Broadway star Norm Lewis
News Round-Up: July 17, 2020
News Round-Up: May 4, 2020
Some news items you might have missed: • Monday Memory: I came across this photo (above) from a couple of years ago when Michael, I and some friends were invited to the opening of a new club in Las Vegas. We got there kind of early I guess as not many people were there. A photographer told us to pose for a pic laying down and flexing. For some reason, I (top right) was more fascinated with my cocktail than my bicep. • Boy Culture: Matt Rettenmund reminisces on Madonna making her Broadway debut in David Mamet’s acclaimed play, Speed-the-Plow, thirty-two years ago. • NBC News: On April 20, Trump estimated the death toll in the U.S. from the coronavirus threat could be 50,000 to 60,000; by that point, there had been 40,000 U.S. deaths related to COVID-19. Earlier last week, he spoke of 60,000 to 70,000 deaths. During a Fox News town hall Friday night, Trump shifted his estimates to perhaps 100,000. At this writing, there are over 68,000 COVID-19 deaths in the US.
Trump: That’s one of the reasons we’re successful, if you call losing 80k-90k people successful Bret: That number has changed Mr. President. You said 60 Trump: I used to say 65k and now I’m saying 80 or 90 and it goes up and it goes up rapidly pic.twitter.com/v4FbbygF5Q
— Acyn Torabi (@Acyn) May 3, 2020
I’m starting a rumor on the Breitbart chats that Covid-19 turns you gay. That should keep a lot of these idiots at home.
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) May 2, 2020
You can feel the love in this video. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/UqjmU2ysXv
— People (@people) May 5, 2020
News Round-Up: November 26, 2019
Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: When the future’s so bright you gotta wear shades, you might be hottie Max Souza (above). • NZ Herald: Ken Miller and his husband Jason Brumbaugh moved to New Zealand two years ago and bought a restaurant, Saluté, that became the target of local homophobia. Then, an online review of the small-town restaurant raved about the food and denounced the homophobia sparking a nationwide wave of support for its owners. • The Gaily Grind: Actress Jamie Lee Curtis said in a new interview that she “fully accepts outing” hypocritical politicians that pass “anti-gay legislation.” And I’m totally with her. • Boy Culture: First a hit novel, then a movie, and in 2020 will become ‘The Series,’ Matt Rettenmund is releasing a 25th Anniversary Edition of his book, Boy Culture. Click here for the backstory on the novel, a cavalcade of sexy covers from all the international iterations of the book, plus a link to buy the new, updated edition. Congrats, Matt! 
• PEOPLE: First lady Melania Trump was met with a “resounding chorus of loud boos” from middle and high schoolers as soon as she walked on stage at an opioid awareness event on Tuesday. • Advocate: For her decades of activism with LGBTQ youth, Cyndi Lauper will be awarded the inaugural High Note Global Prize presented by the United Nations Human Rights and the High Note Global Initiative at her annual Home for the Holidays concert on December 10. • JustJared: Wendy Williams denied she’s gay telling her audience today, “I am no lesbian. I like women for friendship. I like men and I like the D.” • Instagram: Madonna had ‘a moment’ with out rapper Lil Nas X at the Wiltern Theater during the residency of her Madame X tour in Los Angeles.
View this post on Instagram
Is happy to Share her last name ❌ and a beer 🍺 with @lilnasx #madamextheatre #thewiltern
News Round-Up: October 14, 2019
Michael and I getting our Pride on at Las Vegas Pride this year
We intentionally made a Facebook ad with false claims and submitted it to Facebook’s ad platform to see if it’d be approved. It got approved quickly and the ad is now running on Facebook. Take a look: pic.twitter.com/7NQyThWHgO
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) October 12, 2019
Boy Culture Ranks Top Gay-Porn Stars
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| L-R Austin Wolf (via Instagram), Arad Winwin (via Instagram) |
Over at Boy Culture, Matt Rettenmund has done the hard work and ranked what he considers “History’s 225 Greatest Gay-Porn Stars.”
I know, I know…it’s hard work but someone’s got to do it.
Rettenmund ranked the first 40 in order, and then the other 185 adult performers are included and listed in alphabetical order.
As they say, “Just to be nominated is an honor…”
Now, in all honesty, I’ll admit my knowledge of gay-porn performers is much more limited than Rettenmund, who earlier in his career worked as a gay-porn industry professional for publications like Torso, Honcho, Playguy and Mandate.
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| Ok, so I do know who Austin Wolf is… (via Instagram) |
As Boy Culture points out, gay men didn’t have much back in the 1980s and 90s in terms of “societal instruction on what happens when two guys fall in love, or even lust.” So, gay porn was about the only source we had for figuring out how this all might work.
I remember some of these guys from videos my first boyfriend had back in the 1980s, but I’m not so good with names in terms of today’s adult performers.
But the internet loves lists, so I’ll share Rettenmund’s “Top 10” here, but you can click over to Boy Culture for the full Top 40 plus all of his honorary mentions.
As Rettenmund writes, “It’s not science, so please don’t flunk me.”
