By: Roger-Luc Chayer
Pictures: Gay Globe Média
Creating a magazine cover is an art that few truly master. It’s akin to a poster where, with just a glance, one can understand what’s coming and get a basic idea of what the issue will contain. Designing one requires technical precision, adhering to numerous visible and invisible criteria, such as the message conveyed and what we want readers to take away. Creating 160 covers, as with this edition, is an achievement I didn’t know I was capable of. And then, there’s the aftermath of the cover, with its best moments and worst mistakes, those that still make me blush today. Here are the best examples:
The Magnificent Doris Day #79
Undoubtedly, the most beautiful cover in the magazine’s history was the one featuring actress Doris Day, thanks to a highly elegant photo from the 1950s. Doris Day was honored for her involvement in the fight against HIV/AIDS, and to thank us, she sent us a very personal gift.
Liza Minnelli the Star #101
Another stunning cover was dedicated to Liza Minnelli for her involvement in the gay and lesbian communities, as it was termed at the time. The actress-singer was so pleased with our work that she posted our cover on her Facebook page, leading to thousands of positive comments and, for us, global visibility.
The Gaffe Cyndi Lauper #111
The big-hearted singer has been involved with LGBT organizations in New York for years. When we wanted to feature her on a cover, an error slipped into her name, which was published as “Cindy” instead of “Cyndi,” resulting in a significant silence from the star, rightfully so.
The “Photoshop” of Angela Lansbury #124
The great film and television star had been invited by Gay Globe to honor her involvement in HIV research, having raised over a million dollars for the cause. The photo was provided by the actress but was of very low resolution. In our attempt to enhance it for the cover, we overused Photoshop, and in trying to sharpen the image, her wrinkles became exaggerated, which was unacceptable at a time when images of women in cinema were being softened to give them eternal youth. According to a close associate, she would have been very upset with the result.
Removing Denis Coderre #97
For the first time in its history, Gay Globe removed a cover after publication because the person no longer aligned with our objectives. Former mayor Denis Coderre had been making blunders and harmful political decisions for Montreal, even going so far as to suffocate the Gay Village with his Formula E, which cost him his re-election. After granting us an interview where he committed to a series of measures to revitalize the Village, it was disappointment after disappointment, and his political choices had a devastating effect on our collective well-being. Gay Globe removed his photo from the electronic version still archived. That was too much!
Boldness with Vladimir Putin
Magazine covers are not only meant to honor those who contribute to the well-being of our communities but also to draw attention to those who harm us. For example, the Sultan of Brunei was featured on the cover of Gay Globe for having enacted the death penalty for homosexuals. In the same vein, magazine #96 featured Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, even labeling him as the “Next Great Evil” after making homosexuality illegal in his country. So far, no one at Gay Globe has been poisoned for this audacity! P.S. A copy of the magazine was mailed to him…
Hollywood’s Queen, Elizabeth Taylor
One of the most famous personalities in the world, known for both her extensive film career and her support for people with HIV, Elizabeth Taylor, who also led a foundation named after her to fund HIV research, was so pleased with our choice for cover #74 that she became a friend of Gay Globe.
Barack Obama #118
At Gay Globe, we try to stay away from politics as much as possible, but occasionally, exceptional politicians make decisions with global impact. President Obama of the United States earned his cover because he linked American financial aid to certain African countries with the respect for LGBT rights. A decision that changed history in many cases.
A Beautiful Miss with #50
Don’t ask me why this cover was selected, I don’t even remember. A golden logo on a black background, meaning nothing more than filler, this cover is crowned as the most bland in our history…
Pride à la Zelinsky #150
During one of the Pride celebrations in Montreal, in an effort to address the persistent question about the relevance of these celebrations, I wrote an editorial on the importance of the word « Pride, » using the resilience of the Ukrainian people in the face of Russian attacks as an example. It is their pride that gives them the courage to survive, and it is that kind of pride I wanted to highlight with our cover.
A First with AI #159
Gay Globe has always considered itself a pioneer in the media world. With issue #159, we for the first time commissioned a cover from Microsoft’s Copilot AI software. Very few readers noticed. The image depicted a group of LGBT youth celebrating the International Day Against Homophobia, etc. The experience was successful, and we will definitely do more in the future.
And the Others?
Having the chance to print on unparalleled quality paper, as we do at Gay Globe, is also what allows us to have striking and spectacular covers. Covers not mentioned in the text but received very positively include those of the Golden Girls, Kim Novak, Eva Gabor, Dr. Fauci, Katharine Hepburn, and Barbara Eden, to name a few, while more ordinary covers would be those of Anderson Cooper, Pope Francis with his « beef » look, Betty White, or Brad Pitt. The problem is often not the person, but the photo available to us.
The adventure continues with the current cover, a product of computer creativity, for our visual enjoyment. Note that all editions mentioned in these pages are available in the magazine’s archives at Gayglobe.net/category/gayglobe/