Thank you to Mike Summers for the invite! (Image by Mike Summers)

The indomitable — to put it nicely — Larry Kramer had a great deal of influence on a generation of gay men. For me, a person barely touched by the AIDS crisis on a one-on-one level, I was nonetheless in his thrall as I read the bitterly funny Faggots, which certainly informed Boy Culture.

So it was a thrill to share air with him again, this time on the occasion of a reading of his 1992 play The Destiny of Me by Eric Bogosian, Ellen Barkin, Gideon Glick, Josh Hamilton, Lee Pace (on his night off from Angels in America), Mark Ruffalo and Edie Falco at the Lucille Lortel.

Scintillating play! So well-observed and such a classic story of growing up gay.

Playwright Mart Crowley appeared for the final bows
Take a bow — the boys of The Boys in the Band (Images from audience member in mezzanine)

It took The Boys in the Band 50 years to get to Broadway, and it took me nearly as long to get into the pre-opening after-party ... but I did.

Huge Recap of the Original The Boys in the Band — HERE!

I impulsively bought one of the last tickets for Wednesday's 7 p.m. performance (I had already seen the first preview April 30), scoring one with an empty seat on one side of me and two empty seats on the other. (There were only seven empty seats in the house; not surprising since the show's official opening night is tonight, which is probably the night fans targeted, thinking it would be the star-studded choice.)

Gus before the event (All images by Gus Kenworthy)

My pal Mark Greeno kindly alerted me to a Gus Kenworthy event moments before it was happening, so I tore down to Samsung 837 in the Meatpacking District to see what was happening.

Gus is a rare gay guy who talks about skiing some slopes without it meaning drugs, and he's also — as expected — 100% sweet. The event was messy! I arrived and got several different answers as to where to stand and what to do. I was even mistaken for Samsung staff and handed an official wristband IDing me as such. Okay!

Eventually, things became more clear, and Gus did a quick walk-through past us. I introduced myself (his boyfriend Matt Wilkas is currently attached to star in the Boy Culture Web series) and took some snaps of him with a few superfans, including a couple of guys who didn't look too shabby, even next to Gus! One guy, who later told me the day was one of the highlights of his life as a gay man and as an athlete, wisely had Gus sign some skis, which he happily did.

Ms. Styler could not have been more gracious to me, or to her guests (Party images by Matthew Rettenmund)

If you've never read Freak Show by James St. James — as I hadn't, until recently — do! It's a darkly funny coming-of-age story about a flamboyant kid attempting to adapt to his decidedly non-flamboyant surroundings, and it couldn't be more timely.

Alex Lawther's imitation game is strong. (Movie images via IFC)

Now, Trudie Styler is making her directorial debut with a feature adapted from the novel, and I was lucky enough to be invited to the NYC premiere last night ...

Ezra Miller (Image by Zoe McConnell for ShortList)

Ezra Miller on Being Openly Queer

Kevin Spacey's Career: R.I.P.

Booty on the Rocks: Make It a Double

The Lesbian Who Married Her Mom

Michael Musto's Greatest Snits

35 Years of Madonna Music

Keep reading for more of the day's hottest links ...

Twenty-one-year-old Ross Lynch, who starred as a crushworthy musician on Disney Channel's Austin & Ally for five years and who headed up two Teen Beach Movie installments for the network,  isn't on the typical Mouse House trajectory of some of his forebears.

The Teen Beach boys: Ross Lynch & Garrett Clayton (GIFs via Disney Channel)

When I met him back in 2012, he struck me as a potential future Michael Jackson or Justin Timberlake, displaying effortless dance skills and bursting into song while I attempted to corral him for an interview for the teen mag I founded. He also had mega-charm, enough to stick out among a cast of talents that included similarly charismatic Garrett Clayton.

Lynch is transformed on the big screen as Dahmer (Image via FilmRise)

Instead of a solo journey, Lynch surprised me by eschewing the Hilary/Miley/Demi/Selena route, focusing on music with his mostly-family rock band R5 and, now, by choosing a movie role that represents a 180 from his perky Disney character Austin Moon, that of a teenage Jeffrey Dahmer before his serial-killing days in the well-received My Friend Dahmer.

It's a disturbing film, one that could best be described as coming-of-rage.

My Review of My Friend Dahmer

In the film, which is in theaters now, he brings to life a pathologically awkward teenage boy whose family trouble, social-outcast status and verboten, unannounced homosexuality make him strangely relatable ... until you remind yourself that the character would, in real life, grow up to kill and eat a bunch of innocent dudes.

I spoke with Lynch about this unique moment in his life and career, when everybody's niece knows him and more adults are getting the memo every day, as well as all about the bold-as-hell movie that is helping to put him on the grown-up map ...

Boy of my dreams
It's been another year of Boy Culture, and that makes 12.
I've spent a decade and change of my life posting think-pieces, don't-think pieces, sexy butts, sexy bulges, infuriated protests, news of the day, news of the gay, surreptitious photos, self-promotion, self-deprecation, humor, pathos, dead celebrities, celebrities you thought were dead and what evidence of what passes for my powers of observation. I've acquired fans and anti-fans and momentarily interested passers-by.

The first blogs I encountered (I was a late bloomer) were Perez Hilton and Pink Is the New Blog ... and I barely understood how to read them. The concept of scrolling down for information, which is now becoming passé, was so new to me, they just looked like a jumble of information.

As I became accustomed to the idea, I noticed Towleroad — a specifically gay blog. Color me inspired, and by the end of 2005, when I was living in misery in a temporary apartment across the street from the dream apartment into which I would soon move (and eventually lose), I spent my free time figuring out Typepad. I was off-the-charts thrilled when I became adept at uploading images and formatting captions. I had previously experimented with Blogger, but now I was in business. Posting some old Blogger pieces and plunging ahead with all my thoughts on Madonna's new album Confessions on a Dance Floor, Boy Culture was born.

Why did I start this blog? (Besides as an excuse to disseminate images of guys in their skivvies.)

So many nights at the Adonis ... (Image by Matthew Rettenmund)

Mainly, I thought I could promote the theatrical release of the movie of the same name, which Allan Brocka had co-adapted and directed from my debut novel (new edition coming). I was proud of the movie and wanted to help get the word out, so I posted about each screening in-between quirky, topical entries on music, movies, Madonna and me. Just this past year, I used my blog (and Kickstarter) to help get the word out about the sequel to that movie — to which you can still donate here. I would also eventually lean on Boy Culture to help create awareness of Encyclopedia Madonnica 20, which was a huge hit.

KEEP READING!

(Image by Matthew Rettenmund)

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In honor of Boy Culture's 12th anniversary, check out my Top 10 best-performing YouTube videos ...