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 Take a look at some unpublished excerpts, after the jump.

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Wordsmiths T Cooper and Felicia Luna Lemus certainly have their own storytelling styles, but these lovers' respective works follow similar trajectories. Nothing is every permanent in their stories.

The sand shifts at the precise moment their protagonists seem to have it all worked out. Their impermanence bleeds into everything, from family history to gender and sexuality to interpersonal relations. Lemus’ new novel Like Son follows Frank, a thirty-year old who has to unearth the meaning of a photograph his dying father hands him.

In Cooper’s Lipshitz 6, or Two Angry Blondes, recently released in paperback, the 100-year-old history of a family starts in the pogroms of Europe and ends with the last offspring impersonating Eminem.

This queer couple's unique manner of brandishing the written word make them a perfect addition to The Style Issue.

We sent their friend and Queerty contributor, James Withers on a mission to mine their minds for a look into their literary idiosyncrasies, the evolution of their relationship and the difference between German and American readers. And, as we find out - um - straight away, this trio has more in common than just writing. They all love gay porn. Who knew?

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Hordes of homos will descend on Chicago this weekend for the International Mr. Leather contest. And, as per tradition, many participants will pop into legendary S&M club, Chicago Hellfire Club. Unfortunately, trans men aren't invited.

Chicago Hellfire Club - one of the oldest S&M clubs in the nation - enacted a strict no female-to-male policy ten years ago, thus barring a significant portion of the S&M community.

Of their unfriendly policy, former Hellfire Club president and long-time member, David Igasaki said:

The general rule of thumb is that there has to be a penile attachment... They don't want to admit women. It's not that people are anti-women or personally discriminate against transgender people. It's just that as a sex club there is a desire to protect a gay environment during play.

Critics, however, claim that the Club goes into public space to recruit members. One transman comments: "I don't think that a private club would set up a table at a public venue and allow anybody to talk with you and inquire to attend an event." And transmen aren't the only ones fighting the Hellfire.

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• Tory politico, Sir Simon Milton, has come out of the closet and will be marrying his long-time lover, Robert Davis. Of coming out, Milton remarks: "The time was right...We’re happy and excited. I would rather tell people myself than be the subject of rumour.”

• The murder rate for trans California women just keeps on rising

• Despite activist pressure, the FDA won't be lifting its "gay blood" ban.

• PlanetOut Inc's stock continues to fall.

• Kurt Cobain, Joey Ramone, other dead rock stars live! Wear Doc Martens!

• Ahhhh! It's Kylie Minogue's head! And it's floating!

• Lesbian alleges shelter left her out in the cold: "It was pretty clear the reason she put me on hold is because I said I was a lesbian."

• Did Dick Cheney hire hookers? From Roll Call: "Vice President Cheney isn’t not on the phone records of the alleged D.C. Madam, who is accused of running a high-price call-girl ring in Washington, the accused madam’s lawyer said on Tuesday."

South Korean pop star Harisu married her long-time beau and rapper, Micky Chung this weekend.

The two have been together for years, but had a falling out last year. Following their breakup, the vivacious Harisu appeared on a reality show to find a new man. Seeing his beloved trolling the tube for a man inspired Chung to woo her back and propose.

Speaking to the press prior to the wedding - which Harisu's sex change surgeon officiated - Harisu vowed, "I'll become a housewife who is cooking well, sexy and caring." She also informs us that she and Chung planned on having ten children, but their families objected, so they've settled on four. And apparently family's very important to the couple: their parents are joining them on their honeymoon in Thailand.

We've included the video for Harisu's single, "Foxy Lady", after the jump.

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There's some trans drama over in Pakistan, where police arrested a couple after a court found out the husband used to be a woman. 31-year old Shumail Raj underwent a sex-change surgery 16 years ago and lived life as a man.

Though he has no penis - and his vagina has been sealed shut - Raj married a 26-year old woman named Shahzina Tariq, who claims her family planned to sell her to settle her uncle's gambling debts. Looking for protection, Tariq asked Raj for his hand. She explains, "I knew that Shumail was not a male. She had some problem due to the operations, but I begged her for protection."

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• It was all about the Good Times last night at the eastern bloc-housed, Chris Bell-spun, Queerty-loved, Svdeka-soaked weekly party. Check out some pictures over at Twerking and plan your pose for next week. Same gay place. Same gay Good Times.

• Keith Olbermann names voter/gay scandal-ridden political, North Carolina Representative Patrick McHenry "worst person in the world".

• Trans activists in Massachusetts are pushing for a bill to lift their 100% natural rights. (Get it?)

• Fred Phelps and his rootin' tootin' Westboro Baptists are gearing up to protest Reverend Jerry Falwell's funeral. From GodhatesAmerica.com:

WBC will preach at the memorial service of the corpulent false prophet Jerry Falwell, who spent his entire life prophesying lies and false doctrines like 'God loves everyone'.

