Issue 294: Jacob Alexander, Matthew Shepard, Lil Peep, Salman Toor, Rico Marlon, Alam Wernik, Zac DeHaan, and more...


Left &
Found


The gay men who have lived for years with someone waiting on their death. "At the height of the AIDS crisis, a number of Americans confronting HIV sold their life insurance for quick cash. Then lifesaving drugs came along."

Watch
LGBT refugees explain why they fled to the US; and how can we reframe masculinity?

What is Intersex Awareness Day and why does it matter more than ever in the age of Trump?

Retrial ordered for black activist Michael X. "A retrial was ordered in the case against Michael Abdul Malik, leader of Britain’s Black Muslims, amid confusion over jurors." (19 October 1967)

How looks can influence courtroom bias.


News
America

"It's 100% segregated": does Georgia's LGBT haven have a race problem? "Atlanta has one of the largest gay populations in the country and scored full marks in an LGBT rights index, but things are far from perfect."


Matthew Shepard: the murder that changed America. "The death of a gay student, tortured and tied to a prairie fence in Wyoming two decades ago, shocked America. As Matthew Shepard's ashes are interred in the nation's spiritual home, those who knew him reflect on his remarkable legacy."

Watch
Matthew Shepard laid to rest at National Cathedral, twenty years after his murder.

Evangelical "Christian" films himself burning LGBT children’s books from local library.

Teacher accused of telling classroom student is gay and using girlfriend as a cover to hide it.

Boy attacked by classmate who thought he was gay because of his hobbies.

This is Jacob Froias. He says a Massachusetts bar owner threw him out for hugging his boyfriend.

Los Angeles Ritz-Carlton staffer told poolside gay hispanic hotel guests "you don’t belong here" and "you couldn’t afford" it.

Knife-wielding Key West couple assaults gay tourists in hate attack sparked by man’s speedo.

Firefighter suing New York City Fire Department for homophobic abuse.

Watch
Pittsburgh synagogue shooting took place during bris for gay couple’s twins.

Four Nashville gay bars targeted by pro-Trump "MAGA" hate mail.

Judge rules police violated privacy of gay men arrested in Florida Pleasure Emporium sex sting.

Identical twins Jack and Jace Grafe transition together.

Detroit's HIV rate is more than four times the state average. Here's why.


Trump voters apparently believe straight white men are more discriminated against than LGBT people, minorities.

Trump has abandoned civility. And so has the Republican party. "Vulgar and impulsive, shredding the social fabric is what Trump unapologetically does."

Jeff Bezos, award-winning LGBT advocate, donates $10,000 to homophobic Republican.

The wealth of America's three richest families grew by 6,000% since 1982. "Three US families have a combined wealth of $348.7bn. As their generations expand, we are are drifting toward a society governed by the rich."

Working-class people are underrepresented in politics. The problem isn’t voters. "Our government is run by rich people — and it benefits them the most."

Democrats have thirteen times as many LGBT-friendly candidates as Republicans.

Trump’s gay amnesia: “As your president,” Trump thundered, “I will do everything in my power to protect our L.G.B.T.Q. citizens from the violence and oppression of a hateful foreign ideology.” He enunciated that consonant cluster with extra crispness, as if especially proud of himself. You can listen here. The audience applauded, prompting him to add: “I have to say, as a Republican, it is so nice to hear you cheering for what I just said.”

LA’s only LGBT cafe, Cuties Coffee, seeks urgent funds to fend off closure.

PFLAG, one of the nation's most enduring LGBT groups, turns forty-five.

Atlanta Pride, in pictures. (Image)

Honolulu Pride, in pictures.

Long read
Rainbow Farm: the domestic siege that time forgot. "In 2001, two men were killed by the FBI at a farm in Michigan. Then, 9/11 happened."

Canada
Inside the mind of a voyeur. "Pete Forde was a good landlord and a great friend, or so his tenants thought. Then they discovered he was filming them in their most private moments. The sinister world of spying for sport."


