In Our Mailbox There could be any number of reasons for us to display this cover of The New York Review of Books from May 9, 2024, one of which is slightly sentimental. The NYRB has been a role model for this magazine from the start, something to aspire to: a relentlessly intelligent biweekly that reaches a readership of the literate and the curious, reassuring us all that such a readership exists. And yet, it could also be said that this love affair with the NYRB has been somewhat unrequited: For all its coverage of every topic known to humans, matters of particular interest to LGBT readers have not always been front-and-center. That’s why this cover came as such a shock (and the illustration inside was way more explicit, though no frontal nudity). One strains to recall a past cover that even hinted at male hotness in this way, and by an icon of gay male sexuality, Tom of Finland, whose works are recognizable to virtually every gay man in America above a certain age (fifty?). One suspects this is not the case for the bulk of the NYRB’s readers, for whom the article provided a helpful tutorial on Tom’s men and the things they do, in language that allowed for references to “beautiful buttocks” and “the sailor’s dick”—not to mention a brilliant analysis of Finland’s art, with observations like “it’s so hypermasculine that it bends toward high femme” and “the scenario … incorporates our position as voyeurs mirroring” those in the picture itself.
Aging Out Celebrity gossip isn’t our usual stock-in-trade, but if it were, surely the name Matt Bomer would have popped up more than once. The dreamy actor is openly gay and isn’t afraid to take roles in gay movies (such as the remake of The Boys in the Band) in addition to his “mainstream” roles (think Justice League). Well, Matt is reported to have signed on for a role in the forthcoming parody of The Golden Girls! (Needless to say, it won’t be the first! There have been numerous parodies over the years, including many high Camp versions with the four female roles played by guys in drag.) Anyhow, now that the news about The Girls has settled in, what’s up with that casting? Nathan Lane makes sense, but Matt Bomer is young enough to have played one of the “Kens” in the recent Barbie movie. And yet, he’s poised to step into the role of Rose (as “Jerry”). Apparently 46 in gay years (Matt’s age) is equivalent to 63 in Betty White years (her age when she started as Rose). Nevertheless, if they’re still planning to go with the lovable dummy routine, Matt as gay Rose is probably too old for the part by now.
Trey’s Fifteen Minutes Meet Trey Samuel Fetzer, a twenty-year-old Ohio State University student who’s seen here urinating on a rainbow flag that apparently he spotted on someone’s front 
porch one night last winter in the Weinland Park neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio. Trey was caught in the act by a surveillance camera and can be heard saying “Fuck the gays” repeatedly while relieving himself of one-too-many beers, we assume. The perp faces charges of criminal mischief, disorderly conduct, and criminal trespass, which could add up to a big fine and probably probation. If there’s an irony here, it is that several still photos of Trey went viral, which is to say that his penis became an object of interest for the millions who voyeuristically caught this act of vandalism. How Trey would feel about that is hard to gauge. “What would Freud say,” as we used to ask, about a guy who whips it out on a Klieg-lit front porch and pees while uttering “fuck the gays”? No doubt he basked in the virality of the moment; in the Age of TikTok, it’s all about getting your fifteen minutes.
Follow the Sex Three separate items in this cycle’s BTW incubator seem worth noting without too much fanfare, but together they point to a grander theme:
• The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) voted to officially oppose in vitro fertilization (IVF) and fight to have it outlawed.
• More states in the South and Midwest passed laws that seek to limit transgender rights, including access to medical care or to appropriate restrooms or other facilities.
• The rate of abortion in the U.S. has actually risen since the Dobbs decision gutted abortion rights in 2022.
What they have in common can best be observed in the SBC’s reasoning on the need to avoid “the unethical circumstances that happen when sex and conception are divided.” With that in mind, consider the jump in U.S. abortions from 82,000 per month before Dobbs to 86,000 today. The best explanation is that Dobbs acted as a stimulus for the production and use of self-administered abortion drugs, which can now be bought at your local drugstore (often OTC) or online. Their use continues the trajectory started by “the pill,” which expressly decoupled sex from procreation. In a related vein, the original argument against “sodomy,” which goes back centuries, was based on the assertion that all non-procreative sex was off limits and sinful, and it remains the underlying taboo: namely, the notion that sex can be an end itself, just for the hell of it. The persistence of the anti-sex ideology in the U.S., notwithstanding the late Dr. Ruth, is a vast mystery, to be sure, one that has real-world consequences both expected and un-.
Meta-ban The widening net of books being banned in school libraries is bound to swallow up some unexpected and even ironic titles. As noted previously, a number of districts have banned the Bible for its violence and sexual situations. In the latest incident, a Florida school board has banned a book titled Ban This Book, a children’s title by Alan Gratz that was removed from shelves in Indian River County school libraries by order of the county school board. The irony was not lost on the reporters and commenters who cited this incident—but it also makes perfect (non-ironic) sense. The message of Gratz’ 2017 book is that book-banning is wrong and should be resisted, which is just the kind of message that any book-banning official would instinctively want to ban. Also, of course, the book’s title seems to be a direct taunt aimed at just such officials. What the board may not have foreseen is that banning a book called Ban This Book would be catnip for precisely the kinds of people who buy books. Sales on Amazon soared and the number of ratings had leapt to almost 1,500 at press time. So, ban away; it only makes the book look sexier.
