You all really wished Out had put Rachel Maddow on the cover of their Out 100 issue (and in all fairness, so did editor Aaron Hicklin), but you can catch her every night on her MSNBC show.

When Sarah Palin told Greta Van Susteren that the Eisenstadt hoax was started by "some blogger — probably sitting there in their parent's basement wearing their pajamas blogging some kind of gossip or a lie," a lot of people, myself included, took offense.

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With anti-gay ballot initiatives passing in Arizona, Florida and possibly California, Out editorial queen Aaron Hicklin's got some advice for the lavender set: ask for what you deserve.

…For all that we consider ourselves more politically savvy these days, the campaign against Proposition 8 sometimes lacked the passion and emotion that galvanised the opposition. In their painful diplomacy, the "No on 8" TV ads were often a snooze, the few examples of real gay people creating an impression that we were ashamed of ourselves.

Late tactical changes were welcome, but too late. And yet to blame ourselves when the real culprit is intolerance, ignorance, and old-fashion bigotry, would be misguided. And what the ballot box has taken away, it will surely one day give back again. So far all the ballot initiatives (and there have been many) have come from those opposed to same-sex marriage, putting gay Americans on the defensive. Is it too much to ask that we take the lead next time in creating a ballot proposal that is for marriage equality, thereby draw up the terms?

For those of you confused by this Brit's argument, allow us to translate: we need to grow a collective pair. Oh, and he also describes gay rights issues as a "political liability," an idea that we're sure needs no translation.

Big news from gay mag The Advocate.

After 15-years as editor, Anne Stockwell has "stepped down," thus making room for new EIC Jon Barrett, who will apparently be leading the long-running pub in a "new direction." And here! networks, which bought the PlanetOut periodicals earlier this year, couldn't be more excited about the regime change. Said honchos Stephen P. Jarchow and Paul Colichman:

We are thrilled that Jon Barrett will bring his talent to this important brand and continue the historic tradition of The Advocate. Barrett will provide the magazine with a provocative new perspective around the critical issues affecting the lives of the LGBT community as well as expand Advocate.com into a definitive, daily online news source.

Like Stockwell, Barrett's an industry veteran and previously worked as senior editor at Real Simple, O at Home and Cargo.

Full release, after the jump…

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We dedicate Bob Seger's classic "Turn The Page" to publisher Joe Landry, who recently left BlackBook to rejoin the team at Out, which happens to be edited by former BlackBook editor Aaron Hicklin.

Just a little update for y'all. Out posted its Trans Issue interview with actress Tilda Swinton, as well as some more David Armstrong shots.

Also, Out Editor In Chief Aaron Hicklin informs us that Trans Issue guest editor T Cooper signed on for a bimonthly column in the gay glossy.

He'll switch off with long-time staffer Jesse Archer.

The kids over at Out get in touch with their trans side this month.

Guest editor T Cooper what seems to be a pretty well-rounded, informative and poppy issue. This display - adorned by David Armstrong shot Tilda Swinton cover - ain't a sing-song calls for activism, but a closer look at the trans subculture's ins, outs and in-betweens. (See a larger version of the cover at the end of this post.)

Cooper did well with the magazine's trans-limited, admittedly "clumsy" staffers. For example, they've of ten "essential" trans titles, while Candis Cayne talks about trans life in the spotlight and Cooper himself takes a look at NYC's trans fags, including a boy whose biological origins got him booted from popular hook-up site, Adam4Adam.

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Photography Danielle Levitt recently traveled down to the dirty South to document the region's gay youth for Out.

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In an effort to save its seemingly sinking brand, PlanetOut appointed Out EIC Aaron Hicklin as the company's Editorial Director. In addition to working with other editors under the media umbrella, Hicklin will "play an integral role in the development of the digital media aspects of Gay.com 2.0 and will serve as the creative visionary behind the re-launch of PlanetOut.com," says an internal email.

Hicklin couldn't be more excited, squealing via email:

I’m delighted to be given the opportunity to work with the editorial teams in the Planetout family in pursuit of a more integrated and comprehensive editorial strategy. It’s a big task, but we have some tremendously talented and resourceful people working for our print and online properties, and I’m looking forward to meeting with them all in the next month and listening to their suggestions and ideas as we continue to build on our already considerable achievements.

In "the next month"?! Oh, right - it's a planet. Hope Hicklin packs a lunch!

Here's the entire aforementioned email from CEO Karen Magee. It's a truly remarkable read.

Dear Colleagues,

It gives me great pleasure to announce the appointment of Aaron Hicklin
as Editorial Director for PlanetOut Inc. At the same time that Aaron
assumes responsibility for all of the online and magazine content
created across our company, he plans to continue in his role as the
Editor in Chief of Out.

In this newly created position, Aaron will work closely with the
Editors in Chief of each of our magazines, and our digital editorial
team, to ensure that we are maximizing our editorial resources and
talent across all of our properties. He will play an integral role in
the development of the digital media aspects of GAY.COM 2.0 and will
serve as the creative visionary behind the re-launch of PlanetOut.com.

