Issue 303: Jussie Smollett, Gerald Matovu, Binyavanga Wainaina, Gus Kenworthy, Pedro Almodóva, Todrick Hall, Doris Day, and more...

Left &
Found

Grooming

The myths around male sexual grooming explained.

Straight

Many gay men are guilty of fetishising straight men, but we need to stop.

LGBT incels

What it’s like to be queer when no one will sleep with you.

Shame

I’m not queer to make friends. "By trying on the role of reality TV villain, Logan Scherer confronts his gay shame."

Watch

Journalist Iman Amrani continues her Modern Masculinity series, exploring what masculinity means to a range of men from diverse backgrounds. In the third episode, she speaks with Channel 4 News presenter Jon Snow, grime artist D Double E, Status Quo's Francis Rossi, musician MNEK, Love Island's Jack Fowler and playwright Vinay Patel; and in the fourth, meets young men who are part of Football Beyond Borders, an organisation which uses football as an engagement tool to support young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Rainbow Railroad

The organisation saving LGBT citizens from hostile governments

I'm From Driftwood celebrates ten years of collecting LGBT stories.

Authoritarianism

Journalist killings, arrests and assaults climb worldwide as authoritarianism spreads.

Travel

Six countries to visit where same-sex relationships were never illegal.

Gallery

Caza de Luz, a photographic essay on a group of LGBT asylum seekers.

Pride

The reasons why kinks and fetishes will always have a place at Pride.

Diana Foundation

The oldest LGBT organisation in America, in pictures.

Intersectionality

The intersectionality wars. "When Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term 30 years ago, it was a relatively obscure legal concept. Then it went viral."

The disturbing thing I learned studying white privilege and liberals.

Sex

We are living in the post-horny era.

Falling stars

On taking down our celebrity icons. "Celebrities act as a symbol of capitalism. When we question it, we question them too."

Mourning

The fraught culture of online mourning. "Nowadays, we live online, and so we grieve here too. But there are limits to the comfort digital mourning can provide."

Crisis

The age of forever crises. "We need to learn how to talk about our irreversible mistakes. Historian Kate Brown says the first step is to resist the Chernobylisation of knowledge."

Mediterranean

How refugees die. "Wars and heightened border security have created a humanitarian crisis."

US
News

Equality Act

The U.S. House of Representatives passes the Equality Act in a 236-173 vote...

...and the religious right is losing its mind.

AOC

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez grills Gilead CEO about the high price of Truvada.

New York Times

Newspaper gives overlooked LGBT figures their due. "The Times is making up for failing to carry obits on notable LGBTQ figures at the time of their passing, such as Emma Stebbins, Alan Turing, and Ma Rainey."

American Muslims

Why do 0% of American Muslims identify as gay or lesbian?

Risk

Gay Californians are at increased risk of sexual assault.

Nigel Shelby

Nigel Shelby buried in rainbow casket by his family; the 15-year-old committed suicide in April after persistent homophobic bullying [see The Kaos Theory Issue 302].

Dallas

23-year-old transgender woman Muhlaysia Booker, was shown being attacked in a viral video last month, fatally shot.

This is Daniel Jenkins and Daryl Henry. They have been charged with federal hate crimes, kidnapping, conspiracy, and carjacking after luring gay men to violent attacks using (you guessed it) Grindr.

Iowa

Churchgoers bar gay couple from marrying in childhood church.

Baltimore

Pride flag burned outside LGBT shop.

Washington

Police investigate after LGBT magazine found hanging by noose.

Nevada

Fourth state bans "gay panic" and "trans panic" defense.

Chicago

Gay high school couple kicked out of restaurant for hugging: "We don’t want your kind here".

Boystown gay bar under fire after announcing "racist" rap music ban.

Jussie Smollett

Chicago police have begun to release his case files.

New York

Gay couple forgives restaurant after waiter called them "faggots" as they left after a meal.

Subway rider lied about homophobic attack, was actually the aggressor.

New Jersey student’s Pride mural painted over by church.

California

Gay nightclub Ripples shutters after forty-five years; the venue opened in 1972.

The gay pastor fighting for LGBT lessons in a small California town.

Queer California – rare photos capture hidden LGBT history. "A new exhibition gathers photos, video and contemporary art to showcase 200 years of California’s LGBTQ history."

Mississippi

How the state is fighting the tide of an HIV epidemic. "Mississippi is a national HIV hotspot. Racist legacies, a lack of outreach, LGBTQ+ stigma, and other factors have contributed — and it's going to take complex solutions to address them."

