The Shirley Q. Liquor fallout just keeps on - er - falling...

Ms. Liquor and her creator, Charles Knipp, came under fire a few weeks ago after Jasmyne Cannick and GLAAD (among others) came out against the gay white man's straight black face. Now the editors over at The New York Blade have joined the fray.

Yeah, they're a little late, but you have to cut them a little slack - they are, after all, a weekly.

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How could anyone forget Jack E. Jett's interview with Ted Haggard's rentboy-toy, Mike Jones? It shook the very foundations of society, giving us a peek inside the fallen Evangelical's sordid, secretive sex life. Jones' words on Haggard's drug use, fagalicious fantasies and humdrum apology have been imprinted on our memory, not to mention our hearts.

Imagine our elation and subsequent disappointment when we came across a New York Blade interview with Jones only to find out that it's the same interview. Well, almost. From Radar:

JJ: Anything else of note?
MJ: Okay, I'll tell you one little tidbit, and I haven't said this too much so you are going to get a bit of an exclusive: He loved to have sex in the dark. We would have one little candle going.

From The New York Blade:

JJ: Anything else of note?
MJ: He loved to have sex in the dark. We would have one little candle going.

Obviously the Bladers had to edit out the bit about it being a "bit of an exclusive" because, well, it's not. Also gone are references to Jones' penis, discussion on whether or not Haggard is a power bottom and the levels of kinkiness involved in their trysts.

It looks like The Blade's not only republishing month-old interviews, they're desexualizing the entire affair. Perhaps they don't want to get mixed up with their slutty sibling, HX Magazine?

Former Washington Blade editor Chris Crain may have high-tailed it to Brazil for a little high-tailing with his lover, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have a direct line to Windows Media: the mega-company that owns The Blade, part of HX Media (which also runs The New York Blade, and New York Press, among others.

While his last letter, Crain zeroed in on Ted Haggard (who Towleroad reports may be defagifying for up to five years), this week Crain turns his journalistic eye to popular misconceptions of HIV-meds. He writes:

We have become so accustomed to thinking of HIV as a manageable, chronic condition -like diabetes, people say -that we forget it’s still a killer...
HIV meds aren’t a cure and can be lethal themselves. Despite all the advances, someone diagnosed with HIV is still likely to die from complications associated with the virus or the meds they’re taking to fight it.

That’s a message that’s not getting out there, especially to younger gay men. A 21-year-old who learns today he has HIV can expect to die in his mid-40s.

Someone's a pessimistic pansy, huh? Sure, there's no guarantee meds will save one's life, but we're pretty sure people live past their forties.

Crain goes on to examine some of the Bush Administration's more controversial anti-HIV policies. And, of course, suggest some of his own:

Believe it or not, legal recognition for gay couples can also have a powerful, preventive effect. Promiscuity only increases the odds of transmission, so conservatives should welcome policies that encourage gay men to settle into stable, long-term relationships...

We'll leave the commenting to you lot...

As you all know, Ted Haggard's up to his God-fearing eyeballs in defagification. Of couse, one can't help but wonder what happens at the "sexual counseling" of a disgraced Evangelical leader who confessed to buying meth from a hooker, namely: Mike Jones and "sexual immorality", whatever that means.

Thankfully, we came across two stories detailing Haggard's ordeal. One come to us from the kids at The New York Blade. They report:

The rehabilitation of former superstar pastor Rev. Ted Haggard may not include urine tests or ankle bracelets, but he will have to undergo lie detector tests and confess his failings...Rev. Larry Stockstill, another member of the board overseeing Haggard's rehabilitation, said Haggard will undergo a polygraph test to help determine how honest he is being.

Considering that Haggard had a two-year business relationship with Jones while espousing anti-gay rhetoric on the pulpit, we're not sure how much honesty one can expect.

The second - and, we have to say, far more entertaining - "report" comes from those wannabe-gays at Radar. You're probably wondering: "Why is report in quotation marks?" Well, because it's not really a report at all, but an imagining of Haggard's inner monologue. Here's a taste (for a little context, Haggard's in an underground bunker with his wife, Gayle):

3:32 p.m.
Just before lunch I discovered a cockroach in our cell and named him "Mike Jones." Then, while Gayle was napping, I trained him to lie still while I crushed him to death with my English Standard Version bible.

9:52 p.m.
This evening, James Dobson stopped by for some personal counseling. He stripped me naked and whipped me, then slowly and censoriously licked the blood off every inch of my body until Gayle coughed discreetly and suggested that perhaps I had been cured enough for one evening.

Obviously the kids at Radar didn't do their homework. Everyone knows that Focus on the Family's James Dobson turned his back on his former BFF. It was bigger than anything Paris and Lindsay could concoct. Ever. Even bigger than that time Lindsay called Paris a cunt and pretended that she didn't. And that was big.

Since the dawn of man - or, at least, since the gay rights movement - people have questioned whether or not pundits and publications have the right to out people, particularly politicians. In the wake of TR Knight, Ted Haggard, Neil Patrick Harris and the rest, the debate has been raised to a pitch higher than a drag queen's hair.

With the whole Bill Maher/Ken Mehlman brouhaha: you know, when Maher called the former RNC leader gay on Larry King Live, a comment that later got the old censorship ax from CNN, The New York Blade's premier homo-journo, Kerry Eleveld takes a look at the ways in which different media outlets covered the story.

Aside from providing a compelling piece, Eleveld does something that we don't think has ever been done in the history of man: she uses our name in the same sentence as The New York Times.