All of you know Aaron as the immensely talented editor who, along with
his terrific team at Out, has completely redesigned and re-launched
that magazine over the course of the last 18 months. What you may not
know is that Aaron previously served as the Editor in Chief of
BlackBook magazine and as the Executive Editor of Gear magazine. Aaron
transitioned into the US magazine market from his position as the
Features Editor for Scotland on Sunday, prior to which he began his
career as a contributing writer for The List (Edinburgh) and The
Independent (London).

Please join me in congratulating Aaron on his new role.

Karen

Albus Dumbledore may be the most popular gay these days. He's certainly getting enough press.

While the Harry Potter character's outing may bring JK Rowling even more fans, Out's Aaron Hicklin thinks gays have always loved the Potter books. He tells Jeff Bercovici:

I suspect (but have no proof) that the books have a particular appeal to gay readers for all the obvious reasons. Gay men are able to identify a) with children's fiction because invariably the hero is the outsider; and b) with fantasy because it posits an alternate universe, usually one in which wrongs can be righted.

And people have powers and shit, which is cool.

Meanwhile, Hicklin also chatted with Bercovici about this year's Out 100 and a controversial addition: Perez Hilton. Says Hicklin:

Obviously we knew it would be polarizing, but it's hard to argue with the fact that he's made a tremendous impact, for better or worse — and do you know how hard it is to find 100 successful gay men and women every year?

Cough, cough…

A recent issue of gay monthly Out pondered whether or not we live in a post-gay world. In that issue, which featured sexually ambiguous Mika on the cover, editor Aaron Hicklin lamented the gentrification of formerly gay ghettos like Fire Island's pines:

It would be a horrible irony if the communities and beach resorts that once subverted society's mores and pieties ended up feeling as privileged and alienating as the culture they were reacting against.

From there, the issue as a whole examined the relevance of sexuality in a fairly gay friendly popular culture. Do we need to be here and queer? The answered seemed to be no. In our discussion of that issue, we wrote, "Gay may not be the war cry it once was; in fact, there may be no war cry." Sexuality in America seems to be more malleable, hence a post-gay world.

New Genre EIC Neal Boulton unabashedly borrows Hicklin's idea in his editorial for the revamped glossy.

Labels aside, like any American, I like what Americans like. I like a hot car…I want to have a hot body… and I want a walk-in closet full of hot clothes… And sex. Can anyone really ever get enough? Sorta sounds like everyone else on the planet, doesn't it?

Boulton goes on to chide unnamed men's magazines that cater to gays, but refuse to acknowledge their queer readers. He concludes:

…A lot of these magazines just need to come out. Until then there is Genre, the new magazines for every man - proud of being gay. The magazine for the American - who isn't ashamed of anything - G, L, B, or T.

Gentlemen mark your calendars and join me in ringing in a post gay America.

Boulton's proclamation may come three months after Hicklin's, but the idea remains the same: American gays have entered a new era. The men and their magazines, however, have very different opinions on that era's landscape.

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The New York Post got itself a new gay nemesis over the weekend. NY Times' perfume critic Chandler Burr doesn't take too kindly to the tab-rag's description of Out magazine.

In a blurb on Danny Fields' frivolous lawsuit against Out , Page Six describes the glossy as a "gay lifestyle mag". Homo-journo Burr took offense and penned a note to the Posters. In his missive, Burr - whom the perpetually confused Post describes as "flamboyant" - writes,

Using the expression 'gay lifestyle' is not just idiotic, it's empirically wrong. There is no 'gay lifestyle.' There's homosexuality, the sexual orientation, and there's heterosexuality, the sexual orientation. But 'gay lifestyle' is a purely political term with a purely political meaning, and it's simply, factually inaccurate.

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Did Out "gay bash" former Factory boy Danny Fields? Fields says "yes," and he's out for the mag's money.

The drama started back in October of 2006, when EIC Aaron Hicklin interviewed the music manager for their '70s issue. In the piece, Fields chats about decade's free loving.

The quote seems to intimate Fields used his famous connections, which include Iggy Pop and The Ramones, to bed younger lads. Fields, however, says Hicklin and his magazine misrepresented him:

My reputation is ruined because Out has called me virtually a sexual predator. It is atrocious… I never said that. The implication is while my bands were playing, I was trawling the audience for kids… like I used the performances as an excuse to cruise and pick up underage teens. The quotes are also so ungrammatical. I would never even talk like that. I have advanced degrees in English literature…They gay-bashed me.

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It's no secret PlanetOut Inc's been having some trouble.

Not only did the gay media company's stock take a tumble earlier this year, but ad pages have fallen in its primary titles, The Advocate and Out, a trend no doubt perpetuated by publisher Joe Landry's departure for BlackBook.

Now, in an attempt to turn things around, PlanetOut's publishing division, LPI Media, and a new publisher are hoping to take the titles in new direction: up.

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