Left &
Found
Darkness falling
Putin is right about the collapse of liberal values - but the EU shares the blame. "Rightwing demagogues across the world, including in Europe, go unchecked. Darkness threatens to engulf us all."
It gets worse
Three years after Pulse, violence against LGBT people feels overwhelming.
It’s time gay people stepped aside... hetero whiners have rights too. In making its hateful point, the Super Happy Fun America group trivialises oppression.
Paris is Burning shows the seductive nature of inclusion – but queer people need more. "The mainstream loves to fly the Pride flag, but being subsumed by the dominant culture can leave LGBT people open to exploitation."
Pride has sold its soul to rainbow-branded capitalism. "Fifty years after Stonewall, the LGBT movement has abandoned its dream of sexual democracy."
Why culture’s "queerbaiting" leaves me cold. "From Taylor Swift’s new video to M&S sandwiches, everyone is capitalising on Pride. Is it cause for concern?"
Stonewall
The Stonewall you know is a myth – and that’s ok.
The progress we’ve made and the work still left to do.
What does Stonewall tell us about LGBT activism today?
The Stonewall rioters would be in disbelief at what transpired since.
Half a century of horror and progress.
Excluding Pride, have you gone to a LGBT rights protest?
You don’t have to march at Pride to show your pride.
The religious roots of pride.
Homophobic forces have falsely claimed ownership of organised religion. Time to take it back.
Parents of gay kids take years to adjust to their coming out.
Why we need to get to know the “bad gays” of history. "LGBT history often focuses on the heroes. The creators of the Bad Gays podcast explain their mission to fill in the gaps."
Pulse
Pride
Pride isn’t a party, it’s a time for queer people to fight again for their rights. "In the face of homophobic assaults and attacks on trans people, this isn’t a time for commercialised parades – but for rage."
No kink at pride? What's next, a drag ban?
Here’s what a good LGBT ally looks like. "Unlike Taylor Swift, the best supporters rarely take the spotlight."
Queer
LGBT people explain how they love, hate, and understand the word "queer".
Move I'm gay
Why do gay men walk so fast?
The truth behind Twitter’s favorite gay stereotype.
To the left
Left-handed boys more likely to be gay, boffins claim.
Sex
Why people still go cruising. "As cruising spots in London are under threat and apps have made casual hook-ups more convenient, what role does going outside in search of sex play in queer lives today?"
Friends
What it feels like to not have a best friend. "Two big studies found that young adults report being more lonely than older people. But what if you just don't have that one best mate?"
Bad guys
Why conservatives are winning the internet. "A new book explains why digital activism helps conservatives more than liberals."
Socialism for the rich
The evils of bad economics. "The economic arguments adopted by Britain and the US in the 1980s led to vastly increased inequality – and gave the false impression that this outcome was not only inevitable, but good."
How to
The science of influencing people: six ways to win an argument.
Can you help?
Every contribution, however big or small, makes a difference, and helps keep the lights on. Please consider leaving a tip if you can - thank you.
US
News
Do the math
Americans overestimate LGBT population in the US, survey finds.
Betta work
Discrimination at work experienced by half of all LGBT employees.
The internet cheered when he inconvenienced a racist. Then years of hateful tweets surfaced.
Suicide
Nearly two million LGBT teens consider suicide each year.
Dante Austin
Ronald “Trey” Peters
Brooklyn Lindsey
Black trans women are being killed and the world shrugs - why is no one screaming about this epidemic of violence?
"It’s like we’re not even human": the reality of being a trans black woman in America. "A spate of murders in Texas has triggered old traumas and the harsh reminder of just how dangerous being trans black woman is."
Black trans women want the media to show them living, not just dying. "If the crisis of violence against black trans people is new to you, you haven’t been paying attention."
Nigel Shelby
Sick
Elizabeth Johnston
"Activist mommy" terrorises LGBT prom with hateful phone campaign.
New York
Harlem gay bar’s Pride flags burned in suspected hate crime.
The Queer Liberation March is New York’s alternative to corporate Pride.
Florida
Governor sets execution date for killer of six gay men.
Gary Bowles received the death penalty for the 1994 murder of Walter Hinton, but later confessed to the murder of five additional gay men whom he said he killed because of their sexual orientation.
"Living joyously is a radical act"
Why America's gay bars still matter. "Fifty years after Stonewall, and with Trump trying to roll back LGBT rights, Dominic Rushe visits three gay bars in different states – and finds them as vibrant and vital as ever."