10. Lukas Ridgeston (b. 1974)
9. Brent Corrigan (Sean Paul Lockhart, b. 1986)
8. Austin Wilde (b. 1983)
7. Kevin Williams (b. 1965)
6. Chad Douglas (Martin R. Cox, 1957-1999/AIDS)
5. Jack Wrangler (John Robert Stillman, 1946-2009/emphysema)
4. Ryan Idol (Marc Anthony Donais, b. 1966)
3. Joey Stefano (Nicholas Anthony Iacona Jr., 1968-1994/O.D.)
2. Jeff Stryker (Charles Casper Peyton, b. 1962)
And Boy Culture’s number one adult entertainment star is…
1. Al Parker (Andrew ‘Drew’ Okun, 1952-1992/AIDS)
Boy Culture: Brief History Of LGBTQ Characters, People, Mentions & Moments On Primetime TV
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| (image via Boy Culture) |
Matthew Rettenmund at Boy Culture has compiled an amazing list of LGBTQ characters and/or mentions of homosexuality on TV from 1920-2000.
It’s an incredible list of firsts and notable moments in queer television history.
From Boy Culture:
LGBTQ people have been around forever, albeit not always identified as such.
When we began to declare ourselves, especially when the media went national and electronic and visual, we began our ongoing struggle for tolerance and, eventually, acceptance, in order to possess a sense of self-esteem that would be backed up by legal rights.
It’s been messy, it’s included some unfortunate missteps, and it’s always been a mix of frustrating, exhilarating, contentious and — in the case of the arts — insulting, entertaining or both.
I decided, in early 2017, to compile a list of TV moments featuring real or fictional LGBTQ people, major and minor (aren’t they all major when you’re a closeted kid in the Dust Bowl?) appearances that demonstrate the trajectory from “the love that dare not speak its name” to “we’re here, we’re queer” to GBF to where we are now, when LGBTQ characters are often included on TV and are often multi-dimensional, and when real-life LGBTQ people are all over television.
The list includes the first televised reference to homosexuality, a 1954 news program “Homosexuals and the Problem They Present,” the first TV appearance by a cross-dresser, the first explicitly gay character in a TV drama and much, much more.
I really encourage you to click over to Boy Culture and take a read.
Rettenmund says he hopes to turn the research into a book.
I’d buy that 🙂
A Lovely (Underwear) Party
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| Lony Pizarro |
Boy Culture‘s Matt Rettenmund recently attended the official NYFW Chulo Underwear Party, and has the pics to prove it. About Chulo Underwear:
“CHULO is a new a line of clothing and gear that is culturally-relevant to today’s marginalized youth of color. Our mission as a company is to inspire young people to invest in a brand that invests in them. Each time a young person buys the brand, s/he is having a direct and immediate impact on his/her own community because proceeds are reinvested back into a local CBO, scholarship program or charity that services these very same youth. “To do this, CHULO partners with local community centers to identify, educate, train and ultimately hire young people to be part of the CHULO design team as artists, designers, writers, promoters, vendors and/or promotional spokespersons. “The CHULO brand is now one-year old. We have partnered with the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance (BAAD), Uprose Brooklyn, and Tropical Images’ GKOTS (Get Kids Off The Street Program. We have also donated to several other programs including El Museo del Barrio, the American Indian College Fund, the National Puerto Rican Day Parade Scholars Program, the Loisaida Center, El Maestro Boxing Club and Cultural Center, the LGBT Arts Program of the Church of St. Luke in the Fields, the Caribbean Cultural Center, and the GED Program at Taino Towers.”
Venezuela-born Lony Pizarro (above) was just one of the underwear models who chatted for charity. Head over to Boy Culture for many, many more pics from the evening.
Underwear can certainly be sexy and fun, but it can also represent issues in our lives sometimes. In another post, I wrote about a gay ex-Mormon man who made the decision to lose his ‘magic underwear.’
The Man Who Wrote THE Book On Madonna – Matthew Rettenmund
Matthew Rettenmund, author and blogger for the popular LGBT blog Boy Culture chats with me about his two newest books – Encyclopedia Madonnica 2.0 (the ultimate book on the Queen of Pop) and Starf*cker, a memoir chronicling his life into and through the world of pop culture, founding a successful teen magazine and his obsession with celebrities.
The ultimate pop-culture enthusiast, Matthew has been obsessed with celebrities ever since he was born. Starf*cker documents Rettenmund’s affection –in the case of Madonna, it’s pure mania–for movie, television, and music personalities.
From his years as a star-obsessed gayby to his contradictory careers in porn and as a teen-mag editor (names will be named), Matthew details and deconstructs his – and our – passion for celebrity.
Matthew shares stories from behind the scenes during his years working on a teen fan magazine – dealing with teen stars like Zac Efron, Justin Bieber and many boy bands along the way.
Plus, Matthew talks about his approach to writing and editing a successful daily blog.
Really insightful interview for folks who are fans of pop culture (like me).
Tons Of Photos From NYC Pride Parade
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| Sir Ian McKellen as Grand Marshall |
Matt Rettenmund over at Boy Culture took tons of photos during the NYC Pride Parade.
Here’s just a few, but click over to BC to see the vast diversity of the NYC LGBT celebration!
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| Mayor De Blasio |
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| Police Commissioner Bratton and wife |
Tweet Of The Day: Matthew Rettenmund
Didn’t realize 19 KIDS AND COUNTING was Josh Duggar’s to-do list.
— Matthew Rettenmund (@mattrett) May 22, 2015