Issue 298: Bruce Weber, Tom Daley, Zach Stafford, Hector Xtravaganza, Wilson Cruz, Penny Marshall, Niko Vangelis, and more...


Left &
Found

Mainstream
Nine times straights hijacked our culture queer culture went mainstream.


Ageism

'90s
Do you know the LGBT 1990s? Test your grasp of its pop icons, influencers, and political heroes.

Landmark
The year's landmark moments for LGBT history.

Celebs
The year's celebrities who came out as gay...

...and the LGBT celebrities who died this year.

Buzz feel

Deplorables
The year's leading homophobes.

Living while black
911 calls on black people were one of the year’s biggest stories about race. "Stories of “Living While Black” were a reminder of how public spaces are still controlled along racial lines."

Porn
The growth of internet porn tells us more about ourselves than technology. "The actual size of the sex industry online is difficult to estimate, but it is sophisticated and, in some senses, more honest than Google or Facebook."

Journalism
Why cultural criticism matters. "Cultural criticism is journalism. And in an era when fewer outlets support it, we need more of it, not less."

Democracy
Why are we so dissatisfied with democracy? The reasons are many. "Over time, politicians, parties and governments have become less responsive to a broad cross-section of citizens."

The case against billionaire philanthropy.

Appeasement
We’re back to the 1930s politics of anger and, yes, appeasement. "Echoes of a horrific decade are getting louder, and the UN climate accord is the equivalent of Chamberlain’s piece of paper."


US
News

Shutter bugger
Photographer Bruce Weber faces more allegations of sexual misconduct from male models.

Florida
Florida man Randal Coffman records his landlord kicking him out of apartment because he’s gay.

West Virginia
School teacher Lee Livengood suspended for telling trans boy "you freak me out".

Portland
DoubleTree fires manager and security guard for kicking black man out of hotel.

New York
This is Andrew Czarnecki. He has been jailed for life for 2013 murder and mutilation of gay man Gavino Rodriguez.

Taxi driver suspended for ejecting gay passenger.

Hello sailor

Chicago
Neighborhood shows its true colors in solidarity. "When a local homophobe continued to take down Chicago residents Handal and Zadette Rosado’s rainbow Pride Flag and replace it with the old stars and stripes they weren’t sure how to proceed."

Home run
Meet Tree Alexander, the poz dad who went from homeless to homeroom.

NYPD pink
How a small group of LGBT cops changed the NYPD forever.

Priest
Accuser says Catholic cardinal sexually assaulted him during confession.

Cat fish
This is Daniel Avetta. He tricked teenage boys into sending naked photos by posing as a woman - and he's now serving 25 years in prison.

Remembering dad

Out foxed
Daughter blocks dad from watching FOX using parental controls.

Not gay
Cory Booker addresses his sexual orientation: "I’m heterosexual".

Deplorables
Gay Trump supporters Bill White and Bryan Eure named "Men of the Year" by conservative news site.

Trump dump
Trump fires HIV-positive air men right before Christmas.

Long read
How Mark Burnett resurrected Donald Trump as an icon of American success. "With The Apprentice, the TV producer mythologised Trump — then a floundering D-lister — as the ultimate titan, paving his way to the Presidency."

Long read
Falling out. "A generation of African American heroin users is dying in the opioid epidemic nobody talks about. The nation’s capital is ground zero."

Last day in paradise
The untold story of how a fire swallowed a town. "A bucolic community was reduced to ash by a new kind of wildfire – the deadliest in California’s history. Survivors recall that horrible day."


UK
News

Go to jail
Drug rape photographer Wilkonson jailed for nearly seventeen years for drugging, raping multiple male models.

Scott free
Scott O’Brien hurled homophobic abuse at London Underground employee Gustavo Gonzalez - and nearly pushed his colleague onto the track - but he has escaped jail.

 Kids
How LGBT hate crime is committed by young people against young people.

Yes he Ken
Gay rugby player Kenneth Macharia seeking asylum saved by two anonymous donors.

Saved
Raymond Mashamba, a referee outed as gay by a Zimbabwean newspaper, has been granted asylum in the UK.

Safe house
Micro Rainbow International Foundation opens a new safe home for LGBT asylum seekers in London.

Cash cot
Should Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black be commodifying their baby? "An Instagram post sponsored by Pampers has sparked criticism and debate over ethics in rainbow advertising..."

...But Black has hit back: “I was heartened when a major family brand asked us to be their 1st two-father-family reps. It felt like progress. Sad to see some jump on an ‘outrage’ train manufactured by oft-homophobic UK tabloids."

