Despite the preponderance of Obama and Iraq articles leading this year's finalists for the National Magazine Awards, a few noteworthy lgbt stories are nominated, most of which will be familiar to longtime Thebes readers.

For Feature Writing: from the Atlantic, Hannah Rosin's "A Boy's Life," a nuanced look at the complexities of raising young trans children and the enormous decision of whether or not to give them puberty-inhibiting drugs. This feature piece is a must read for anyone wanting to learn more about trans youth. I REALLY hope this piece wins!

For Profile Writing: from GQ, Andrew Corsello's "Let God Love Gene Robison," about modern Christianity's first openly gay bishop.

For Columns and Commentary: from The New Yorker, three pieces by Hendrik Hertzberg including his editorial on the Prop 8 victory.

For Fiction: from The New Yorker, Annie Proulx's story, Them Old Cowboy Songs, set in the Wyoming Territory of 1885. Primarily twin narratives about a teenage straight couple who are separated by work, the story features a closeted cowpuncher and his memorable advice to a newly hired young husband about the aggressively gay foreman. [Not available online, but this story and her Tits-Up in a Ditch are great enough to warrant buying her latest, strangely uneven collection, Fine Just the Way It Is.]

Winners will be announced in a ceremony at Jazz at Lincoln Center (New York) on April 30.