On Monday I killed some buzz with the news that your girlfriend’s boyfriend is likely not the source you hoped he’d be for good-guy set ups.

Today I hope to Tink-clap that buzz back to life with the news that a friend of the gay variety could possibly be the right guy to find your right guy.

This like all my advice should be taken slightly more seriously than however you’d properly modify the expression “with a grain of salt” to fit the grammatical structure of this sentence.

I may live with two gay men, call three best friends, and spend many a weekend with between eight and ten others, but I have never technically been set up by one. I believe there’s a valid reason for that, which we’ll get to as we move through the pro/con list relative to their services.

(A quick disclaimer – the contents of this post contain generalizations and stereotypes meant to be honest and comedic, not intended to offend or insult. I’m an equal-opportunity critic, exaggerator, and caricaturist).

Pro.

• Gay men have a real pulse on the entire male scene. You think you’re paying attention to the general crowd at a given bar in a given moment, check in with the gay guy standing next to you. He has not only eye-cased the joint thrice over but, given his assessment of the scene can likely predict who was there 15 minutes prior, and who’s about to show up. It is a unique skill I’m told is accomplished almost entirely by taking inventory of the pants and shoes worn by every person in the bar. This specific super power means a gay man will never answer, “So, do you work with any cute, straight guys,” with a, “hhmm, uummm…I don’t know…”

• Most gay men don’t mince words when it comes to the realities of dating. This means that in a scenario where you say, “well, I think what I’m looking for is _________,” they’ll say, “see, that’s your first problem. You actually need to be with a __________.”

• The idea of potential drama, awkwardness, gossip and/or the need for careful social scheming does to a gay man the opposite of what it does to a straight man. These issue are not the risked results they take in agreeing to set you up – they’re the rewards they reap.

• Unlike girlfriends, they’re not secretly out to set themselves up with all the guys they’re claiming to be finding for you. Never, ever trust a girl who, when you say, “but if he’s so great, why don’t you want to date him?” responds, “well, we work together, so I technically can’t…” You know that minx will be all over it just as soon as she can get herself transferred without it being blatantly obvious.

• Bragging rights over the future of your entire relationship. This cannot be underestimated.

Con.

• While any friend gay or straight will surely aim to respect your set-up ground rules, the gays have been known to go rogue. This doesn’t mean they don’t ultimately get the job done. It just means you shouldn’t be surprised if the guy acts like he knows wwaayy more about you than you intended on your first date.

• The converse to Pros List, Item 2. Yes, there are many instances where your gay best friend will be right – you should be with X kind of guy instead of Y. But there is bound to be a percentage of instances where he will be very wrong. And in 100% of that percentage he will have recommended someone eerily similar to the kind of guy he should be with…and/or Jake Gyllenhaal.

• It is often the case that no man is good enough for a gay man’s girl. This is very kind and very sweet until it gets to the point where every single man you put forth is met with a, “sweetie, you can do better.”

• Giving a gay man an inch of control over your dating life is akin to letting your little sister start to borrow your nicer clothes. Slipperly, slipperly slope.

Despite the list of Cons, I do recommend putting your gay friends to the set-me-up task. But please note that the same advice does NOT apply to allowing them free reign over your online dating profiles. Yes, I know they know you so well and wouldn’t lie about which pictures are best and have such a great way with words, but you go look at one online profile for a gay dating site and tell me I’m wrong.