It's Friday, reader. You know what that means - it's Queerty ReBUTTal time! Yay!

You guys did super with the comments. Really. Just super - lisp and all. While we have plenty of thoughts on your thoughts on our thoughts, we're switching it up these week. As you're well aware, we've just kicked off The Style Issue.

Before things go too far, however, we'd like to have a brief look back on some of our other issues and some of the bits that didn't make it. Take a look at some unpublished excerpts, after the jump.

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We've had an email correspondence with artist Del LaGrace Volcano for about two months now. We originally contacted him for The Boundaries Issue, but, as happens, things didn't work out. Sitting down to play The Emotions Issue, we knew we couldn't pull it off without his help.

Our entire mission with this issue revolves around the idea that love is not one set things - it's a melange, a collage, a medley of emotions, sentiments and, at times, constraints. Volcano's work addresses the space between gender, sexuality and everything in between.

On his website, Volcano writes,

As a gender variant visual artist I access 'technologies of gender' in order to amplify rather than erase the hermaphroditic traces of my body... An intentional mutation and intersex by design, (as opposed to diagnosis), in order to distinguish my journey from the thousands of intersex individuals who have had their 'ambiguous' bodies mutilated and disfigured in a misguided attempt at 'normalization'. I believe in crossing the line as many times as it takes to build a bridge we can all walk across.

Like The Power Issue subject, Claude Cahun - who, you'll see, Volcano cites as an inspiration - Volcano's work seeks not simply to test the viewer's perspective, but to extend it. Break it, even. As in love, one walks away from Volcano's work having learned something new. Or, we should hope so, because no life's worth living if you don't open yourself to new experiences, right?

Lucky for us, Volcano opened himself up to us. See what he has to say about the all-pervasive nature of androgyny, "coming out" as "intersex", and his sexually frustrating teenage years, after the jump...

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For today's installment of The Boundaries Issue, we'd like to offer you an essay by critical theorist Eliza Steinbock. Reviewing M. Christian's Transgender Erotica: Trans Figures from Haworth Press, Steinbock traces the evolution of trannies in popular culture.

From The Crying Game to Tootsie, Steinbock hones in on the good, bad and ugly of trans representation, particulary with regard to trans sexuality - a concept we're sure many of you haven't even considered. As the new year approaches, why not expand your boundaries? Besides, your sex life's pretty stale anyway. (Trust us, we know.)

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For today's installment of The Boundaries Issue, let's hop on over to Berlin, where photographer Karim Konrad has been hard at work snapping sexy shots of the German cities sexy men. After years of hardwork, he's finally published the end result: Berlin Gay Mates.

Some artists depict Berlin as a dank, gray playground for post-war depression. Konrad's pieces, however, rely as much on color-saturation as on an unspoken vibrancy: a refreshing, much needed burst of optimism for an increasingly daunting world. And the sexy, scantily clad (if at all) boys don't hurt, of course.

Though busy with the tiresome job of promoting the collection, Konrad sat down with Queerty to share his thoughts on coming-out, how Berlin's got a bad rap and why Roger Federer's one lucky man.

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This interview sort of fell into our laps. Editor Andrew Belonsky ran into an old friend of his who casually mentioned that she andher girlfriend had dabbled in the strap-on arts.

Ever ready, Belonsky pulled out his tape recorder for another impromptu interview a la his chat with make-up wearing straight boy, Jake X.

After the jump see what Sarah X had to say about fake penises, who is and isn't gay and why she won't be inviting Tom Selleck to her next party.

(As for the name "Sarah X": the friend didn't want to use her real name, so she suggested her fantasy moniker from childhood.)

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Bring up Thailand and someone invariably brings up underage male hustlers. Certainly there are hundreds of readily exploitable young lads, but there's more to Thailand than just sexual tourism.

To shed some light on Thailand's boundary testing - yet not quite breaking - sexuality, we asked gay American expat Michael Clyne (pictured in an artist's rendition) to offer his take. Having lived there for the past year and a half, plus another lengthy stint a few years back, Clyne has a unique view of the country's visible and mute gay communities. While it's not unusual to see young boys dressed as woman, the country's never experienced what Westerners call a "gay rights movement". Rather, queerness has been subtly integrated into the national culture in some pretty astonishing ways.

Also, Clyne would like you all to know he's not a “Rice Queen “Soy Chaser", or a “Sexpat". He is, in fact, an equal opportunity slut.

(If you like what you see, head over to Clyne's blog, Bangkokker. Conversely, if you absolutely hate it, you can beat the tar out of him when he gets back to America next week. If you want to have sex with him, we're sure that can be arranged, too.)

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Gay men aren't always the most welcoming bunch. Or, really, the most friendly. We walked into a party once, gave someone a funny look and got our eyebrows plucked clean off as a result. Even our collective mother laughed at us. It was very sad.

That said, we take our hats off to any so-called "outsider" who's looking for love in the gay male community, like transman photographer Loren Cameron.

