Gawker: Out Magazine

Details' Gayness Increases Tenfold With Gossip Girl Cover

Richard — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 13:18:00 EDT

This here website (among many others) has been asking the same question for years. Is Details magazine gay? I mean, yeah, they pretty much are with all their fancy fashion ads and fancy men who are always gracing the cover. This month's bois are the dudes from teen soap Gossip Girl, and look! The cover is eerily similar to the fellas' Out cover appearance from back in March. (Heck, when New York Magazine featured the show, they included the ladies.) Note in these two gayish covers that resident twink Chace Crawford is sandwiched in the middle on both. Heh. Subtle. Click for larger comparison.

Bisexual Editor's Gay Marriage Slam

Ryan Tate — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 06:33:34 EDT

Sure, it makes sense that gay media mogul Paul Colichman, owner of Out and the Advocate, is taking some flack because he doesn't support Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. To gay rights advocates, after all, Obama is far preferable to his opponent. But Colichman's critics would do well to distance themselves from comrade-in-arms Neal Boulton, the Genre editor who slammed Colichman in Page Six today and declared his own support for Obama "whether he says he's for gay marriage or not." Pansexual playboy Boulton should realize that's easy for him to say, but for Colichman and his gay partner it's an entirely different story. Boulton is already married to a woman. The marriage is one of some devotion, and a natural outgrowth of Boulton's attraction to women. And it's hard to imagine the editor settling down with a man.

Boulton is with his wife mainly because she is mother to his children. And as he himself recently pointed out, "I am a horrible catch, as I am more married to my work and my guitar than I would ever be to any man woman or child."

Perhaps Boulton will be ready to settle down eventually. But, in the meantime, he should conjure some more sympathy today — now — for gays who would like the option to get married sooner. Gays like Paul Colichman.

(Photo via Queerty)

MTV Dude's Very Gay Moment

Ryan Tate — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 19:26:58 EDT

Brian Graden is a very powerful gay, 15th on Out magazine's newest power list, top executive at gay network Logo and president of entertainment at MTV's various music channels. But, being a successful entertainment executive, Graden is careful to nurture and protect his inner 14-year-old, so when Out asked him for a tale of "something gay that you do in your daily life," he was totally ready:

Today, because I was feeling a little stressed, I closed the door and cracked up Mary J. Blige's "It's Fine" to top volume in my office and danced around my office. That's probably pretty gay.

[Popnography]

Anderson Cooper 'Passes' On Outing

Nick Denton — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 11:10:40 EDT

Anderson Cooper made the cover of Out Magazine last year—well, a mask bearing his image, at any rate. Aaron Hicklin's Power issue was making the point that the CNN anchor was widely known in media circles to be gay, but avoided any public acknowledgment of his sexuality. The magazine, which ranks Cooper the third most powerful gay in America, tested the silver-haired TV journalist again this year, asking whether he'd pose for the cover. “Thanks for thinking of Anderson for this issue but we are going to pass,” responded his publicist. (After the jump, last year's cover.)

The Suckiest Job In Gay Media

Nick Denton — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 17:52:26 EST

Aaron Hicklin, former editor of Black Book, had a perfectly rewarding job at Out Magazine. He had made the gay magazine relevant with smart covers, such as the one asking why Anderson Cooper and Jodie Foster didn't just come out of the closet, already. The success of Out has propelled the Brit into a grander role, as editorial director of other Planet Out magazines, such as The Advocate, as well as websites such as Gay.com. Yuck. Instead of jetting down to Brazil on fashion shoots with hot models, Hicklin will now have to close down The Advocate, a magazine that chronicled gay liberation but is now scarily thin. The ancient magazine struggles even to attract advertising for HIV medications. And Gay.com is a hookup site giving up ground to newer competitors such as Manhunt. Not much scope there for Hicklin's editorial flair.

(Disclosure: Aaron is a friend, but he didn't tell me about this new job. Probably because I would have said he was crazy.)

'Out' Magazine Has An Issue With Nightlife

Joshua Stein — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 16:20:09 EDT

The October issue of Out was their "After Dark Issue." It was strange then that the release party took place this Sunday at Lotus around 6 p.m., as the sun set over New Jersey. Though the issue is an argument for the continued vitality of nightlife, anchored by a piece by the Village Voice's Michael Musto and our own photographer Nikola Tamindzic, the party itself was basically flatlining. Michael Musto had "been here but had to go somewhere else but he'll be back" some Out staffer told us. Out editor Aaron Hicklin was nowhere to be found for most, and perhaps all, of the evening. There was nothing to do but pick up the issue, talk to some fag hags and a lesbian or two and then try to taxonomically categorize the gays. Danielle Ezzo was there for anthropometrical and photographical reasons.

As I walked into Lotus I surveyed the crowd and came up with this rhyme: why are homos so homogenous? Why am me so so misogynist? Both the answers to those questions and the questions themselves are vexed but there was no denying that I had walked into a room full of people that looked and dressed just like each other.

The ones in shape (and most were) wore deep v-necks. Their hair was cropped closely on the sides and a little longer on top. There was gel used to create a messy ridge like a mane of a horse. I saw no zits and only well-moisturized skin. I saw hardly any tapered or skinny jeans. I saw mostly flared ones. Some had reconstructed patches on them. Madonna played!

In the back corner we did run into JD Samson, the kind of wonderful dyke member of the band Le Tigre, She has a faint mustache and was lamenting the sad senescence of New York City gay nightlife. "I came to NYC in 1996," she said. "Lesbian life has changed a lot since then. You used to have Meow Mix, the Hole, the Mad Clam, Club Casanova. But now a lot of those places have closed." Like a captain she surveyed the room sadly, a sea of gay men blithely dancing to Madonna. "I appreciate what Out magazine is trying to do: to bring a new readership of artists and lesbians." Of course, lesbians and artists have better things to do on a Sunday evening.

