Produced by four Toronto men in a commercial venture, the Gay Publishing Company, Gay ran "serious" articles, letters to the editor, a diary, gossip columns, a feature called the "Gabrial Club", poetry, fiction, politics and a discreet personal column.
Gay was illustrated, usually with photographs of drag queens, but also including physique photography.
Intended for a "mainstream" gay audience, it reflected cautious reformism, defending the rights and normalcy of a constituency living in a hostile environment.
Gay also published articles on Toronto police raids on bars, and on the calls for social and political change that were beginning to surface.
With a print-run of 2000 copies by issue three, the magazine was distributed to a number of outlets in Toronto and Montreal.