''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 1 ...

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 LGBT culture is a culture shared by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals. It is sometimes referred to as queer culture (indicating people who are queer), while the term gay culture may be used to mean "LGBT culture" o ...

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

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, Long Island, and

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

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 traditional boundaries of the West Village are the Hudson River to the west, West 14th Street to th ...

and

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

neighborhoods of

. Their first offices were located at the corner of Fifth Avenue 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 epidemic was spreading rapidly. After the

March on Washington The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, also known as simply 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 righ ...

and the election of Rudy Giuliani, the gay community (more specifically gay men) 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. The factors that affect glo ...

-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, 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 LGBT person's sexual orientation or gender identity without that person's consent. It is often done for political reasons, either to instrumentalize homophobia in order to discredit political opponents or to com ...

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

, John Blair,

Michael Alig Michael Alig (April 29, 1966 – December 24, 2020) was an American club promoter and convicted felon. He was one of the ringleaders of the Club Kids, a group of young New York City clubgoers who became a cultural phenomenon in the late 1980s a ...

, Richie Rich, RuPaul and Amanda Lepore. "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/ LGBT-related magazines published in the United States Lifestyle magazines published in the United States Weekly magazines published in the United States Defunct magazines published in the United States LGBT history in New York City Magazines established in 1993 Magazines disestablished in 2016 Magazines published in New York City Free magazines

History

See also

References

External links