Actor James Franco appears on this month's cover of Out to help hype his new gay flick, Milk. (He also did a cover for Interview magazine.)

The movie's story should be a familiar one: Harvey Milk was California's first openly gay elected official and was later assassinated, along with San Francisco Mayor George Moscone. Franco's starring opposite Sean Penn, who has not been doing press for the movie, which is a bit queer.

So, Franco's getting all this attention and people are loving him. Or hating him. It depends on who you ask.

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Sorry, Out, HX and Next, but British fag rag Attitude's playful swimsuit spread beats you all hands down. There's nothing more attractive than a sense of humor - and blow-up saxophones!

More sexy fun after the jump!

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Should gay father's settle down? Homo-journo Jay over at The Sword surely think so, and launched some barbs at Out magazine for this month's feature on so-called "Disco Daddies," men who continue gracing circuit parties and the such after having children.

Writes Stabile:

Shouldn't everyone, including gays, have to sacrifice and grow up a bit when they become parents? These new dads "want to have it all," says Jeffrey Parson, gay dad and psychology professor. "They have… adult responsibilities but they also keep their connections to the community, sometimes in the party scene." We guess that means we'll be seeing more dads "having it all" while waiting for STD screenings at the clinic, baby bouncing on knee.

Maybe we're too old school, and we're not even fans of circuit parties, but one of the pleasures of being gay is that you can still go to Palm Springs with your friends without someone hauling a toddler along.

We're on the same page with one of the condescending Fire Islanders quoted in the article who says, upon seeing someone's 10-year-old in the Pines, "Wouldn't a dog have been easier?"

Agreed…

In even more war-ish news, the brutish Peter LaBarbera and his pals at Americans For "Truth" ain't gay about Out's list of the universe's most powerful homos:

We are intrigued by the fact that the same movement that once cried out for “privacy” and “to be left alone” feels free to publicly declare people’s homosexuality for them (Anderson Cooper, No. 2, and Jodie Foster, No. 43).

On the other hand, if OUT is right, it might explain Cooper’s bias in his reporting on the homosexual issue: in a recent interview that the CNN host did with pro and con advocates on a ”gay parenting” story, he blatantly favored the “gay” side in his questioning.

Regardless of whether Cooper practices homosexuality, as a professional he should be completely even-handed in his treatment of this controversial moral question.

This from a man who uses his influence to spread blatantly biased spread gay panic and supports Sally Kern, the politician who called non-Christians "infidels" and equated gays with terrorists? Who's even-handed?

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

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Queer Survivor winner Todd Herzog opens up to Out magazine.

While Herzog and journo Bryan Buss spend quite a bit of time talking about the logistics of televised Darwinism, we're more interested in how Herzog reconciles his homosexuality and his Mormon background. Mormonism is, of course, the "It" religion these latter days:

BB: How's it being a gay Mormon? Are you still active in the church?
TH: I haven't been active in the church for quite a while now. I think the reason I'm happy I was raised Mormon is because it's given me a level of values and morals that I like to stay true to. I'm just proud of how I was raised. And I love my mom so much I want to make her proud too.

BB: Did you ever go on a mission?
TH: No, I did not go on a mission. You go when you're 19 and I came out at 19, and I figured, well, it's either go on a mission and lie or tell everybody why you're not going on a mission.

There are those morals his mother taught him. We're sure she's proud, especially of all the semi-revealing pictures.

Details recently released their "Power 50" issue. Besides being intrigued by Kevin Federline's undeserved cover slot, we're absolutely enthralled by the list's familiar number nine winner: "The Other F-word".

If you take a look back, it appears that 2007 was the year of the F-word—but not the one you’re thinking of. America’s rent-a-quote harridan of hatred, Ann Coulter, used the word to slag presidential candidate John Edwards. Presidential candidate Bill Richardson used the Spanish version (maricón) to slam a guy on the Don Imus radio show. Controversy exploded after Isaiah Washington allegedly dropped the F-bomb on a fellow cast member of Grey’s Anatomy.

