Issue 249: Eddie Long, FEMEN, HustlaBall, Mahershala Ali, Terk Lewis, Tom Daley, Sean Zevran, Twin Peaks, Trump, and more...

the week's

news

& pop

culture,

with a

gay

bias.

Left &
Found

Fourteen ways to Trump-proof your life.

Democracies end when they are too democratic. And right now, America is a breeding ground for tyranny.

On populism. "'What the people want' is just a way to justify whatever the elites want."

Why you'll never change anyone's mind about politics.

The new global citizen class. "Research finds tens of thousands of ultra-rich individuals buying multiple homes in the planet’s most desirable locations."

Eight men own more than 3.6 billion people do. Our economics is broken.

Queering Islam. "Three out imams are upending the idea that LGBT people are not welcome in Islam, while offering comfort and self-acceptance to congregations that seek a welcoming faith."

This Kardashian campaign finally strips "empowerment" of all meaning. "Protein World’s marketers may not be the first to cynically co-opt the word that once symbolised hope, but they have succeeded in reducing it to an empty husk."

The 2017 white nominees for the White People in Black People Hall Of Fame!

News
America

Pulse killer Omar Mateen's wife arrested by the FBI.

Gay man's skull fractured by masked men in Dallas Target parking lot.

23-year-old masseur Daquan King charged with the murder of 54-year-old gay club owner Savyon Zabar.

White America is quietly self-segregating.

President Obama has warned about "battles ahead" on LGBT equality.

President Obama pardons gay man discharged from military...

...And commutes most of Chelsea Manning’s sentence, too.

Yes we did: Ten LGBT victories under President Obama.

The artist behind Obama’s iconic “Hope” poster has a different plan for Trump.

I have a nightmare. "Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream of freedom in America for 'all of God's children' is being defiled by the president-elect and his bigoted Cabinet picks."

We could’ve avoided President Donald Trump. Now, we must learn the lessons.

The nightmare is real: Trump sworn in as the 45th President...

...And thus is now officially violating the Constitution.

Trump’s inauguration: A declaration of political war. "The presidential handover observed all the usual civilities, but the tone of Trump’s speech marked a frightening change in America."

Divisive, ungracious, unrepentant: this was Trump unbound.

And yet... Black brilliance and resistance on the eve of the Trump era. "At the Peace Ball on the night before the inauguration, a stellar line-up of African American thinkers held out hope of unity in the face of fear."

Black Lives Matter: birth of a movement. "The killing of Michael Brown created a new generation of black activists, with thousands taking to the streets, and a hashtag used more than 27m times. But will the movement survive the Trump era?"

"In horrible shape"? Visit to John Lewis's district undermines Trump's claims.

Don’t treat Donald Trump as if he’s a normal president. He’s not.

The seven faces of Donald Trump – a psychologist’s view.

The honeymoon is already over for Trump. "Shocking poll numbers tell of a uniquely difficult path for the new commander-in-chief. And that’s before the inevitable scandals start."

But Trump thinks approval ratings are rigged. That's scarier than you think.

The new first family: what you need to know about the Trumps.

ACLU files first Freedom of Information Act request about Trump’s conflicts of interests.

Trump, the con artist. “The methods of a skilled con artist have worked just barely well enough to deliver the presidency to Trump. But what happens when his grandiose promises fail to materialize? And when the aspects of his program that he never mentioned in his speech — tax cuts for the rich, stripping away health insurance from millions, massive graft — do take place? A con artist who always escaped his old victims and found new ones has reached the maximal limits of his strategy. What happens when the marks are demanding that the promises he made be redeemed, and there is nowhere for him to go, and he commands the powers of the state?”

Trump deletes the WhiteHouse.gov LGBT webpage. Also gone: Pages devoted to the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, civil rights, climate change, and the White House Council on Women and Girls.

You're fired! Trump dismisses all of President Obama's gay ambassadors in yet another break with protocol.

Trump demands officials justify "massive" spending on federal AIDS programme.

