English journalist and editor James Collard was born in August 1963. He studied at Durham University, starting his professional career as a journalist for Marxism Today magazine. In 1996, he became editor of British gay magazine Attitude, downplaying political content in favour of fashion and lifestyle features. In a series of editorials, he mooted the concept of “post-gay”, in which 1970s-era identity politics was passé, and gay men were more likely to define themselves by consumer choices than community involvement or activism. In 1997, he was the surprise appointment as editor-in-chief of American LGBT magazine Out, following the dismissal of long-term editor Sarah Pettitt. Out‘s president Hank Scott explained that he appointed Collard in an attempt to boost the magazine’s falling sales, by capturing an affluent, style-conscious (white, cis-gendered, gay male) readership. Collard’s attempts to give readers “something world-class… beyond the gay ghetto” alienated many of Out‘s staff writers, including ACT-UP veteran Michelangelo Signorile, who reportedly threw a glass of water over Collard during their first lunch meeting. Despite this, Collard’s strategy proved commercially successful, growing Out‘s circulation, increasing revenue via corporate advertising and also increasing the average income of Out‘s readership. The brutal murder of Wyoming student Mathew Shepard in 1998 drew international attention to hate crimes against LGBTQ people, re-igniting political debate about homosexuality, effectively scuppering the “post-gay” movement. Perhaps un-coincidentally, Collard left Out soon after, returning to London to work as an assistant editor for the Times Magazine, eventually becoming editor of the rebranded Times Luxx magazine. In 2011, he established his own creative agency Brave New World, working on magazines for luxury brands including Valentino and St Regis Hotels. In a 2012 opinion piece for Out, titled My Life as a Bear, Collard reflected on his evolution from “a skinny, pretty boy, with cheekbones like wing mirrors” into a middle-aged bear “who could cheerfully vote Conservative“, speculating that “there is something ideological about my rejection of the buff gay aesthetic“, conveniently sidestepping his own contribution to gay body-beautiful standards over much of his career. He lives in London, and is the co-founder and director of Uncommonly, a design agency promoting luxury brands including car manufacturer Rolls-Royce. His current relationship status is unknown.