It’s a word that anyone who ever spent time in an American school yard is familiar with: faggot. But some bullies grow up, get famous, and keep on using it. “I hate gay people,” blurted former basketball star Tim Hardaway. Tucker Carlson bragged about having given a dude who tried to tap toes with him in a men’s room a taste of his bow-tied brutality (“I . . . hit him against the stall with his head, actually”). Hmmm. The word faggot, it seems, is on the tips of a lot of men’s tongues. They can’t stop thinking about it. Without it they’d be lost, and that makes you wonder who really has the power.

Between this and Out's "gay" debate, queer colloquialisms sure have been getting turned out. Too bad they're not getting worn out, huh? No wonder Details lists The Other F-Word's age as "forever young"

Check it…um, out, after the jump…

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Move over Tom Ford, there's a new designer sex symbol on the block. A studly looking Marc Jacobs appears on Out's September issue and let's just say he's letting it all hang out.

In addition to appearing nudie on the cover, Mr. MJ opens up about…well, everything, including his much-publicized relationship with former rent boy Jason Preston.

I had a relationship with him, and it was crazy, and sometimes it was a lot of fun, and sometimes it was not a lot of fun, and the biggest frustration was that I wanted him to be something he wasn’t, and I don’t mean on a social level, and I don’t mean about his past or anything like that—I just mean that I wanted to come home and have somebody be available and have conversations and just to be there.

44-year old Jacobs, who designs two eponymous labels and acts as Louis Vuitton's creative director, recently re-kicked his heroin habit, an addiction that no doubt shot out of his physical insecurities. "I used to really hate seeing my own reflection in the mirror… I just avoided having my picture taken." Well, Marc, you're definitely looking drool worthy these days.

For those of you keeping count, Jacobs is the third cover-queer in so many months. If you include Mika, of course, which we do…

Out Out columnist Jesse Archer recently struck out to check out South America's out scene. The result? You Can Run: Gay, Glam and Gritty Travels in South American: a chronicle of queer South America and Archer's adventures therein, including a particularly sensual run in with a banana.

Guess we know where the titular "gritty" comes from…

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• We can't even attempt to do Jim David's attack on the anti-gay GOP justice:

The hysterical right wing response to the House passage of the hate crimes bill [equates] gays with terrorists: if Al Qaeda doesn't get you, Al Gayda will.

They claim that the bill will criminalize antigay speech, which of course it won't. They will still be able to say nasty things about gays, they just won't be able to beat them up, which, of course, most of them want to do.

And it only gets better, especially when he goes after the gay conservatives. Bitch is on a roll…

• Mollygood - our Hollywood-obsessed virtual cousin - has a new look. Oh, and we think straight editor Cord Jefferson has a crush on the newly-hunky Marc Jacobs. Pass it on…

• Meanwhile, we totally have a crush on Brothers and Sisters' queer creator, Robbie Baitz.

• And Liv Tyler wants Karolina Kurkova's titties. (Also, Jessica Simpson and reality have apparently had a nasty break-up. Tragic.)

• What's queer about fall's television schedule? How about Bryan Singer, Footballer's Wives, Darren Star and Bobby Cannavale, of Will & Grace, The Night Listener and a slew of other gay-themed shows/movies/etc…

• The Bible-spouting, gay-hating Floridian airport employee totally got canned. Now you queens can fly into Fort Lauderdale without hearing the blasphemous manipulation of Biblical text. Hooray!

• We never knew Isabella Blow, but we still think she's rad.

• Out's Equus-inspired, Chad White-starring, Francois Rousseau-shot, Sam Jaradeh-styled photo shoot may be one of the hottest spreads we've seen in a long time. (In print, of course.) Even if you've seen the paper edition, you'll definitely want to head over to the magazine's website to take an exclusive peek at White's oh-so-beautiful bum. It's really quite delicious…