Issue 282: 2Pac, Jamal Sims, Dyllón Burnside, Max Konnor, Blake Mitchell, Jack Mackenroth, Westworld, Brian McArthur, and more...


Left &
Found

Queeroes 2018: honouring outstanding LGBT people who make our community stronger.

The first annual Queeroes Awards, in pictures.

Twenty-five quotes that make us proud to be LGBT.

In a terrifying world, Pride reminds us of the strength of queer community.

Can you guess what is the best Pride destination in the world?

This
How LGBT Pride Month became a branded holiday.




Wait what
Straight man writes an essay complaining that heterosexuality is being marginalised.

Why the trans community hates The Atlantic's cover story.

Long read

Forty ways white people say "white people" without actually saying "white people."


News
America

Crowd evacuated after bomb threat at Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles concert.

Gay men say they were attacked in Bay Area, but some question validity of claims.

Gay employees of Virginia's Red Hen restaurant urged the removal of Sarah Huckabee Sanders...

...and, of course, Trump weighed in, lashing out at the restaurant.

Sarah Sanders is upset because a restaurant wouldn’t serve her. She’s okay with it happening to gays.

Trump officials don't get to eat dinner in peace – not while kids are in cages.

This 23-year-old Albert Maruna. He has been jailed for trying to trade chicken for sex with a teenage boy on Grindr.

East Pittsburgh teen Antwon Rose fatally shot in the back by police.


Alison Ettel could have got an 8-year-old black kid killed, she should be held accountable.

Texas girl who was slammed by police wins settlement: taxpayers pay, cop continues life as usual.

HIV-positive patient wins $18 million in damages in malpractice lawsuit.

Republican bill would force teachers to report boys to their parents if they aren’t manly enough.

PFLAG celebrates its 45th anniversary.

The gay equality activist, "sip-in" pioneer Dick Leitsch, is dead. He was 83.

Watch
How the Black LGBTQ+ Migrant project is stepping in to help queer migrants.

Underground Niteclub, Buffalo's oldest gay bar, set to reopen.

Ohio Mayor Bill Wilson and husband Bill Smith arrested for brawling after Cincinnati Pride.

Cincinnati Pride, in pictures.

New York gay pride parade marches toward 50th year with new purpose.

New York Pride, in pictures. More here, and here.

New York Pride: this 92-year-old mother has held the same sign at the city’s Pride march since 1971.

D.C. Pride Concert, in pictures.

Rhode Island Pride, in pictures.

Philadelphia Pride, in pictures.

Baltimore Pride, in pictures.

Portland Pride, in pictures.

San Francisco Pride, in pictures. More here.

Why this year’s Pride marches should really be demonstrations against ICE. "The queer community must tap our radical roots to combat atrocities being committed at the American border."

Inside America’s mass detention of queer asylum seekers. "From sexual assault to transphobia, here's what queer asylees face at the border, and how LGBTQ+ activists are fighting back."

Crawling FOX & Friends host Brian Kilmeade excuses Trump’s immigration policy: "These aren’t our kids."

Time’s crying girl photo controversy, explained. "The crying girl on the magazine’s cover wasn’t separated from her mom at the border. But 2,300 other children were."

Time magazine’s cover isn’t bold or brave. It’s exploitative. "When a heart-wrenching photograph isn’t enough, it tells us something distressing about society — and media."

The multibillion-dollar business of sheltering migrant children, explained.

The pernicious myth of “open borders”. "Trump is obsessed with a wild mischaracterization of the status quo that fuels extremism."

Trump packs the courts with people who hate us.


Trump mocks long-haired male protester.

Americans think Russia investigation is serious and should continue.

All elections have consequences. 2018's are huge.

World to Hillary: go away! Come back! Leave! Wait! "While some Democrats tell her to shut up and Republicans use her to rile up their base, she's busy cleaning up Trump's messes."

The Republican tax law is becoming less popular, not more.

Watch
CNN's openly gay anchor Don Lemon talks with Stephen Colbert about covering Trump.

Long read
The real story of Donald Trump Jr. "All he ever wanted was to make his dad proud, but things have never turned out quite right for Donald Trump Jr. Even now, despite finding his purpose as a bombastic star of the far right, Junior’s personal life is in shambles and the specter of Robert Mueller looms large. As Julia Ioffe discovers in talking to old friends and Trump World insiders, it’s never been trickier to be the president’s son."