Queen Bees Stinging Mad Over Compound Adjectives

Choire — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 09:30:42 EDT

In one of the odder contretemps of our time, New York Times perfume critic Chandler Burr has gone off on gossip sheet Page Six over their description of Out magazine as a "gay-lifestyle mag." Says Burr: "'gay lifestyle' is a purely political term with a purely political meaning, and it's simply, factually inaccurate." We're siding with him on this: Out is obviously a "gay lifestyle magazine" but it is not a "gay-lifestyle magazine." We find Burr's understanding of hyphenation and compound adjectives rather unspeakably hot, and now we would very much like him to criticize our perfumes, if you know what we mean, wink wink. But more importantly: Is the "gay lifestyle mag" in trouble? Its ad pages are looking rough.

Last week, MediaPost noted that Out and its sister publication The Advocate suffered "big drops in ad pages and newsstand sales during the first half of the year—making 2007 the second year of double-digit declines for the titles," and that Out's ad pages in that period were down 20.% over last year.

We asked Out's editor Aaron Hicklin to tell us more, and he cast it like this: "I would say that the first six months of 2007 reflected a protracted handover between former editor and myself (Out had no editor in chief for five months), and the fact that the impact of our redesign (last November) is only now being felt in terms of an uplift, which is typical of this industry. September 07 was our biggest book in terms of ad pages to date, and December—our annual OUT 100 issue—is looking likely to beat last December."

As we recall, Out (and Advocate) lost their publisher back in February, so we're not surprised to see their ad pages suffer during the period of his departure. Oh and also the company is run by crazy people. That doesn't help at all.

Remainders: Gucci Knockoff

Doree Shafrir — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 18:35:11 EST

This guy made a fake Gucci ad using himself as the model, and a Swiss weekly ran it. The bill went to Gucci. Now he's M.I.A. [BoingBoing]

CanWest buys the rest of the New Republic, meaning Martin Peretz doesn't own any of it anymore. But, no surprise, he's still Editor-in-Chief. [NYO]

People like to start letters to the editor by establishing their credentials. [WaPo]

Wiseacres-cum-hackers are sending Jenny Holzer e-cards to beleaguered MoMA director Glenn Lowry... on MoMA's site. [Art Fag City]

A casualty in the war between Charlie Gibson and Brian Williams. [Radar]

Gawker Zen Koan Of The Day

Emily Gould — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 17:45:00 EST

Wind blows through the trees
why does 'Out' Magazine come
wrapped in opaque foil?

Gay Mag Tries To Be Less "Straight Acting"

abalk2 — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 17:12:22 EDT

Here's the cover from the newest number of Out, which has been redesigned "with a classy, minimalist look as part of a larger effort to reach a broader gay audience." Nice try, but note the use of capital and lowercase letters: This is clearly a magazine that says "I go both ways."

Out to Draw More Gay Readers [Mediaweek]

Get Yer New 'Out,' Much Like the Old 'Out'

Jesse — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 12:25:56 EDT

Our boss as just sent us the cover image for the July 2006 Out, the first from new editor Aaron Hicklin, the BlackBook vet. We can't say we find it particularly interesting or exciting, but bossman is buds with Hicklin and so we figured we might as well throw him a bone. And, actually, we ought to give Hicklin some credit. It's nice to see Out's cover-model tradition — a straight actor who happens to be playing a gay (in this case, bi) role — has remained intact. Excellent work.

[Click on the image to enlarge.]

Out.com
Earlier: Gawker's coverage of Aaron Hicklin.

'Out' Readers Approve of New EIC Aaron Hicklin

Jessica — Tue, 18 Apr 2006 14:20:43 EDT

The Daily Transom, always one to be cruising for a dose of Gay culture, notes that Out.com has a post announcing former Blackbook editor Aaron Hicklin as their starting pitcher. The media-savvy readers approve:

1. "I am pleased to have him as the new editor and chief, he is also sexy."

2. "I hope that you will enjoy OUT magazine. [...] P.s. Your also very cute too."

3. "Hello, please show men with a nice hair on the chest. Thanks"

4. "Best of luck! You have great credentials along with looks."

5. "I welcome you to OUT and if you ever want to go for a roll in the sack that could be arranged! WOW! You should be the next Hot Guy of the Day!"

When starting a new job, it's always nice to be welcomed with open arms and unzipped pants.

For the Gays, a Long Row to Hoe [The Daily Transom]
Earlier: Hicklin Abandons 'Blackbook' for 'Out'

Hicklin Abandons 'BlackBook' for 'Out'

Jesse — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 12:28:03 EDT

Jossip has news this morning that BlackBook editor Aaron Hicklin is leaving the glossy arbiter of downtown hip to take over Out, the glossy arbiter of what straight actors are playing a gay role and willing to be on the cover. No word yet on succession plans at BlackBook — we hear the mag's staff only learned of Hicklin's impending departure over the weekend — nor on what plans Hicklin has for Out. But at the very least, we hope he'll be able to find himself a perhaps-apocryphal closeted baseball star to call his own.

Aaron Hicklin Is Out's New Daddy [Jossip]

Editor of Gay General Interest Magazine Resigns

Pareene — Wed, 05 Oct 2005 12:11:21 EDT

It seems that Brendan Lemon, editor of Out magazine, has resigned. You might say that he is out of a job, in fact!

Oh, that'd be clever!

Brendan Lemon walks out on Out [Jossip]
Out Ed Out [MB]
Out, out, damn editor, out I say! [fishbowlNY]
Out of Lemon [Queerty]
When Life Gives You Lemons, Go Sell Lemonade In Chelsea Because The Gays Are Rich Suckers [The FAGAT Guide]