bezos; window seats versus aisle seats on planes; plane crashes; The Simpsons versus Family Guy; approaching a midlife crisis; robot wars; getting blasted to smithereens by a meteor; and the erosion of American society in general.Relatable LGBTQ+-themed subjects figure prominently in their discussions. Theyve chatted about growing up with a gay voice; coming out; their love lives; gay vacations; gay bars; gay hookups; gay breakups; gay parenting; the ideal length of time to have gay sex; and gay-friendly islands to escape to. Also: threesomes; open relationships; power tops; drinking; incest; Twitter drama; whether to shave chest hair; Grindr versus Tinder; DL guys; Timothee Chalamet; Taylor Swift; Andy Cohen; Love, Simon; the need for Pride parades; the removal of Harvey Milks name from a U. S. Navy ship; and actress Jennifer Coolidges shoutout to some very excited gay students during her recent commencement speech at Emerson College.These weekly conversations are more light-hearted than hard-hitting. The hosts mostly stay away from politics, and they dont get angry or argumentative. Theyre not competing with The View.But every once in a while, they hit a nerve with a provocative hot take, like Colin Jost aims to do with his Hear Me Out segments on Saturday Night Live, or John Mulaney with his variety show monologues. Besides ranting about theEmpireState Building in their June 4 episode, the two provocateurs weighed in on the national debt (Does it really matter? Who do we owe that to?), The Handmaids Tale (It gives me anxiety, Bezrukavenko says of the series), and headless torsos on dating sites (Its easy to make a good torso; its hard to make a good face.)In a previous episode, Bezrukavenko predicted that singer/gymnast Benson Boone is going to be the new Justin Bieber, but better. Hayes said he thinks East Coast boys have something over those on the West Coast. California boys dont know the struggle of winter, he contends. That builds you as a person. Both are obsessed with The White Lotus. Bevrukavenko says the words iconic and low-key a lot.Along with the amiable chats, theres plenty of eye candy packed into every show, always captured from a strategic camera angle. The podcasts are far from X-rated, but for those who turn the sound down, the Cooper and Art Show is essentially one big, long, in-your-face crotch shot, and the hosts know it. Its no wonder they have 100,000 Facebook subscribers, and counting.As it turns out, their worries about a New York landmarks homophobia (if phallic works of architecture can indeed be homophobic) may have been premature. According to its official Tower Lights Calendar for June 2025 theEmpireState Building is scheduled to be illuminated in the colors of the Inclusive Flag on Sunday, June 29, in celebration of 2025 NYC Pride.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.