Long read
Where is Barack Obama? "The most popular American, whose legacy is the primary target of Donald Trump, has, for now, virtually disappeared from public life."

White dudes at Morehouse isn’t really news. White women at Spelman would be a much better story.

How the US has prepared for nuclear Armageddon, in pictures.

Canada
Families demand public inquiry into police failings over serial killer who preyed on gay men; Brian McArthur is accused of killing eight men. Top row, from left to right, Skandaraj Navaratnam, 40, Andrew Kinsman, 49, Selim Esen, 44, and Abdulbasir Faizi, 44. Bottom row, from left to right: Kirushna Kumar Kanagaratnam, 37, Dean Lisowick, 47, Soroush Mahmudi, 50, and Majeed Kayhan, 58.

How alleged Toronto serial killer Bruce McArthur went unnoticed. "A friendly gardener and mall Santa, McArthur may also have been the worst ever serial killer of gay men. As Toronto police reopen 25 cold cases dating back to 1975, they are facing tough questions about decades of hostility to the gay community."

Black t-shirt mourners conclude Toronto Pride after Bruce McArthur murders.

Revellers pour into rainy Toronto for first Pride parade since Bruce McArthur's arrest; uniformed Toronto police were not permitted to march in the parade.


News
UK


One in four gay men can't access PrEP in England.

People care more about animal rights than LGBT equality.

Why London’s LGBT communities need their own base more than ever.

Inside London’s new queer dancehall night, Queer Bruk.

London commuters slam Liam Payne, David Beckham "LGBT pride" article in Russian-owned, rightwing free tabloid the Evening Standard.

Richard Smith, the new mayor of Ferryhill, shared anti-LGBT memes claiming gays are worthy of death.

Why the fight for trans equality must be recognised as a class struggle. "Trans people are frozen out of work – this will change only if we move beyond the vicious and obsessive arguments about the boundaries of identity."

Graffiti artists on why they risk their lives.

How austerity has affected our psychological wellbeing.

A philosophical guide to Tory evil.


News
World

Ireland
Republic marks twenty-five years since the decriminalisation of homosexuality.

Hungary

. "Criminalising help for refugees is a sign of Viktor Orbán’s growing authoritarianism. Europe cannot afford to ignore it."


Russia
LGBT community worried what will happen after the World Cup.

Court rules people living with HIV can adopt children.

Greece
Four men arrested after shocking attack during Pride.

South Sudan
Born out of brutality, the world’s youngest state drowns in murder, rape and arson. "As thousands flee the vicious civil war, families seeking safety in the swamp town of Nyal tell of villagers murdered and their homes burnt to the ground by government forces."

Malawi
Child labour rampant in tobacco industry. "Cigarettes sold in US, Europe and elsewhere contain leaf produced in tough conditions by children, affecting school and life chances."

The children working the tobacco fields. "Children in poor families work the fields in Malawi, impacting schooling, amid signs of a growing international crisis."

The families toiling in the tobacco fields, in pictures.

South Africa
Court says that religion is not a defence for homophobic hate speech.

Australia
Destroyed rainbow crossing to be restored.


Word!

Cave Homo, the zine celebrating your favourite queer skateboarders.

On The Rag, your guide to the gay weeklies.


Shouting
At Night

Billy Elliot canceled in Hungary after media claims it turns boys gay.

Groundbreaking gay play Beautiful Thing returns to London for outdoor anniversary performance.

Review
Skintight. "The play’s gossipy origins seem to promise a juicy look behind the curtain at a celebrity May-September romance, while the production’s promo art, which features Menzel’s face marked up with dotted lines, suggests a treatise on cosmetic surgery. But neither and not much happens in Skintight, whose characters seem like particularly well-spoken archetypes behaving just as you’d expect them to, under Daniel Aukin’s steady direction."

Drag Theresa May cabaret to show London what a hard Brexit looks like.


2Pacalypse on Broadway: Tupac musical flops after six-week run. "Holler If Ya Hear Me, which uses Tupac Shakur songs to explore America's social challenges, to close early after poor sales." (July 2014)

Watch
Broadway Bares: Game Night


Film
Forever

On When the Beat Drops, the new documentary, following a close-knit circle of black gay men in Atlanta who lead double lives – professionals by day, dancers by night.

Interview
Talking to director Jamal Sims about When the Beat Drops.

Watch
here's the trailer.