Stonewall
Presidential candidate Joe Biden pays a visit to Stonewall Inn.
NYPD Commissioner apologises to LGBT community for the 1969 raid on the Stonewall Inn.
How the New York media covered the Stonewall Riots.
Watch
NYC LGBT Community Center and Google unveil "living" digital monument of LGBT history.
SAVE
New Jersey
Accused pastor extracted "evil spirits" from young men through oral sex.
Gay waiter wins $20,000 settlement after being branded a "faggot".
Rhode Island
Milwaukee
Aaron Schock
Alabama
Mayor suggests killing LGBT people in Facebook post.
Bad dad
Real Housewives husband Jim Marchese refuses to pay for son James’ college education because he’s gay.
Watch
Activist has an emotional story to tell about discovering gay life in NYC in 1969 just after the Stonewall riots, and the years since.
Jack and Mike
Cody Barlow
Visibility
Acceptance Street
New York City’s "Gay Street" renamed "Acceptance Street" for every orientation.
San Francisco
How homeless sweeps endanger queer houseless people.
In a city with a homeless crisis declared "cruel and unusual" by the UN, crueler efforts to displace them — alongside politicians and real estate developers pushing for increased surveillance and policing — are putting LGBT lives at risk.
Lovin' it
Plush Daiquiri
Detroit
Los Angeles
Salt Lake City
Texas
Texas clings to unconstitutional, homophobic laws – and it's not alone.
Governor signs anti-LGBT "Save Chick-fil-A" bill into Law.
Queer people can’t forget our own mortality — except in Montrose. "Houston’s historic gayborhood is gentrifying into something new. But for me it will always be a place where you could, for so many queer folks who’d been told they could not."
Washington
Gun-wielding man demands sex from trans women outside LGBT centre.
Tennessee
Cracker Barrel bars homophobic pastor who called for LGBT executions.
Iowa
Snapchat
High school football players burn LGBT Pride flag, say "all gays die" in Snapchat video.
Chicago
Pride flag vandalism backfires as church vows to hang "hundreds" more.
Trevor Noah
Comedian defends his old, offensive tweets and slams cancel culture.
Jussie Smollett
Special prosecutor appointed to investigate why charges were dropped.
Police video shows Smollett holding a noose around his neck after the (alleged) staged attack.
Listen
The 911 call has been released too.
Smollett's (former) boss Lee Daniels says he’s "beyond embarrassed" about forcefully defending Smollett on social media...
...no wonder he's definitely been ruled out from returning to Empire.
The Grindr grifter
Daniel Spence used dating apps to scam his way across the U.S. Could he be caught before taking over one of Brooklyn’s hottest media companies?
Smells good
Axe body spray on Straight Pride Parade: "We’ll be at the parade that matters and this one isn’t it."
Odious Milo Yiannopoulos replaces Brad Pitt as Straight Pride mascot; Pitt had demanded organisers remove his photograph from their website.
Florida
Republican Mike Hill "jokes" with constituent about killing gay people.
tRump
Twitler kills AIDS research as gift to anti-abortion activists.
Only 24 percent approve of Trump’s handling of LGBT rights.
Young people less accepting of LGBT community in Trump era.
The man who was upset.
Trump’s big problem is that he’s unpopular. "Democrats should worry less about him and more about everything else on the ballot."
Why the Trump family always looks so ’80s. "Melania and Ivanka Trump’s clothes call to mind [his] heyday."
Joe Biden
First act as President would be to advance LGBT protections.
Obama v Doma
How gay Americans marched towards equality. "From Joe Biden’s unplanned endorsement to a White House lit by the rainbow flag, LGBTQ Americans lived through three extraordinary years."
Elijah Daniel
Bill Cosby
How the Cosby story finally went viral — and why it took so long. "A journalist who reported on the accusations long before they went viral wonders, 'what kind of profession am I in, where stories have no logical reason for unfolding?'"
Lumbersexuality
A sport and a pastime. "Why do people — mostly men — want to throw axes and dress like lumberjacks?"
"The river is treacherous"
The migrant tragedy one photo can't capture. "The father and his toddler daughter pictured face down in the river were two of dozens who drowned this year while crossing the border to seek asylum."
Chilling mystery
On high-altitude suicides. "US counties above 4,000 feet have twice as many suicides as counties at 2,000 feet. Is it because there's less oxygen in the air, or is something else going on?"
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.
Chicago hopeless
On every Harlem corner
Big money and bulldozers threaten black history.