News
UK

Jacob Alexander, the HIV campaigner and emerging designer, is dead. He was 25. Alexander, who spoke at a TED talk in May 2016 about being diagnosed with HIV on the morning of his 22nd birthday, is thought to have committed suicide.

Paul Austin jailed for homophobic attack that left teenager Kydis Zellinger scared for my life.

Teen punched in homophobic attack in McDonald’s.

UK council member jailed for sexually abusing at least seven teens jailed for sexually abusing at least seven teens.

Materials "calling for the death of gay people" found in UK schools.

BBC tweet asks if Brazil’s new leader is "homophobic or a refreshing break from political correctness".

UK charity launches PrEP fund for those who can’t afford it.

"Kill the Gays" Uganda MP Rebecca Kadaga receives award at Britain’s Parliament.

Metro.co.uk paid MP £20,000 after false homophobia claims. "News website accepts that all its accusations about Labour’s Gavin Shuker were untrue."

Grenfell Tower: the fires that foretold the tragedy. "On 14 June 2017, televisions across the country showed a west London tower block burn. For some, this was history repeating itself - as if five similar fires had simply not been important enough to prevent the deaths of 72 people in Grenfell Tower."

The black history you might not learn at school: four lesser-known historical figures who helped shape multicultural Britain.

Trauma doctors reveal horror of knife crime epidemic. "The number of stabbing victims with life-threatening injuries rises sharply in two years."

"I didn't know if I wanted to be black or white": my life between worlds. "After the murder of Damilola Taylor, my mother moved the family from London to the suburbs. Trying to fit in with the white bullies left me feeling lost."

Why are so many people sleeping rough on Britain’s streets? "Beside a glamorous retail centre, a new community is forming. The growing homelessness crisis is the legacy of austerity."

Watch
The hidden homeless sleeping on London buses.

Hate crime surge linked to Brexit and 2017 terrorist attacks. "Offences more than doubled in five years, Home Office figures for England and Wales show."

"Absolute hell": Kent residents speak out over hate crime surge. "Councillor says minority ethnic families are living in state of near-siege by racist neighbours."

How fascist Tommy Robinson (real name Stephen Yaxley Lennon) is manipulating his disciples.

Shopping malls' desperate decline comes to prime minister’s doorstep.

Northern Ireland
How every MP voted on Northern Ireland equal marriage amendment.

"No Irish No Gay" banner hung over Northern Ireland motorway.

The "gay cake" bakery shop in central Belfast is closing because it isn’t "busy enough".


News
World

Australia
This is 49-year-old Peter Anthony Jarman. He was murdered by his 25-year-old Lane Tynan Mitchell following a crystal meth rampage that ended with him setting their Perth apartment alight.

Amyl nitrite: the ban on poppers is an attack on gay men. "The Therapeutic Goods Administration’s proposal would put poppers in the same drug category as heroin."

HIV rates declining overall - but not for everyone. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, rates are surging.

When it comes to racism, Australia is clueless – and I'm exhausted. "This week was another demonstration of white fragility in the Australian parliament."

Brazil
A fearful LGBT community prepares for a "proud" homophobe. "Jair Bolsonaro is clear favourite to win Sunday’s presidential election – a ‘repulsive’ prospect for the country’s beleaguered minorities."

Right-wing Jair Bolsonaro winning female, gay vote.

Five of his sickening homophobic rants everyone should read. "If your son starts acting a little gay, hit him with some leather."

Brazil’s new president is a global danger. "The EU – and Britain – ought to act to save the planet from Jair Bolsonaro, whose policies will accelerate climate change, not curb it."

Corruption, fake news, and WhatsApp: how Bolsonaro won.

China
Court throws out challenge against the ban on gay online content.

France
Gay man beaten and abducted for two hours in homophobic attack.


Germany
Inside Germany's LGBT-inclusive mosque.

I live among the neo-Nazis in eastern Germany. And it’s terrifying. "Chemnitz is the tip of an iceberg. Media equivocation and a failure to prosecute hate crimes has made the far right stronger."

India
Why India’s air pollution is so horrendous.

Indonesia
Gay couple arrested for running pro-LGBT Facebook page.