Trump presents a “window of opportunity” for push-back against LGBT equality reforms, evangelical Christian group Alliance Defending Freedom says...

...And even gay Republicans are now worried Trump will overturn LGBT equality protections.

Trump Education Secretary blames "clerical error" for thirteen years of ties to homophobic hate groups.

Trump: What happened while he was being inaugurated.

Let’s spend a few minutes with this photo of Trump, shall we.

Trump inauguration speech makes protest unpatriotic.

Activists threw a queer dance party outside Mike Pence's D.C. house. There's video here.

The up-and-coming leaders of the Trump resistance in Washington. "A slate of fierce new Democrats are poised to face off against both Donald Trump and Republican majorities in both chambers of Congress."

Without a path from protest to power, the Women's March will end up like Occupy. "Social activists have succumbed to one of the most enduring myths of contemporary American protest. It’s time to consider what happens the day after."

Trump's minions who'll try to bring us down — and our allies who'll fight them.

Trump’s choice to head the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division defended North Carolina’s anti-LGBT House Bill 2.

Trump hails Jeff Sessions, claims his cabinet has the "highest I.Q." in US history.

How the AIDS crisis offers a blueprint for LGBT people fearing a hostile administration.

Rick Santorum, who claimed gay marriage would destroy the economy, hired as CNN pundit.

Brave students formed a human chain around a University of California auditorium where evil alt-right troll Milo Yiannapolous, and vile "pharma-bro" Martin Shkreli, were scheduled to speak.

Facebook bans Jack Mackenroth, David Drake for posting anti-Trump/pro-ACA messages.

How Cory Booker went from progressive hero to traitor in under two days.

How a white man from Alaska picked up a camera and became a pivotal force in New York's movement to save Black Lives.

Were these founding fathers and mothers LGBT?

A lot of what is known about pirates is not true, and a lot of what is true is not known. "Pirates could be found in nearly every Atlantic port city. But only particular locations became known as 'pirate nests,' a pejorative term used by royalists and customs officials. Many of the most notorious pirates began their careers in these ports. Others established even deeper ties by settling in these cities and becoming respected members of the local elite. Instead of the snarling drunken fiends that parade through children’s books, these pirates spent their booty on pigs and chickens, hoping to live a more placid and financially secure life on land."

Eddie Long, the homophobic pastor, is dead. He was 63. Long allegedly sexually abused young men in his congregation.

CANADA Pride Toronto bans police from parade after Black Lives Matter dispute.

News
UK

There are twenty reported homophobic hate crimes a day in England and Wales.

Number of LGBT asylum seekers rises sharply.

The gay vicar targeted with threatening hate letters calling him "apostle of hell".

Conservative MP Edward Leigh suggests LGBT equality is making Christians "second-class citizens".

Protest to take place on the second anniversary of the closure of London gay pub the Joiners Arms.

The social care "time bomb" from an ageing HIV-positive population.

Nine Black Lives Matter protesters found guilty over Heathrow disruption.

A Scotland Yard investigation into claims an undercover police officer set fire to a Debenhams department store in 1987 could be completed by July.

Notting Hill carnival risks Hillsborough-scale tragedy, report warns.

Unexploded second world war bomb found in the river Thames.

Piccadilly Circus: still London’s heart of darkness. "The famous illuminated advertisements have been switched off – but the junction will always be tinged with a neon-hued hint of sex and danger."

Does anyone care that Camden is dying? "The grotty alternative capital of London is being Shoreditchified, but it's not like anything good has happened there for decades."

The radical model fighting the housing crisis: property prices based on income. "Community land trusts battle gentrification by linking house prices to local wages rather than the market rate. But can this growing movement for ‘permanently affordable’ homes really ease Britain’s housing crisis?"

Politicians have ignored the working class for too long. "More people are struggling in an insecure world of work contracts. We need a new, revolutionary brand of parliamentarian if fear and Ukip are to be stopped."

The dark side of Britain’s gold rush: how corruption crept into our suburbs. "The super rich flooded into London after 2008. Illicit wealth has followed."

