Today Peter Ian Cummings, founder of the late gay-boy rag XY, launches a new publication, B magazine. Billed as “the gay magazine of the future,” B includes reader-submitted photos and letters, travelogues, photo essays and articles about “gay culture, sex, fashion, media, love, lust and more.”
So it’s not exactly worlds apart from XY, which folded in 2007.
It also sees much of XY‘s editorial staff, including Nathan Smorynski and Eriq Chang, back in the bullpen—as well as Savas Abadsidis, former editor in chief of Abercrombie + Fitch’s erstwhile glossy, A+ F Quarterly.
Noticeably absent from the B masthead, though, is Mike Glatze, the XY editor who became a Bible-thumping ex-gay. (Actually, we’re so baffled by these types we kinda want to read something by him.)
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
At any rate, as gay-media veterans ourselves, we’ve got some suggestions for Cummings and Abadsidis in their new endeavor:
Find yourself another Colton Haynes. The biggest push XY ever got happened after it folded: In 2011, Teen Wolf star Colton Hayes (right), or at least lawyers claiming to represent him, sent threatening letters to various bloggers insisting they remove “private, obscene, lewd and pornographic photographs” of Haynes that originally appeared in a 2006 issue of XY. The photos were no more pornographic than your average Armani ad and, since they were shot for a magazine, could hardly be called “private”—but it was great publicity.
Don’t bitch about your problems. Toward the end of XY‘s existence, Cummings would loudly and frequently bemoan its lack of advertisers. While we’re sure some companies were leery of investing bucks in a mag aimed at young gays, it was a time when print media was starting to come to its downward trend. Not to mention that complaining to readers about advertisers is like a waiter complaining to customers about what as ass the chef is. We don’t want to hear it and it makes us question the whole operation.
Stay on top of the finances. When XY folded, creditors figured they could make some money with the magazine’s mailing list. But since some subscribers were underage and/or closeted, publishers had to destroy the database rather than see it fall into unscrupulous hands. We hope history doesn’t repeat here.
Keep it classy(ish). Cummings is clearly aiming to brand the publication to a young demographic. (He touts B Magazine‘s Facebook page as having fans whose average age is 24, “at least 20 years younger than the median age of all the other national gay press.”) But there was always always a perception that XY, with its Terry Richardson-style spreads of jailbait or barely-legal boys, was really aimed at and bought by trolls older gay men who um, embraced, the twink culture. That was years ago, before so many LGBT kids started feeling comfortable coming out, so perhaps B will be different.
Triple S
You know, I’d try it out if I wasn’t terrified of being embarrassed if I was caught with it. I’t looks like fun!
Triple S
And does it have any websites? If so, where? All I get is crap from Brisbane
MikeE
“But there was always always a perception that XY, with its Terry Richardson-style spreads of jailbait or barely-legal boys, was really aimed at and bought by trolls older gay men”
You’re kidding, right?
Calling older men “trolls”?
Wow, I’m going to hope that time is good to you and treats you well.
We wouldn’t want you to turn into one of those “trolls”, would we.
EdWoody
@MikeE: He’s not calling older men “trolls”. He’s calling older men who used to buy XY purely because it was the nearest legal thing they could get to child pornography “trolls”.
Christopher
T.S —– B’s website is at http://www.bmag.us and they have a facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/bmag.us
Ryan
Yeah you can tell it’s from the original XY team from the 1998 photo-shop
skills evident on the cover art. I was just cleaning out my stuff from college when I
bought several XY’s in a row and read through some of the issue’s just the other day.
Over all the writing was really amateurish and the perspective on youth issue’s was clearly
coming from a very navel-gazing place. How can they possibly speak for gay youth of today?
Without new staff it’s just going be the same problem, lack of perspective or insight covering things for gay youth compensated by pics of twinks for sales.
Mike in Asheville
Wow, Queerty, you guys really are assholes too many times!
How could XY mimic Terry Richardson photo spreads when XY started publishing TWO YEARS before Richardson? You chide XY’s readership, just like Santorum, accusing us all of being pedophiles, yet you trumpet a photographer accused of sexually harassing his teenage female models?
I was 35 when XY was launched — and I loved that magazine. And yes, I loved it BECAUSE of all the cute boys featured. Cute and adorable, like puppies, colts and kittens. Much more important, though, the kids showed themselves as brave and heartening, teenage boys with enough courage to face challenges many adult men are too afraid of in their dark closets. Senators and Congressmen, so afraid of life they become rabidly anti-gay to further hide their truth, and yet, every month, XY was featuring 16, 17, 18 year-olds who were out and proud!
To me, XY Magazine showed me that it was well worth the protests against the DNC (1984, in SF), against then Governor Wilson’s veto of AB 101 (California nondiscrimination bill), against Dan White (Milk assassin), with ActUP to get HIV/AIDS awareness and funding, the fundraising for HIV/AIDS efforts, fundraising for the Hawaiian marriage-equity fight (it all started there), etc. The payoff for the hard fought efforts of thousands in the LGBT community: kids empowered to fight for their right to live their lives.
***********
Wishing B Magazine all the best!
Austin - not That Austin
Why buy the mag, when you can get the same thing at GuysWithIphones ?
Is there anyone that doesn’t already have the link…
http://guyswithiphones.com/
Brandon H
There only hope is if they offer digital distribution and more than 2 issues a year.