Israel
"Death to LGBT" scrawled on memorial to gay holocaust victims.

LGBT activists threatened for unfurling Pride flags in Jerusalem.

Gay student Sammy Kanter sues pizzeria in Jerusalem for refusing to serve him.

Jamaica
Montego Bay Pride, in pictures.

Japan
Long read
Shutting themselves in. "When Japanese men in their teens and twenties shut themselves in their rooms, sometimes for a period of years, one way to lure them out is a hired 'big sister'.” (January 2006)

Liberia
How the “white-savior industrial complex” failed Liberia’s girls. "Katie Meyler, More Than Me Academy, and the problem of valorising inexperienced Americans who want to change the world."

Malaysia
Politician blames earthquake on god’s wrath for LGBT activities.

Malaysia Prime Minister rejects LGBT rights as "Western values".

Russia
16-year-old Maxim Neverov, who was prosecuted under Putin's "gay propaganda" law, has had his conviction overturned.

South Africa
Headteachers told to give government a list of gay and lesbian pupils.

Johannesburg Pride, in pictures.

Taiwan
Huge crowds gather for Taiwan Pride parade to call for marriage equality.

The modern gay history of Taipei, Asia’s most LGBT-friendly city.

Tanzania
Governor declares hunt for gay people.

Tunisia
Politician announces her intention to introduce legislation to officially ban anal tests.

Ukraine
MP tries to ban same-sex relationships with new draft bill.


Art
Skool

Lives in Transition: LGBTQ Serbia, a new photo book by the architect and photographer Slobodan Randjelović, gives a glimpse into the daily lives of LGBT Serbians.

Salman Toor's new art exhibition is a breathtaking vision of queer intimacy.

AIDS activists from the 1990s remembered in powerful new photo book, The AIDS Activist Project, from photographer Bill Bytsura.

Interview
Talking to fetish photographer Matt Spike.

Breadboards and dog collars: England's unusual museums.


Word!

"It's great to be niche. It also sucks": inside the grind of queer publishing. "For queer publishers, life can be tough: despite the corporate love of all things LGBTQ, there’s no money in it."

American Homo: Community and Perversity celebrates its re-release.

The story of Anna Burns shows how working-class talent is going to waste. "When the creative industries belong to the wealthy and their offspring, and being poor and dependent is seen as a moral failure, the success of her book Milkman is truly a cause for celebration."

Social issues YA novels can be terrible. The Hate U Give is a stunning exception.

Read
The masterless people: pirates, maroons, and the struggle to live free. "In the 'bizarre and horrifying world' of the early modern Caribbean, maroons and pirates both prized their freedom above all else. And sometimes they worked together to safeguard it."

The top ten deaths in fiction.

Gay book club: new and recent LGBT book releases.

The state of the bookstore union. "The Strand, New York City’s largest independent bookstore, is owned by a millionaire — and the booksellers who work there are all broke."

On the rag: your guide to the gay weeklies.


Shouting
At Night

Christeene and the "Dark Art" of Drag. "The underground queer icon's performances are drag unlike you've ever seen it before."


Film
Skool

LGBT cinema still needs more happy endings. "As a juror for a gay film festival, I’ve been reminded of the bleakness that has come to typify LGBT cinema. To progress, it must allow for some joy."

Actors from Alex Strangelove and Rise talk queer representation in Hollywood.

1985 offers an intimate view of a devastating era in LGBT history. "Director Yen Tan talks his inspiration behind the film, and why going home to your parents sometimes means going back into the closet."

Cherry Grove Stories documentary tells Fire Island's wild origin story.

"Sharp and sexy" social media satire Trophy Boy features "one of the most repellant gay characters we’ve ever seen on film".

Interview
Talking to director Jorge Pelicano about his film Until Porn Do Us Part, the subject of which is the sometimes fraught relationship between a gay male porn actor and his mother.

Interview
Talking to Keiynan Lonsdale about the fluidity of his queer identity and art.

Heterosexual actress Cate Blanchett defends straight actors playing gay characters.