The following Monday, pro-gay blogs such as Queerty.com declared, "Maher pussed out" even as the mother of mainstream publications, The New York Times, ran a story about Maher’s statements on CNN that steered clear of mentioning Mehlman’s name.

It's a rare occassion, readers, so enjoy it. We'll probably never be used in such a context again. That's okay, though, because we've just had a journalistic orgasm big enough to drown a whale (if that's not big, we don't know what is).

We will offer one correction, however. The actual headline read "Bill Maher Totally Pussed Out". There's a huge difference between only just pussing out and totally pussing out. Of course, as a legitimate reporter, we don't imagine Eleveld's ever had to make such a linguistic judgement call.

We hate to break it to you, but publishing's all about favoritism. Yeah, it's an ugly truth, but the truth none-the-less. While that may be true, our posting of this story by New York Blade reporter Kerry Eleveld has nothing to do with the fact that we think she's the bees knees. In this editorial - a rare break from Eleveld's typical objective stance - Eleveld brings up a topic that's been on everyone's minds as of late: the politics of outing. While Eleveld understands the difficulty of coming-out, she also believes that reporters have an obligation to out politicians when it serves the public interest. She writes:

Apparently, the subject of sexuality is still a bit too dicey for the mainstream press unless it’s attached to a scandal—then it becomes a topic they can’t ignore.

The overwhelming message here: Don’t talk about it... gay is still a dirty word and made even dirtier when we don’t talk about it. Gay politicians shouldn’t be a protected class of politician; they should be no different from other politicians, whose personal lives are always on display. When you run for office, especially at the national level, you should assume that your personal will become political. These are the times we live in, and voters should have the same information they have about other politicians.

Being gay will always be "dirty" if straights and gays alike don’t have license to talk about it on its own merits. And all journalists have an obligation to break the silence when they deem that it’s in the public’s interest. We are, after all, arbiters of fairness. We should be no more fair to gay politicians than we are to the public they serve.

We whole-heartedly agree. Do you? Why not hop over to The Blade website and read the entire article youself? Then you can make an informed decision. No pesky password required.

Oh, and in the same issue, we got a shout-out from Blade editor, Trent Straube. Thanks, Trent, you're the breast!

We were just checking in with our friends over at The New York Blade. While there, we came across this editorial by a man named Mickey Weems in which he explains his new found love for The L-Word. His viewing of the show has, apparently, helped him find a more level ground on which to relate to his lezzie sisters.

He writes:

"THE L WORD” [sic] has taught me that lesbians and gay men have a lot in common. We tend to be more adept at reading between the lines than most straight people.

Yeah, we can read between the lines on this one: the editors needed some filler.

Aside from such a stereotypical epiphany, the show has aided in Weems' personal growth, in more ways than one:

In my life, “The L Word” helps me become a less judgmental and more ethical human being.

And the soundtrack is stunning.

Ethics and musical tastes? Definitely on the same level.

The Washington Blade's long time editor, Chris Crain (pictured), is stepping down. It seems he's chosen love over money to be with his boyfriend in Brazil. His boyfriend, of course, can't get citizenship here in The States.
With his departure, managing editor, Kevin Naff, will take over under new publisher, Jake Spencer. With Naff in the lead and two open editorial positions (news editor and soon the features editor position, which will be abandoned by Brian Moylan at the end of the month), now's the time for all DC-based homo-journos to start prepping their resumes. You'll probably want to know that The Washington Blade is owned by Window Media, which also publishes a slew of other gay weeklies, including David and 411, as well as owns a large (and often unspoken) share of HX Media, which publishes HX Magazine and The New York Blade.
Oh what an incestuous gay publishing world.

"Blade Editor To Leave Paper, US; Publisher Starts" [The Washington Blade]

In a recent article from The New York Blade, gay activists ponder the ways that we -gays, not us - infiltrate the Senate with more gay friendly politicians (read: democrats). In it, political science professor Kenneth Sherill suggests taking a more aggressive stance:

It may be that we need someone to form our version of Swift Boat Veterans, and it may present a dilemma or a challenge to [LGBT] movement leaders to come up with our version of the Swift Boat Veterans.

He clarifies that we need not "distort," but should work to highlight politician's poor voting records. "You start running ads saying, ‘Did you know that Senator so-and-so voted to make it illegal to walk around the street holding hands?’"

That's cool. Although, we're all about equivocation, deception, and general trickery. What about an ad that says, "Did you know that Senator so-and-so likes to get fisted in the ass as hordes of preteens cum on his face and call him 'shitty faggot mess'?"

Then again, it may attract the gay vote. And we wouldn't want that, now would we...

Taking The Senate [The New York Blade]

Queerty recently interviewed the good humored and charming Tray Butler, Editor of the New York Blade.

What is your educational and editorial background?

I graduated with honors from the University of Georgia’s journalism school. My degree was in magazines, but I kept getting roped into newspaper jobs: first at a daily, then at a monthly, and finally as a reporter for an alt-weekly. Two years ago I took the plunge into the gay press. I also write a monthly dating column for Genre, review movies for Men’s Edge and write an advice column that runs in a handful of weeklies. Oh, and I do illustration work as well, but that’s still sort of secret.

How do you describe the New York Blade’s present editorial mission?

The New York Blade is your one-stop source for gay news in the city. We’re like your personal gay RSS reader, from politics to pop culture to nightlife.

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