Some distressing news from Tray Butler's blog. In a post entitled "Shoot Me", the former HX editor and soon-to-be Atlanta resident writes:

Sigh.
Is it just me or has the blog gotten really boring lately? Seems like all I do now is post my current illustration, with an occasional meandering anecdote about traveling with my BF.
Double sigh.
Perhaps it's time to take this thing down and start fresh.

So, readers, we implore you: send Mr. Butler a little note and tell him how much you love him. Or, you know, don't. (Although, only some sort of monster couldn't love Butler. And you're not a monster, are you?)

• New York Blade editor Trent Straube loves Queerty (and gym sex).

• Homo flip-flopper Harold Ford Jr heads Democratic Leadership Council.

• Molly signs off of Mollygood, welcomes new editor Cord.

• Former HX editor Tray Butler keeps his head. (For now, at least.)

• Pornstars fight meth.

(Good call, Max, thanks.)

This story actually broke last week, but it didn't show up on our gaydar. Good thing HX Magazine's founder Matthew Bank chatted us up at outgoing EIC Tray Butler's going away party Friday or we would have missed it entirely.

It seems a former go-go boy is suing HX Magazine, Next Magazine and Splash Bar (aka Hell on Earth) for an ad that calls him a porn star. Manuel Alex Saez danced for Splash and agreed to appear in an ad. Little did he know that the ad, promoting one the decidely seedy bar's many themed nights, would label him "Big City Video star porn star Alex." Saez's lawyer clarifies, "In fact, he is merely a dancer and entertainer." Um, right. While we're sure he's got a sparkling personality, it seems to us that it's his penis that deserves the credit. But, opinions are like assholes. And, really, so are we...

A student in the Bronx, Saez also worked at a "popular youth-oriented clothing store". That is, of course, until all his co-workers thought he fellated on film, mocking him with "gossip and innuendo" which led to his eventual dismissal. Now he wants 1.25 million bones as compensation. By our calculations, he would have to gyrate in front of at least 1 million men to make that kind of money. At an average of 6 gyrations a second, that would take him approproximately 5,000 years. A lawsuit's far more efficient.

While we love a good go-go scandal, we have a bit of a story in a story. Matthew Bank told us that both New York Post and New York Daily News reported on the lawsuit, but the Post neglected to name Next Magazine. Of course, Bank doesn't mind that. He smiled smuggly, "I'm glad they think we're that big." You sure are, Mr. Bank. You sure are...

Friday marked the one-year anniversary of former New York Blade editor Tray Butler's reign as editor of HX Magazine. To mark the occasion, Butler celebrated in the only way he could: he quit.

After HX Magazine and Window Media partnered last year, thus bringing The Blade and HX under one happy homo-journo roof, Butler (pictured looking adorable with Lady Bunny) switched positions with Trenton Straube. Though Butler will continue freelancing for HX, he's decided to devote more energy to finishing his novel.

We emailed Mr. Butler for a statement, but he's yet to get back to us. We did, however, come across this statement from his blog:

While traveling over the Thanksgiving holiday, I had a sort of epiphany reiterating what I've known for a couple of months, that it's time for me to move on...

Why leave now? That's a harder one to answer, but part of it has to do with the inherent cycle of working for a weekly publication. Once you've been around the merry go round once, you start to know what's coming next. If not, you haven't been paying attention...

I'm going back to full-time freelancing: not only writing, but getting my illustrations out there more. I plan to finally finish a book I've had in the works for almost a year now.
At first glance, 2007 looks to be nothing like the last two years of my life, which is a vaguely terrifying — but also exhilarating — feeling.

While a new editor's yet to be named, there's definitely one major contender: features editor Brandon Voss. God help us all.

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.

[Read On ...]