Steven Anderson

"Death to gays" preacher banned from most of Europe.

Fox News

You’re watching Fox News. You just don’t know it.

Chick-Fil-A

The FAA is investigating bans on Chick-Fil-A at airports in San Antonio, Texas, and Buffalo: “FAA’s Office of Civil Rights has notified the San Antonio International Airport (SAT) and Buffalo Niagara International Airport (BUF) that it has opened investigations into these complaints. The FAA notes that federal requirements prohibit airport operators from excluding persons on the basis of religious creed from participating in airport activities that receive or benefit from FAA grant funding.”

tRump

Trump lost $1 billion over 10 years, New York Times report shows.

Steve Bannon describes the Trump Organization as a criminal enterprise. “This is where it isn’t a witch hunt – even for the hard core, this is where he turns into just a crooked business guy, and one worth $50m instead of $10bn. Not the billionaire he said he was, just another scumbag.”

Trump issues laughable tweet recognising "pride month" as his administration continues to attack LGBT people.

Mike Pence: a terrifying menace.

Michael Cohen

Why rich convicts hire prison consultants.

Biden

Joe Biden’s promise: a return to normalcy.

Long reads

How many bones would you break to get laid? “'Incels' are going under the knife to reshape their faces, and their dating prospects."

All-American despair. "For the past two decades, a suicide epidemic fueled by guns, poverty and isolation has swept across the West, with middle-aged men dying in record numbers."

The secret oral history of Bennington: the 1980s' most decadent college. "Fall, 1982. A new freshman class arrives at arty, louche, and expensive Bennington College. Among the druggies, rebels, heirs, and posers: future Gen X literary stars Donna Tartt, Bret Easton Ellis, and Jonathan Lethem. What happened over the next four years would spark scandal, myth, and some of the authors' greatest novels. Return to a campus and an era like no other."

When a fatal grizzly mauling goes viral. "How much does the world need to know about a deadly bear attack? That question was tested in the Yukon last year, after the horrific loss of a mother and daughter caused a destructive media storm."

Watch

New York: Death of a City (June 1969)

Gallery

1,600 miles, 85 hours. "A migrant family takes a Greyhound across America."

Gallery

Tallahassee Pridefest, in pictures.

Gallery

Long Beach Pride, in pictures.

Gallery

Las Vegas Pride, in pictures.

UK
News

Theresa May

As she exits office, what was her LGBT legacy?

Her resignation speech in full.

Boris Johnson

A bewilderingly long timeline of Boris Johnson screwing up.

Gross

The top ten Tories of all time.

Stonewall at 30

How the LGBT charity fought for equality in the UK.

Sexual harassment

Majority of LGBT people suffer sexual harassment at work.

Brighton

Brighton falls victim to rush of LGBT attacks.

Ibraima Touray-Drammeh

17-year-old jailed for violently slashing gay man’s stomach with machete, causing his intestines to spill out.

Gerald Matovu

James Bond extra Eric Michels killed after being "targeted" by serial thief on Grindr.

Admiral Duncan

London Gay Men’s Chorus sing outside the Admiral Duncan pub in memory of the 1999 nail bomb attack which killed three people.

Peter Tatchell

Fear of LGBT-inclusive lessons harks back to 80s. "Veteran campaigner rounds on government for lack of guidance to schools after Birmingham parent protests."

Jeremy Kyle

Controversial daytime show The Jeremy Kyle Show axed by ITV after the death of a guest; Steve Dymond was found dead a week after filming the show, during which he took a lie detector test.

A runner shares their story of what it's really like behind the scenes.

Lyra McKee

The girl who chased frogs. "Journalist Lyra McKee, a contributing editor to The Sunday Long Read, had just filed the first draft of this story when she was killed while covering violent protests in Northern Ireland on April 18. It is the story of Honduran biologist Meli Flores, whose unresolved 2016 disappearance has left many unanswered questions. In some ways, she is a lost woman of troubled times, much like Lyra McKee. The SLR staff has edited and published this story in the wake of her death as a tribute to Lyra."

London

If London needs a separate Trans Pride, what does that say about LGBT solidarity?

Woman spits on gay man in homophobic incident on London Underground.

Transport for London (TfL) bans adverts from countries with gay death penalty.

Sexual health campaign that’s "unapologetic, black and gay" hits the capital.

This is 15 year-old Tashaun Aird, and 18-year-old McCaulay Junior Urugbezi-Edwards, the latest teenagers to be stabbed to death in London.