Brexit: Banks are moving workers, inflation is up. Project Fear is coming true.

Brexit: If you thought Brussels was tough, wait until corporate America writes the rules. "The ‘brave new world of free trade’ envisaged by Liam Fox could undermine our legal system, add to the NHS’s woes and set back City regulation for years."

Women will march against Trump. We may lose, but it’s still worth it.

Gove’s "snowflake" tweet is symptomatic of the nastiness that’s ruining politics. "Twitter storms, online spats and insults are making it impossible to talk to one another and reach the compromises on which public life depends."

NORTHERN IRELAND  A gay couple from Belfast were drugged, raped and robbed while on their dream holiday in Thailand.

NORTHERN IRELAND  Power-sharing government collapses, but homophobic First Minister Arlene Foster has vowed to fight on.

SCOTLAND  BBC Scotland’s voyeurism in sink estates. "Circuses with live animals make us feel squeamish, so let’s take a camera into another poor estate."

News
World

IRELAND  Men who have sex with men no longer permanently banned from donating blood.

SPAIN  Heroic protester from feminist and queer activist group FEMEN grabs Trump by the balls.

GERMANY  The editor of top newspaper Die Welt thinks Germany should be “more gay” in order to tackle the problem of Donald Trump.

ITALY  Court orders 13-year-old boy to attend “youth community” for twelve hours daily, after he was deemed too “effeminate”.

ROMANIA  How right-wing activists from the US are working to enshrine discrimination around the globe.

RUSSIA  Vile demagogue Vladimir Putin has bragged about how good Russian prostitutes are, despite his supposed devotion to "traditional values" (like wife-beating).

ISRAEL  Tel Aviv to portray non-heteronormative families in schools.

CHILE  Gay activist attacked in Santiago park by three men wearing neo-Nazi symbols.

BRAZIL  This is 17-year-old son Itaberli Lozano and his mother 32-year-old Tatiana Lozano Pereira. She had two thugs beat him up, before she stabbed him to death - because he was gay. The charred remains of his body were discovered in a field.

MEXICO  Five killed by gunman at the gay-friendly Blue Parrot nightclub in Playa Del Carmen.

WATCH  What do German people know about Namibia? (August 2012)

NIGERIA  Petition opposing a “comic” video about homophobic violence attracts supporters - and death threats.

Face-off over the Congo: the long rivalry between Kinshasa and Brazzaville. "It’s only a five-minute flight from Kinshasa to its rival city, Brazzaville – but as the DRC slides into a bloody political crisis, an international border, the Congo river and centuries of colonialism continue to separate central Africa’s volatile twins."

INDIA  Gay man threatened with corrective rap by his family.

SRI LANKA  "Surreptitious" attempt to decriminalise homosexuality rejected.

THAILAND  Bangkok to hold first Pride parade in more than a decade.

CHINA  The war on coal continues — the country just canceled 104 new coal plants.

Nine questions about China you were too embarrassed to ask.

JAPAN  Rising child poverty exposes the true cost of two decades of economic decline. "Soup kitchens have sprung up to provide meals for some of the estimated 3.5 million children officially living in poverty in one of world’s richest countries."

JAPAN  After Fukushima: the tenants rebuilding a destroyed community. "Before Japan’s 2011 earthquake it was a quiet beachside village, now it’s a construction site as Usuiso’s residents pull together in the face of adversity."

AUSTRALIA  New marriage equality draft bill includes the freedom of religions to discriminate.

AUSTRALIA  The conservative government fiddles on climate policy while the country burns.

Arena

We don’t need more out pro athletes to advance the cause, but they sure would help.

Dustin Lance Black has urged closeted LGBT sports stars to come out: “To those who do come out and make that brave act, you're saving lives. They truly are.”

Tom Daley could end up in a wheelchair. “My disc is literally degenerating – it’s impact, impact, impact, but it’s something you just have to learn to deal with. I’ve been told I could [end up in a wheelchair] but I wouldn’t say it scares me because I know what I need to do with my body to stay on top of it. The plan is to get to 2020, and beyond.”

