You’ll Never Guess Who The Advocate’s Person Of The Year Is
The Advocate magazine has named its Person of the Year, and this time the choice is highly controversial.
Last night on MSNBC’s “The Last Word,” The Advocate’s Aaron Hicklin revealed to Lawrence O’Donnell their Person of the Year: Vladimir Putin.
Controversial?
You bet.
(And yes, that’s an intentional Hitler-esque mustache.)
LGBT activist and nephew of Harvey Milk, Stuart Milk, offered strong and intelligent criticism, as you can see in the video above.
Here’s how The Advocate’s Jeremy Lybarger begins the cover story:
“Imagine a boy who dreams of being a KGB officer
when everyone else wants to be a cosmonaut.â€This quote appears early in The Man Without a Face, Masha Gessen’s 2012 biography of Vladimir Putin. It’s as succinct and illuminating a characterization of the Russian president as you’re likely to find. The KGB, after all, perfected the thuggery, espionage, and aimless bureaucracy that are hallmarks of Putin’s regime. The agency’s crackdown on dissidents offered a blueprint for Putin’s own strongman excesses. That he aspired to such a career as a child tells us something useful about his psychopathology: This is a man hardwired to intimidate.
Nowhere is this tendency more apparent than in his crusade against LGBT Russians.
Responses on Twitter were mixed, and interestingly, almost entirely from media professionals:
LGBT activist and Blabbeando blogger Andrés Duque:
Provocative choice. provocative cover. Vladimir Putin is @TheAdvocateMag’s “Man of the Year†http://t.co/3qfPfA6IuE pic.twitter.com/e5wdCB8Mxt
— Andrés Duque (@Blabbeando) November 7, 2014
CNN’s Jake Tapper:
The Advocate names Putin Person of the Year as “the single greatest threat to LGBTs in the world in 2014.” pic.twitter.com/9KsVv3It89
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) November 7, 2014
Actor, Writer, Director, Sinakhone Keodara:
I get the satire but I think The Advocate could have titled it “Enemy Of The Year.” http://t.co/H5wF5qHu9v
— Sinakhone Keodara (@DirKeodara) November 7, 2014
Australian LGBT editor Elias Jahshan:
IMO, it’s A-grade shade. Esp. with *that* cover. | @TheAdvocateMag names Putin Person of the Year: http://t.co/8Eae49VrpJ via @star_observer
— Elias Jahshan (@Elias_Jahshan) November 7, 2014
John Becker, Editor in Chief, The Bilerico Project:
.@molodyko Bet. Putin&Francis, The Advocate has descended into hopeless clickbait territory w/”Person of the Year,” sadly. @edgarsrinkevics
— John M. Becker (@freedom2marry) November 7, 2014
Buzzfeed’s Chris Geidner:
The Advocate (http://t.co/kzbs4SeyoZ) = Troll So Hard x Godwin’s Law pic.twitter.com/LbFNKiPQxv
— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) November 7, 2014
Alvin McEwen, Holy Bullies author, blogger, and activist:
Vladimir Putin is The Advocate magazine ‘s Person of the Year. Yeah I know that one year, Time magazine chose… http://t.co/VPX5BIf5ZH
— Holy Bullies (@holybullies) November 7, 2014
Finnish writer and researcher:
He will make homosexuality more acceptable everywhere (except Russia?).Person of the Year: Vladimir Putin http://t.co/GmOpD2Jtcg
— er3 (@er3) November 7, 2014
Canadian writer Jerome Stueart:
@TheAdvocateMag Could have made Putin a runner up easily. You just wanted the Hitler cover. Supreme Court should have been Person of Year.
— Jerome Stueart (@Bearnabas) November 7, 2014
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Image via The Advocate
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