SPAIN: King Poses For Gay Magazine

Spain's King Felipe VI, 46, has posed for the cover of a local gay magazine as a show of support for the LGBT community. According to Latin Gossip, this is the first time that a "high-ranking Spanish official" has done so. Felipe took the throne last year following the abdication of his father, King Juan Carlos. The magazine is available online and the article on Felipe (pages 17-20) can be read in both Spanish and English. The opening paragraph is below.

(Tipped by JMG reader Eric)

CORRECTION: JMG reader Eduardo writes from Sitges to note that the above photo is an official royal portrait and that King Felipe did not "pose" for the magazine. Per Ragap Revista, the "royal house" did authorize the photo's use as their cover image.

MSNBC Adds Another Gay Anchor

Openly gay Salon senior writer Steve Kornacki will return to MSNBC to anchor the weekend slot held by Chris Hayes, who is moving to the weeknight position to be vacated by Ed Shultz.  Kornacki previously co-hosted MSNBC's The Cycle.

Steve Kornacki hopes to maintain a sense of continuity for viewers even as he develops his own style for the show. "We want to try to work with the template they’ve created," said Kornacki in a phone interview with The Hollywood Reporter. "Obviously, I’m not Chris, Chris isn’t me. I can’t be a carbon copy of him. If I tried to be, I’d fail, the show would fail. They’ll be some differences, but they’ll sort of evolve."

Kornacki, who came out publicly two years ago, will be MSNBC's third gay anchor, joining Rachel Maddow and Thomas Roberts.  (Tipped by JMG reader Birdie)

Black LGBT Press At The DNC

NEW ZEALAND: American DOMA Refugee Named Head Of National Gay Magazine

Two years ago I told you about my longtime dear friend Leif Wauters (above left), who was forced to move from San Francisco to New Zealand in order to stay with his Kiwi husband, who had to leave the United States due to DOMA. In a brighter turn of events, Leif has just been named the editor of New Zealand's LGBT magazine, Express, who announced the news today on their website.

Leif has an extensive history in and passion for GLBT community engagement, having worked for two years as director of operations at the original BEAR magazine in the mid-1990s, a year-long support role for the now-defunct San Francisco arm of the LA-based GLBT community magazine called Frontiers, and over three years as director of operations at landmark gay porn company Hot House Entertainment. Outside of his business experience, Leif says it’s his volunteer work within the community that has really brought joy to his life. “My volunteer work includes two years producing the infamous Folsom Street Fair, ten years helping to run the Leather Market at IML (International Mister Leather), and generally lending support to various community events and fundraisers over the years. Oh, I almost forgot… six years on the Working Group and Board of Grass Roots Gay Right West (GRGR/West), producers of REAL BAD."

When I lived in San Francisco, Leif was the busiest man I knew, always with a dozen fundraisers and volunteer events on his schedule. He also seemed to know every single man in the city by name, an invaluable resource for me back when I was just a Fog City newbie. I'd wager that Express readers can expect some aggressive work from Leif as New Zealand's marriage vote draws near. That said, I still want Leif and Mo to come home.

Dem Convention Schedule

Above are just a few of the early morning events on each day of the Democratic Convention in Charlotte. Hit the link and scroll around to see other items on the schedule, many of which take place at night. Since I'm mostly at the mercy of the DNC press bus to get me back to my hotel in South Carolina, we'll see how many after-hours schmoozers I can squeeze in. More items will be added to the schedule as the start date draws nearer, but please feel free to tip me off if you see or hear about an event that would be of interest here. There will be some events hosted by LGBT groups, but so far nobody seems to have gotten official notice of those. Still haven't picked out a JMG meetup location either, dammit. (Tipped by JMG reader John)

TENNESSEE: Vanderbilt Employee Busted Throwing Out Copies Of Local LGBT Paper

Security cameras at Vanderbilt University revealed that an employee has been removing copies of the local LGBT paper and throwing them in the garbage.

The papers were editions of Out & About, a monthly publication geared toward Nashville's gay and lesbian community. For Out & About Editor Patrick Armstrong, it answers a frustrating and lingering question over what has been happening. It's our work being thrown in the garbage can," Armstrong said. "This had been going on for a year." Police said the woman, identified as a longtime Vanderbilt employee, is seen in two different surveillance videos taking all the papers from a newsstand in Light Hall. Channel 4 is not identifying the woman because she has not been charged, but officers said she admitted throwing the papers in recycle bins.