I’m a police officer in London. Here’s why we’ve lost control of the streets. "I’ve faced the aftermath of knife crime and seen colleagues stabbed. Cuts mean we can’t keep ourselves or the public safe."

John Cleese criticised for saying London no longer an English city.

John Cleese isn’t alone in equating "English" with white. Sadly, that view is mainstream. "The actor’s grumble about London reflects a wrongheaded view on immigration, unchanged since the days of empire."

A tube driver's view of the East End, in pictures.

The secrets of London’s hidden rivers revealed.

Watch

From the Thames TV archive, 1980s London from above.

World
News

Australia

Surgeon who stealth-raped a fellow doctor by a removing condom can continue practicing medicine, court says.

Beloved Melbourne LGBT bookshop and bar raided by police.

Are lockout laws killing Sydney's queer culture? "It’s no secret Sydney’s nightlife has suffered under NSW laws, but artists like William Yang say the effect on LGBT spaces has been particularly profound."

Bolivia

The rapes haunting a community that shuns the 21st Century.

Brazil

How Brazil and South Africa became the world's most populist countries. "Both nations plagued by political corruption that has eroded faith in democratic institutions."

This is 22-year-old Jefferson Anderson Feijo da Cruz. He has been left unable to speak or walk after a brutal homophobic assault in Moreno.

Brunei

Gay people will no longer be stoned to death.

Filipino model and social media influencer Sinon Loresca visits and says he has no safety concerns.

Chechnya

Gay men tortured, raped with sticks, electrocuted in hideous new round of persecution.

Chile

This is 16-year-old José Matías De la Fuente Guevara, a bullied trans teen who left a heartbreaking note after dying by suicide.

China

Gay schoolboy posts heartbreaking suicide note on social media.

Marriage is "one man, one woman", government spokesman says after Taiwan permits gay unions.

China’s secret internment camps.

Cuba

LGBT activists arrested at "unauthorised" Pride march.

Washington Blade journalist Michael K. Lavers barred from entering the country.

Europe

Europe is backsliding on LGBT rights: which country is the worst?

France

A record 231 homophobic attacks were recorded last year.

Ghana

Secret spectacles. "The story of a young man from rural Ghana who bought a pair of secret camera glasses and got himself smuggled across the Sahara, to film crime and exploitation along the way."

India

Violent mob attacks priest because they think he is gay.

Israel

Jerusalem rabbi doesn't want pride flags in city.

Italy

You might not have heard of Italy’s Stonewall moment but it’s so important.

The new ruins: heritage sites being lost to neglect and looting.

Jamaica

Most want to keep same-sex activity illegal.

Kenya

Court upholds law making gay sex illegal...

...but I'm already proud of Kenya, writes Chude Jideonwo.

LGBT refugees arrested after protest turns violent.

The fashion house that is also a sanctuary for LGBT refugees.

Binyavanga Wainaina, the writer and gay rights activist, is dead. He was 48.

Binyavanga Wainaina remembered: “How I would like people to remember Binyavanga? I think would be encapsulated by just a very brief thought – Ken’s life was a seed and he planted that seed not for himself but for others, just listening to the number of artists who found their voice because Ken believed in them, gave them a platform, to speak in many different fields, be it musically and other types of artistic impressions, and that’s how I would like him to be remembered, and that is what life is about.”

Interview

Talking to Binyavanga Wainaina. "When the writer published a lost chapter from his memoir titled I am a homosexual, Mum, it caused a sensation – and has placed him at the heart of the African debate on gay rights." (February 2014)

Lebanon

The country’s Telecommunications Ministry outlaws Grindr.

Mexico

Entertainment icon Vicente Fernández refused transplant because he didn’t want a gay person’s liver.

This group of gay Mexicans arrested in 1935 are inspiring people today.

Mongolia

Growing up gay in Mongolia.

Philippines

President Rodrigo Duterte says he was once gay but “cured” himself by marrying a woman.

Janjep Carlos crowned Mr. Gay World.

Russia

Putin signs law to create an independent Russian internet.

Singapore

Actor Tosh Zhang apologises for homophobic tweets.

Li Huanwu, gay nephew of Singapore prime minister, marries his partner Heng Yirui in South Africa.

Taiwan

Same-sex marriage legalised, in first for Asia...

Watch

...Shane Lin and Marc Yan were the first to tie the knot.

Schoolboys wear skirts to break down gender stereotypes.

Thailand

Two men arrested after 18 year old falls from condo after alleged three-way.

Uganda

British man arrested for distributing toxic bleach and claiming it cures HIV.

