On the Rag, Vol. 305

A weekly look at what's making news in the free gay mags:

Metro Weekly (DC): Michael Urie has long focused on finding the funny in even the most serious of subjects, including Barbra Streisand / Read HERE. 

Odyssey New York: JD Phoenix is out front / Online edition HERE.

Next: Everything's coming up Bianca del Rio / Read HERE.

Get Out! magazine falls into the Lady Bunny trap / Online edition HERE.

Frontiers (L.A.): Big Freedia Just Wants to Make You Bounce / Read HERE.

Lavender (Minneapolis): The summer getaways issue is out now! / Online edition HERE.

ALSO:

Passport: Ned and Drew remind us that love never goes out of style! Meet more couples HERE.

Baby Fed

He may have lost early in Paris, but Grigor Dimitrov's still got game. Read HERE.

Matt McGorry Works His 'Magic'

"Orange Is the New Black" actor Matt McGorry's 'Magic Mike 2' audition is meant to be a joke, but I think he's way sexier than any of the guys in the original film!

(Video works)

Medicare Ban on Sex-Reassignment Surgery Lifted

This is huge, because private insurance companies and Medicaid programs take their cues from what the U.S. government decides is medically necessary.

Via AP:

Medicare can no longer automatically deny coverage requests for sex reassignment surgeries, a federal board ruled Friday in a groundbreaking decision that recognizes the procedures are medically necessary for people who don't identify with their biological sex. Ruling in favor of a 74-year-old transgender Army veteran whose request to have Medicare pay for her genital reconstruction was denied two years ago, the agency's Departmental Appeals Board said there was no justification for a three-decade-old HHS rule excluding such surgeries from procedures covered by the national health program for the elderly and disabled. Jennifer Levi, a lawyer who directs the Transgender Rights Project of Gay & Lesbian Advocates and Defenders in Boston, said the ruling doesn't mean Medicare recipients are necessarily entitled to have sex-reassignment surgery paid for by the government. Instead, the lifting of the coverage ban means they now will be able to seek authorization by submitting documentation from a doctor and mental health professionals stating that surgery is recommended in their individual case, Ms. Levi said.

Read HERE.

Bodies of Work

I knew the Skivvies when -- long before Lauren Molina and Nick Cearley made it into People magazine! More from the Summer Bodies issue HERE.

Andy's Eye Candy

Christie’s global, online-only auction of original works by renowned Pop artist Andy Warhol -- Andy's Eye Candy -- opened today and runs through June 10. In conjunction with LGBT Pride month, the sale features more than 100 photographs, prints and drawings in which the artist focused his unique gaze on the male nude, following the same artistic path of discovery as his predecessors throughout art history. View the auction HERE: -- and a special Flipagram video featuring select works from the auction can be viewed HERE.  (Photos courtesy of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.)

Sign Language

But not close enough. 

(With thanks to my friend Tim.)

Song of the Day: 'Always Something There to Remind Me' by Naked Eyes

There really wasn't a more perfect single in the '80s than this one.

Morning Wood

Page 1 Consider (05/30)

AIDS and the City

7 New Yorkers Remember the Early Days of the AIDS Epidemic

Interesting oral (and anal) history about the early days of AIDS in NYC put together by my friend Tim Murphy.

Love that John Blair had his age withheld(!), and found it strange that Sean Strub would mention being worried about having had "condomless" sex in 1983. (Was there any other kind, or does his mind just talk that way after so many years of safe sex?) Also, I can't help but wonder if every queen in New York actually read The New York Times back then -- papers USED to be important, I know! -- or if it's an "I was at [insert historic event in history here]" kind of situation.

Read HERE.

Dick In a Box

Woke up to this inbox goodie:

We’d love to send you a prostate massager for review or schedule an interview with an [REDACTED] executive who can discuss the importance of regular prostate massage.

Insert joke here.

About Time

While being on the cover of Time isn't what it used to be, it's still a HUGE deal for the LGBT community that actress Laverne Cox is the news magazine's latest cover woman! Read The Transgender Tipping Point HERE.

Time to Boycott (E)X(ene)?

X to play first four albums in full in July shows at the Roxy

THIS would be the greatest thing ever, but now that Exene Cervenka's right-wing bullshit has taken a particularly ugly turn -- she's claming the Santa Barabra massacre is a hoax arranged by gun-control advocates -- I suggest no one go to these shows at all. And speaking of hoaxes: I'm starting to think the idea that Viggo Mortensen fucked this crazy bitch is hoax, too.

Tight End Summit

Owen Daniels and Jason Witten are proof that it's true what they say, practice does make perfect.

Song of the Day: 'Whatever Gets You Thru the Night' by John Lennon

John Lennon's one and only solo U.S. number one, from 1974.

Morning Wood

Page 1 Consider (05/29)

Read Maya Angelou's obit HERE.

Chelsea Handler's Talk Show to End Aug. 26

Well, everyone thought Chelsea Handler was complaining about E! and saying she was ending her talk show soon as a contract-negotiation ploy. Wrong. The network announced that "Chelsea Lately" will officially end Tuesday, Aug. 26. Chelsea had this to say about her experience on the network that brought us the Kardashians:

I myself am more surprised than anyone that I was able to hold down a job for seven years, and it was a fantastic seven years. I will always look back at my time on E! as most people look back at their time in college. I'm glad I went.

I'm sure we haven't heard the last of her, but I fear her funniest days are behind her.

Spelling Is His Religion

! 

Seen HERE.

Why Drag? Comes to the Out Hotel

Photographer Magnus Hastings, who shoots all of the queens on "RuPaul's Drag Race," just launched a striking new exhibit of his gurls, on display through Aug. 26 in the lobby of the NYC Out Hotel. It's called Why Drag? and  -- fittingly -- explores why the girls do it. Read more HERE.

Top 25 Cities With High HIV and AIDS Rates

New York is in the top 5, but can you guess which city tops the list? Read HERE.