Since the paper is free, the woman cannot be charged with theft. Future issues on campus will cost 50 cents so that an arrest can be made if she strikes again.

The Advocate Endorses Obama

Making what they say is their first endorsement "in decades," today The Advocate officially backed Barack Obama.

By saying aloud, “I think same-sex couples should be able to get married,” in a televised interview on ABC, he has sparked conversation domestically and internationally. While he is our president at home, globally he’s an icon, a symbol of the promise of America, of the promise of equality. Obama may be the most prominent man on the planet ever, given the pervasiveness of modern media and his anomalous and historic nature as the first black American president; he is surely the single most recognizable head of state on the globe. By virtue of his unique position, his endorsement of marriage equality is not merely rhetoric. His words constitute action. On the very face of it, his statement is enormous, and has the power to move millions in a way that a statement from no other person could have.

Read the full article.

Buzzfeed Hires Gay Reporter Chris Geidner

Over the past few years I've probably excerpted the excellent work of gay reporter Chris Geidner hundreds of times via his gig at Washington DC's MetroWeekly. Today Geidner moves up to a much bigger audience.

Chris Geidner joins BuzzFeed as Senior Political Reporter and will continue his aggressive, news-driven coverage of politics and policies of LGBT issues and of the battles over marriage. [Buzzfeed editor] Ben Smith: “Chris Geidner is the fastest, best-sourced reporter on his beat. The marriage wars and gay rights battles are some of the key stories of the decade; stories that readers from BuzzFeed to social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit care about deeply. It deserves to be treated with a fair mind as a front-line political beat, and Chris is uniquely positioned to turn BuzzFeed into a hub for that coverage.”

Congrats, Chris!

Obama Campaign "Likes" Pride Magazine

The Obama campaign has posted Pride 2012's cover image to their Tumbler page. Sweet. You can read the magazine online in its entirety.

Pride Magazine 2012 Is Online

Pride Magazine 2012 is online in its entirety. Click on the link and hit full-screen to click through the title page by page. And keep an eye out for a piece (page 77) from our own Father Tony!

Pride Magazine 2012

I'm loving the artwork, very Peter Max, circa late 1960s.

Out Lays Off Entire Staff

Capitol New York reports that Out Magazine has laid off its entire editorial staff.

The editorial staff of the influential gay lifestyle magazine Out is being laid off with one month's severance as of Friday, Capital has learned. But according to Out editor-in-chief Aaron Hicklin, it's more complicated than that. Hicklin said he will hire back an unspecified number of editors on a contract basis into a new company he is founding called Grand Editorial. It will operate the magazine as a contractor for Here Media, a subsidiary of Regent Media, which acquired Out in 2008. Hicklin told Capital there will be no reduction in the frequency of the magazine or other major changes to the content. "This was not a cost-cutting measure," he said.

Not a cost-cutting measure?

Out is Hicklin's first, and so far only, client. He said he plans to offer long-term contracts at Grand to "most" of his 12 editorial employees at Out. Should any of them take it, he said, the gig will come with flexible hours and the opportunity to work on other projects in the Grand stable, but not full-time salaries or benefits. (They will be contracted freelancers.) [snip] Hicklin said he doesn't have any outside investors and that revenue at this point will be project-based, a prospect that has been met with gentle skepticism from some Out staffers: Here Media has had problems paying its freelancers and vendors over the past several years.

RELATED: In November 2009 it was announced that The Advocate would henceforth be shipped only in combination with sister publication Out, ending after 40+ years the stand-alone status of the nation's most highly regarded LGBT news source.

This Week's Advocate

Portland's LGBT Paper Folds After 29 Years

From the publisher of Portland, Oregon's Just Out: "Effective December 26, 2011, Just Out newsmagazine, serving Portland’s LGBTQ community since 1983, is no longer in business. Three years of recession have taken their toll."

Staff Of Chicago's Gay Paper Quit

The woes of queer print media appear unending. Staffers of the long-running LGBT paper Chicago Free Press have quit because their salaries weren't being paid.