After undergoing surgery and hormone therapy over two decades hence, Cameron's been in a number of relationships, each person more masculine than the last. While it may not seem strange for an FTM to long for a masculine caress, Cameron's still wondering what it all means, an incertitude not uncommon for men like him. He writes:

...I've found other FTM's who are seeking masculine partners: gay bio guys, other FTM's and masculine females (like my ex). Some are home at last as gay men, where they were always supposed to be, and many, like me, are experimenting and figuring out what fits and what doesn't. Others are casually hooking up while still partnering with women, negotiating their bisexuality impulses.

And we thought getting a date was tough.

Anyway, it's a very interesting article - certainly intriguing enough to get our attention. (As if that means anything to you.) You should head on over, give it a read and then go to Cameron's website to see how his changing sexual attitudes have influenced his art.

Remember when we posted Jyoti Mishra's musical suggestion, Suburban Kids with Biblical Names? Well, the kids over at Minty Fresh Records are so excited about it, that they told us to direct you to their website where you can listen to some free tunes. Isn't that sweet? Not only can you get a little SKBN, but they've got tracks from All India Radio (one of our favorites), The Cardigans, The Hit Parade and many, many more.

They must be under the impression that you guys were good this year. We tried to tell them otherwise, but they weren't having it. It's your lucky day.

Meeting new people's a bitch, especially in New York. There are so many damn barriers! The last time we met someone new was 1984 - it didn't go well and we vowed never to extend our hand to another unknown soul again. Our clenched fist? Well, that's another story.

Anyway, for The Boundaries Issue, we thought it would be fun to accost a stranger and interview them. Thus, we sent editor Andrew Belonsky on a mission and he brought back this interview with a young punk-rock loving 20-year old straight boy named Jake. Even though he has no qualms sharing his inner most thoughts with a stranger, Jake wouldn't disclose his last name. Nor would he allow Belonsky to take his picture. He did, however, offer his totally anonymous shoes (pictured).

It's worth noting that Andrew met young Jake on the street as they both tried to break into and subsequently enter Jake's apartment building. The boys covered a lot of ground for complete strangers. Not all their ramblings made the editorial cut, unfortunately. Some notable cuts: Jake hates Guns N' Roses, isn't keen on dogs and has never heard his roommates have sex. He does, however, like gay people, rockabilly and smoking pot. Oh, and Belonsky say's he's very pretty.

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We met Eric Rhein in an expansive, echoing room at New York's Gay and Lesbian Center - where he just took down a retrospective of sorts called "Uncle Lige's Sword". The itself show commemorates the tenth anniversary of protease inhibitors - a pharmaceutical wonder to which HIV-positive Rhein admittedly owes his life. The name of the show, meanwhile, hints at Rhein's activist roots: his uncle Lige Clark sprearheaded the early gay rights movement, founding New York's Mattachine Society branch and publishing the nation's first gay weekly, appropriately dubbed, Gay.

Meanwhile, downtown, Rhein's work can be seen at the Leslie/Lohman Gallery's "Four Artists/Four Shows" group show, featuring his "Journey Among Warriors". His so-called wire drawings not only blur the boundaries between sculpture and illustration, but attempt to communicate innumerable links between man and nature.

Perhaps Rhein's most cited work is The Leaf Project: his (sadly) ever-growing remembrance of friends who've died of AIDS complications. While HIV certainly plays a role his artistic perspective, he insists that there are universal themes around which all humans can - and should - rally for social progress.

See what Rhein has to say about the composition of "the art world", the downfalls of "the gay world" and the lessons (not to mention spirits) that can be found in-between.

"Journey Among Warriors" is on view at Leslie-Lohman Gallery (26 Wooster Street between Canal/Grand Streets New York, NY) through December 21, 2006.

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For today's installment of The Boundaries Issue, we'd like to open the floor to Mr. Lane Hudson. As we're sure you're all aware, Hudson's the once-mysterious Human Rights Campaign employee who lost his job after posting Mark Foley's naughty messages to Congressional pages. Those messages, of course, cost Foley his job, among other things.

After the jump see what Hudson has to say about breaking political boundaries, American heroes and former President Bill Clinton. In true Hudson style, his words will undoubtedly elicit a reaction.

And don't forget to check out Hudson's blog: News for The Left.

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Welcome to The Boundaries Issue, readers! Over the next few weeks we'll take a look at some people, places and ideas that build, blur and break boundaries: from queer life in Bangladesh to online dating to gender terrorism. We've got it all.

For this, our first installment, we'd like to share an interview with musician Jyoti Mishra aka White Town. You may remember our posting on White Town's song, "Your Woman" way back in September. Well, it seems Mishra's a reader (or has a network of spies scouring the internet for his name), because he later sent us an email thanking us for the kind words.

Needless to say we were flattered and promptly started an email correspondence with the man who's pop-friendly music takes aim at the political establishment. Of course this is nothing new for the Indian-born, Britain-raised troublemaker. He's been testing the limits of social and political norms since his days as a youthful Marxist.

As we started planning this issue, we asked Mishra if he'd like to do a little interview with Queerty editor Andrew Belonsky to celebrate his new album, Don't Mention The War.

Gracious as always, Mishra agreed. Read what the boys came up with, after the jump.

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