Table of contents for February 2017 in OUT

ROGER ERICKSON Though his lofty dreams of being able to sing and dance like Michael Jackson didn’t come to fruition, Roger Erickson is still mesmerizing us. The native Californian’s work on this month’s Love Portfolio (page 62) makes us thankful he chose a life of photography. “It was very beautiful and inspiring to photograph couples who are so deeply committed and supportive of one another,” he says. “I marvel at the joy they have for each other.” Erickson’s work can also be seen in GQ, Mexican Vogue, and Entertainment Weekly. JEFF RIEDEL Jeff Riedel, who photographed actress Christina Ricci for this issue (page 9), decided to turn his childhood obsession with picture-taking into a career while covering a coal miners strike in the Appalachian Mountains at the age of 19.…

Our centuries-old obsession with the skies continues to fuel us. But if soaring to great heights requires bravery, it also calls for panache—a look that says, “I own the stratosphere.” Channel your inner pilot with a classic MA-1 bomber jacket from Alpha Industries (introduced by the brand in the 1950s and relatively unchanged since), then pair it with that ultimate aero accessory, aviator sunglasses. Feeling more adventurous? Splurge for some updated camo pieces, and elevate your attitude to match the altitude.…

“Trump is a narcissistic, chaotic, demented figure, but the people who have put him in power have a very clear agenda, and those people are among the most frightening people on the planet.” GREAT ART SUBVERTS, drawing attention to what is wrong and corrupt in society while forging communities that draw strength from their collective outrage. The spiraling anxiety that many of us have felt since the election on November 8 is familiar territory for artists who were around in the 1980s when Ronald Reagan and the rise of the Christian right coincided with the emergence of AIDS, creating a vibrant countercultural space. Here, two veterans of New York’s performance-art scene, Justin Vivian Bond and Penny Arcade, reflect on the current crisis. Justin Vivian Bond: As a young person in…

Samira Wiley, Actress: We met in December 2012. We were both working on Orange Is the New Black, our first big jobs in the industry. The cast would get every script to read, and with every new script came a new writer whom they’d fly out from Los Angeles to meet us. Lauren wrote episode six of the first season, one of the first scripts really featuring my character, Poussey. We spent four days in a row working together. Honestly, I thought she was gay the first time I met her. Lauren Morelli, Writer-Producer: I’d already seen Samira’s audition tape and immediately had a crush on her—the complication being that I was married to a man at the time. I came to New York to shoot my first episode. I…

So Long, 2016 How do you follow Barack Obama? That’s the question so many people in this country are anxiously asking each other, and it’s one we had to ask ourselves when putting together 2016’s Out100 issue. In 2015, Obama was our Out100 cover star, highlighted not just as our commander-in-chief but as our chief ally. In the 12 months that followed, we lost some of our most beloved icons (including David Bowie and Prince), saw our community suffer the deadliest mass shooting in this nation’s history, and watched as many Americans rallied around a presidential platform that promoted intolerance, hatred, and fear. For us, the only sensible thing to focus on was togetherness, and this past year’s Out100 honorees collectively embodied our community’s best values: Resilience. Grace. Unshakeable will.…

A FAR CRY from the wasteland of millennial narcissism featured in Lena Dunham’s Girls, Greenpoint promises the OG Brooklyn cool that’s been replicated across the globe. While the borough’s other hoods are pricing out the tapped-in creative types, essentially stripping away the character that once made them so coveted, our favorite area (far) off the L train proudly waves the banner of the anti-corporate, village-in-a-city Brooklyn brand we love. Here, nine reasons to go there now. 21 Greenpoint Fresh produce dictates chef Sean Telo’s daily dishes, but they come without the culinary snobbery often associated with the locavore movement. Expect playfully named items like “Ugly Vegetable Snack,” an herbaceous cocktail menu, and rich mains like the creamy steak tartare served on a shank of roasted marrow. Cap your dinner with…

There’s an element of symbiosis between humanity and nature in Ren Hang’s work. His images feature braids of hair entwined with blades of grass, snakes and octopi wrapped around people’s faces, and roses framing erect genitalia. His art stands out in China’s fight for creative expression, emulating the raw, sexual style of Terry Richardson but with somewhat biblical undertones. His subjects—his own friends—reveal an undeniable sense of trust. Penises, penetration, and piss play are just a few of his taboo specialties on display in Ren Hang (Taschen, $49.99), which spans the artist’s entire career, and includes never-before-seen photos.…