Six lame, laughable or disappointing gay sex scenes in cinema, ranked.

RIP FilmStruck, one of classic cinema’s last refuges in the streaming era. "The beloved destination for foreign films, art-house discoveries, and movies from Hollywood’s Golden Age is shutting down next month."

Watch
Here are the trailers for Boy Erased; and Charm City, a documentary on Baltimore's three most violent years.

Orson Welles' Jungle Book, Bilbo on mushrooms: the great unmade movies. "For every glittering Hollywood project that hits cinemas, there’s a whole lot more that don’t make it. Here are five of the most fascinating films you’ll never see."

Where will Hollywood's search for authenticity end? "Long-running franchises, in their attempts to bottle the essence of the original movie, are going back to source material and bringing back the old protagonists."

Long read
Horror lives in the body. "Watching horror films stirs up trauma, but it also reminds me that I don’t suffer alone."

After World War I, horror movies were invaded by an army of reanimated corpses. "Were early horror films, with their long, angry processions of the undead, repeating the mass trauma of the First World War, or foreshadowing the coming of the Second?"

The others: why women are shut out of horror. "Horror movies give more screen time to strong female characters and attract a large female audience. But few female filmmakers get to work on them."

Review
John Carpenter in 4K. "Shlock and gore from Hollywood's dark star - restorations of The Fog, Escape from New York, Prince of Darkness and They Live show the makings of a movie maestro."

Review
Utoya: July 22. "Harrowing but manipulative - this dramatisation of Anders Breivik’s killing spree ramps up the tension but offers little in the way of reflection."

Review
Stan & Ollie. "Brilliant impersonations by Steve Coogan and John C Reilly lift the muted charm of this biopic about their troubled music-hall tour of Britain."


The
Box

The number of LGBT characters on TV has reached an all-time high...

...people of color outnumber white LGBT people for the first time.

Disney star Garret Clayton says his dad "hated" that he was gay.

Queer Eye’s Antoni Porowski splits with boyfriend of seven years.

Japan’s Terrace House welcomes first LGBT lodgers.

The Bi Life wins praise for bisexual representation and breaking down stigma.

Me too? Whoopi Goldberg propositioned a 15-year-old Neil Patrick Harris.

Roseanne Barr lashes out after being killed off by The Conners.

Interview
Talking to Julia Davis about "her lurid lesbian sitcom Sally4Ever, her filthiest show yet – but even that’s nothing compared with her extreme agony aunt podcast."

Netflix reveals series regulars, recurring cast for Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City reboot.

How a gay couple on Netflix's Elite show stole my heart. "Omar and Ander are more than just the best couple on Netflix's Élite — they might be the best couple on TV this year, period."

Doctor Who: why has the Rosa Parks episode got people talking?

How The X-Files invented modern television. "Twenty-five years after its debut, The X-Files is that rare show that seems to exist both in the time it aired and in the present."

Watch
Daddyhunt: The Serial shows how to pick up a guy in a locker room.


Beats, Rhymes
& Life

X Factor Malta criticised for airing "ex-gay" contestant.

New LP by bisexual rapper Lil Peep to be released one year after he passed away.

Lil Peep: how to handle the release of an album shrouded in tragedy. "At an intimate listening party, the final album from the rapper who died last year was unveiled with family and friends explaining how they ensured it would honour his legacy."

How queer male pop reclaimed its star status. "The 80s put the gay man front and centre of pop. Then came the Aids crisis – and three decades of demonisation and displacement. As Troye Sivan leads a new wave of gay stars, has true change finally arrived?"

Interview
Talking to George the Poet. "The spoken word artist from north London on drill music, using art to educate young people and the joy of podcasting."

Interview
Talking to the Pet Shop Boys' Neil Tennant. "With his collection of Pet Shop Boys lyrics about to be published, the musician talks about songwriting through the Thatcher era, the Aids crisis and the age of Brexit."

Sinead O’Connor converts to islam, changes name to Shuhada.

No industry is weirder than the dead celebrity hologram industry. "All the tech and legalese and drama behind Amy Winehouse’s 2019 tour."

