With Out magazine under near leadership – out went Brendan Lemon, in comes BlackBook editor Aaron Hicklin – we expected change. Improvement. Progress. From the looks of the new (and first) cover from Hicklin, it’s nice to see none of our hopes and dreams have come true.
Perhaps there’s more white space and fewer coverlines, but it’s the same straight guy worship all over again. Not that there’s anything terribly wrong with longing over footballers.
noah
I agree with your assessment of “Out’s” use of straight guys on its covers. I don’t think “Latina” or “Ebony” magazines would have the majority of their covers be adorned with Asians the 9 months of the year.
boho
Changes are underway, but probably won’t show up for a couple of issues.
blakjaxx
On the one hand I agree with you but on the other usually the str8 guys on the covers are portraying gay or bi characters on screen as it is with Ben Price. I think the whole point of magazines like Out is to promote gay issues, and Footballers Wives has done a pretty good job of doing that with their characters and I think its great that Out is letting people know that there is such a show out there.
SG
Rubbish.
The real gay story on Footballers wives is with an actual gay player (Noah) who was outed in a very public way and almost chucked out of the team and is struggling with being gay in a very real way.
The actor Out decided to feature on the cover plays a footballer (Conrad) who is married, promiscuous (with both men and women), has kids and has an affair with the main female character. A total fluff character compared to the former.
So, if the decision for Out magazine was as : blakjaxx put it (“Footballers Wives has done a pretty good job of doing that with their characters and I think its great that Out is letting people know that there is such a show out there.”), then the actor they really ought to feature is the one who plays Noah, the outed and out gay player. But they picked Conrad.
I wonder if the fact that the actor who plays the out gay player happens to be black had something to do with why the Conrad actor gets the cover instead of the actor who plays Noah. Anyway, the point isn’t the difference in race; it’s the need for gay mags to put two-bit straight actors playing two-bit bi roles on the cover month after month.
No one knows or cares who Ben Price is. Even in the UK he’s considered a joke. Why Out needs to put him on the cover I don’t know.
There are a tons of hot gay guys out there who I’m sure could sell more magazines than third-rate English actors. Love Footballers Wives, but Ben Price as a cover subject of a major gay magazine makes no sense to me. If anyone on that show, it should have been the actor who plays Noah.
There is something disturbing about national gay mags needing to mostly feature straight actors on the cover. It reeks of desparation for approval from straight people. Who don’t buy Out. Every article is the same: if the actor has ever played gay before, what they thought of it, how playing gay changed them, how brave they are.
Brave. Give me a fucking break. I have more respect for bar rags like HX and Next than for Out.
Kris
Just an observation, but aren’t a grand percentage of the “Morning Goods” sections straight?
Thought that might be worth mentioning.