Fresh from the internet search engines, we have an age-old question: “Why do gay men like engineer boots?”
I have two ideas for answers to this question:

Before I jump into sharing my opinions, let me preface this thought with the point that many gay men do not wear boots of any kind. Some of them wouldn’t be caught dead in a pair of boots as I wouldn’t be caught dead in dress shoes (or even sneakers). Both of us collectively say, “yuck!” to the other’s preferred choices of footwear.

The point is that, once again, not all gay men are the same and with such a wide range in preferences of clothing and footwear that is applicable regardless of one’s sexual orientation, you will not find a strong preference for any style of boots among gay (or straight) men as a whole. Sure, there are some gay men who express strong preferences for certain styles of boots, but they are the exception rather than the rule. Trouble is with social media like YouTube, you will see more people with these strong preferences producing videos about them. But think about it — regular guys who wear boots but are not expressive about their preferences do not produce videos about their boots, do they?

Now, my two ideas about why some gay men prefer engineer boots:

1. Quality engineer boots are comfortable and make an understated but firm presence. Guys who look for sturdy and comfortable footwear that will not attract a lot of attention may prefer to wear engineer boots. This style of boots is also very affordable. Guys on a budget or who do not choose to wear boots often may add a pair of engineer boots to their wardrobe because it will not break the bank to do so. Then they have a knock-around pair of boots they can wear, especially if the weather is wet, muddy, or snowy — engineer boots are durable and are almost made to be scuffed up — so wearing them as work boots or when doing outdoor work is a no-brainer.

The reason listed above has nothing to do with sexual orientation. Ooops… there I go again, pointing out that there are not as many differences between gay and straight men as some folks would be led to believe by pervasive stereotypes that lead to many misperceptions and wrong-headed thinking.

Now, for a “gay reason” —

2. There are some gay men who remain in the closet. That is, they choose not to reveal their sexual orientation publicly. One way for a gay man to keep his sexual orientation hidden is to “butch up.” That is, adopt the clothing and footwear worn by masculine men. Many masculine men wear engineer boots. Why? The boots are tough and contribute to an overall tough (or “butch”) appearance.

Think, “James Dean.” Denim jeans, t-shirt, engineer boots…. I know some gay men who have told me that they wear engineer boots precisely for this reason — to appear to be more masculine so others will not think they are gay.

There is another reason not stated yet about why a guy would wear engineer boots:

3. Bikers wear boots. I am a biker; I ride a Harley. I like how engineer boots look, feel, and provide protection when I ride my motorcycle. After all, engineer boots were invented to protect the foot of railroad engineers then adopted by bikers as a common boot style. No biggie… engineer boots are cool.
Life is short: wear engineer boots.