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Susan Stanton stepped out for the first time yesterday, appearing at a National Center for Transgender Equality event at the National Press Club in Washington D.C.

Susan once went by the name Steve Stanton, the former Largo, Florida city manager who caused quite a stink when he announced his plans to become a woman. Since being forced out of politics, Stanton has undergone hormone therapy and electrolysis.

Though Stanton believes in her cause, she's still shedding popular misconceptions of trangendered persons. Stanton tells the St. Petersburg Times - the same paper that blew the lid off of Stanton's impending transition: "It's amazing how many well-adjusted, well-accomplished, happy, interactive people there are at this event. It's been a learning experience for me, too."

Stanton's also learning about getting dolled up: she spent the hours before the event getting her hair done and a manicure:

...In the morning, she had her first professional blow dry and manicure.

For the day's events, her hair was styled fluffy on top with wispy bangs in front. She chose a soft rose color to accent her sporty nails. She admired herself in the mirror.

"I could get used to this," she said, as the manicurist massaged her hands.

Introducing Susan Stanton [St. Petersburg Times]
Susan Stanton debuts in D.C. [St. Petersburg Times]

If you think it's hard out there for a pimp, consider the harsh reality of being a tranny hooker. Not only do you have to scour the streets for a turned-on John, but then you have to explain your penis. Regrettably, not so many people are down with a so-called chick-with-a-dick and trans folk face more violent crime than their biologically gendered counterparts.

As such, many trans working girls choose to place ads in weekly rags - at least then they know their clients won't be some crazed lunatic. Unfortunately, they're not all trained copy men (women?). Good thing copyranter offers his expertise free-of-charge:

I'm offering my expert copywriting services to all Transgendered, Transsexual, SheMale, post-op, pre-op, mid-op, etc. Escorts. The challenge of having to juxtapose dissimilar phrases like "Golden Skin" and "Hung" in a small space ad targeted at such a hard-to-nail-down demographic is a huge turn-on. To get things started, I'll dip my toes into the head space:
• Full Lips. Fuller Girth.
• Legs To Die For. All Three Of Them.
• Cloud Nine Inches.
• Sugar Kissing + Candy Cane Licking.

• Well, not really, but we bet the incarcerated producer behind Girls Gone Wild he'd love to profit off of Prison Guys Gone Wild.

• Details flippantly deliver the "truth": their rag's a total fag. Guess they really did deserve that GLAAD award.

• Whoopi headed to The View? That makes sense: she's kind of like a black Rosie O'Donnell. Only "not" gay.

• Boise State University and conservative Idaho Family Alliance's Bryan Fischer's "Transgender Bathroom Wars" continue. Honestly, we didn't know they had begun...

• We dont' understand a word of French singer Zazie's 1992 jam, "Sucre Sale", but we dig the homo-flavored, naked model filled video.

• Scandal-ridden congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham denounced his anti-gay ways after buying a yacht from a bunch of butt pirates, according to Seth Hettena, author of Feasting on the Spoils. He told "Buoy Toys'" former owners,

I now vote pro-gay, and it's because of you [guys]... I'm sure I've met lots of gay people, but I've never met two guys that, you know, were outwardly gay and ... that I would consider drinking buddies and friends and boating buddies and people I want to spend time with ... that also said, 'Oh, by the way, I just happened to be gay.

Alexis Arquette's never been accused of being a wallflower. And she definitely made an impression yesterday when she arrived at the press conference for her Tribeca documentary, Alexis Arquette She's My Brother. Sporting an animal print dress, the blond actress and Hollywood royal posed for photographers, laughing, "Are you ready for me?" We were born ready. Arquette, on the other hand: not ready to be a boy.

Thus, the 36-year old transformed herself into a woman, a year-and-a-half transitory journey documented in the film. Though willing to capture her emotional transition, Arquette's not about to reveal all her secret.

It got to the point when I wasn't willing to answer the questions about hormones, surgeries, or genitalia because it felt like backstepping. It wasn't a subject that needs any more exploitation; it needs clarification.

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American athleticism's growing increasingly queer. Former B-Baller John Amaechi cracked open the sportsman's closet when he came out a few months ago, now Los Angeles Times' Mike Penner's filling it up with dresses. The jocko-journo used yesterday's column to announce his plans to become a woman:

Today I leave for a few weeks' vacation, and when I return, I will come back in yet another incarnation.

As Christine.

I am a transsexual sportswriter. It has taken more than 40 years, a million tears and hundreds of hours of soul-wrenching therapy for me to work up the courage to type those words. I realize many readers and colleagues and friends will be shocked to read them.

That's OK. I understand that I am not the only one in transition as I move from Mike to Christine. Everyone who knows me and my work will be transitioning as well. That will take time. And that's all right. To borrow a piece of well-worn sports parlance, we will take it one day at a time.

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