''Boyz'' is a free,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

-based magazine targeted at

gay men Gay men are male homosexuals. Some bisexual and homoromantic men may also dually identify as gay, and a number of young gay men also identify as queer. Historically, gay men have been referred to by a number of different terms, including ' ...

and the

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

community. It is distributed mainly through

gay bar A gay bar is a drinking establishment that caters to an exclusively or predominantly lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) clientele; the term ''gay'' is used as a broadly inclusive concept for LGBT communities. Gay bars once served as ...

pubs A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

s shops and

sauna A sauna (, ), or sudatory, is a small room or building designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions, or an establishment with one or more of these facilities. The steam and high heat make the bathers perspire. A thermometer in a ...

s in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. In July 2019 ''Boyz'' moved from a weekly to a monthly frequency of publication with its August edition, its first monthly issue. ''Boyz'' focuses on news, features and photospreads about the

gay scene The LGBT community (also known as the LGBTQ+ community, GLBT community, gay community, or queer community) is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other queer individuals united by a common culture and social ...

History

''Boyz'' was founded by David Bridle and Kelvin Sollis in 1991. It is based in London. The first "dummy" edition of ''Boyz'' magazine was distributed by Kelvin Sollis, David Bridle and friends at

Gay Pride LGBT pride (also known as gay pride or simply pride) is the promotion of the self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people as a social group. Pride, as opposed to sham ...

in June 1991. The first full edition of Boyz was published on Thursday 4 July 1991 and distributed to gay venues in London. David Bridle was its first editor and continues to be its managing editor. Previous editors have included Simon Gage (1993 - 1998), David Hudson (1998 - 2006) and Stuart Brumfitt (2007 - 2011). More recently Luke Till edited the title. The current long term senior writer is Dave Cross. ''Boyz'' format at launch was tabloid-size

newsprint Newsprint is a low-cost, non-archival paper consisting mainly of wood pulp and most commonly used to print newspapers and other publications and advertising material. Invented in 1844 by Charles Fenerty of Nova Scotia, Canada, it usually has an ...

with some pages in colour, published weekly. Content included naked pin ups, contact ads, an Agony Uncle and articles about

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

, relationships and

gay sex Gay sexual practices are sexual activities involving men who have sex with men (MSM), regardless of their sexual orientation or sexual identity. These practices can include anal sex, non-penetrative sex, and oral sex. Evidence shows that sex betw ...

- as well as editorial coverage of the gay scene. The printing format changed to an A4 size full colour magazine in 2001. In 2007, ''Boyz'' was re-designed and relaunched. Most of the sexually explicit content was removed and the magazine increased news and social scene coverage. Adverts for

male escort Male prostitution is the act or practice of men providing sexual services in return for payment. It is a form of sex work. Although clients can be of any gender, the vast majority are older males looking to fulfill their sexual needs. Male pro ...

s and erotic phonelines were dropped in 2008. In July 2019 ''Boyz'' switched to become a free monthly publication. In November 2020, ''Boyz'' attracted criticism after the magazine's

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account repeatedly retweeted the controversial advocacy group

LGB Alliance The LGB Alliance is a British advocacy group founded in the UK in 2019, in opposition to the policies of LGBT rights charity Stonewall (charity), Stonewall on transgender issues. Its founders were Bev Jackson, Kate Harris, Allison Bailey, Malc ...

, which has been condemned by high profile members of the British LGBT community including

Matt Lucas Matthew Richard Lucas (born 5 March 1974) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter. He is best known for his work with David Walliams on the BBC sketch comedy series '' Little Britain'' (2003–2006, 2020) and '' Come Fly ...

transphobic Transphobia is a collection of ideas and phenomena that encompass a range of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender people or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger tow ...

. Several club events and

Pride in London Pride in London is an annual LGBT pride festival and parade held each summer in London, England. The event, which was formerly run by Pride London, is sometimes referred to as London Pride. Pride in London celebrates the diversity of the LGBTQ ...

subsequently ended their support for the magazine. The magazine subsequently apologised, but in January 2021, there was further criticism after the editor wrote a comment piece for ''

Spiked Spiked may refer to: * A drink to which alcohol, recreational drugs, or a date rape drug has been added ** Spiked seltzer, seltzer with alcohol **Mickey Finn (drugs) In slang, a Mickey Finn (or simply a Mickey) is a drink laced with an incapacitati ...

'' saying that the

Terrence Higgins Trust Terrence Higgins Trust is a British charity that campaigns about and provides services relating to HIV and sexual health. In particular, the charity aims to end the transmission of HIV in the UK; to support and empower people living with HIV, to ...

's decision to withdraw advertising from the magazine over the controversy was a 'witch-hunt'.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1991 establishments in the United Kingdom Free magazines Gay men's magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1991 Magazines published in London Monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom Weekly magazines published in the United Kingdom