editing
EqualPride • contributing editor
My work at EqualPride (formerly Pride Media) — parent company of The Advocate, Out Magazine, Plus, Pride, and other landmark queer publications — has evolved over the years. As a contributing editor for The Advocate, I launched the column "Sexy Beast" in 2016. The column generated the publication's highest web traffic to date. I now write the "Last Call" column in print issues of Out Magazine and contribute regularly to The Advocate, Plus, and Out Traveler.
The Saint Foundation • editor-in-chief
The Saint Foundation was founded to find and protect queer nightlife memorabilia — a difficult task, as most of the items sought were considered discardable in their time, and were intended to be by those who made them. Many of the creative minds behind legendary party posters, art, photographs, vinyl recordings, costumes, and other materials were lost to AIDS and their belongings were thrown out by their families. To tell their stories, we believe these things must be found and saved.
The organisation is an arm of The Saint at Large, the production company behind the notorious Black Party in New York City. Thanks to the dedication of a small band of nightlife enthusiasts, The Saint Foundation has preserved vinyl DJ sets from the early days of dance culture, original posters and invitations, and original art by such queer luminaries as Robert Mapplethorpe and Andy Warhol.
I started the organisation's oral history blog. For this, I sought and interviewed founding members of The Saint and other figures from New York nightlife. Sadly, the Covid pandemic shuttered most of the organisation's projects, including my work. As of 2022, the Black Party has not returned to New York City.
Gay Chic Magazine • associate editor
My first job in media was for Chicago's first all-digital queer lifestyle magazine. During its brief run, the magazine profiled celebrities like Lea DeLaria from Orange Is the New Black and offered readers edgy but practical advice in my monthly sex column. I wrote about everything from bondage to bottoming with a focus on harm-reduction and sexual health. Sadly, the publication lost funds and shuttered in 2016.
Fort Troff • creative director, editor-in-chief
Fort Troff is a premiere maker of sex toys and fetish gear for gay men. The brand has grown from its origins as a lube shop in an Atlanta sex club (the original Fort Troff, from which the brand takes its name) to an international business with a loyal European customer base.
My work as creative director involved wearing many hats: lead copywriter, site editor, UX designer, product consultant, customer service manager, roadie, security, event coordinator, and many more. I reworked the brand's voice and wrote (or re-wrote) all site content, product copy, packaging copy, and more. I directed the brand's "promotional videos" (porn), led the street team at events like International Mister Leather in Chicago and the Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco, and started the brand's blog.
The challenges of promoting a site filled with explicit content were numerous — namely, we were unable to link to the store on Facebook and other social platforms. To overcome this problem, I launched the brand's blog as a safe-for-work site focused on sex education. I interviewed artists, experts, and adult film stars to create premium, nudity-free content that generated excellent traffic to the web store and could be shared on social media. Sadly, this objective was not maintained after I left the company, and now the blog is NSFW.