Presented without comment
80-year-old vicar takes back 25-year-old husband after devastating split.

Hijack
Students hijack Ofsted signs in bid for LGBT inclusive sex ed in 2019.

Scotland
One in four Scottish men oppose homosexuality.

Media
Trans "extremists" and "rapists": how the media reported on trans people in 2018.

Michaela Coel
"Go home" to Ghana. Well, why not? "What do you say when asked where you’re ‘from, from’? Acting in Black Earth Rising made me reconsider my ideas of identity and belonging."

Posh so passé
Today’s elite prefers the myth of the meritocracy. "Education, not your background, is now the main marker of social difference."

Ice
Ice house found under London street. "Cavernous 18th-century store reveals link to lost trade in ice blocks from Norwegian lakes."


World
News

Brazil

The uncontacted tribes of Brazil face genocide under Jair Bolsonaro. "Brazil’s indigenous peoples, already targeted by loggers, face a powerful foe in the new president. We must protect them."

Canada
New $1 coin marks decriminalisation of gay sex.

Bully sends apology to gay guy he tormented at school.

First openly gay man to adopt a child in Canada reveals struggle in memoir.

Colombia

Chechnya
Detention, harassment and torture of LGBT people common, report says.

Cuba
Marriage equality axed from new constitution after protests.

France
Homophobia row engulfs French first lady Brigitte Macron.

Germany
Gay life in Berlin is starting to echo a darker era. "The right-wing resurgence in Germany recalls prewar Berlin. It may signal an ominous turn for the country’s gay community."

India
Why legalising gay sex in India is not a Western idea.

19-year-old HIV-positive blood donor dies after suicide attempt.

Japan
Ten same-sex couples sue the government over marriage equality.

Malaysia
Two young men beaten up by several unknown assailants for allegedly having sex in a car.

Romania

Russia
Queer club marks second birthday with "art porn" calendar.

Singapore
Gay man wins landmark child adoption case.

Thailand
Cabinet backs a draft bill to create same-sex civil unions.

Turkey
LGBT group Kaos GL (Ed: no relation) lodges criminal complaint against newspaper for inciting hate.

Uganda
Youth worker says being unemployed makes young men gay.


Ghetto
Romance

Happy ending

Gay for play
Straight men who masturbate together say it isn’t gay.


Medicine Ball

HIV
Major breakthrough: boffins succeed in destroying HIV-infected cells.


The oldest known man with HIV is about to turn 100.

PrEP
HIV rates rise among black gay men on PrEP.

Antibiotics
Should we be concerned some gay men are buying antibiotics online for STIs?

Alcohol
Why it’s time to rethink how much booze may be too much.

The scourge of “wine teeth,” explained.

 Watch
High school fitness!


Planet
Earth

Climate change
The massive CO2 emitter you may not know about.

Taylor spill
This is the worst oil disaster you’ve never heard of. "When Hurricane Ivan sank an oil platform owned by Taylor Energy in 2004, it has spewed hundreds of barrels of oil per day. And it’s not stopped."


The White
Heat of This Revolution

Zach Stafford
Zach Stafford to be the first black editor-in-chief of The Avocate.

Monoculture
The internet is a monoculture built on ads and Drake. "End-of-year data hauls from the major social platforms show a whole bunch of sameness."

How I quit Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook and Amazon. "A how-to guide if you want to quit the biggest companies in tech."

Straight eye
Instagram censors Antoni Porowski underwear shot; photographer Damon Baker not impressed: "WTF is so offensive about a human body?"

Facebook
LGBT charity calendar banned for sexual activity.

Violating our privacy is in Facebook's DNA. "The latest scandal to hit Facebook is shocking. But the deeper story is that Facebook’s position is more secure than we feared."

How Facebook made it impossible to delete Facebook.

Tumblr
Tom Of Finland and Slava Mogutin’s "Sexy XXX Files" challenge Tumblr's adult content ban.

The porn ban begins - but Tumblr claims it’s still the place to "explore sexuality".

Why Tumblr's adult content ban is about so much more than porn.

In calls

Do evil
Google is still selling a gay conversion app.

Google’s Earth: how the tech giant is helping the state spy on us. "We knew that being connected had a price – our data. But we didn’t care. Then it turned out that Google’s main clients included the military and intelligence agencies."


Pronoun
Why everyone should include pronouns in their email signature.


Betta
Work!

Cable guy
I was a cable guy. I saw the worst of America. "A glimpse of the suburban grotesque, featuring Russian mobsters, Fox News rage addicts, a caged man in a sex dungeon, and Dick Cheney."