The art director, graphic designer and most of the writers at the Chicago Free Press left the gay publication Monday after the company stopped paying its employees, according to Matt Simonette, who also left his position as editor. The news follows financial struggles and decreased ad sales for the paper, which is geared toward the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities. Simonette said Tuesday that editorial contributors had not been paid since mid-November and staff members had not received paychecks that were due Dec. 15. Other former employees said paychecks had not come on time in the past. "The senior staff did not resign; it was just simply a matter of leaving because of non-payment," Simonette said.

The paper is owned by Rainbow Media.

Christianists At The Gay Journo Convention

Some Christian outfit called the Culture and Media Institute infiltrated attended the NLGJA Convention in DC last weekend. Here's their recap.

It’s spelled NLGJA, but they pronounce it “Negligee.” [JMG: Never heard this, but it IS funny.] The National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA) just held its annual convention here in Washington D.C., attracting hundreds of journalists – and ringing endorsements – from virtually every major publication and broadcaster in the news media.

In a full-page ad in the convention program, NBC Universal declared it is “proud to support NLGJA,” under the bold headline: “YOUR VICTORIES ARE OUR VICTORIES.”

After listening to speaker after speaker express hatred and contempt for political and religious conservatives while plotting how to advance the homosexual activist agenda through journalism, I’m left wondering whether Americans know the extent of the media’s bias on homosexual issues. Do they know that the news media have thrown themselves fully behind the gay rights movement? Every major news organization sponsored the convention, bought space in the program or had recruiting booths.

[snip]

On a partisan level, the conferees clearly leaned toward the Democrats. One speaker frankly admitted that the homosexual activist community generally expects most gays to be Democrats. [JMG: This might have been me] Two panels touched on a partisan controversy raging in the homosexual community: James Kirchick, Assistant Editor of The New Republic, said gays are “shocked” and “up in arms” because the owner of “Manhunt,” a very popular same-sex “dating” site, contributes money to presumptive GOP presidential candidate John McCain. [JMG: But this turkey fails to note that Kerchick strongly disagreed, so much for HIS objectivity.]

[snip]

NLGJA members generally view themselves as members of an oppressed minority group, which suggests they’re likely to bring a political agenda to their journalism. The NLGJA convention doesn’t seem to be a likely place to find objective reporters. Nevertheless, most of the top organizations in journalism sent recruiters: The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, AP, NPR, Bloomberg, even conservative-leaning Fox. The poor Fox recruiter seemed lonely.

The political and ideological bias so readily apparent at the NLGJA convention reflects a glaring problem in the news industry as a whole. Reporting the news objectively is still a matter of professional pride to most journalists, but many also have bigger fish to fry.

The Culture and Media Institute's tagline: Advancing Truth and Virtue in the Public Square.

New Owner Of Advocate & Out Magazines Tears Up Donation Check For Obama

Paul Colichman, the new owner of The Advocate and Out Magazine, tells Page 6 about watching Barack Obama at last week's Saddleback Forum.

"I'm a die-hard Democrat," he tells Page Six. But Colichman was also a die-hard Hillary Clinton supporter. He and Harry Thomason produced a documentary, "The Hunting of the President: The 10-Year Campaign to Destroy Bill and Hillary Clinton."

Colichman, 46, who owns The Advocate and Out magazines, GayWired.com, and Here, the premium cable network for gays, said he finally dealt with his disappointment over Clinton's defeat last week and came around to Obama. "I thought, 'Get over yourself!' I had literally written out a check to the Obama campaign. And then I saw him in front of an evangelical group in Anaheim," he said.

Before Rick Warren at the Saddleback Civil Forum, both Obama and McCain defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman. "I thought, 'Wow! He just threw the gay community under the bus,' " Colichman said. "My partner looked over at me, and we tore up the check."

Colichman, who also makes nongay movies and TV shows with his Regent Entertainment in Westwood, Calif., isn't overly concerned that by withholding his support for Obama, he might help McCain win the White House.

"If we always vote for the lesser of two evils, if we accept their crumbs and platitudes, if we write checks to candidates who don't stand up for us, aren't we being self-destructive?" he argues. But other gay activists say Colichman's just a sore loser. "Obama is much more gay friendly than Hillary ever was," said one. Clinton doesn't support gay marriage, either.