On new AIDS drama 1985. "Virginia Madsen plays a mother whose closeted gay son comes home to let the family know he’s dying from AIDS complications."

The first movie to tackle the AIDS crisis is a buried treasure. "Gay film director Arthur Bressan, Jr.'s touching and ever-urgent 1985 drama Buddies was written in five days and filmed in nine."

ABC News Features releases Prejudice and Pride, a new documentary on one of the worst mass killings of LGBT people.

All male ballet dancers are gay, right? "A staggering amount of male dancers are bullied thanks to gender stereotypes. But they carry on despite the harassment, as the new doc Danseur shows."

Bollywood needs more LGBT films, says top star Manoj Bajpayee.

From vibrators to gay kisses, how Bollywood embraced the taboo. "Once a musical wonderland out of touch with reality, India’s film industry is finally addressing contemporary issues – and telling women’s stories."

The real reason we need more diversity in film criticism.

Review
All Eyez On Me. "Benny Boom’s life story of the rapper manages to feel both rushed and stretched."

Long read
The trouble with Johnny Depp. "Multimillion-dollar lawsuits, a haze of booze and hash, a marriage gone very wrong and a lifestyle he can’t afford – inside the trials of Johnny Depp."

Who Framed Roger Rabbit? at thirty: the game-changer Hollywood couldn't top. "In 1988, the ambitious multimedia caper brought darkness and a satirical edge to the summer and the industry has struggled to match its inventiveness ever since."

From Rosemary’s Baby to Hereditary: why the creepy cult in horror refuses to die. "A secret bunch of malign old people are behind some of the greatest atrocities in horror film history – so much so that the cult may have blown its cover."

The Last Jedi: what would the $200m fan-funded remake look like? "An online plan to raise funds to remake the last Star Wars episode for riled-up fanboys has led to speculation over just how unhinged it could be."


The
Box

How the Vixen exposed the racism of RuPaul’s Drag Race.

Watch
Are you with RuPaul or Asia O'Hara? (Ed: Asia O'Hara.) "The drag performers' responses to the Vixen's departure on the Drag Race reunion represent opposing worldviews."

The Vixen compares RuPaul to "Reddit troll" after the heated clash.

Kameron Michaels is "upset" over queens not choosing her to win.

RuPaul's Drag Race star Tyra Sanchez hits back at "very racist" critics over alleged threats to DragCon.

Ten fun facts about Pose's Dyllón Burnside.

Review
Pose, season one, episode four. "It’s tough to rehash the HIV/AIDS epidemic without devolving into grief porn or an after-school special, but Pose has so many complex characters through which topics can be explored. Even with the spotlight off the incomparable Mj Rodriguez, the 80-minute episode was packed to the gills with great performances."

Watch
Fathers, the a new web series imagining a queer utopia where AIDS never existed.


From the Futureworld conspiracy to B=T: the best Westworld fan theories. "In the build up to the series two finale we look at the best – and most outlandish – theories from the messageboards."

Westworld finale recap: season 2, episode 10. "A rapidfire 90-minute season-ender saw the hosts and humans fight for control of the park, but who survived and will Ford have the last laugh?"

Westworld unleashes a big battle and a bigger twist in a flawed but fascinating finale. "The Passenger doesn’t make us rethink the show entirely, but it offers a promising setup for season three. Maybe."

Interview
Talking to Westworld creators Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan. "The married duo responsible for the sci-fi drama reflect on a twisty second season and the philosophical questions underpinning the show."

What went right and what went wrong for Luke Cage’s second season.

Interview
Talking to producer Anthony Hemingway about Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G., and how he worked to find 2Pac and Biggie’s humanity, not their killers.

Hollywood finally realised how to make money off 2Pac's life.

Big stars, little interest: when movie heavyweights fizzle on TV. "Kevin Costner’s big budget soap Yellowstone has been savaged by critics and he’s not the only A-lister who has struggled on the small screen."

When good TV goes bad: how the American Office downsized its comic potential. "The American reboot worked well until cracks started to appear in season six – Steve Carell left, consistency dipped and plotlines ballooned."

ABC greenlights Roseanne spinoff - without Roseanne Barr.


Beats, Rhymes
& Life

Pop bore Sam Smith accused of fat shaming.

Holland, South Korea’s first openly gay K-Pop star, reveals what it’s like to be out in his country.

