Janet Jackson's long been a gay favorite. No surprise, then, that she did a little pre-album sit down with The Advocate.

Journo Brandon Voss gets into the thick of Jackson's gay activism, what she would have happened if "Tito or one of your other siblings" came out - "I honestly don’t know," says Jackson - and whether she thinks of her homos when writing her tracks:

BV: Do you specifically keep gay fans in mind during your writing and recording process?

JJ: For certain songs, yeah, for sure I do. I was thinking about ’em when I was making “Rock With You” on the new album—it just has that feel, that beat to it. I kept stressing that I have to have something for the kids, I need to have something for the children!

Isn't that infringing on Michael's territory?

Uber-queer Chris Crocker makes an expletive-laden return to YouTube this week.

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In an effort to save its seemingly sinking brand, PlanetOut appointed Out EIC Aaron Hicklin as the company's Editorial Director. In addition to working with other editors under the media umbrella, Hicklin will "play an integral role in the development of the digital media aspects of Gay.com 2.0 and will serve as the creative visionary behind the re-launch of PlanetOut.com," says an internal email.

Hicklin couldn't be more excited, squealing via email:

I’m delighted to be given the opportunity to work with the editorial teams in the Planetout family in pursuit of a more integrated and comprehensive editorial strategy. It’s a big task, but we have some tremendously talented and resourceful people working for our print and online properties, and I’m looking forward to meeting with them all in the next month and listening to their suggestions and ideas as we continue to build on our already considerable achievements.

In "the next month"?! Oh, right - it's a planet. Hope Hicklin packs a lunch!

Here's the entire aforementioned email from CEO Karen Magee. It's a truly remarkable read.

Dear Colleagues,

It gives me great pleasure to announce the appointment of Aaron Hicklin
as Editorial Director for PlanetOut Inc. At the same time that Aaron
assumes responsibility for all of the online and magazine content
created across our company, he plans to continue in his role as the
Editor in Chief of Out.

In this newly created position, Aaron will work closely with the
Editors in Chief of each of our magazines, and our digital editorial
team, to ensure that we are maximizing our editorial resources and
talent across all of our properties. He will play an integral role in
the development of the digital media aspects of GAY.COM 2.0 and will
serve as the creative visionary behind the re-launch of PlanetOut.com.

All of you know Aaron as the immensely talented editor who, along with
his terrific team at Out, has completely redesigned and re-launched
that magazine over the course of the last 18 months. What you may not
know is that Aaron previously served as the Editor in Chief of
BlackBook magazine and as the Executive Editor of Gear magazine. Aaron
transitioned into the US magazine market from his position as the
Features Editor for Scotland on Sunday, prior to which he began his
career as a contributing writer for The List (Edinburgh) and The
Independent (London).

Please join me in congratulating Aaron on his new role.

Karen

Comedienne Kathy Griffin sat down with Corey Scholibo for The Advocate's Hollywood Issue. Here's a mere taste of the shenanigans. See a brief backstage interaction between Griffin and photography Mike Ruiz - after the jump…

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• Amy Winehouse popped into her husband Blake's court hearing today. As you can see, the singer went through loads of trouble getting gussied up. Sort of…

• The Advocate's Kerry Eleveld digs into South Carolina's pre-primary policy.

• The Democratic National Committee included trans delegates during 2004's convention. So where are the trannies during this race?

• Laura Kiritsy probes Florida's potential gay nuptial ban.

• Jack Mackenroth needs your help!

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PlanetOut's stocks tumbled this week after the gay media company announced it may sell itself to the highest bidder. We've been hearing murmurs of staff shake-ups - event marketing director Chip Stevenson, media man Rich Rodriguez both out - but our details are hazy, homos!

Meanwhile, a reader has also been picking up some chatter:

I've heard that some very prominent people over at LPI have resigned and that a few others have been let go. At The Advocate mostly. You might have already heard about this but just in case you haven't…

Any of you kids got the goods?

Tom Brokaw just can't shake his straight-laced past! The newsman came under gay fire last year after neglecting to include gay folk in his temporal exploration, Boom! Voices of the Sixties, which examines America circa 1963-1974.

Following up on the story, The Advocate recently opened their pages to Brokaw, who says he feels "bad" about the exclusion:

: Obviously I feel bad. It was not that it wasn’t on my mind, but it was not the defining history of the ‘60s. I was trying to do the five big pillars, which in my judgment were race, war, politics, women, and culture. There were a number of important movements that also grew out of the ‘60s and certainly gay liberation was important among them…I think it was a mistake not to make reference to Stonewall. And we’re going to do that in subsequent editions.

Tacked on the end, perhaps?

Meanwhile, writer Charles Kaiser penned a scathing letter to Brokaw, which Portfolio's Jeff Bercovici published in full.

In other Advocate news, the magazine also just published their interview with queer senatorial candidate, Jim Neal, with whom we also recently had a chat. Keep your peepers peeled - we'll be posting it later in the week.

Former ambassador Michael Guest graces The Advocate's next issue. Guest retired last month over what he called the State Department's discriminatory policies. Guest wrote:

For the past three years, I’ve urged the Secretary and her senior management team to redress policies that discriminate against gay and lesbian employees. Absolutely nothing has resulted from this. And so I’ve felt compelled to choose between obligations to my partner — who is my family — and service to my country. That anyone should have to make that choice is a stain on the Secretary’s leadership and a shame for this institution and our country.

