CULTURE: Why Young Girls Fall for Gay Heartthrobs?

New Kids on the Block's Jonathan Knight joined Ricky Martin and Lance Bass in the club of "Former Boy-Band Heartthrobs Who Are Gay." And that has Mary Elizabeth Williams pondering why girls are drawn to boys who croon "Be My Girl"—and don't mean it. After all, when these former teen sensations reveal they're gay, that in turn reveals "something about what makes young girls' hearts go pitter pat," writes Williams. "And make no mistake—if you were ever in a boy band, your gravy train ran exclusively on the formidable power of 12-year-old girls."

It really all boils down to sex, writes Williams for Salon. "When those first stirrings of attraction kick in, young girls are generally not going to go for a boy who looks like he really, really wants to touch them in the bathing suit area." They're going to be drawn to someone nice and cute and "eminently safe," someone whose name they can scream "without ever feeling like she'll be challenged to prove it in the back of the tour bus." Because there's a brief moment of innocence in every fan's life. "And in that significant regard, Jonathan always had—and still possesses—the right stuff."