Prohibition
It worked better than you think. "America’s anti-alcohol experiment cut down on drinking and drinking-related deaths - and it may have reduced crime and violence overall."
Interview
Talking to O.J. Simpson's attorney, F. Lee Bailey. "Even though he’s barred from practicing law in several states, absolutely no one can stop him from roasting his enemies."
A Manson murder investigation 20 years in the making. "Everything that Manson did with his women was exactly what the CIA was trying to do with people without their knowledge, in the exact same time, at the exact same place."
UK
News
Brexit
UK citizens will have less human rights after Brexit.
Hate
UK parliament to consider making online homophobia illegal.
Clap back
Gonorrhoea and syphilis cases are surging among gay men.
Poisonous
Tory horror Ann Widdecombe dragged for gay cure comments.
Rory Stewart and the myth of the "good Tory".
Ken Macharia
Gay rugby player facing deportation to Kenya gets reprieve. "Ken Macharia allowed to return home but deportation threat remains after fresh asylum claim rejected."
As a gay man, my life will be over if I'm deported to Kenya. I urge the Home Office for mercy. "After making my home in England for 10 years, I have received a notice to leave everything I love behind."
Ally
Rotterdam
Leamington
Colchester
Train in vain
Media
PinkNews parent company sues Out magazine publisher for breach of contract, fraud.
London
Police warn of Grindr killer after man’s murder, ask public to come forward.
Couple say they will not be frightened into hiding their sexuality after the attack.
You saw me covered in blood on a bus. But do you get outraged about all homophobia? "The photo of me and my date went viral after our attack – but only as we’re white, feminine and cisgender. Sympathy and action must be for all."
Do these homophobic attacks mean we’ll again have to hide our same-sex relationships? "I like to hold hands with my girlfriend in public. But now we know it’s still not safe to do this."
Gay nightclub XXL faces closure to make way for flats.
Club complains of ‘social cleansing’ after being given three months to wind up.
Why Hackney is the perfect new home for UK Black Pride.
Does UK drag have a misogyny problem?
Gay's the Word bookshop sold "obscene material". "A court heard yesterday that material on Aids and novels by Tennessee Williams were seized by customs." (June 1985)
How Grenfell survivors came together - and how Britain failed them. "The strongest campaign group to emerge from the disaster is facing its most devastating challenge: government inaction."
London Bridge attack
Victims' families criticise authorities for clearing MI5 and police.
Relatives of eight people killed in terrorist attack said security services had fallen short.
Boris Johnson
Johnson defends calling gay men "bumboys" claiming comments were "wholly satirical".
A charlatan with bravado. Barely a word he spoke was trustworthy.
He charmed the Tory faithful with bluster but this launch was a policy-free performance from a man without qualities.
He may be an incompetent liar, but charm is his secret weapon.
His record as London mayor is farcical. Yet disillusioned Labour voters are as mesmerised by him as punch-drunk Tories.
Lee Boxell
The missing teen whose cold case was revived with the probe of a "warlock" paedophile ring. "In 1988, Lee Boxell disappeared without a trace, and the case gradually went cold – until 2011, when an investigation into child abuse at a youth club gave the family some hope of closure."
World
News
Australia
Don't panic! Poppers won't be banned after all.
Botswana
Brazil
"We're afraid": the queer Brazilian sex artists targeted by Bolsonaro. "After the far-right president tweeted a video of their transgressive street performance, the two artists fled São Paulo – but now they’re pushing back."
China
Humans v the city: the staggering scale of Chongqing, in pictures. "Chongqing’s population is estimated at just below 10 million but that rises to more than 31 million if the built-up surroundings are included. Belgian photographer Kris Provoost finds that in a city so large, individuals can get lost."
Dominican Republic
Tourist deaths sparking concern among travelers. "It’s not yet clear whether the deaths of 10 Americans over the past year are connected." (Image)
Ecuador
Egypt
Ethiopia
LGBT tour operator faces death threats over Ethiopia trip.
France
Paris Pride gets cooled off by fire fighters in record-breaking heat.
Georgia
Preparing for their first LGBT pride amid threats of violence. "After being beaten in Tbilisi six years ago, the country’s LGBT activists are ready to be bold."
Germany
Gay victims of the Nazis remembered at Holocaust ceremony.
Iran
Ireland
Restaurant ordered to pay over £17,000 to man called "queer" by bosses.
Man claims he was kicked out of the police force for being gay.