Cher's 30 greatest songs, ranked.


Arena

Gay US ice dancer talks about coming out and falling in love.

Australian Rugby bigot Israel Folau "really enjoyed" the firestorm after he said gays are going to hell.

Former Patriots receiver Brandon Lloyd says they "played gay all the time" in NFL locker room.

Aaron Hernandez saga shows the complexity of sexuality and the impact of homophobia. "Boston Globe examines life and death of Aaron Hernandez, including his conflicted sexuality."

Teammates detail Aaron Hernandez’s bizarre behaviour. "Hernandez threatened to 'fuck up' a teammate, exposed his genitalia to fellow Patriots while he spoke about “gay sex” and displayed erratic behaviour on the field during his final season with New England."

Lineman Derek Dennis says fans called him gay because he has coloured hair.

Gay midfielder Arman Bashiri’s five goals change New Jersey soccer team’s trajectory. "Openly gay soccer player Arman Bashiri is his school’s male athlete of the week."

Long read
What the hell happened to Darius Miles? "I know dudes like me aren’t supposed to talk about depression, but I’ll talk about it. If a real motherfucker like me can struggle with it, then anybody can struggle with it."


Meat
Market

Porn not only messes with young men’s minds, but their bodies too. "Is it surprising they struggle to get erections when their instruction manual is so twisted?"

Watch
Sitges Bear Week.

Kyle Neven, who performed as Falcon model Casey Jordan in the 1980s, is dead. He was 50. Director Chi Chi LaRue Tweeted, "I’m so sad to hear of the passing of a man I had the pleasure of directing during his come back and also I called him a friend."

Tom Faulk shares video after being released from jail on bond: “I’m innocent”.

Five privileged gay men who refused to apologise after acting racist on social media.

The internet has a lot to say about that Austin Wolf/Delta Airlines employee mile high sex tape.

A week after scandal, Wolf has filmed himself receiving a blowjob from an Uber driver.

The anonymous gay man hired to film new GayHoopla content just quit.

Brent Corrigan was paid $1,500 per scene by Falcon Studios.

The Str8UpGayPorn Awards, in pictures.

The Str8UpGayPorn Awards winners, presenters, hosts and more, in pictures.

The Str8UpGayPorn Awards Red Carpet looks, in pictures.

Watch the trailer for Helix’s upcoming feature, Vegas Nights.

Dominic Michaels and Lucas Leon do it.

Pheonix Fellington, Rico Marlon and Andy Star do it.

Ryan Rose and Alam Wernik do it.

Andrey Vic, Ashton Labruce, Ruslan Angelo and Jackson Radiz do it.

Kellan Hartmann, Price Hogan and Rico Vega do it.

Collin Simpson and Max Richie do it.

Trent King and Jacen Zhu do it.

Max Richie flaunts it.

Buck Carter and Michael Santos do it.

Ryan Bailey and Marcell Tykes do it.

Ryan Rose, Andrei Karenin, Jon Kael and Joaquin Arrenas do it.

Niko Vangelis and Jon Kael do it.

Florian Nemec, Jason Clark and Zac DeHaan do it.

Paul Cassidy flaunts it.


Ghetto
Romance

Gay flirting guide: twenty-six ways to master a lost art.

Meet the most adorable gay couples who met on Chappy.

"Gay genes" help straight people to have more sex, a study reveals.



Watch
Teaching gay sex threesome positions.


Medicine
Ball

Innovative new condom requires no lube.

Watch
Celebrate Condoms rainbow-striped condoms - with a NSFW ad.

Why some men find it so hard to use urinals.


Does Parkinson's disease start in the gut?

Watch
Grindr users talk about HIV stigma, and body shaming; male breasts in the age of Instagram; and the gut-brain connection.

How our drinking water could help prevent suicide. "Some researchers think putting lithium in our water could save lives."

Long read
Mold eats world. "Toxic mold could be lurking behind your walls, inside your ceiling, and beneath your countertops, and our warming climate isn’t helping. But is this fungal explosion really the health risk we might think it is?"