BEREFT FANS missing the CBS legal drama The Good Wife, which charted many of the political and social upheavals of the Obama era with eerie prescience, can rejoice. A spinoff, based on Diane Lockhart, the longtime mentor (and sometimes nemesis) of Alicia Florrick (Julianna Margulies), the titular wife of the original show, hits our screens this month, with a powerhouse cast that echoes one of The Good Wife’s greatest strengths: putting women front and center. Cush Jumbo, who joined the final season as a welcome new character, Lucca Quinn, and Sarah Steele (who plays Ari Gold’s funny, caustic daughter, Marissa) are both on board, as is Rose Leslie (of Game of Thrones fame). This time around it’s Lockhart’s fortunes that take a tumble, following a Madoff-like scandal that wipes out…

AT THE AGE OF 13, Olivia Loving considered coming out as a lesbian. It was not a happy thought. Only the year before, she had developed her first crush, on a boy, and it had filled her with the same nervous excitement of any preteen girl in love. She fantasized about holding his hand, maybe even kissing him. But now Loving was plagued by graphic sexual fantasies about her female classmates. It began in September, volleyball season, with her obsessing over thoughts of grabbing their breasts. She was overwhelmed with crude mental images of performing oral sex on them. And at the same time her brain rattled with other disturbing thoughts about committing violence against people, harming children, and murdering her mother. She retreated into her Catholicism, believing it was…

1 TAKE A SLEEP AID. Sleeping pills may work for you, but the jury is out on how effective they are. Some researchers have even suggested a link between sleeping medications like Nytol and Alzheimer’s. So try something more old-fashioned like a cup of hot milk (which contains tryptophan, an amino acid that helps you sleep) or a cup of tart cherry juice, which studies show can lead to a modest improvement in sleep. 2 BANISH CELL PHONES AND COMPUTERS FROM THE ROOM (AND PICK UP A BOOK INSTEAD). Keeping your phone on your bedside table is a terrible idea. Also make sure you leave at least 30 minutes between checking your email and turning in for the night. Light emitted by our gadgets adversely affects our melatonin levels, which…

“When I was younger I thought that at a certain point I was going to have a nervous breakdown. I was like, Oh, gosh, so at 40 I’m going to have to go away.” CHRISTINA RICCI rushes into a Williamsburg brunch spot, a bit flushed and flustered, and apologizes for being late (which she is not). “I just got in from SoulCycle,” she says, “and I have to go pick up my kid in an hour!” The former wild child of indie cinema—who once eye-rolled her way through interviews, shooting from the hip with incendiary statements such as suggesting incest is “natural”—is now a clock-conscious, multitasking mother of a 2-year-old, happily married and living in a Brooklyn brownstone. It might seem a world away from her various snarky, sinister…

Bondage is a loaded word. But it is possible to practice a little, um, restraint in your wardrobe (and do so without looking like you stumbled out of the Folsom Street Fair). This season, designers saddle up to BDSM but turn the volume down a tad. Dior keeps things tight with its leather chest harnesses, while Louis Vuitton has brought dog collars out of the shadows. So strap in, buckle up, and get ready to cruise the room. You’re sure to dominate it.…

“Then, of course, there’s Shakespeare, who famously asked, “Shall I compare thee to dem cakes, tho?” JOYCE KILMER once wrote, “I think I shall never spot a poem lovely as a bubble butt.” And wasn’t it Faulkner (or maybe Joyce) who brilliantly observed, “Bubble butt, bubble, bubble, bubble butt/Turn around, stick it out/Show the world you got a...bubble butt”? Then, of course, there’s Shakespeare, who famously asked, “Shall I compare thee to dem cakes, tho?” We kid, but, ample junk in the trunk has had timeless appeal, at least for women. For men, however, the focus on what’s happening on the other side of the jeans is relatively new, and a bubble butt is especially popular and desirable among the gays (thank heavens). In the spirit of God’s work, we…

