Donald Embinder

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[Return to People]

About

Donald Embinder’s biography, adapted from Blueboy® Archives & Cultural Arts Foundation:

Donald was born on July 8, 1935 to Benjamin Embinder and Anna Embinder, née Beierlein. The family lived in the Inwood neighborhood of Manhattan Island and later moved to Midtown; where Donald enjoyed spending countless Sunday mornings watching hockey games at Madison Square Garden. While attending Fieldston, a private college-preparatory school in Riverdale, he played both football and baseball. An avid sports enthusiast, Don was a college letterman in soccer, tennis, football and baseball. After graduating Fieldston in 1952, Donald went on to attend the University of Rochester and in 1957, he earned a BA in Economics from Hunter College in NYC. He received his MBA at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. ​ Embinder's career began in 1959 as an advertising executive with Benton & Bowles. He created exciting campaigns for major product companies such as Proctor & Gamble. Thereafter, he left the agency and served as an executive with TV Guide. Donald moved to the historic district of Monkton, Maryland and from 1964 through 1969, worked for Towson University. He served as Public Relations Administrator, Assistant Professor of Business Management and First Assistant to the President. ​ He later teamed with investors and established the first gay disco in Washington, D.C. Lost and Found encompassed 45,000 square feet and due to it's overwhelming success, Donald opened another disco. This solo venture was to become Baltimore's legendary club ... The Hippopotamus. Donald divested himself of the club, eventually, but The Hippo remained in business for over four decades. ​ After moving to Miami, he entered into the publishing world as an advertising manager for After Dark, an arts magazine with a substantial gay readership. After leaving the magazine, he decided to create a publication for gay men that would be sophisticated, inclusive, design savvy and unapologetically meet the needs of the readers. Embinder came across a small black and white journal called Blueboy. He purchased the journal and soon after reinvented it as a full color glossy magazine we know and love. ​ Blueboy® debuted in 1974 and touted itself as, "The National Magazine About Men," a tag line the publication maintained for decades. By the fourth issue, Embinder was the first gay magazine to secure national distribution and the success of Blueboy® lead to a new visibility for him. Blueboy® quickly established itself into a lifestyle brand due to Embinder's experience with product advertising campaigns. Various extensions of the magazine included an array of personal accessories, clothing, beauty products and home furnishings. The magazine's outreach included branded ventures such as Blueboy Library, a collection of gay themed novels and Blueboy Forum, the nation's first weekly, live, sponsored forum from a gay perspective. Blueboy Forum debuted on October 25, 1976 on WKID-TV in Hallandale Florida and also aired as a late-night Manhattan talk show on UHF Channel 68. Embinder published regional LGBTQ nightlife magazines titled Knight Life in both NYC and LosAngeles. ​ His collaborative ventures were just as rich and diverse as the pages of the magazine. Donald spent his free time at town meetings across the country in support of Gay Pride events and as a speaker on equal rights for the LGBTQ community. These included Town Meeting I - held at Houston's Astroarena. It was the first organizational meeting to establish a national gay lobby. The Gay Rights National Lobby would later emerge as The HRC (Human Rights Campaign) His support of the community shined through in political endeavors such as this and more. ​ Donald even served as Executive Producer to several music singles released by dance artist Steven Paul Perry and published The Daily Dope. ​ Other gay men's magazines soon followed. Embinder published the wildly successful titles Torso, Numbers, Jock and Stars. The gay market wasn't his only foray into magazines. He created For Women Only, geared to a straight female audience and marketed for its lifestyle columns and male pictorials.

In print

Books

Periodicals

Online