Footballer Andre Gray claims he is "now a role model" for reforming after "burn gays" tweets.

Volleyball player Chris Voth was denied pro contract because he is gay.

Everyone loses their minds over Penn State shirtless football players.

British boxer Amir Khan's leaked sex tape.

Art +
Design

After hours: capturing the journey home from New York City's gay nightclubs. "Richard Renaldi has spent years photographing LGBT clubbers in Manhattan as a way of understanding his own troubled youth as a gay man."

Photographer Ruddy Roye and the Black Male Re-Imagined.

Surviving Trump: The art of Resistance.

Octavia E. Butler’s Afrofuturism masterpiece Kindred is now a graphic novel.

The latest five contenders for Trafalgar Square's Fourth Plinth.

How to turn the tables on Ikea’s effect on the antiques trade. "Our fondness for the Swedish manufacturer has contributed to falling antique sales – and our inability to appreciate other furniture. Here’s a list of six design classics to set the flat-packs packing."

Interior design goes back to black.

Word!

Zero-sum Trump: What you learn from reading twelve of Trump's books.

Alt-writing: how the far right is changing US publishing. "Rightwing writers, ranging from conservative to lunatic fringe across all genres, have long been a lucrative books market. Will the new era see it grow?"

Biography dictionary criticised for lack of new minority ethnic entrants.

What's the formula for a bestselling book? "Sales figures for the most popular modern authors round up familiar suspects from Dan Brown to JK Rowling. Taken together, they hint at surprising sales secrets."

Jane Austen at 200: Still a friend and a stranger.

The top ten megacities in fiction. "The creativity and energy coming out of these vast human jostles is a challenge for writers. From Dickens to Anita Desai, here are some who meet it."

REVIEW  Queerly Remembered: Rhetorics for Representing the GLBTQ Past by Thomas R. Dunn. "[It] belongs on the shelves of all large academic and public libraries. If you are an LGBT community activist, historian, or curator, it belongs on your shelf, too."

Totes annoying: Words that should be banned.

On the rag, your weekly look at the free gay 'zines.

Shouting
At Night

REVIEW  Boy Blue Entertainment: Blak Whyte Gray. "A striking achievement for Boy Blue Entertainment – and suggests it may be time to drop that last word from their name. Far more formal and introspective than we’ve been used to, it is also more artful in incorporating silence, space and stillness into its sound and action."

REVIEW  Picnic At Hanging Rock. "A vision of psychological breakdown as a prettified illusion is ripped apart by the raw force of nature. It’s a show with a volcanic power."

Film
Forever

INTERVIEW  Talking to Moonlight's Mahershala Ali. "I would leave working on Moonlight to go work on something else... and I would really miss Juan... It would kind of ache in a way that I wasn’t accustomed to. I missed being out there and staying in his skin. I definitely mourned saying goodbye to Juan."

Why Sundance, America’s largest independent film festival, matters to movie lovers. "The annual festival in Park City, Utah, is where scrappy little indie films go to make it big."

The LGBT films of Sundance 2017. Above, The Wound.

Why Paterson, the quietly philosophical tale of a bus-driving poet, is one of 2016's best films.

The Founder recasts the origins of McDonald's as the triumph and tragedy of American capitalism.

Does Gremlins 2 actually suck?

The films that traumatised us as children.

REVIEW  Retake. "With its indie sensibility, this gay-themed road trip takes its characters to some interesting places, exploring two lost souls looking for connection."

REVIEW  One Million B.C. "What is still extraordinary is how, for want of a better word, experimental the film is. The 1940 film had Mature and Landis converse in fully understandable English, but here, despite longueurs in the pacing of scenes, the entire cast has to rely on their physicality and no dialogue save for grunts and screams to project character."

On Taxi Driver, the awkward teen of US cinema. "In Travis Bickle, Scorsese, Schrader and De Niro created an embodiment of 1970s disenfranchisement. Hate-filled and fond of firearms, he speaks to our age too."