Genetics has learned a ton — mostly about white people. That’s a problem. "The overwhelming whiteness of genetics research is holding back medicine."

The sunburnt country. "Whiteness as disease in a skin-cancer ridden Australia."


Planet
Earth

The big meltdown. "As the Antarctic Peninsula heats up, the rules of life there are being ripped apart. Alarmed scientists aren’t sure what all the change means for the future."

How to cool the planet with a fake volcano. "If the world doesn’t get its act together on climate change, this could be our last resort."

Ten ways the world is most likely to end, explained by scientists.

The case against colonizing space to save humanity. "Here’s what experts in managing risks to human civilization think we should be doing instead."


Zoo

The silent threat of our vanishing insects.

Animal populations have declined an astonishing sixty percent since 1970.

China reverses twenty-five year ban on rhino horn and tiger bone for useless medicine.

This is what happens in your dogs' brain when you talk to them.

Watch
A ghostly Grimpoteuthis octopus; and more gay penguins.

The week in wildlife, in pictures.


The White
Heat of This Revolution

YouTube still censoring LGBT content after promising it wouldn’t.

Instagram is the alt-right’s new favorite haven.

eBay is suing Amazon over an alleged “scheme” to steal its top sellers.

In Amazon we trust — but why? "A new survey says Americans have more confidence in Amazon than they do the government or the press."

Airbnb can’t go on unregulated – it does too much damage to cities. "Barcelona is an extreme case, but certainly the law needs to catch up so Airbnb doesn’t price locals out of their community."

Why Airbnb will be worth more than Uber.

First Twitter gave me power. Then I felt hopeless. "What I learned from growing up online."

What should I do with my broken kettle? On the subject of reducing the waste modern society generates.


Planes, Trains
& Automobiles

Delta Airlines flight attendant suspended over filmed sex romp with gay porn star Austin Wolf in aircraft lavatory...

...watch the video here (definitely NSFW).

Oscar Wilde honoured with portrait on wing of Boeing aircraft.


Football hooligans raised hell on a Rome subway station escalator. The escalator bit back.


Shipwreck found in Black Sea is "world's oldest intact".

Long read
The shipbreakers. "At Alang, in India, on a six-mile stretch of oily, smoky beach, 40,000 men tear apart half of the world's discarded ships, each one a sump of toxic waste. Environmentalists in the West are outraged. The shipbreakers, of course, want to be left alone - and maybe they should be." (August 2000)

Someone's rebuilding the Titanic and wants to retrace the trip...

...and the untold story of "the Mysterious", the Egyptian man who survived the Titanic.


Betta
Work!

Why no one really knows how many jobs automation will replace.

How working in retail taught me to hate humanity.

Watch
How London's overnight workers keep the city moving.


I Own
51% Of This Company!

How Ikea mastered the Gruen effect. "Retail stores use many tactics to get shoppers to make unplanned purchases."

Why the brutal death of retail should scare everyone.

How the Sears catalog transformed shopping under Jim Crow, explained by a historian. "The Sears catalog brought city goods to the country. It also unintentionally combatted white supremacy."

 Watch

Ace's Adventures visits Eden Mall in North Carolina; and Sal picks over the ruins of Ledgewood Mall in New Jersey.


Hell's
Kitchen

Can I get a “McGangBang?” on the weird world of secret menus.

Food halls are everywhere now. It’s because we crave “authenticity.”

The more money you make, the more fast food you eat.

Protein powder: seven ingredients to look out for (and six to avoid).


Rag
Trade


The share economy is coming for your closet. "First there was Rent the Runway. Now you can rent clothes from regular people."

The horror of clothes buying for men. "Richard Boston struggles buying clothes and gets all knotted up about finding the right bow-tie." (18 October 1980)


And
This:


Why we hate hearing about other people’s vacations.


Life's A
Goddamn
Laugh Riot

Please Don't Forget To Subscribe, a film by Tommy Do; what if gay dating app behaviour was real life; and what's your biggest regret? Plus: New Yorkers react to Trump "plans" for the Lincoln Center.

That's all for this week - please like, follow and share!
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