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Michelle Obama in "Manner Aktuell"

Achtung, baby! First Lady Michelle Obama is profiled in the Pride issue of Männer Aktuell, the glossy German homostyle magazine. The pdf (en Deutsch) is here.

As best as we can determine, the article discusses her style, the new German translation of Liza Mundy's Michelle Obama, A Life, and the first lady's efforts on gay rights. There's also discussion on M. Obama's much-applauded "From Selma to Stonewall" speech at last year's DNC's Gay & Lesbian Leadership Council Gala where she was the keynote speaker.

In related news: San Francisco-based activist Michael Petrelis reports a conversation during the First Lady's recent trip to the Bay Area. Mrs. Obama assured a married gay couple the Defense of Marriage Act "will" be repealed soon. The Justice Department's recent highly offensive motion to dismiss a DOMA challenge has served as a lightning rod for recent activism. Numerous high profile gays—and now former party chairman Howard Dean—have announced they will not attend this year's benefit.

PDF (en Deutsch) here.

New Rufskin Denim Campaign

The new Rufskin denim campaign features the hot boy models of The Janice Dickinson Show photographed by beefcake photographer Justin Monroe. You're looking at the very lovely and talented Maurice Townsell who is modeling ... well, what is he modeling? Doesn't matter, we're interested.

This is a scan from the back cover of last month's Männer Aktuell, previously mentioned HERE, the German homostyle magazine. There is also a recent back cover in one of the British mags, AXM or Attitude. In November, Steph & Alek at Oh La La chatted up the new campaign and explained, "One image will be released each month all the way to January 08. Those ads will be seen in editorials in UK, Australia, etc.." Haven't seen these adverts yet on this side of the pond, but, maybe we're not looking hard enough, although this would be difficult to miss.

BTW, if you read Maurice's bio he presents himself as hopelessly hetero—swooning over Cadillac rims and Victoria Secret models. Something tells us Maurice will become quite popular with the boys for this industrial jockstrap and welding gear look, no?

Did You Read ... ?

Alex Castro Models Rufskin [R20]
Edmund (Returns) @ Rufskin [R20]
Edmond at Rufskin[R20]
Some Like it Ruff [R20]
HX Swimwear Issue [R20]
Bruce Weber for VMan [R20]

Jason Tiya in "Männer Aktuell"

The lovely and talented Jason Tiya is featured in the current Männer Aktuell, the German men's magazine. Noted photographer Joe Oppedisano lenses the cover and a brilliant editorial. The sports-themed issue revolves around the World Cup and the soccer hotties.

Jason's two and a half-page pictorial ranges from PG-13 to XXX. Tiya is featured as an athletic pin-up boy, which he does very well, we may add. Just a few years ago Jason was an up n cuming go-go god at the Hangar on Christopher Street. Now, he is one of the few current black models who has a solid reputation in all-black gay porn and has segued into a successful crossover star. Which probably is more a reflection of the general tastes and aesthetic of mainstream gay porn production companies. Vis a vis, they're not discriminating against black actors, per se ... they're just partial toward a black model whose look and body type closely resembles their own actors.