Ana Kriégel murder trial: the complete story. "In May 2018, schoolgirl Ana Kriégel was lured from her home, brought to an abandoned house, and murdered. A year later two 14-year-old boys were found guilty of her killing, becoming the youngest people in the history of Ireland to be convicted of murder."
Israel
Gay Israelis hold mass wedding to campaign for same-sex unions. "'We will marry, and in a huge way,' organisers say of wedding ceremony not legally recognised in Israel."
Italy
Are your tinned tomatoes picked by slave labour?
Japan
Tokyo dawn: is the impenetrable city finally opening up?
The Tokyo neighbourhood where people come to disappear. "For hundreds of years people have come to Sanya in search of labouring jobs, shelter and a sense of belonging – but the area is changing fast, and its residents are struggling to adapt."
How Tokyo's suburban housing became vast ghettoes for the old. "They have no lifts, shops or medical services – yet they are home to mostly poor, elderly people. They're Tokyo’s massive 'homes for solitary death'."
Can "guerrilla picnics" end Tokyo's 50-year war on public space? "In 1969 Japan had its own 'Occupy'-style moment – then the police cracked down. Now a new generation is fighting to bring public space back to Tokyo."
Carlos Ghosn's former home: inside Tokyo's notorious detention centre. "Short tour allowed inside Japanese prison accused of keeping suspects in conditions designed to "break" them for confessions."
A city built on water: the hidden rivers under Tokyo's concrete and neon. "More than 100 rivers and canals flow beneath Tokyo, but from the ground it’s hard to notice them. Why has the city turned its back on water?"
The curse of Masakado: why a malevolent ghost haunts Tokyo. "The tale of the ‘first samurai’ whose severed head still terrorises Tokyoites today is the story of the city itself."
Unbuilt Tokyo: "depthscrapers" and a million-person pyramid. "Had the creators of the underground skyscraper had their way, the Japanese capital might have looked very different indeed."
Kenya
Kenya sends LGBT refugees back to "homophobic" camp.
Binyavanga Wainaina: obituary. "Kenyan writer and LGBT activist who made a revolutionary impact on literature from and about the African continent."
Malaysia
Mexico
Middle East
Honour killings are more acceptable than being gay in Arab nations, study says.
Myanmar
Nigeria
Nepal
Phillipines
Manila Pride hosts its largest ever parade over its 25-year history.
Rodrigo Duterte spokesman says LGBT people "should be happy" about gay cure joke.
Russia
What does Putin really want? "Russia is dead set on being a global power. But what looks like grand strategy is often improvisation—amid America’s retreat."
San Marino
Europe’s smallest country San Marino bans anti-gay discrimination.
South Korea
Taxi driver jailed for blackmailing gay passengers.
Spain
Life in a Barcelona drug squat, in pictures.
Turkey
Ukraine
Singapore
Ukraine
Chernobyl welcomes the tourists – "a messy and morally queasy experience". "Interest in the site of the 1986 nuclear reactor disaster has grown hugely in the wake of the HBO series – but it is a long way from being a place of solemnity and reflection."
Medicine
Ball
HIV
Gay men wrongly think "attractive" guys are less likely to be HIV positive.
Poppers
Not addictive, study concludes.
Horny
Young people are developing horns due to mobile phones, technology.
Night owls
Simple sleep tweaks boost wellbeing.
Tell us what you need
When patients turn to crowdfunding for medical costs, whoever has the most heartrending story wins.
Watch
Simeon banned salt.
Planet
Earth
Plastic
We're likely inhaling eleven tiny bits of plastic per hour.
113 degrees in France
Bodies in seats
At Facebook’s worst-performing content moderation site in North America, one contractor has died, and others say they fear for their lives.
Social media
Surveillance of LGBT people is life-threatening, expert claims.
Jack’d
App ordered to pay users for failing to protect their nude photos.
Grindr
Grindr users more likely to hook up when battery is low.
YouTube
"Being mean is lucrative": LGBT users condemn YouTube over homophobic content.
After inaction on harassment, queer YouTubers feel resigned and defeated.
CEO Susan Wojcicki grilled on platform's treatment of LGBT community: "Are you really sorry... or are you just sorry they were offended?"
Apple
It's officially killing iTunes. The music store that changed the industry forever is an ugly old clunker, scrapped for parts.
Google
Tries to justify why it's restricting ad blockers in Chrome.
The Google outage highlights the perils of a centralised internet.
Instagram
It's going to show you even more ads.
