Boy Culture Links: 'Out's' Love Issue, Americans Missing in Mexico Found Dead, Gay Dads Get Toxic Abuse, New Chaka Khan Tune, RIP James Burrows + MORE
JUNE 19, 2026
KENNETH IN THE (212): LGBTQ+ mags of the week!
NEW YORK TIMES: Trump bragged that Italy’s right-wing leader Giorgia Meloni had “begged” for a photo with him. She retorted, “Italy doesn’t beg.” He can’t get along with anyone, even people naturally inclined to get along with him.
BRAVO: Matt Rogers & Bowen Yang performed “All the Things She Said” on the Las Culturistas Culture Awards. I don’t understand what this show is!!! I swear it happens weekly. But good number.
FINDING FIRE ISLAND: Billy Porter is opening up about his sexual habits on Fire Island on Season 2, Episode 3 of Finding Fire Island:
“Oh, I’ve been to the Meat Rack — yes, I have. I’ve spent some time in the Meat Rack. I ain’t gonna tell you all my business. You know, I’m a gay man of a certain age.”
He also talks being a top and calling escorts. Oh, my.
ABC7: My good friend Zafar Mawani and his husband Guillermo, who had been missing in Mexico since May 20, have been confirmed dead by Guillermo’s family. Authorities are still doing DNA testing, but there is little room to doubt the tragic discovery. From what I can glean from Spanish-language reports, they were murdered over money and three suspects were arrested. The details are wildly different in various reports. I’ll write more about this in the near future, but for now, I’m just so heartbroken.
THE RANDY REPORT: The Netherlands bans conversion therapy.
TICKETS: Lambda Legal returns for its 48th annual Fire Island Pines Fundraiser.
BBC: Gay dads speak out about shocking abuse they receive just for having a child.
VOX: There are universities who think Plato is too gay.
MASHABLE: A lot of women watch gay-male porn. A lot.
QUEERTY: Check out Terrell J.A. Winder’s Shameless: The Making of Black Gay Identities in L.A., excerpted here.
LGBTQ NATION: Why is acceptance of LGBTQ+ people stagnating in the 2020s?
OUTSPORTS: Brooke Mayo is the first-ever gay woman to ref a male FIFA event.
INSTAGRAM: Tonight, Boy George is spinning at the Stonewall Inn starting at 11 p.m.
TWITTER: I loathe litterbugs, and yet — as a collector — I have to stan the people stealing these.
JOE.MY.GOD.: Trump is creaming over his free Qatari plane. That belongs to the U.S. not him — right?
YOUTUBE: Chaka Khan is teaming up with Snoop Dogg on the single “Boogie’s in My Soul” from her Chakzilla album:
GR8ERDAYS: RIP James Burrows, 85. He directed Mary Tyler Moore, Mid-Century Modern — and nearly everything in-between, more than 1,000 episodes of TV. Most recently, the co-creator of Cheers was a warm-hearted riot on The Comeback.
Oh, and:
If you know anyone dying for one of those Madonna Absolut Vodka ads, torn from a wall in NYC, my friend has one for $150. It’s got paper loss and is used, but it’s still an artifact and cool — matthewrettenmund@gmail.com and I can help figure out payment and postage.