Colton Haynes Covers OUT Magazine

Teen Wolf and Arrow star Colton Haynes opens up on several intimately personal topics in a new interview with OUT Magazine plus a new Bruce Weber inspired photo shoot.

Why he took so long to publicly come out:

“I feel really bad that I had to lie for so long. But I was told that was the only way I was going to be successful. When you’re young in this industry, people take advantage of you, and they literally tell you that your dreams are going to come true. If you believe that, you’ll do anything. And you do believe it, especially if you’re from Kansas.”

On his dad's passing:

“I’m the last person in the world who would say, ‘Oh, my dad—pity me,’” says Haynes, whose father, seven times married, split from Dana and was never close with him. “But I was told that my dad killed himself because he found out I was gay. So, of course, I lost it and was like, ‘How could you say something like that?’ And no one will ever really know the truth. But my brother and my mom went to pick up my dad’s stuff, and the only picture on his fridge was my eighth-grade graduation picture. So I was just like, Fuck.”

Regrets over trying to scrub the internet of his now infamous XY Magazine photo shoot:

“All I remember is, I was so excited to do that photo shoot. 'This is it! I’m going to be in a magazine!’ I truly thought it was going to be this serious moment in my career, and I knew it would earn me enough money to get to L.A.”

What Haynes didn’t expect was that the XY photo shoot would follow him (“It was everywhere,” he says) and eventually become the most unimpeachable evidence against a closeted celebrity in recent memory. Around the time he landed his breakthrough role on Teen Wolf in 2011, Haynes was taking the heat for efforts by his team to wipe the XY shots from the Internet.

“I looked like I was fucking gay-bashing,” he says. “Like I hated myself or I hated the gays, which was never the intention at all. I was just young and trying to make it in this town and doing what these people were telling me to do.”

The article also covers the launch of Haynes' new merchandise site and the last time he had sex (or not).

Head over to OUT for the full article.

Nick Jonas Covers OUT Magazine

Hottie and current "It Boy" Nick Jonas covers the June/July 2016 issue of OUT Magazine, and inside chats on his burgeoning acting career, his upcoming solo album, Last Year Was Complicated, and the constant accusations of gay baiting.

From the interview with Chadwick Moore:

On the accusations of courting the LGBT community and working both the LGBT press and New York City’s gay club circuit:
The accusations of gay baiting and opportunism have left Jonas a bit wounded. “It’s not the majority, but a large handful have a negative opinion for whatever reason,” he says, “and I think it’s really quite sad.”

On "Nate," his queer character on television series Kingdom, who is grappling with masculinity and a conservative family:
“It’s been a great character to play,” says Jonas, “One that I try to be respectful of and take myself out of. He’s on his own path.” To prepare for the part, he spoke to some of his closest friends, some of whom were raised in conservative families about their coming-out experiences. “It was a good way to research,” says Jonas, “to kind of build the character with some elements of real life.”

On having his romantic life in the public eye and being dissected by the media:
“It definitely sucks. It sort of feels like, on top of dealing with the situation with the person, you have to be thinking about other people’s opinion about it, and without all the information.” When he was younger (and still a Jonas Brother), he found this attention rather creepy. “The fact that people were intrigued by a 14 – or 15-year-old’s relationships was strange to me,” he says. “Now I think it makes a bit more sense. I think it’s kind of amusing, people’s interests. But it’s funny, because I think I live a pretty low-key life.”

Check out Nick performing his single "Close" on ELLEN:

OUT Magazine Announces "Power 50" For 2015

Who are the most "powerful" LGBTs in America, you ask?

In what is now the 9th edition of OUT Magazine's "Power 50" we see a mix of entertainers, politicians and uber-high level business executives.

Each year we rank the most influential LGBT people in American culture. It's not an easy task, and we take into account a variety of criteria: everything from someone's political clout or visibility in the media to how they impact our economy and our view of the world.

It's an impressive group of movers and shakers — and the changing look of the list indicates an expanding and inspiring sense of what it means to have power in 2015.

Here's this year's top 10:

1. Tim Cook
2. Ellen DeGeneres
3. Rachel Maddow
4. Sen. Tammy Baldwin
5. Anderson Cooper
6. Anthony Romero
7. Chad Griffin
8. Mary Kay Henry
9. Laverne Cox
10. Andy Cohen

The only two names I can admit I didn't know are Romero, who is executive director of the ACLU, and Henry, who heads up the SEIU.

Head over to OUT for the full list of 50, plus mini-bios on each.

OUT Magazine lays off entire editorial staff

The editorial staff of the influential gay lifestyle magazine Out is being laid off with one month's severance as of Friday, according to Capital New York.

According to Out editor-in-chief Aaron Hicklin, it's more complicated than that.

Hicklin said he has formed a new company called Grand Editorial that will function as an editorial contractor for Here Media, who owns Out Magazine.

Hicklin told Capital there will be no reduction in the frequency of the magazine or other major changes to the content.

"This was not a cost-cutting measure," he said.

He said he'd been hatching plans to launch Grand for awhile. Having spent six years running Out, he informed Here that he was forming a new venture, a custom-content shop that would work on projects like producing magazines for corporate clients, he said.

Apparently, the re-hired editors will have more flexibility in their work and work load, however no full-time salaries or benefits. They will be contracted freelancers.

Read more at Capital New York.