The hired guns of Instagram. Companies can’t advertise on social media — so they have female influencers do it for them.
Amazon
Who are these people who write thousands of Amazon product reviews?
What you see on Amazon’s public warehouse tours.
Windows
Seven ways to make Windows 10 work better.
I Own
51% Of This Company!
Cashing in
Icey this, icey that
Big Gay Ice Cream launched ten years ago.
Brick link
Skin deep
Big advertising agency dumps Nivea as a client after alleged anti-gay comment.
Fauxrage
Brands are making you mad on purpose.
House plants
Watch
A look inside a British supermarket from 1980.
Arena
Anthony Bowens
Israel Folau
He wants $10 million in damages over firing for homophobic slurs. Guess he skipped the bit in the Bible about greed.
The vile rugby star's GoFundMe campaign raises nearly half a million dollars after he begs his supporters to fund his legal defense...
...That is until GoFundMe shuts the page down.
GoFundMe spokesperson Nicola Britton said, “As a company, we are absolutely committed to the fight for equality for LGBTIQ+ people and fostering an environment of inclusivity. While we welcome GoFundMes engaging in diverse civil debate, we do not tolerate the promotion of discrimination or exclusion... Our platform exists to help people help others.”
But don't celebrate too soon. Following the GoFundMe cancellation, the Australian Christian Lobby has claimed to have raised over $1 million for Folau.
His former teammate Drew Mitchell totally owned the bigot, lambasting him on Twitter: “YOU are in a fight that YOU chose to be in after YOU broke the terms of YOUR contract, the kids below are in a fight they NEVER wanted to be in & yet YOU think YOU deserve donations more than they do??!! It’s no longer about religion, it’s about YOU and YOUR greed."
Still, never mind - he says gay people shouldn’t take his Bible comments personally.
With Israel Folau the church demands a kind of free speech that keeps gays in the firing line. As the archbishop of Sydney decries the rugby player’s sacking for his words, his church insists on sacking teachers for their sexuality.
Israel Gutierrez
Gay ESPN sports reporter speaks about Tyson Fury homophobia.
Ohio
A high school basketball coach harassed and benched a player he said had college potential after the student was outed as gay.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Taking the plunge
Art
Skool
Bhupen Khakhar
Rinaldo Hopf
Interview
Basquiat
Defacement: the tragic story of Basquiat's most personal painting. "The death of artist Michael Stewart, allegedly the result of police brutality, inspired Basquiat to create one of his most impactful works."
Get Up, Stand Up Now
Black British art's response to the Windrush scandal.
Sky high
Word!
Doctor Who
Writer Gareth Roberts dropped from book over anti-trans slurs.
“I ❤️ how trannies choose names like Munroe, Paris and Chelsea. It’s never Julie or Bev is it? It’s almost like a clueless gayboy’s idea of a glamorous lady. But of course it’s definitely not that,” he Tweeted.
JK Rowling
Author under fire for alleged anti-trans views.
Michael Rumaker
Page turner
Why the death of the novel is greatly exaggerated.
Books industry shrugs off a 3% decline in fiction sales, with strong stories driving recent growth in non-fiction.
Reviews
Crossing, by Pajtim Statovci. "A very emotional and intense read, full of relatable characters and a loving, but critical, tribute to Albanian culture."
Indecent Advances: A Hidden History of True Crime and Prejudice Before Stonewall, by James Polchin. "It collects and rescues significant gay history and goes a long way toward clarifying why we fight, what we fight for and how prejudice is an historically institutional force."
New
Like This Afternoon Forever, by Jaime Manrique. "Two Catholic priests fall in love amid deadly conflicts in the Amazon between the Colombian government, insurgent groups, and drug cartels."
Alex in Wonderland, by Simon James Green. "In the town of Newsands, painfully shy Alex is abandoned by his two best friends for the summer. But he unexpectedly lands a part-time job at Wonderland, a run-down amusement arcade on the seafront, where he gets to know the other teen misfits who work there. Alex starts to come out of his shell, and even starts to develop feelings for co-worker Ben ... who, as Alex's bad luck would have it, has a girlfriend. Then as debtors close in on Wonderland and mysterious, threatening notes start to appear, Alex and his new friends take it on themselves to save their declining employer. But, like everything in Wonderland, nothing is quite what it seems..."