Film buffs esteem Broken Blossoms for its artiness—dreamlike, fuzzy images project us into the exoticism of other states of being. It heightens our response to effeminacy while critiquing Battling Burrows’s masculine threat. MOST QUEER FILM HISTORIANS cite the 1919 German movie Different From the Others (Anders als die Andern) as the first gay cinematic landmark, but released that same year was an American movie, Broken Blossoms, by the legendary D.W. Griffith, that captured a gay essence. It was in sync with the understated discretion of the times but, today, reveals a wealth of telling and affecting emotional detail. It starts with an outsider, Cheng Huan (played unforgettably by Richard Barthelmess), a Buddhist who leaves China and travels to the West “to take the glorious message of peace to the barbarous…

The gay community has imposed its own expectations, making any man or woman who isn’t regularly bringing home trade feel like they’re doing something wrong. SINCE I BECAME SINGLE, my mother has often asked me if I’m a slut. In the beginning, I’d respond with a blunt “no,” but more recently, I haven’t had an answer for her. “Define ‘slut,’ ” I’ll say. “If ‘slut’ means going from one guy’s place to the next in the same weekend, and then not having sex for three weeks, then sure, I guess I am.” I’m not trying to offend my mom, who’s in fact quite understanding; I’m just trying to deconstruct a word and idea that have caused so many different people to feel “less-than.” My initial reaction to her question says…

“I was terrified. I thought, Don’t give me what you can’t leave here with me. Don’t leave. But I couldn’t say it. I didn’t want to get my heart broken. She didn’t take the flight—she stayed one more week.” Elliott Sailors, Model We met on Instagram. I thought she was beautiful and incredibly stylish. Then we finally met in person at a little bar in Milan, and after that we had sushi and went out to a Punks Wear Prada party. But her friend was with us all night, so it wasn’t really a date. She asked to bring me to Lake Como that weekend with friends, and we had an amazing time! Our first kiss was after Lake Como. She dropped me off at my hotel, and when she…

“I’m actually a good swimmer, but there was a strong riptide and I almost drowned. Her brothers had to come and rescue me on a boogie board, and it was all very dramatic. The whole beach got to its feet.” Elise Kornack, Chef and Co-Owner, Take Root I was finishing my shift at La Bottega at New York’s Maritime Hotel very late one night, and my best gay friend, David, wanted to get a drink, so we went to the Cubby Hole. There was no one in the bar except a few people at the back, and one of them happened to be Anna. David grew up with her in Baltimore, so he recognized her, and she and I went back to my apartment that night. And that was it—never…

To sleep, perchance to dream, blah blah blah. Yes, sleep is awesome—and many of us don’t get nearly enough of it. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, a third of Americans are getting fewer than seven hours of sleep a night, which is not good for a multitude of reasons, including the fact that it can increase your risk of obesity and lead to, um, an early death. Also, you’ll never find your Prince Charming with bags under your eyes. Follow this primer and you’ll soon sleep like a baby.…

TUFT & NEEDLE TuftAndNeedle.com Price: $500 (Full); $600 (Queen) Daehee Park and JT Marino founded Tuft & Needle in 2012 after the newlywed Marino, shopping around with his wife, realized there was an opportunity for a reasonably priced and comfortable mattress. Pros: Great value. Foam mattresses can feel excessively hot, but by experimenting with a two-layer instead of a three-layer foam, Tuft & Needle have created a mattress that can breathe a little more easily. Cons: It can still be hot. SONNO SonnoBed.com Price: $760 (Full); $875 (Queen) One of the latest entries into the foam mattress category, Sonno was created by Dino Corella and has a unique claim to fame: Each side of the mattress can be customized, so you get two levels of firmness, choosing from soft, medium,…

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THE EYE MASK You could reuse one of those cotton eye masks you get in first class, but if you want to go all out this Bottega Veneta leather version in the label’s signature weave is something special. Pity you won’t get to see yourself wearing it. $250, BottegaVeneta.com/us THE PJs Frank Underwood Pajama by Sleeper. Who knew? The Ukrainian brand does nightwear proud with this classy, cozy pair of pajamas in pale and navy blue. They’re perfect for idling away your weekend morning. $255, The-Sleeper.com THE SHEETS Egyptian cotton, with a 500-thread count, Snowe’s sheets are breathable and cool on the skin. A nine-piece set (fitted and flat sheets, a duvet cover, four pillowcases, and two pillow shams) is money well spent. $460, SnoweHome.com THE WATER CARAFE There’s nothing…