Whitney Houston’s sister-in-law reveals sexual abuse allegations against Dee Dee Warwick left her gasping for breath.

Watch

The first filmed interview with 17-year-old high school student Tupac Shakur.

2Pacalypse Now 1991 biography: Part 1. Part 2. Part 3.

Tupac was here. "The legendary rapper spent his formative years in Baltimore." (September 2016)

Chi Modu’s best photograph: Tupac Shakur lets his guard down. "He turned up for the shoot early, did 20 press-ups, then said: Let’s go, brother!".

Long read
The takedown of Tupac. "Tupac Shakur was one of gangsta rap’s biggest stars. But he got caught in a collision of cultures when inner-city gangs met up with the multibillion-dollar record industry." (July 1997)

You don’t have to worship 2Pac. "Recent criticism of the rap icon from Lil Xan and 03 Greedo forces us to ask whether or not our heroes are beyond reproach."

Hip Hop hero. "Eight years after being murdered, rapper Tupac Shakur is bigger in death than in life - the subject of books, films, even university courses. How did he become a James Dean figure for a new generation?" (June 2004)

The 1991 Tupac Shakur interview that all Americans need to hear. (August 2017)

Watch
Tupac Shakur passionately explains his views on generosity and responsibility, traits he feels some people with extreme wealth like Trump lack, in this electrifying MTV News clip from 1992.

Tupac was one of the greatest rappers of all time, and here's why. (September 2017)

Tupac Shakur's complicated legacy, explained.

Long read
To die like a gangsta. "Gangsta-rap star Tupac Shakur, killed in a drive-by shooting last year, had so much to live for: the fans who sent four of his albums platinum, his dreams of a baby with his fiancée, Quincy Jones’s daughter Kidada, his plans to help needy kids from backgrounds like his own. But the violent world that gave him riches also led him into drug dealing, a prison term, and the dangerous embrace of Death Row Records C.E.O. 'Suge' Knight. Robert Sam Anson chronicles a death foretold." (March 1997)

The story behind the final photograph of 2Pac. "On September 7, 1996, Leonard Jefferson, a 29-year-old from Los Angeles, went to Las Vegas to see a Mike Tyson fight. It was a night he would remember for the rest of his life. He never saw Tyson, but he did see 2Pac, at an intersection just off the Strip, and snapped a photograph of him. It turned out to be the last picture taken of 2Pac while he was still alive. Just minutes later, the rapper would be gunned down by unknown assailants. It’s been two decades, and Jefferson still has a story to tell. We spoke with Jefferson, now a filmmaker, about what happened on that night, from beginning to end, and what it means to him today." (September 2016)

Mike Tyson opens up about the night Tupac was shot.

What if 2Pac had lived? (September 2016)

2Pac represented for Latinos with lyrics like "it wouldn’t be L.A. without Mexicans," but here’s why we really loved him.

Long read
Life and death in South Central LA. "South Central Los Angeles is notorious both for its violent gang warfare and for the gangsta rap that celebrates it, yet the media rarely ventures there. One of the most famous victims of gang violence is the rapper Tupac Shakur, who was shot dead in Las Vegas in 1996. Orlando Anderson was the main suspect, and when he himself was killed in LA some 18 months later, many considered it a job well done. But looking for the first time into his background William Shaw found that Anderson's story was far more ambiguous." (January 2000)

Hip-hop will never truly move on from 2Pac. "The late rapper is the subject of a few new movies and endless fascination. Even as young rappers question his relevance, 2Pac’s legacy endures."

I get around: the oral history of 2Pac’s Digital Underground years. "Sex, drugs and the Humpty Dance: The freaks of the industry tell the wild story of Tupac Shakur’s journey from roadie to icon."

Twenty things you might not know about 2Pac and Biggie.

Do you remember when 2Pac walked for Versace back in 1995?

Review
2Pac - All Eyez On Me. "Tupac’s 1996 double album was made in a frenzy. It is paranoid and brazen, fun and fearless, but it is Pac’s singular style that keeps one of his greatest records from coming undone at the seams."

The Big Picture
Tupac Shakur, photographed by David LaChapelle, April 1996

Life and times of Suge Knight — the fall of Compton's notorious music mogul. "The Death Row records co-founder, now charged with murder, has led quite a life that includes gangs, jail and allegedly dangling Vanilla Ice off a balcony." (January 2015)

Watch
The latest Gay Music Chart.