Venezuela

The plot that failed: how the uprising fizzled. "When the coup was hurriedly launched a day early, defections from the regime failed to materialise, Maduro remained in power and the US government looked like it had badly miscalculated."

What remains of the Caracas middle-class?

Ghetto
Romance

BDSM
Do police know how to handle abuse within kinky relationships? "After a famous kinkster's death, some are asking whether authorities have the tools and training needed to prevent abuse within kinky and BDSM relationships."

Whirlwind romance

Storm chaser proposes to his boyfriend alongside a Kansas tornado.

Soulmates

What’s behind the belief in a soulmate?

Engagement

What your ability to engage with stories says about your real-life relationships.

Watch

Nick Masc and Arad Winwin teach the (gay) Kama Sutra.

Kink

Gay men reveal the fetishes they don’t want others to know about.

Orgy

How to have a sex party.

Medicine
Ball

Antibiotics

They're becoming useless.

Size

Penis enlargement surgeries don’t work.

I got my penis zapped for better boners.

The uncut truth

Circumcision and phimosis stories: "I'm scared of my own penis".

Sperm

Counts are falling. This isn’t the reproductive apocalypse — yet.

HIV

Study of nearly 1,000 serodiscordant gay couples using anti-retroviral therapy finds no HIV transmission during condomless sex.

"New paradigm of gonorrhea transmission" shows kissing and rimming responsible for most infection in gay men.

Rectal douching before sex may put gay men at increased risk for HIV and STD infection.

Lyme

The tick-borne disease that’s spreading fast, explained.

Colorectal cancer

It's killing more 20- to 30-year-olds. We have some clues about why.

SPF

Eleven questions about sunscreen you should ask before going outside.

Omega-3

What fish oil supplements actually do.

Allergies

It’s not your imagination. Allergy season gets worse every year.

Head games

How to protect your mental health from social media’s dangers.

Listen

How to clean your ears. "The best advice is never to put anything smaller than your elbow in them, says a hearing specialist."

Head games

How to shave and groom male facial hair. "Always shave in or after a shower, using cream or oil – and don’t be tempted to get laser hair-removal on your face."

Planet
Earth

Inferno

Los Angeles fire season is beginning again. And it will never end. A bulletin from our climate future.

Driftwood

The trees that sail to sea. "In one of nature’s remarkable second acts, dead trees become driftwood and embark on transformative journeys."

Weed

Oh, no, not knotweed! "It grows rapidly. It’s nearly impossible to kill. It’s terrorized England. And now it’s all over my American backyard."

Plastic

Biodegradable plastic bags aren’t better for the environment.

The White
Heat of This Revolution

The Net

Can anyone tame the next internet? "Forces have been unleashed that seem out of control. But is it the end of the beginning or the beginning of the end?"

How much of the internet is fake? Turns out a lot of it, actually.

Smart phones

Bored and lonely? Blame your phone. "Our emotions today are radically different from what 19th-century Americans felt. That’s partly due to technology."

Have smartphones really destroyed a generation? We don’t know.

Pay attention

Yes, the internet is destroying our collective attention span.

Data

Why your internet data is rotting.

Twitter

Gay site Kenneth in the 212 blocked for "harassing" Aaron Schock after homophobic former congressman’s alleged sexual video leaks.

Tumblr

Site may be sold to Pornhub after porn ban leads to huge traffic drop.

Facebook

Time to break it up, co-founder Chris Hughes says.

Facebook has taken down billions of fake accounts, but the problem is still getting worse.

YouTube

Meet the man with an impossible job: cleaning up YouTube.

Betta
Work!

Out of the office

Nearly half of US LGBT employees believe being out will hurt their career.

Uber

Uber was designed to exploit drivers.

I Own
51% Of This Company!

Blockbuster

I manage the last Blockbuster in the world. "It was just us and a store in Perth, Australia. They called the night they closed to wish us all the best."

Arena

Tom Daley

Drama between Dustin Lance Black and British Swimming, explained.

Andy Brennan

Australian footballer Andy Brennan comes out as gay.

Israel Folau

Contract terminated by Rugby Australia after he said Hell awaits homosexuals.

Asics drops him too, as brand ambassador, over those homophobic remarks.

Australian rugby's moment of reckoning. "A homophobic tweet has exposed deep fault lines running through the dressing room as the team prepares for the World Cup."

Crusaders

Men claim pro New Zealand rugby team hurled anti-LGBTI abuse at them.

Gus Kenworthy

Out Olympian rides to raise awareness that aids is not over.

Art
Skool

Explainer

Why is art so expensive?