Lifetime’s Beaches is one more remake better left alone...

...And now they're remaking White Men Can't Jump.

The
Box

Jussie Smollett and Issa Rae to unleash their millenials web series Giants via YouTube. Here's the trailer:

The past ten presidencies, explained by the TV shows that defined them.

There's a Monica Lewinsky season coming to American Crime Story.

Late-night hosts on the inauguration: "How is that a president?"

WATCH  Broad City on the inauguration: "It is about to get I Am Legend up in here."

Is O.J. Innocent? is your new true-crime TV obsession.

The Will & Grace revival is definitely happening.

How old-school sitcoms made their triumphant return. "The hugely successful Netflix reboots of Full House and One Day at a Time suggest a healthy appetite for multi-cam small-screen comedy."

The TV revivals that should never have happened. "There’s relief over One Day at a Time and excitement over Twin Peaks, but televisual history suggests that comebacks aren’t always a good thing."

Frasier, Absolutely Fabulous and Joey: the dos and don’ts of TV spin offs. "As The Good Wife and 24 keep to the maxim of ‘old characters, new show’, we run through the rules in a reimagined TV universe."

Why Malcolm in the Middle is actually a socialist masterpiece.

Emmerdale star Adam Thomas wants his character to come out as gay - because gay characters get better storylines.

Gays of our lives: All the latest news from gay soapland!

The UK broadcasting regulator Ofcom has rejected complaints about a segment on the Loose Women panel show about gay men being the must-have accessory.

How the world finally caught up with Twin Peaks. "Forget fan theories about Westworld or Game of Thrones. Twin Peaks was an internet-age show before its time – and TV addicts are ready for a real riddle to pore over. Thank goodness Coop is coming back."

Prestige TV finally went too far with The Young Pope. "HBO's newest series takes prestige television to such extremes, it almost becomes a parody of the genre."

WATCH  Here's the latest episode of Steam Room Stories. 

Beats, Rhymes
& Life

Atlanta rapper iLoveMakonnen has come out as gay...

...And Chance the Rapper’s brother, MC Taylor Bennett, has come out as bisexual.

So, what it means to come out as a gay rapper in Trump’s America.

Jennifer Holliday canceled her Trump inauguration performance: "I sincerely apologize for my lapse of judgement, for being uneducated on the issues that affect every American at this crucial time in history and for causing such dismay and heartbreak to my fans."

Madonna on Trump: "We have gone as low as we can go."

Azealia Banks wanted to perform at Trump's inauguration, because of course. "Saw the entertainment line for the inauguration it made me very upset. This is an EPIC moment in modern history and it should def be celebrated in style. I would love to perform at the inauguration."

So, is there any circumstance where it’s cool for a black person to entertain Trump?

INTERVIEW  Talking to songwriter, producer, model, rapper and ballerina Terk Lewis.

WATCH  Here's the trailer for the new Netflix documentary on teen heavy metal band Unlocking The Truth.

LISTEN  Technoir's new EP New Ecosystem Musically Improved Vol.3.

LISTEN  NoMBe's - Wait.

Is there a new D'Angelo album on its way?

Eight thoughts after finishing Bobby Brown’s good but messy-ass memoir.

The shop George Michael crashed into in 2010 has been turned into a shrine by fans.

..."And when the groove is dead and gone." On the decline of Michael Jackson. (June 2009)

WATCH  Troye Sivan - Heaven; and Terk Lewis - Safari.

Red Light
District

HustlaBall 2017, in pictures.

INTERVIEW  Talking to model Joshua Trusty. (August 2012)

Porn veteran Sean Xavier takes on Stas Landon.

Exquisite Hungarians: Stunning Jim Kerouac takes on blond bombshell Lars Norgaard.

Scrumptious American twinks: Blake Mitchell, Brad Chase, Aiden Garcia and Joey Mills do it. (Hey, it's all art.)

Armond Rizzo and Trenton Ducati at the HustlaBall Las Vegas VIP party. (Oh my!)

Sean Zevran looks better than he's ever done (and that's saying something).