Arena

Mexico fans refrain from homophobic chants at World Cup match after team’s pleas.


Long read
Is this man a victim? "Maine adopted Kenyan runner Moninda Marube as a symbol of human trafficking’s invisible casualties. But a close look at his case raises hard questions — and illustrates the challenge of investigating and prosecuting trafficking crimes."

Bizarre Becker: the sad and turbulent saga of a fallen tennis champion.


Meat
Market

LadyFag dance party, in pictures.

Key West Pride pool parties, in pictures.

Michael Lucas put black performers in a gay porn titled Black Cocks Matter - without telling them the movie’s title...

...leading to the release being retitled Black Cocks Rule.

Underwear company Andrew Christian is selling hardcore gay porn videos (with creampies) on OnlyFans.

Watch
Billy Santoro talks about his friend Dave Slick, who passed away last month; and Corbin Colby and Angel Rivera have different ideas on how to celebrate Cinco de Mayo.

Behind-the-scenes with Jacen Zhu, Blake Mitchell, and more.

Andre Donovan, Max Konnor and Devin Franco do it.

Bama Romello and Dakota Payne do it.

Gianni Maggio and Peter Connor do it.

Lucas Leon and Ty Mitchell do it.

Collin Simpson, Leonardo Accosi and Josh Farve do it.


Ghetto
Romance

Men shouldn't be ashamed of beating off with sex toys.

Many trans folks' sexual attractions change after transition.

This

Or That

The HIV-positive person's guide to sex and dating.

Gay men hilariously reveal their worst marriage proposals.

Watch
Leading foster care agency pleads for more foster parents.


Medicine
Ball

Why we need to stop slut-shaming gay men who want condomless sex.

HIV vaccine to begin human trials in 2019.

Half of people with HIV could develop Alzheimers.

Why HIV-activist Jack Mackenroth is taking a break.

Groundbreaking PrEP activist Greg Owen to feature in new BBC documentary, The People Vs The NHS: Who Gets The Drugs?

Bisexual men face a higher risk of heart disease.

Seven ways to strengthen your core.

Why humans are cruel. "A psychologist explains why humans are so terrible to each other."


Zoo

Red deer on the Isle of Rum, in pictures.

The week in wildlife, in pictures.


The White Heat
of This Revolution

How being (hot) gay Insta-boyfriends makes you money.

The new gay dating app that doesn't include photos.

Transgender dating app TAT sees tremendous growth.

The legend of Nintendo. "With the Switch, the 130-year-old gaming giant has once again turned reports of its demise into Nintendo Mania."

The world's smallest computer can fit on the tip of a grain of rice.


Planes, Trains
& Automobiles

A forensic examination of Charing Cross station, in pictures.

Symmetry and serenity in the London Underground, in pictures.


Betta
Work!

Less than half of LGBT workers are out at work.


I Own 51% Of
This Company!

Amazon UK releases new guidelines on pronouns and uniforms for transgender staff.

UK department store House of Fraser to close thirty-one stores, with 6,000 jobs going.

The death of the department store, a place out of time. "Big, bland stores are at odds with modern consumers’ need for speed and individualism."


Hell's
Kitchen

Iced coffee is ruining the environment – and your body.

It’s not you. Date labels on food make no sense.


Rag
Trade

YUASA Menswear has unveiled a new line of men’s swimwear to help LGBT youth.

Asos pledge to ban mohair, cashmere and silk from 2019.

Ten ways to make fashion greener.


And
This:

There's a lot more to being a leatherman than you'd expect. "People have this idea about leather – they think S&M. And while S&M can be a part of leather, that’s not leather itself. Leather is a community first."

Watch
LGBT elders read touching letters to their younger selves.

Vloglife
Finally, the latest with Ask The Aunties, Walter, Davey Wavey, and Blake Mitchell.

Issue 282: 21-25 June 2018
On the cover: Tupac Shakur.

Missed the last edition? Get it.

The Small Print
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KAOS is an independent website and is not linked to any of the organisations which are listed within the website or the THE KAOS THEORY ezine.

The mention or appearance or likeness of any person or organisation on KAOS, or THE KAOS THEORY ezine, is not to be taken as any indication of the sexual, social or political orientation of such persons or organisations.

All rights reserved.

Postcript
"You know, we might just as well not have
bothered to come. The whole thing's been ridiculous."

© 2018

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