Sarah Palin

That’s the theory at the gay online magazine The Advocate. The editors at Advocate.com argued the “emasculating” terms used by Palin were “code words” to slam the openly gay Gross, who is an Advocate contributor.

Palin didn’t mention Gross by name while talking Thursday on Sean Hannity’s WABC radio show, but she seemed to be referring to the article — and pointedly used emasculating words that have long been used as euphemisms for homosexuality — when she called reporters who publish “rumors” about her “impotent,” “limp,” and “gutless.”

I’ve heard a lot of “code words” questioning the masculinity of gay men, but “limp” and “impotent” were new ones to me. The folks at the gay Republican group GOPoud seem to agree, issuing a statement to Joe Jervis at JoeMyGod taking-on the Advocate.

It is The Advocate, not Sarah Palin, who is guilty of ‘gay-baiting.’ I don’t think most people associate the words ‘impotent,’ ‘limp,’ or ‘gutless’ with being gay – I know I certainly don’t. If the folks at The Advocate think these words are euphemisms for being gay or lesbian then I think that speaks volumes about their own internalized homophobia. Governor Palin was absolutely right to use the words she chose to describe the pathetic hatchet job penned by Mr. Gross.

GOProud, which is hosting Ann Coulter for a “Homocon” event in New York City, definitely knows how to get some attention and the Advocate appears to be a perfect foil. As Chris Geidner of the Washington, D.C.-based LGBT magazine MetroWeekly says, “[r]egardless of who’s right, score one for GOProud for finding a way to get people talking on a Friday before a long weekend about words and what they mean.”

Sean Carnage, who edited Unzipped, Man, and Freshmen until they were shut down by Here earlier in the year, posted the letter on his website.  The letter from Here’s top legal executive said that concert promoter Carnage–who’s legal name is Sean Carney–was alleging on Facebook that  the company was involved in a “scam” and threatened Carnage with legal action if he didn’t remove the “false and libelous statements.”

Here, which was formerly Regent Media, has been on the receiving end of a lot of negative publicity since the beginning of the year for not paying its freelancers.  Separate efforts by both Gawker and FishbowlLA complaining about unpaid freelancers has resulted in numerous stories of people going as long as a year in order to be paid for work done on the Advocate, Out, and Alyson Books.

In an interview with Mediaite, Carnage said he posted a link from Queerty on his Facebook page earlier this week that detailed problems at Here subsidiary Alyson Books. In the comments on the post–which was open to the public–Carnage said he detailed his criticisms of his ex-employer and raised concerns about mismanagement at the company.

After other people also commented on the thread, he received the letter from Here’s legal office threatening him with a libel action.  Carnage has now made his Facebook page private, although he has kept up an edited version of his post and comments  on the advice of his attorney.

“It never occurred to me that Here would be monitoring the Facebook page of an ex-employee.  Maybe I should have been more paranoid,” Carnage said.

Representatives from Here Media did not respond to requests for comment.

The gay blog Queerty has also been all over the Here Media story, including the recent publication of correspondence between photo production company Jed Root and Out editor-in-chief Aaron Hicklin over $35,000 in unpaid fees for photo shoots.

The dispute with Carney is especially ugly since it has taken random posts on Carney’s Facebook page and turned it into a larger story about a media company going after a former employee, airing all the dirty laundry in the process. If someone has a Facebook page, blog, and twitter feed, it’s a good bet they aren’t going to keep a letter from the lawyers quiet.

Ex-freelancers and employees have been especially brutal in describing their financial dealing with Here Media, which also owns the Here premium television networks, describing multiple emails and trips to small-claims court in order to collect unpaid fees for freelance pieces that go unpaid for months even though they are often for very small amounts.

Here Media quit selling the Advocate on newsstands and the venerable LGBT news magazine is now only available as a supplement to Out. While the company has entered into a relationship with NBC, the company has also been shuttering publications–including its complete line of gay adult magazines which were rumored to be cash-cows–and there are fears that its book division is next to go.

Shapiro will replace Don Gonyea, who is being named national political correspondent after a decade on the White House beat. Shapiro will join Scott Horsley on the White House beat, although NPR’s Capitol Hill reporters are also expected to rotate through the White House.

Slated to join NPR’s White House team in the next couple of weeks, Shapiro will likely become the only member of the White House press corps who has been featured singing on a CD and at the Hollywood Bowl.  In 2009, Shapiro was featured on the new release by Pink Martini called Splendor in the Grass where he sings But Now I’m Back.

The eclectic Shapiro–who was named to the Advocate’s 40 Under 40 in 2009 and to Out magazine’s Out 100 in 2008–has long been considered one of NPR’s rising stars, who is often called on to be a fill-in host for Morning Edition and Weekend Edition. The first NPR reporter to be named correspondent before turning 30, his coverage at the Justice Department has included reporting on DOJ scandals during the Bush administration, the treatment of enemy combatants, and problems with the justice system in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

Siegel’s piece covered the unique relationships between the porn industry (especially the gay porn industry), the government, HIV/STD testing agencies, and advocacy groups, and specifically wondered if the makers of adult films are responsible for the health care of its performers. It is a deep and thoughtful look into the way the industry handles the myriad health issues raised during the normal course of business. As a candid snapshot of even the porn industry’s most taboo subject, Siegel’s article certainly made some people squirm.

The piece was published on August 12th, 2009. On August 20th, 2009, the piece was removed from the website, along with a previous piece by Siegel published in April 2009 about sex clubs. Siegel began his article as a small question and answer piece, which grew into a larger one about porn performers’ rights and public health. Siegel submitted his article on August 5th and went through a week-long editorial process with Ross von Metzke, Editor of Advocate.com. Von Metzke took out some controversial quotes, including this one by Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, discussing the porn moguls who succeed despite government regulation:

These people are fabulously rich. Larry Flynt has made a large fortune by exploiting young people. His wife died of AIDS. He watched her wither and die. Shame on him. Why should we care whether their profits go down? Why would we put that on a higher level than the health of these young people?

The explosive quote also proved to be a bit risky for the publisher. Understandably, Advocate.com might not want to publish a potentially libelous statement. But the piece also loses its penetrating edge without these sorts of quotes. Enter, confusion: was Advocate.com trying to play it safe or was there another reason the piece was so heavily edited and ultimately taken down?

Siegel tells Mediaite that when von Metzke published the piece, he asked Siegel what he thought of the edits. Siegel responded that they were “a little dry,” to which, Siegel says, von Metzke did not respond happily. Von Metzke explained that the quotes he took out were too risky and could pose legal questions. No one, however, explained to Siegel why his article was taken down on August 20th.

Advcocate.com is owned by Regent Media, a company that owns the Advocate magazine and OUT magazine. Regent also owns numerous porn publications including Freshmen, Unzipped, Men, Club Freshman.com, Friction, Fresh Men, and Men Machine.

Here’s where the eyebrows get raised: the same day Siegel’s piece was taken down, the L.A. Times published an article about two foundations that filed complaints against 16 porn companies for workplace safety violations about condom use. As the issue became more public, did the porn execs being portrayed as the enemy of public health step in?

Siegel says his piece was definitely making ripples in the industry. “Porn actors started writing to me, thanking me for starting a conversation,” he tells Mediaite. “I’d heard from some companies that I’d interviewed that I was really starting a conversation and the story was getting around.”

So did Advocate.com pull Siegel’s story to prevent damage to an industry its parent company has deep interests in? When reached for comment Advocate.com has not yet replied.  Siegel says, “I don’t know why they took it down. I thought they might not hire me again, but I never thought they’d take it down.”

To view the unedited version of “Business Before Pleasure,” click here.