HustlaBall Las Vegas 2017, in pictures. Above, KAOS favourites Liam Cyber, Jason Vario and Tigger Redd.

HustlaBall Las Vegas 2017, underwear party, in pictures.

WATCH  Sean Zevran is the XBIZ Awards 2017 Gay Performer of the Year.

Ghetto
Romance

This is resistance. Queer Muslim couple musician Laila Nur and Pakistani visual artist Saba Taj married before Trump's inauguration. "Right now, it’s scary times for women, people of color, Muslims and so many others. We refuse to bend to bigotry, and instead see this year as a moment for marginalized folks to step up, organize, step into our power & be as fierce as ever," Laila told AFROPUNK.

How our housing choices make adult friendships more difficult.

Médecins Sans
Frontières

Trump withdrawing the United States from the Paris climate agreement has broad implications for society, the environment - and people living with HIV.

Gilead Sciences, the company behind many of the HIV antiretrovirals used today, has announced the names of twelve recipients of its $20 million HIV cure grants program.

Just diagnosed? Here's what you need to do next.

Is the hope for a miracle cure just magical thinking?

Does the cure for HIV lay in our body’s own defenses?

Is there a link between HIV medications, and a risk of syphilis infection?

The scary drug-resistant superbug spreading fast.

HPV: The health crisis we’re not talking about. "The top cause of penile, cervical, and anal cancer can’t be prevented with condoms, and the LGBT community is particularly at risk."

He's 54-years-old and he has an 18.9-inch penis. Problem?

How your casual drink and drug habit is affecting your life expectancy.

Living near the starvation point can extend lifespan.

Can you die from a broken heart?

The case against empathy.

Hell's
Kitchen

Nine of America's last lesbian bars.

The McDonald's drive-thru at 30: A journey back to an exotic experience.

Europe's courgette crisis spreads to other vegetables.

Swedish supermarkets replace sticky labels with laser marking. "Food retailers aiming to cut plastic packaging by ditching stickers on fruits and vegetables."

Planes, Trains
& Automobiles

London’s new Routemasters reach the end of road as Mayor Sadiq Khan halts purchases. "Blow to [previous London Mayor] Boris Johnson’s legacy as capital’s mayor drops ‘costly’ new Routemasters to help pay for four-year fares freeze."

Silk Road route back in business as China train rolls into London.

The average age of British passenger trains is now twenty-one, with the Caledonian Sleeper service having run for 41 years.

DC’s local metro system threw a lot of shade at Trump's inauguration.

Seattle is getting serious about transit.

Tomorrow's
World

Meet Zhu Qiming, the Chinese developer with an eye on gay gamers.

How to see every Google search you've ever made.

Amazon’s Echo seems great, but what does it hear? "The voice-controlled home assistant works well, but on the other hand it is a networked listening device, with wider implications."

The inside story of BitTorrent’s bizarre collapse. "How a group of valley outsiders blew through the company’s cash and nearly left it for dead."

Planet
Earth

Last year was the hottest on record - for a third year in a row.

On the climate change frontline: the disappearing fishing villages of Bangladesh.

Zoo

Koalas are at the centre of a perfect storm. The species is slipping away.

Shark reproduces asexually.

Boffins name moth with golden hair and a tiny penis after Trump.

"I want to kill these dogs." Question of whether to cull strays divides Yangon. "Myanmar’s commercial capital is overrun with an estimated 120,000 stray dogs, which attack children and carry the threat of rabies. Mass culling was recently stopped but spay, neuter and vaccinate programmes have yet to start."

The wasp with an ant head for a butt.

And Whilst You're Thinking About That, Think About This...

And finally, Rogue "Marbie" Scott is exposed; the Baddie Twinz are left with a nasty taste in their mouths; Andrew gives birth (or does he?); and Walter on the death of Eddie Long.

Issue 249: 14-20 January 2017

On the cover: FEMEN against Trump.

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Postcript

"You know, we might just as well not have

bothered to come. The whole thing's been ridiculous."

© 2017