American dreams
American dreams in a Chinese takeout. "The grueling nature of Chinese restaurant work in the U.S. has been well-documented, but the immigrants living that life understand the trade-offs they’ve made. They see America as a place they might build a life for themselves. The question is how to go about building that life."

 I Own
51% of this Company!

 Watch

Ace's Adventures is in Signal Hill Mall in North Carolina; Retail Archeology visits Superstition Springs Center in Arizona; and Sal ventures into San Jacinto Mall in Texas.


Art
Skool

Year in review
The year's top ten queer art moments.

Stigma

Phallus Palace
Inside the “Phallus Palace,” Charles Leslie’s trove of queer art.

Some Asian dude
Meet Khanh Nguyen, the Atlanta artist weaponising body positivity against the "No Asians" mentality.

Watch
In Japan, queer manga is not just for LGBT people.

Gallery
The photography of Munir Abdallah, in pictures.

Gallery
The Advocate's favourite art of the year, in pictures.

Gallery
The Advocate's 100 photos that made the year worth it, in pictures.

Gallery
The year's best architecture.

Aquaman

Review
Mary Poppins Returns — with a sadder story and forgettable songs. "The new sequel tries hard to recapture the magic of the 1964 version. It doesn’t offend. But it doesn’t sparkle, either."


Word!

When Brooklyn
Was Queer
"Hugh Ryan’s upcoming historical tome on the history of LGBTQ life in Brooklyn from the 19th century on is riveting reading and cinematic in scope."

Anniversary
Stonewall children’s book released for 50th anniversary of the uprising.

Review
Ike's Mystery Man, by Peter Shinkle. The "astonishing tale of a gay White House aide."

Category is
Gay Glasgow bookstore proves a sellout success after just three months.

Showroomers
How showroomers became the No 1 threat to bookshops. "Customers who visit stores only to research their online purchases are the biggest threat to the industry – and booksellers are taking a stand."

Interview
Talking to Thom Bierdz talks about his new memoir, Young, Gay And Restless: My Scandalous On-Screen and Off-Screen Sexual Liberations.

Chill
The magazine that is unapologetically black and gay.

 On the rag
Your guide to the gay weeklies.


Shouting
At Night

Review
The Wizard of Oz. Toto, we're not in 1939 any more. "This thrilling Oz of racial diversity, gender reversal and voguing androgyny is more current – and vibrant – than the MGM musical."


Film
Skool

Dhont call
me cis

Interview
Talking to director Brendon Marotta about his film American Circumcision.

Capernaum

His Rock
Rock Hudson’s ex Lee Garlington cried after learning he was the star’s true love.

Bollywood
LGBT films remain a tough sell in Bollywood.

The year's best LGBT cinema.

Hector Xtravaganza
Hector Xtravaganza, a founding member of the House of Xtravaganza, who featured in the 1990 documentary Paris is Burning, is dead. He was 53.

Hags
Hollywood and the new female grotesque. "Actresses are being lauded for pushing their supposed undesirability to the extreme, and it’s redefining how we see women."

Working
Girl at 30
The workplace comedy that changed the game. "The 1988 tale of a Staten Island woman making waves in the big city was a major hit and scored six Oscar nods, but how do its sexual politics hold up?"

Review
1985. "A touching, lo-fi drama set at the height of the Aids epidemic against the backdrop of Reagan’s America."


The
Box

Stoney Westmoreland
Disney actor Stoney Westmoreland fired for allegedly attempting to have sex with a 13-year-old boy.

Year in review
The year's best LGBT TV shows...

...and the year's most disappointing TV shows.

Take the Rapp
Star Trek's Anthony Rapp responds to "evil" Kevin Spacey comeback video.

Divorce court
Colton Haynes and Jeff Leatham file for divorce — again.

Rebooting...
Queer as Folk reboot in development at Bravo.

Cruzing
Wilson Cruz celebrates his 45th birthday with thirst traps.

Interview
Talking to Insecure’s Natasha Rothwell. "The breakout star of Issa Rae’s comedy talks shocking sex scenes, dirty socks and why she left Saturday Night Live."

Seinfeld
What's the deal with the Seinfeld characters' ages? An investigation.

Penny Marshall
Penny Marshall, the actress best known for her role in Laverne & Shirley, is dead. She was 75.

Penny Marshall: obituary.

Penny Marshall’s groundbreaking directing career, explained.

June Whitfield
June Whitfield, the actress best known for her role as Mother in Absolutely Fabulous, is dead. She was 93.

