''Next Magazine'' is a weekly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

lifestyle magazine that was published in New York City from July 1993 to September 2016. It addressed topics of fashion, life, entertainment, sex, and

LGBT culture LGBTQ culture is a culture shared by lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexuality, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals (LGBTQ people). It is sometimes referred to as queer culture (indicating people who are queer), LGBT culture, and LGBTQIA cult ...

news, and was distributed freely in gay bars and other locations throughout

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

The Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

, and

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

History

The first issue of ''Next Magazine'' "hit the streets of New York" on July 23, 1993. It was founded by co-publishers David Moyal and nightlife promoter John Blair in response to the gay sexual revolution happening in and around the

West Village The West Village is a neighborhood in the western section of the larger Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. The West Village is bounded by the Hudson River to the west and 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to ...

and Chelsea neighborhoods of

. Their first offices were located at the corner of

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue runs south from 143rd Street (Manhattan), West 143rd Street in Harlem to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. The se ...

and 20th Street. The need for an all-gay publication rose in the early 1990s when the LGBT community began having a political voice. Manhattan’s megaclubs were beginning to grow and gain notoriety, heavy drug use became commonplace in the gay community, and the

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

epidemic was spreading rapidly. After the

March on Washington The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (commonly known as the March on Washington or the Great March on Washington) was held in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. The purpose of the march was to advocate for the civil and economic rig ...

and the election of

Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani ( , ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and Disbarment, disbarred lawyer who served as the 107th mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney ...

, the gay community (more specifically

gay men Gay men are male homosexuals. Some bisexual men, bisexual and homoromantic men may dually identify as ''gay'' and a number of gay men also identify as ''queer''. Historic terminology for gay men has included ''Sexual inversion (sexology), in ...

) was in need of an open publication that catered to their needs. Marketed as the first

glossy Gloss is an optical property which indicates how well a surface reflects light in a specular (mirror-like) direction. It is one of the important parameters that are used to describe the visual appearance of an object. Other categories of visual a ...

-covered gay lifestyle publication to be carried on newsstands in the city, ''Next Magazine'' was first primarily popular for the escort listings and personal ad sections. The magazine was also the first to include a section that featured listings of upcoming gay meetings, events, and parties at legendary venues including The Roxy, The Tunnel,

Limelight Limelight (also known as Drummond light or calcium light)James R. Smith (2004). ''San Francisco's Lost Landmarks'', Quill Driver Books. is a non-electric type of stage lighting that was once used in theatres and music halls. An intense illum ...

, and Club USA. The early covers of the magazine featured body shots of models. Most models did not begin showing their faces in gay publications until later years for fear of being

outed Outing is the act of disclosing an LGBTQ person's sexual orientation or gender identity without their consent. It is often done for political reasons, either to instrumentalize homophobia, biphobia, and/or transphobia in order to discredit politi ...

. In every issue, the magazine included a "Shot in the Dark" section, which featured pictures of local celebrities and entertainers such as

Hedda Lettuce Hedda Lettuce is the stage name of Steven Polito, an American drag queen, comedian and singer who lives and works in New York City. Polito debuted his character Hedda Lettuce in 1991 on the Manhattan Cable TV show ''The Brenda and Glennda Show''. ...

, John Blair, Michael Alig, Richie Rich,

RuPaul RuPaul Andre Charles (born November 17, 1960) is an American drag queen, television host, singer, producer, writer, and actor. He produces, hosts, and judges the reality competition series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and has received List of awards ...

and

Amanda Lepore Amanda Lepore is an American transgender model, singer, and performance artist. A former Club Kids, Club Kid, she has appeared in advertising for numerous companies. Lepore is noted as a regular subject in photographer David LaChapelle's work, s ...

. "Shot in the Dark" has been the only feature from the original first copy that is still featured in the magazine today. On July 1, 2009, ''Next Magazine'' became the only free local glossy gay night life publication in New York City, following the closure of longtime rival '' The New York Blade''. The last issue of ''Next Magazine'' appeared in September 2016 when Multimedia Platforms, Inc. ceased operations. The parent company Multimedia Platforms laid off all its employees including those of ''Next Magazine''.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://nextmagazine.com/ LGBTQ-related magazines published in New York City Defunct lifestyle magazines published in the United States Weekly magazines published in the United States Defunct LGBTQ-related magazines published in the United States LGBTQ history in New York City Magazines established in 1993 Magazines disestablished in 2016 Defunct magazines published in New York City Free magazines History of gay men in the United States

History

See also

References

External links