Blueboy (magazine)

Blueboy was one of the early gay men's lifestyle and entertainment magazines available in the U.S. It was published monthly from 1974 to 2007.

Blueboy
Blueboy cover (January 1978)
EditorDonald Embinder
CategoriesGay
FrequencyMonthly
First issueJune 1974
Final issueDecember 2007
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
ISSN0279-3733

The founding publisher was Donald N. Embinder, a former advertising representative for After Dark, an arts magazine with a substantial gay readership.[1] Embinder first used the nom de plume Don Westbrook, but soon assumed his real name on the masthead.

The magazine shares its name with a famous portrait by 18th-century master Thomas Gainsborough, and its inaugural cover was a parody of that painting.

Noted artists Mel Odom and George Stavrinos have contributed to the publication.

Blueboy began as a glossy, gay male magazine that covered the Washington D.C. area, and by volume 2 (1975), had moved its headquarters to Miami, Florida. While based in Miami, Blueboy began covering the gay scene on a national level by creating content directly related to gay communities in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Miami. The magazine quickly became hugely successful, going from 26,000 subscriptions in 1975 to 160,000 subscriptions in 1976. In 1983, Mr. Embinder moved the headquarters to Los Angeles, California.

Blueboy originally featured more "softcore" images of men in various states of undress; and included topics that were of interest to gay men. Content included fictional short stories, news features, essays, interviews, artist profiles and articles on music, entertainment and fashion. The publication was largely regarded in the 1980s and in the early 1990s as a gay version of Playboy. Typical articles concerned sexuality, relationships, the latest fashions, health and fitness, events and nightlife. Blueboy also covered more pressing issues such as politics and gay rights. For example, in the 1970s and 1980s the magazine did stories on Anita Bryant, Harvey Milk, Ed Koch, AIDS and the Reagan Administration.

Beginning in the 1990s, however, with competition from such gay and political publications as Out, MetroSource and Genre, the magazine focused much more on overt nude images, and jettisoned most of its non-porn content.

Blueboy's final issue was December 2007.[2]

Singer Cyndi Lauper mentions the publication in the first lines of her song "She Bop":

Well, I see him every night in tight blue jeans
In the pages of a Blueboy magazine

See also
  • List of LGBT publications

References
  1. Rutledge, Leigh W. The Gay Decades: From Stonewall To The Present. Plume. p. 81. ISBN 0-452-26810-9.
  2. "Blueboy magazine". OutHistory.org. Archived from the original on 2012-10-05. Retrieved 2012-01-26.
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