June Whitfield: obituary.

June Whitfield: a life, in pictures.


Beats, Rhymes
& Life

HMV
HMV is a bedrock of the British music industry – its loss would affect us all. "The retail chain, now in administration for the second time, weaves music culture into the fabric of our cities – something Spotify can never do."

We can hardly mourn the demise of HMV when we won’t pay for music. "The old school industry may have been bloated, but it kept artists and shops in business."

Buju Banton
A formerly anti-gay reggae star returns to Jamaica. This lesbian poet calls it "complicated."

BTS
Screening of K-pop band BTS film banned in Russia following homophobic panic after bigots warned against the “seven Korean homosexuals”.

George Michael
George Michael is still donating to an AIDS charity two years after his death.

Sylvester
Why Sylvester is still "mighty real" thirty years later.

Dolores O’Riordan
Remembered by Dave Davies. "The Kinks’ lead guitarist recalls the Cranberries’ singer’s fabulous, unique voice and their plans to write a song together."

Baby baby baby
Now Justin Bieber says Jaden Smith is his boyfriend.

Jamelia
I’ve been linked to a crime, just for clickbait. "My name is in all the headlines though I’ve no connection to the story. It’s hurting my family and my health, and I don’t deserve it."

Mags
Where have all the music magazines gone? "Inside music journalism post-2008 recession, and how media consumption in the 21st century offers a road map for the continuation of the once-robust medium."


Meat
Market

Year in review
The best and worst of the year's gay porn.

Gallery
White Party Bangkok, in pictures.

Gallery
Jewish Boys and bagel chasers, in pictures.

Gallery
A sloppy free-for-all, in pictures.

Gallery
Muscle, Otter, Bear, and Daddy (MOBD) party, in pictures.

Gallery
The year's best leather and kink, in pictures.

No more
Markie More quits NextDoorStudios after alleging that NextDoor director Rocco Fallon threatened his life.

Interview
Talking to Sean Cody's Randy about his favourite scene partners, why he was fired from his day job, whether he’s straight or gay, and more!

Through the mill
Corbin Colby, Luke Wilder and Joey Mills do it.

Get Carter
Dylan Hayes and Max Carter do it.

Queen Vic
Pheonix Fellington and Andrey Vic do it.

Lucky Lucas
Andre Donovan, Lucas Leon, Sean Xavier and Wagner Vittoria do it.

BelAmi
Lars Norgaard and Miguel Estevez do it.

Niko Vangelis and Eluan Jeunet do it.

Hoyt Kogan, Torsten Ullman and Pip Caulfield do it.

Andrei Karenin and Marcel Gassion do it.

Lover's lane
Maddox and Lane do it.

Seed
William Seed, Jason Vario and Kit Cohen do it.

Hard case
Brandon Evans, Lucas Leon and Casey Jacks do it.


Hell's
Kitchen

Chick-fil-A
Boycotts haven’t stopped the growth of Chick-fil-A.


Zoo

Gay animals
Homosexuality in nature, explained.

Dog life
Atlanta’s patron saint of pit bulls. "Jason Flatt is devoted to saving the lives of the canines who saved his."

Gallery
The week in wildlife, in pictures.


Rag
Trade

Hat trick
What your flat brimmed cap says about your topping style.

 Unisex
A short history of trans models in fashion.

 Year in review
The year's most stylish queers.


Planes, Trains
& Automobiles

God speed
A Christian airline is ready to launch. What does this mean for LGBT people?

Don't walk
Should escalators be standing-only? Some cities think so.

Bus

Long read
Another night to remember. "When the Costa Concordia, a floating pleasure palace carrying 4,200 people, hit a rock off the Italian coast on January 13, it became the largest passenger ship ever wrecked, supplanting the Titanic in maritime history. From the moments when the captain made the first in a series of incredible blunders, through a harrowing night of mindless panic and deadly peril, in which rescuers and passengers improvised a massive evacuation and ordinary men emerged as heroes, Bryan Burrough reconstructs an epic fight for survival—in which all too many would perish." (April 2012)


VlogLife
Back with Ask The Aunties; Blake Mitchell discusses his sexuality; Anthony and Michael visit the sauna; and Walter wants to know: why are black Americans so obsessed with homosexuality?


Life's A
Goddamn
Laugh Riot
The latest episode of Michael and Michael Are Gay, in which our heroes attend a naked party; and a twink and a daddy swap Grindr profiles...

That's all for this week - please like, follow and share!
KAOS is on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram.
Continued after the jump...
 
◄Design by Pocket►