The forthcoming Advocate - which hits stands on January 15th - also features an interview with Diane Lane, the reality of living with HIV and a profile on Carson Kressley, whom journo Tricia Romano deems "America's gay boyfriend." We'd rather be single.

It's been quite a year for The Advocate. Not only did the news mag celebrate it's 40th year and a new, controversial design, but now they're celebrating their 1000th issue.

And, as you can see, they decided to put Lance Bass on the cover. But, like a true champ, former boy bander Bass rationalizes popular skepticism:

You know, every community is hard to please. Our community is very fickle. It’s a touchy community because it’s the last civil rights movement we have left here in America. So when someone new like myself comes along and says off-the-mark things, yeah, I can see how people would get pissed.

The performer also gabs about former love Reichen, saying, "We've already established that Reichen is someone who wanted the fame and the spotlight…" Touchy?

While some of us may doubt Bass' validity as a cover boy, homo-journos Sean Kennedy and John Cloud duke it out over where we queers stand…

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The gays have long loved Mary J Blige, so it should come as no surprise that the beautiful singer makes an appearance on the forthcoming issue of The Advocate. Our soul sister Stereotyped passes along some of Blige's money quotes:

On having gay fans: “The majority of them are [gay], and I have to really make sure that they know I’m paying attention to the fact that they support me, and I support them.”

On the reason she became involved in the fight to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS: “It was the elephant in the room that nobody’s looking at. It made me be like, Oh, this is right at our front door. This can touch us. So why wouldn’t I want to get involved with something that can help save all our lives, save everybody’s lives?”

Blige also takes on homophobia in the hip-hop community, telling journo Ernest Hardy, that the haters are nothing but suckers and give hp-hop a bad name. Word.

Also in this issue, a look at New York's domestic partnership laws, an inside view of the war on AIDS and a rousing interview with fag favorite Amy Adams, who admits her Psycho Beach Party doesn't do Ann-Margaret's original justice. Ain't that the truth.

Recommitting themselves to their media outlets, PlanetOut executives announced that they'll sell cruise line boat chartering RSVP to former competitor Atlantis.

PlanetOut CEO Karen Magee says the company, which publishes Out and The Advocate, will get back to its roots:

From a corporate perspective, we believe this transaction demonstrates to our shareholders that we are continuing to deliver on our commitment to leverage our strengths by simplifying our business model and emphasizing our core competencies. We are focused on ensuring that we are in the best position to realize our full potential as the leading media and entertainment company exclusively serving the LGBT market, while also strengthening our balance sheet.

The move shouldn't come as a surprise: the company's been fighting financial disaster for months and many predicted PlanetOut would ditch the cruise line. The company also recently reverse split its stock, compressing ten shares into one.

Those shares are currently trading at $12.65.

As The World Turns actors Jake Silbermann and Van Hansis made history as television's first gay teen couple.

In honor of National Coming Out Day, the gents sat down with Dan Avery for an Advocate-hosted chat. While most of fans have been supportive, they say, there are a few bad apples every once in a while. Van Hansis:

I get tons of mail and almost all of it is positive. If it’s a negative letter or e-mail, it's usually people who can't see past their own limitations and prejudices. And they don’t have a very good grasp of grammar or punctuation.

We wonder why…

Matthew Rhys has no qualms playing gay on Brothers & Sisters. In fact, the only down side, the Welshman tells The Advocate, comes when people find out he's not gay.

Dennis Hensley writes:

At a burger stand in the heart of West Hollywood, Calif., Matthew Rhys was straight-bashed. Sort of, anyway. "This huge, muscley guy came up to me and went 'gay power' and sort of punched me… Then the man went, "You're gay, right?" I went, "No, I'm not." he went, "You're not? Oh, I feel betrayed…"

Rhys also tells Hensley that playing gay has some unforeseen romantic advantages.

When you’re in a relationship with a girl, you go to set and you go, ‘I’m going to make out with [Sex and the City’s] Jason Lewis.’ And they go, ‘Oh, you lucky thing,’ and they feel totally secure about it. But if you go to set and you have to make out with a hot blond girl, then you have the argument.

And what of that kiss with Jason Lewis, who reportedly didn't dig the idea. "He was a consummate professional."

In addition to the Rhys piece, the next issue of The Advocate includes a handy guide to gay-friendly businesses and a chat with actor Bobby Cannavale, who played gay on Will & Grace and in The Night Listener. Like so many journalists before him, Brandon Voss asks the requisite "dude crush" question. Cannavale's response: Derek Jeter.

We have a feeling that could be arranged…

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act continues to evolve down in Washington.

Due to a lack of votes, representative Barney Frank decided to split the once comprehensive equal rights bill into two distinct parts. The Advocate tells us more:

The ENDA bill without trans-inclusion will be marked up by the chamber's Education and Labor Committee next Tuesday so that it can be sent it to the House floor for a vote, Steven Adamske, a spokesperson for Rep. Frank, told The Advocate.

“The other one, GENDA if you will, will move on a separate track and will give the ability for the committee and other lawmakers to hold hearings on it and better educate other lawmakers,” Adamske added.

GENDA - cute. - will reportedly be nearly identical to ENDA, but will include more in-depth look at potential shower and bathroom discrimination.

HRC has not yet released a statement. Speaker of The House Nancy Pelosi, however, did have something to say. Gist: She supports equality for all, but trans rights squash too many "yay" votes, so those citizens can just cool their jets. It's an understandable argument, but aren't politicians supposed to be persuasive? Why don't they work their magic on their peers? Just asking…

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