Wouldn’t it be great if all Lesbians, Gays and Bisexuals (I’ll use LGB from now on), could live the lives that Out Magazine paints for us? I mean, don’t we all live in urban centers, have great jobs with plenty of free time for vacations, have extra money for countless skin care products, drive the newest cars and enjoy the finest liquors?
Well, probably not because we would be a pretty boring lot, wouldn’t we?
Out Magazine positions itself as a lifestyle magazine for the gay community. Out is sort of a cross between a People Magazine and a Details magazine, but with a bit of a twist for the LGB community. Does it pull it off? Sort of, with interesting articles, some useful reviews and at times engaging interviews, Out is the proverbial “top of the heap,” when it comes to LGB lifestyle magazines. Well, as a matter of fact, Out is one of the few LGB lifestyle magazines that caters to the entire gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community. Most others, including Genre and Instinct both cater to an exclusively gay male clientele, while Girlfriends and Curve are for the lesbians. Therefore it has a tough shoe to fill, so I will give Out some leeway there.
The Lowdown on Out
Out is published 12 times a year. A subscription direct from the publisher will run you $17.95. With a little searching online, you can find prices that are a bit lower, around $14.95. An issue at the newsstand will cost you $4.99. Each issue has between 120 and 130 pages. As with any other magazine out there that sells for this price, there are a lot of ads. Probably around 1/3 to a half of the magazine is made up of them. They focus around expensive cars, watches, clothes, and liquors.
The magazine itself is broken down into several different sections including OutFront, Voices, Features, and Essentials. There are also your perennial magazine sections that include a short review of the magazine’s contributors, letters to the editor and the editor’s column.
OutFront is a series of small sections that review current happenings and events in the LGB community. It includes several articles that look at theater, film, television, and radio. In addition it includes a review section that goes over new films, theater, music and TV.
Voices generally contain 4 or 5 columns from various writers. One of my favorites is Michael Musto’s column that is generally an insightful look at the LGB community from a gossip columnist. It might sound a little crazy, but honestly, who better to write about issues in the media and the LGB community, than a gossip columnist. He provides a unique insight that always proves to be a bright spot when I get Out.
Features contains the main articles and stories of the issue. Generally there are 3 or 4 stories in each issue of Out. In October of 2003 – these included a story on Charles Busch and Jason Priestly’s new film and well-written and researched story on the apparent suicide of one of Asian pop’s biggest stars. There is also the requisite fashion spread in the Features section.
Rounding out Out Magazine, is the Essentials section, which includes a calendar of events for the upcoming month, fashion tips, columns, an advice column, a monthly horoscope, and finally, on the last page, Scene, which includes pictures from various LGB events across the country.
Do I want to get Out?
I’ve had a subscription on and off since my freshman year in college (I almost hate to admit that was 8 years ago now). Currently I’m winding down a subscription. Both my boyfriend and I enjoy Out, but with a subscription to Genre (which, if you read the review, I probably won’t renew either) and to Instinct (which is a great Gay male lifestyle mag), we both decided that we didn’t need to continue to get Out. It isn’t that I don’t enjoy the magazine; it’s just that it isn’t quite the right fit for me at the moment. Some of the stories (October’s story on Leslie Cheung’s suicide was a great piece of journalism) are outstanding and on the whole, Out does what it sets out to do, be the lifestyle magazine of the LGB world.
So while I will not keep up my current subscription, I recommend Out for just about any LGB person. It comes and goes with me, in another year or two, who knows, I may be back on the subscription bandwagon. Though I can guarantee that after it runs out, I’m sure I will be picking up an issue or two on the newsstand when the cover grabs my attention.
What kind of recommendation is that?
Ok, I admit it, I probably don’t meet many of the demographics of Out (well I do live in an urban area, have a good job, am white and enjoy some fine things), but it still grabs my attention. It was the first “gay” magazine that I ever purchased. I can still remember wandering back and forth in Waldenbooks in North Conway, NH. I must have spent a good ½ an hour pacing around the magazines, trying to get the courage to buy an issue (I hadn’t come out in college or life yet really). Finally I bit the bullet, grabbed it, put it with an issue of Backpacker (well, I might be gay, but I still like to hike) and made the purchase. I rushed back to my dorm and read it from cover to cover. There were no XY or Instinct magazines back then, it was Out or The Advocate. It was such an amazing relief to experience something “gay” back then and it is something that I will always remember and appreciate.
Out is great at what is does, and that is providing an engaging and very readable overview of LGB lifestyles and the LGB community. We could do a lot worse with a flagship magazine for our community. Out Magazine is something that is worth reading for anyone, including our straight allies. No one should feel left out of the bar with the magazine and it’s a perfect introduction to the LGB community.
Just keep in mind that not all LGB people are rich, live in cities, drive great cars and enjoy vodka.
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