TheBacklot.com (TheBacklot), founded in January 2005 as AfterElton (AfterElton.com), was a culture website that focused on the portrayal of gay and bisexual men in the media, and was the companion site of the lesbian-focused

AfterEllen ''AfterEllen'' is an American culture website founded in 2002, with a focus on entertainment, interviews, reviews, and news of interest to the lesbian and bisexual women's community. The site covers pop culture and lifestyle issues from a feminis ...

(AfterEllen.com). TheBacklot was dissolved in June 2015, and its content was merged with the website '' NewNowNext'', owned by

Logo TV Logo TV (often shortened to Logo, and stylized as Logo.) is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Media Networks, a division of Paramount Global. Launched in 2005, Logo was originally dedicated to lifestyle and entertainment progra ...

History

TheBacklot was originally known under the name ''AfterElton'' and was founded by

Sarah Warn Sarah Warn is an American writer and the former editor of entertainment website AfterEllen.com. Biography Warn graduated from Annie Wright School in Tacoma in 1992. She then attended Wellesley College in 1996 with a degree in women's studies, ...

, Michael Jensen, and Brent Hartinger. Warn initially served as editor-in-chief of both AfterElton and AfterEllen. Jensen became Editor in Chief of AfterElton in November 2005 and served in the position until September 25, 2011. Dennis Ayers, formerly the site's managing editor, took over as Editor in Chief. The site was not affiliated with

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

, although its original name refers to the milestone for gay men when John publicly

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

. The site featured television, film, music, books, and celebrity news. It published articles, regular columns, reviews, and recaps of television shows with gay and bisexual characters, and maintained several blogs, including the "Meme" by Ed Kennedy.AfterElton Morning Meme
/ref> AfterElton (along with AfterEllen) was acquired by cable television channel

Logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name that it represents, as in ...

in 2006. On January 12, 2012, the site announced that Louis Virtel had been hired as its West Coast entertainment editor. On January 31, 2013, Dennis Ayers announced that AfterElton would be changing its name to TheBacklot.com in April. The change was motivated by a desire to separate the website from its "AfterEllen's little brother" origin and to reflect the general "focus on Hollywood and the film and television industry". The relaunch under the new name took place on April 17, 2013. On June 29, 2015, Ayers announced that TheBacklot was merging with '' NewNowNext'', an LGBT-themed entertainment website owned by Logo. TheBacklot name was discontinued and Dan Avery became Editor-in-Chief of the combined site.

Hot 100

The "Hot 100" was an annual readers poll, begun in 2007, of the "top names in film, television, music, sports and fashion".

References

{{Reflist Internet properties established in 2005 2006 mergers and acquisitions Internet properties disestablished in 2015 2000s LGBTQ-related mass media 2010s LGBTQ-related mass media Defunct American websites Gay men's websites Gay culture in the United States LGBTQ-related mass media in the United States