Stonewall

How artists born after 1969 are honouring (and criticising) Stonewall's legacy. "Nobody Promised You Tomorrow: Art 50 Years After Stonewall contemplates how younger artists are memorialising the riots, remembering those forgotten in their history, and envisioning to the next half-century of queer rights and culture."

Exhibition

Camp: Notes on Fashion, the Met's first explicitly queer exhibition surveys designers from Balenciaga to Vivienne Westwood to sketch the contours of camp in fashion.

Heroin chic

The tangled legacy of photographer Davide Sorrenti.

Basquiat

Andy Warhol's friendship with Jean-Michel Basquiat revealed in 400 unseen photos. "Book offers ‘voyeuristic glimpse’ into the two artists’ lives with hundreds of Warhol’s images and diary entries."

Gallery

Art of the city: London as seen by painters, in pictures.

Gallery

The photography of Miron Zownir, in pictures.

Exhibition

Queer today, gone tomorrow: the exhibition exploring queer London.

Exhibition

The Body Is The Instrument, at TOM House in Los Angeles.

Uncle Joe

Imagining futures. "The years have not been gentle to my memory of my Uncle Joe Joe, who died when I was five of AIDS-related complications. Meeting my mother's friend Wallace brought those memories streaming back."

Gallery

The photography of Andy Chou, in pictures.

Gallery

The photography of Mano Martinez, in pictures.

Gallery

Thirty-one artworks inspired or drawn by Tom of Finland, in pictures.

Gallery

The photography of Rubén Esparza, in pictures. "As a counterpoint to corporate Pride celebrations, artist Rubén Esparza presented photos of famous cruising sites around L.A."

Posters

Behind New York's first poster museum. "At Poster House, the history of the medium is explored in unprecedented depth with examples from all over the world and throughout history."

Lost Liverpool

The race to record the city's disappearing shop fronts. "As regeneration threatens small independent shops, an Instagram project aims to document them before they are gone forever."

Funland

British seaside towns, in pictures.

IM Pei

IM Pei, the celebrated architect behind Louvre pyramid, is dead. He was 102. "Pei, whose portfolio included the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, was one of the most prolific architects of the 20th century."

IM Pei: obituary.

IM Pei: an audacious daredevil who built the impossible.

IM Pei's finest works, in pictures.

Word!

Find Me

Author André Aciman unveils the (somewhat underwhelming) cover for the sequel to Call Me By Your Name.

New

Pier Groups: Art and Sex Along the New York Waterfront, by Jonathan Weinberg. "Part art history, part memoir — weaves interviews, documentary photographs, literary texts, artworks, and film stills to show how avant-garde practices competed and mingled with queer identities along the Manhattan waterfront."

The Falls of the Wyona, by David Brendan Hopes. "Four friends growing up on the banks of a wild Appalachian river just after WWII discover, almost at the same time, the dangerous, alluring Falls and the perils of their own maturing hearts. Seen through the eyes of his best friend Arden, football hero Vince falls in love with the new kid, Glen. They have no context for their feelings, and the next few years of high school become a tense, though sometimes funny, artifice of concealment."

Nirvana Is Here, by Aaron Hamburger. "For Ari Silverman, the past has never really passed. After 20 years, the trauma from a childhood assault resurfaces as he grapples with the fate of his ex-husband, a colleague accused of sexually harassing a student. To gain perspective, Ari arranges to reconnect with his high school crush, Justin Jackson, a bold step which forces him to reflect on their relationship in the segregated suburbs of Detroit during the 1990s and the secrets they still share."

You Will Be Safe Here, by Damian Barr. "South Africa, 1901. It is the height of the second Boer War. Sarah van der Watt and her six-year-old son Fred are forced from their home on Mulberry Farm. As the polite invaders welcome them to Bloemfontein Concentration Camp they promise Sarah and Fred that they will be safe there. 2014. Sixteen-year-old Willem is an outsider. Hoping he will become the man she wants him to be, his Ma and her boyfriend force Willem to attend the New Dawn Safari Training Camp where they are proud to make men out of boys. They promise that he will be safe there."

Brave Face: A Memoir, by Shaun David Hutchinson. "'I wasn’t depressed because I was gay. I was depressed and gay.' Shaun David Hutchinson was nineteen. Confused. Struggling to find the vocabulary to understand and accept who he was and how he fit into a community in which he couldn’t see himself. The voice of depression told him that he would never be loved or wanted, while powerful and hurtful messages from society told him that being gay meant love and happiness weren’t for him. A million moments large and small over the years all came together to convince Shaun that he couldn’t keep going, that he had no future. And so he followed through on trying to make that a reality. Thankfully Shaun survived, and over time, came to embrace how grateful he is and how to find self-acceptance. In this courageous and deeply honest memoir, Shaun takes readers through the journey of what brought him to the edge, and what has helped him truly believe that it does get better."

