TheBacklot.com (TheBacklot), founded in January 2005 as AfterElton.com (AfterElton), was a culture

website A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google, Facebook, Amazon, and W ...

that focused on the portrayal of gay and

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whic ...

men in the

media Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...

and was the companion site of

AfterEllen.com AfterEllen (also known as AfterEllen.com) 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 lifes ...

(AfterEllen). TheBacklot was dissolved in June 2015.

History

TheBacklot was originally known under the name ''AfterElton'' and was founded by Sarah Warn, Michael Jensen, and

Brent Hartinger Brent Hartinger (born 1971) is an American author, playwright, and screenwriter, best known for his novels about gay teenagers. Early life Hartinger was born in 1971 in Washington state and grew up in Tacoma, Washington. He earned a bachelor's ...

. 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, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

, 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 LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

. The site featured television, film, music, books, and celebrity news. It published articles, regular columns, reviews, 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 it represents as in a wo ...

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 the TheBacklot was merging with ''

NewNowNext 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 progr ...

'', 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 LGBT-related mass media 2010s LGBT-related mass media Defunct American websites Gay men's websites Gay culture in the United States LGBT-related mass media in the United States