Christopher
In what way does a website full of random guys taking pictures of themselves with iphones substitute for a whole magazine full of articles, carefully planned photos meant to make a point, and all kinds of other things? If you think it’s better to spend all day on guyswithiphones, go ahead. All you prove there is that gay guys don’t think, and those aren’t the kind of people any smart person wants to know.
Esculapio Mitiríades Torquemada de la Cueva
@Austin – not That Austin: First time I even hear of this website. So it’s just … photos of guys with iPhones?
Martin
@Mike in Asheville: Damn right!
Lets not be judgemental and self-hating. Gays love male beauty its that simple and yes young men with smooth skin can be really beatiful. Older men can be really sexy too with more developed bodies etc
Lets appreciate male beauty and not be shy about it. Society doesnt credit us with morality anyway so why not drop the pretending… We all hide our desires in everyday life, but surely that is not necessary behind the anonymity of nicknames on a gay site??
I hate the sour comments to photos of half-dressed guys here: “drug using prostitutes”
Serious people have said that the only meaningful reality is psychological (spiritual) reality which is in fact imagination and fantasies – and these gorgeous guys fuel our imagination. Bring them on Queerty!
Danny
It is older gay guys who have the disposable income. Go on any gay cruise. It is not spring chickens there; it is seasoned roosters (on a side note, funny how so many gay guys put at least one figurine, statue, sculpture or picture of a rooster in their house, usually the kitchen – a grand “cock” reference to those in the know :P)
IMHO a successful gay venture needs to address the older gay crowd to be financially viable – the 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s crowd who travel more, dine out more, go to shows more, etc.
Triple S
@Christopher: Thanks
Christopher
Um, I don’t think a cruise is in the same price point as a magazine. Also, is Danny saying that there CAN’T be a gay magazine for teens-20s-30s? While the statements about “travel, dining, shows” are perfectly fine things to do, it ignores a lot of the things like clubs, books, underwear, fashion, gaming, and comics that a younger people would easily spend money on.
Nobody forces haters to buy anything!!!!! Sheesh!!!!!!
Danny
@Christopher.. no I didn’t say that, but you did. That’s called a Freudian Slip, where you inadvertently express your own view and attribute it to someone else.
Esculapio Mitiríades Torquemada de la Cueva
@Danny: Uh … that’s not actually not what a Freudian slip is.
Christopher
Erm, well… Danny said, “a successful gay venture needs to address the older gay crowd to be financially viable.” And yes I know what transference is, but I’m not the one who engages in transference. In fact, neither is Danny. Transference would be the haters who always attack gay youth culture, which they do because of a deep-seated fear of their own attraction to younger guys, and blah blah BLAH. BUT — it is irritating that all these blowhards have to go around attacking everything that people enjoy in the world.
Mark
@Martin: Yes, society thinks we’re immoral so let’s prove them wrong by fawning over 16 year old boys. Great idea!
Christopher
@Mark: Yes, society thinks we’re immoral so let’s repress our sexuality. Perfect!!!!
Mark
@Christopher: Repress our sexuality by what, not fantasizing about teenagers? I wasn’t aware that it was repression to not fantasize about underage kids. How odd.
Martin
@Mark: You feel good now?? Stating your superior morality?? A moral gay person… Wow You are great!
Sadly you understand nothing of what I wrote. You just like to make yourself feel good by making others feel bad…
Sed
So if I think that Anderson Cooper and Daniel Craig are hot and I also think that some cute 16 year old in a magazine is hot then what kind of troll does that make me Mark?
Mark
Why is it that I am being attacked for thinking we maybe shouldn’t be drooling over 16 year old kids? Just because gay people are attacked for being “immoral” by the religious right doesn’t mean we lose the right to make moral critiques. I don’t for a second feel guilty about judging grown men (or women) who think it is okay to buy magazines to look at pictures of shirtless, underage boys (or girls).
Martin
@Mark: Because your “morality” and your moral judgements are exactly the same thing as the religious right only this time your flavour of moral judgement.
If a 15 year old wants to have sex with a 27 year old he finds hot or a 45 year old that he finds interesting whats the harm? They are both at the age of consent. The 15 year old is mature enough to have a sexuality he wants to explore.
But this is not even the case here. We are talking about fantasy. Fantasy is healthy, it harms no one, and it is not something you necessarily feel compelled to do later. 16 year olds will not be raped because of fantasy. Many 16 year olds have reached sexual maturity thats why age of consent is 15. Dont make judgements about what is appropriate. Its none of your business. Did it occur to you that what you like is considered highly inappropriate by others and you dont like that…
Appreciating male beauty and youth is natural and healthy as fantasy or mutually consenting sex. What is unhealthy is these neurotic thoughts “OMG im 36 Im so sick in the head because i think this 22 year old is hot”. Many times the objects of our passions escape us, but fantasy our own private place to enjoy as we like
Bryan
XY, B or whatever has got nothing on Terry Richardson in terms of creep factor.
Astro
why even call this magazine something new when its just XY 2.0
certainly nothing wrong with a teen oriented gay magazine, but XY didn’t have much substance and im afraid this won’t either
even 10 years ago in my early 20s i felt XY was disturbing as lily white barely legal fodder