I Wish You All the Best, by Mason Deaver. "When Ben De Backer comes out to their parents as nonbinary, they're thrown out of their house and forced to move in with their estranged older sister, Hannah, and her husband, Thomas, whom Ben has never even met. Struggling with an anxiety disorder compounded by their parents' rejection, they come out only to Hannah, Thomas, and their therapist and try to keep a low profile in a new school. But Ben's attempts to survive the last half of senior year unnoticed are thwarted when Nathan Allan, a funny and charismatic student, decides to take Ben under his wing. As Ben and Nathan's friendship grows, their feelings for each other begin to change, and what started as a disastrous turn of events looks like it might just be a chance to start a happier new life."

Reviews

I’m Open to Anything, by William E. Jones. "Compelling and perverse, William E. Jones‘ debut novel queers the conventions of the Midwestern bildungsroman."

You Will Be Safe Here, by Damian Barr. "Barr’s structural choices are effective, if heavy-handed... What keeps them turning the page, even as the novel lurches back and forth in time, is Barr’s use of diction and point of view."

Out East: Memoir of a Montauk Summer, by John Glynn. "[It] refashions the epic summer tale, dosed with lyrical brawn, grace, and ingenuity."

Jimmy Neurosis, by James Oseland. "A valuable archive of the expressions of anti-social queerness that developed in the latter half of the twentieth century. But it is equally remarkable as a story of queer resilience."

Interview

Talking to Joseph Cassara about balancing queer tragedy and happiness.

Read

Bright Cataclysm, a poem by Logan February.

Stonewall

The Advocate revives its original logo for Stonewall's 50th.

Star Observer

Australia’s oldest LGBT publication goes into administration.

Torchbearers

How to publish classic books that aren’t just by dead white men.

On the rag

The month in gay mags. Week 1, week 2, week 3, week 4, week 5.

Shouting
At Night

Preview

Broadway Bares: Take Off, in pictures.

The naked age of erotic gay theatre, in pictures.

Review

All I See Is You. Smitten but bruised as love and law collide. "Set in the 60s, the hidden histories of men up against repressive homosexuality laws have an intense emotional force in Kathrine Smith’s production."

Take Me Somewhere

Audiences jump into bed and are paid to play. "This performance art festival serves up brazen tests of audience exploitation, a TV sleepover and feminist futurism."

Film
Skool

Pedro Almodóva

Gay film icon slams sexless superhero movies.

Interview

Talking to Pedro Almodóvar, the "schlocky king of Spanish sex comedy", about plunging into the depths of Franco’s reign in his new film, Live Flesh. (May 1998)

Xavier Dolan

Director slams "gay film" label: "We never talk about 'heterosexual' films".

Greg Berlanti

Love, Simon director says gay execs were least likely to let him cast gay actors in straight roles.

Seth Rogen

Comedian regrets homophobic jokes in early films.

Interview

Talking to John Waters about cruising, the evolution of queer culture, and more.

To Wong Foo

How America fell in love with To Wong Foo. "The 1995 film became a hit with mainstream audiences and drag devotees alike, partly because it was dripping in camp and artifice in every frame."

Netflix

The new Ted Bundy biopic has one glaring problem.

'69

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is Tarantino’s fun, haunting homage to the summer of ’69.

Has Hollywood’s "de-ageing" gone too far? Martin Scorsese thinks so. "Will Smith, Anthony Hopkins and Robert Downey Jr have all been digitally rejuvenated. Now Robert De Niro and Al Pacino are having their wrinkles zapped."

Cape camp

The best superhero stories have always been camp. "And Joel Schumacher's much-hated Batman & Robin is a shining, underappreciated example of the genre — no, really."

Reviews

Tucked. Moving tale of a dying drag queen. "Derren Nesbitt is terrific as an ageing club performer who rescues a young singer from homophobic attackers."

Port Authority. A heartfelt and sensual trans love story. "Fresh off the bus in New York, a young man struggles with his attractions to a transgender dancer and the city’s flamboyant kiki ballroom scene."

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. Zac Efron in serial killer mode. "Efron’s casting in the real-life story of Ted Bundy, executed for the murder of 30 women, is startling but the film shies away from awkward questions."

