A look back at some of the year's most compelling stories
December 26 2013 11:59 AM EST
February 05 2015 9:27 PM EST
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The Long Education of Daniel Radcliffe
by Aaron Hicklin
"John Krokidas talks of Radcliffe as a mentor who became his rock through the production, and offers a telling anecdote of being together, along with DeHaan, this past New Year's Eve. 'I thanked them both for making my dream come true,' recalls Krokidas. 'And then Dan turned to me and said, 'Thank you for a beautiful collaboration and spending time with me to make such a beautiful performance. But more importantly, always remember this moment and remember all your friends who are just as talented but not yet as successful, and don't let this go to your head.' That is the credo that he lives by.'"
In the Reign of the Gay Magical Elves
by Bret Easton Ellis
"The Gay Man as Magical Elf has been such a tricky part of gay self-patronization in the media that you would by now expect the chill members of the LGBT community to respond with cool indifference. The Sweet and Sexually Unthreatening and Super-Successful Gay is supposed to be destined to transform The Hets into noble gay-loving protectors--as long as the gay in question isn't messy or sexual or difficult."
The Men Who Want AIDS--and How It Improved Their Lives
By Maral Noshad Sharifi
"It's not just those who already have AIDS who view it as a lifeline; some young men who test negative aspire to contract the disease as a way out of trouble. Rivera knows at least one man who planned to have unprotected sex on purpose, an attitude he sums up thus: 'My life is not getting better. I need a helping hand, and it seems like the only way I can get a helping hand is by getting sick.'"
Queen of Swords
by Natasha Vargas-Cooper
"Fallon Fox's upcoming fight against Allanna Jones on Friday marks the first time in MMA history that an openly trans fighter will step into the cage. And it will be the second elimination round in the Champion Fighting Alliance's all-female tournament. If Fox is victorious, she will go on to the final round and compete for a $20,000 purse, the highest bounty for which she's ever fought. To some -- perhaps even to many -- Fox's upcoming fight is historic in another way: It's the first time in MMA history a man will be allowed to fight a woman."
Is This the New Condom?
By Tim Murphy
"James says he began PrEP because he has multiple sex partners and hates condoms -- 'Every instinct in my body says I don't want to wear them' -- but he didn't want to potentially pass HIV to his HIV-negative boyfriend. 'I can't tell him I'm on PrEP, but I'm trying to protect him,' he says. He's contracted chlamydia a few times, he says, but in the near year he's been on PrEP, he's stayed HIV-negative."
Once Upon a Time
by Bill Clegg
"It was the day after the news broke about Carson's murder that I went to find the right tie to get married in. I stood in the men's department at Barneys scanning the tables and as I did, I noticed a beefy guy in a dark suit keeping close; I moved, he moved. I stopped, he stopped. I assumed he was a security guard. I had on bleach-stained shorts and a worn T-shirt, so maybe he thought I was shoplifting. I imagined what he thought of the other well-heeled, fashion-minded men in the store pawing the cashmere and silks, modeling the garments before the many mirrors. He looked like an ex-cop... He stepped closer to where I stood and I flinched..."
The Making of Macklemore
By Stacy Lambe
"The show ends, and I meet Macklemore and Lewis and head to the green room backstage. Macklemore is bleary-eyed, visibly exhausted after having just wrapped a concert for 6,500 people. His rendition of 'Thrift Shop' was an obvious high point of the performance, but it's time to talk about the other big song that has recently captured the attention of his followers and the media alike. Asked what served as his inspiration for 'Same Love,' he hangs his head and thinks for a moment. 'I knew I wanted to write a song about gay rights, about marriage equality, and about homophobia in hip-hop, but I didn't know how to do it,' he says. 'I tried, at first, writing from the perspective of a gay, bullied kid. That's what sparked the song in the first place: reading the story of a 13-year-old who committed suicide.'"
Freakshow: World of Wonder, Hollywood's Nuttiest Production Company
by Natasha Vargas-Cooper
"'Look, there are two ways to showcase freaks,' Fenton Bailey says in a matter-of-fact tone. He has a little bit more of a taciturn style; his lightly hooded eyes usually give a deadpan stare. It's like being on the opposite end of an aristocratic gaze: enticing and a little intimidating (his British accent adds to the effect). 'You can humiliate and make fun of the freak--put them in situations that exploit them--or you can celebrate the freak. We celebrate the freak.'"
Kevin McClatchy: Team Player
By Jerry Portwood
"At 33, McClatchy was now the youngest manager of a professional baseball team. He joined an irascible bunch: George Steinbrenner, Ted Turner, Marge Schott. These people didn't censor their thoughts, and they didn't know (or care) much about this young interloper. 'The first time I met Marge, she turned and handed me her drink. I think she thought I was one of the busboys,' McClatchy says. 'I grabbed her drink and I put it down, and then I tried it again.' Despite the triumph, McClatchy was quickly tested when someone threatened to leak to the press that he was gay."
Who Was Henry Darger?
By Jeremy Lybarger
"For many men the struggle against masturbation was a struggle to hold onto sanity and, since the act was often conflated with homosexuality, a struggle to avoid ostracism. Jim Elledge's survey of inquisitorial devices designed to keep men virtuous includes a belt with built-in penis sleeve and a cock ring with spikes. More drastic cases called for sewing shut the foreskin, or, most extreme of all, castration. For Darger, who had been masturbating since he was six years old, the diagnosis was more surreal--his heart was literally in the wrong place--and the cure more routine: incarceration in an asylum."
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