As Colichman was a producer of a pro-Hillary documentary, he is obviously plugged into the political world and it therefore strains credulity that he only just realized that Obama does not support gay marriage.

Advocate To Cut Back To Monthly

The Advocate, which has been a biweekly for decades, will trim back to a single monthly issue in January, according to new editor-in chief Jon Barrett.

"I don't think there is a need for a biweekly magazine anymore with the Web," Barrett said. Barrett added that the magazine will be thicker, with a heavier paper stock. "We will have more room for bigger stories and we're going to get better writers," he added. "You will see more news in the magazine."

Barrett took over editing the magazine earlier this summer; his first issue is the one currently on newsstands that features a cover story about Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Among other changes Barrett has in store is a move away from covers featuring entertainers; for example, he said that he doesn't think the magazine needs to feature a cover shot of straight man who is playing a gay role. And of course, the question of what it's like to kiss a man," Barrett said, referencing a frequent question posed to straight actors in such interviews. "I don't think our readers want to read those stories anymore," he said, adding that those features were needed in the 1990s, when it was validating to many LGBTs.

(Via - Bay Area Reporter)

Obama Says Nothing New To Advocate

UPDATE: One paragraph in the interview is bringing wide media attention. In it, Obama says that he won't make the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" a "litmus test" for his potential Joint Chiefs of Staff appointees.

The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund agrees with Obama's position. Victory Fund spokesperson Denis Dison says, “In terms of any kind of litmus test for his appointees, I think Obama is correct that the most important qualifications for those jobs are that they agree with his view of how best to protect the country … and other policy issues necessarily take a backseat to that main goal." Dison emailed me to emphasize that the Victory Fund has not endorsed any candidate.

I had thought that Obama had already stated that his appointees wouldn't necessarily be bound to his own personal positions. So maybe this bit IS new.

-----------------------------------------------

The Advocate's interview with Barack Obama is up. An excerpt:

The Advocate: Let’s start with what’s hot, why the silence on gay issues? You’ve only done one other interview with the LGBT press. I know people wish they were hearing more from you.

Sen. Obama: I don’t think it’s fair to say silence on gay issues. The gay press may feel like I’m not giving them enough love. But basically, all press feels that way at all times. Obviously, when you’ve got limited amount of time, you’ve got so many outlets. We tend not to do a whole bunch of specialized press. We try to do general press for a general readership.

But I haven’t been silent on gay issues. What’s happened is, I speak oftentimes to gay issues to a public general audience. When I spoke at Ebenezer Church for King Day, I talked about the need to get over the homophobia in the African-American community, when I deliver my stump speeches routinely I talk about the way that antigay sentiment is used to divide the country and distract us from issues that we need to be working on, and I include gay constituencies as people that should be treated with full honor and respect as part of the American family.

So I actually have been much more vocal on gay issues to general audiences than any other presidential candidate probably in history. What I probably haven’t done as much as the press would like is to put out as many specialized interviews. But that has more to do with our focus on general press than it does on … I promise you the African-American press says the same thing.

[snip]

The Advocate: Do you have any regrets about the South Carolina tour? People there are still sort of mystified that you gave Donnie McClurkin the chance to get up on stage and do this, and he did go on sort of an antigay rant there.

Sen. Obama: I tell you what, my campaign is premised on trying to reach as many constituencies as possible, and to go into as many places as possible and sometimes that creates discomfort or turbulence. This goes back to your first question. If you’re segmenting your base into neat categories and constituency groups and you never try to bring them together and you just speak to them individually -- so I keep the African-Americans neatly over here and the church folks neatly over there and the LGBT community neatly over there -- then these kinds of issues don’t arise.

From what I can tell, no new ground is broken in the interview. Obama talks about repealing DADT, repealing DOMA, and how tough it will be to get a transgender-inclusive ENDA passed in Congress - all familiar positions from him. Maybe that's why he hasn't had anything to say to the gay press for six months.

Advocate To Publish Obama Interview

Just days after the Philadelphia Gay News published a large blank section on their front page to protest Barack Obama's unwillingness to speak to the gay press, the Dallas Voice has confirmed that The Advocate has conducted an interview to be posted on their site tomorrow. It is Obama's first interview with the gay press since he discussed the Donnie McClurkin debacle with The Advocate over six months ago. I'll excerpt the interview here once it goes up.