Rocketman. Elton's sparkliest spectacle yet. "Taron Egerton is terrific as the singer, but the real star of this electric biopic is director Dexter Fletcher."

Birds of Passage. A powerful Colombian drug trade saga. "Following an indigenous family torn apart by a marijuana boom, this arresting Colombian film combines magical realism with the epic sweep of The Godfather."

The Lighthouse

Easily one of the wildest films of the year. "A psychosexual drama, a pitch-black comedy, and a tale of two men driving each other nuts."

Oz

The case of the stolen ruby slippers. "How a big crime in a small town produced a whodunit as gripping and colorful as The Wizard of Oz itself."

Cheap thrills

The erotic thriller’s little death. "What/If references the celebrated steamy genre of the 80s and 90s, but lacks its guts. Why can’t any of the new neo-noirs go all the way?"

Toy story

Why Hollywood can’t stop kidulting. "From Detective Pikachu to Sonic the Hedgehog, when did audiences OK the big brand movie?"

Rotten tomatoes

The joy of watching (and rewatching) movies so bad they’re good. "Michael Musto sings the praises of his favorite cinematic clunkers."

Watch

Here's the trailers for Papi Chulo; Boulevard; Circles; and 1:54.

Blade Runner 2049

Ten things I love about Blade Runner 2049.

Watch

The incomparable Beryl Reid talks to Mary Parkinson in 1983.

Doris Day

Doris Day, the actress, is dead. She was 97.

Doris Day: obituary.

Doris Day: a life, in pictures.

Why Doris Day should be remembered as a gay icon.

Doris Day’s public image was the one role she could never shake off. "‘Girl next door’ was a label that didn’t suit a woman whose life was anything but ordinary."

Doris Day: the wholesome face of postwar American optimism. "The actor, who has died aged 97, worked with the greats of Hollywood’s golden era and rivalled the crossover success of Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley."

Doris Day's campiest films.

Watch

Doris Day talks to Des O'Connor in 1994.

The
Box

Killer Ratings

Did a Brazilian TV host arrange murders to boost his show? "A new Netflix documentary tells the extraordinary story of Wallace Souza who, it is alleged, took extreme actions in the hunt for new viewers."

Blind Date

UK dating show sent two men on holiday to country where gay sex is illegal.

Queer As Folk

Russell T Davies says his parents found Queer as Folk "difficult".

EastEnders

Walford’s new gay bar named The Prince Abert.

No More

Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman regrets transphobic jokes.

Reviews

Pose finale. A razzle-dazzle spectacle of pure infectious joy. "Ryan Murphy’s voguing drama has been a delight from start to finish, and its big showstopping finale combined showmanship with some ruthless tearjerking."

Ava DuVernay’s When They See Us is a rich, enraging retelling of the Central Park Five case - and essential viewing to understand today’s America.

Cops

>

The truth behind the longest-running reality show.

Doctor how?

Why Torchwood’s slow death was a sweet relief for fans. "With half of the main team axed off, weird plots and a new US-centric tilt led to the show’s demise."

Watch

Josh Snares investigates Doctor Who's lost episodes.

Stephen Thorne

Stephen Thorne, the actor know for his roles as Azal and Omega in 1970s Doctor Who, is dead. He was 84.

David Milch

The writer’s third act. "Despite what dementia has stolen from the cerebral creator of “Deadwood,” it has given his work a new sense of urgency."

Watch

On making a sex scene.

Beats,
Rhymes
& Life

Cake

Todrick Hall posts naked booty selfie.

Usher

To be continued... can the sequel album save Usher’s musical reputation? "The R&B star has hinted at a follow-up to Confessions, but history is littered with late-career gimmicks."

Shelved

Tupac and MC Hammer’s promising collaboration. "Sometimes the most fertile creative relationships are the most unlikely."

Meat
Market

Facial

DIY facial recognition for porn is a dystopian disaster. "Someone is making dubious claims to have built a programme for detecting faces in porn and cross-referencing against social media, with 100,000 identified so far."

Sebastian Young

Gay-for-pay porn star pleads "no contest" to child porn charges - Florida releases his sex offender registry flyer.

Tom Faulk

Former NextDoor model facing felony charges for manufacturing and delivering meth, as well as assaulting a police officer and a family member.

FraternityX

Model wears MAGA hat while snorting meth in latest unseemly orgy.

Unfriendly

Former NextDoor model Markie More is now an anti-porn activist for a Mormon org because he can "no longer promote lustful deviant behavior".

Watch

Brandon Wilde launches rap career with Love or Lust video.

Blake Mitchell

Helix model sheds his stage name.

Helix

Fired model Cameron Parks slams Helix owner Keith Miller.

Pheonix Fellington signed as studio's newest exclusive.

Big

A brief history of the gay bears and big boys scene.

Galleries

International Mr. Leather contest, in pictures.

The White Party, in pictures.

Nils by mouth

Andrei Karenin, Torsten Ullman and Eluan Jeunet do it; and Paul Cavill and Serge Cavalli do it; and Nils Tatum flaunts it.

Oh Fernandez

Mateo Fernandez and Devin Franco do it.

Dirty Sanchez

Viktor Rom and Apolo Sanchez do it.

Bend it like Beckham

William Seed and Derek Bolt do it; Beaux Banks and Jake Porter do it; and Vadim Black, Bruce Beckham and Michael Jackman do it.

Winwin situation

Darin Silvers and Pheonix Fellington do it; and Arad Winwin and Hunter Smith do it.

Ray of light

Ray Dexter, Joseph Banks and Max Konnor do it.

Dante's peak

Zion Nicholas and Dante Martin do it;

Heart of stone

DeAngelo Jackson and Hayden Brier do it; Mateo Fernandez and Austin Stone do it.

Taylor made

Pheonix Fellington and Andy Taylor do it; Pheonix Fellington and Tyler Sweet do it; Josh Brady, Travis Stevens and Andy Taylor do it; Calvin Banks and Dylan Hayes do it.

Allen key

Rico Marlon and Allen King do it; Arad Winwin, Rico Marlon, Allen King and Edji Da Silv do it; Tyler Roberts, Jeffrey Lloyd, Drake Rogers and Dakota Payne do it; and Andre Donovan and Drake Rogers do it.

To the max

Baron Wade and Max Richie do it; Jacob Booker and Marc Wallace do it.

All that Shabazz

Rhyheim Shabazz, Jay Michaels and Jonathan Miranda do it; and Mateo Fernandez and Angel Duran do it.

Austin we have a problem

Sean Ford and Ty Mitchell do it; and Austin Wolf and Levi Karter do it.

All bar none

Alex Rim, Ethan Thomson and Bar Addison do it.

Manny from heaven

Manny and Shameeks do it.

Hell's
Kitchen

Marks & Spencer

UK retailer’s new "LGBT" sandwich met with mixed reactions online.

Zoo

Chernobyl

The wildlife haven created when people left.

Caribou

Born to Be eaten. "What’s at stake in the fight over development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge? A caribou herd, and a culture that relies on it."

Penguins

The majority of penguins living in this aquarium are gay.

Worms

It’s not just about the bees – earthworms need love, too. "They may not be cute, but the work they do for our soil keeps humans in business. But their numbers are in steep decline."

Gone

Last male Sumatran rhino in Malaysia dies.

The Birds

Millions of birds are vacuumed to death every year for our martini olives.

Gallery

The month in wildlife, in pictures: week 1, week 2, week 3, week 4, week 5.

Rag
Trade

Pride

Disney launches new Rainbow collection for Pride month.

Addidas and Nike cash in on the rainbow flag...

...and Polo Ralph Lauren, too.

Planes,
Trains & Automobiles

Hong Kong

Cathay Pacific includes gay couple in "bold" new advertising campaign.

Hong Kong’s Airport Authority joins MTR Corp in reversing ban on Cathay Pacific same-sex ad after LGBT outcry.

No free lunch

Why can't public transit be free? The main goal of transportation that costs riders nothing—getting people out of their cars—can't be achieved by eliminating fares. (January 2015)

From the archive

Opening of the Titanic inquiry. "A court of inquiry set up following the disaster says that it will be thorough and searching." (May 1912)

And
This:

Not made up
This company is marketing makeup for men and the internet is not having it.

Vogue

This guy vogued for a history class project and he slayed.

Played

Scrabble adds LGBT words, including game-changing "ze".

Vloglife

Dramageddon

The condemnation of James Charles is tinged with homophobia.

James Charles loses two million YouTube subscribers after conduct claims.

Watch

James Charles cancels tour due to poor mental health over recent drama, addresses Westbrook's accusations - and he has the receipts.

Life's A
Goddamn
Laugh Riot

Watch

The most important PSA in the world; do people care about homo sapien extinction? Plus: Joel Kim Booster; and Michael has finally got himself a man!

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

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Issue 303: 01-31 May 2019

On the cover: Ibraima Touray-Drammeh.

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Postcript

"You know, we might just as well not have

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

© 2019