Ramen Assassin: Book One, by Rhys Ford. "When life gives Kuro Jenkins lemons, he wants to make ponzu to serve at his Los Angeles ramen shop. Instead he’s dodging bullets and wondering how the hell he ended up back in the Black Ops lifestyle he left behind him. After rescuing former child star Trey Bishop from a pair of thugs in the middle of the night, he knows it’s time to pick up his gun again. But it seems trouble isn’t done with Trey, and Kuro can’t quite let go… of either the gun or Trey Bishop. Trey Bishop never denied his life’s downward spiral was his own fault. After a few stints in rehab, he’s finally shaken off his Hollywood bad-boy lifestyle but not his reputation. The destruction of his acting career and his relationships goes deep, and no one trusts anything he says, including the LAPD. When two men dragging a dead body spot him on a late-night run and try to murder him, Trey is grateful for the tall, dark, and deadly ramen shop owner he lusts over—not just for rescuing him, but also for believing him. Now caught in a web of murders and lies, Trey knows someone wants him dead, and the only one on his side is a man with deep, dark secrets."
Accidental Prophet, by Bud Gundy. "Intelligent, handsome, and struggling to make his rent, thirty-year-old Drew Morten loses his only meaningful relationship when his grandmother dies. A famous television anchor, Claudia Trenton leaves Drew the legacy of her secret memoir. From the fate of a vanished medieval prince to a top-secret NASA study about a mystifying space object, her unreported discoveries hum with wonder. But history merges with the present and upends Drew’s life when he has a terrifying revelation. Teaming up with a brilliant woman who receives the same vision and a handsome man whose arrival is either fortuitous or sinister, Drew follows the clues in his grandmother’s memoir and races against time to save the world from an apocalyptic nightmare about to be unleashed in downtown San Francisco. As catastrophe looms, so does the question: Who, or what, is the real enemy?"
In Case You Forgot, by Frederick Smith and Chaz Lamar. "Two newly single, Black, queer, and socially aware men have packed up to start again—in love, career, and life—in the West Hollywood neighborhood of LA. Zaire James, on the cusp of 30, has decided marriage isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Despite friends, family, and coworkers loving Zaire’s “perfect” partner, divorce is a necessary step for finding himself and being free. If only it were that easy. Kenny Kane has made a career of deferring dreams, lowering expectations, and chasing partners not on his level in hopes of finding a love to call his own. However, on the verge of the big 4-0, he realizes the clock is ticking on all his dreams."
Here Is What You Do, by Chris Dennis. "A debut short story collection that explores the vulnerability, grit, and complex nature of our humanity from a new, vital queer voice. A yacht races to outrun a tsunami. A young man jailed on a drug charge forms a relationship with his cellmate that is by turns tender and brutal. A family buys a rural slaughterhouse, and tensions with their religious neighbors quickly escalate. A teen raised by his eccentric gay father, a Turkish immigrant, finds his life fractured by violence. Here Is What You Do is a bravura, far-ranging collection, its stories linked by sorrow and latent hope, each one drilling toward its characters’ darkest emotional centers. In muscularly robust prose, with an unfailing eye for human drives and frailties, Chris Dennis captures the raw need, desire, cruelty, and promise that animate our lives."
Cruising: An Intimate History of a Radical Pastime, by Alex Espinoza. "From ancient Greece to Grindr, the underground practice of cruising has changed in fascinating ways, and also not at all. Acclaimed author Alex Espinoza takes readers on an uncensored journey through the underground, to reveal the timeless art of cruising. Combining historical research and oral history with his own personal experience, Espinoza examines the political and cultural forces behind this radical pastime. From Greek antiquity to the notorious Molly houses of 18th century England, the raucous 1970s to the algorithms of Grindr, Oscar Wilde to George Michael, cruising remains at once a reclamation of public space and the creation of its own unique locale—one in which men of all races and classes interact, even in the shadow of repressive governments. In Uganda and Russia, we meet activists for whom cruising can be a matter of life and death; while in the West he shows how cruising circumvents the inequalities and abuses of power that plague heterosexual encounters. Ultimately, Espinoza illustrates how cruising functions as a powerful rebuke to patriarchy and capitalism—unless you are cruising the department store restroom, of course."
On the rag
Shouting
At Night
The Inheritance
The epic gay play which won London’s Olivier Award for best new play, is coming to Broadway.
The Vaults
Jesse Williams
Todrick Hall
Dancer joins cast of Waitress on Broadway.
Review
Staging issues and noisy distractions mar a coming-of-age musical that offers tantalising flashes of fervour.
Film
Skool
Bryan Singer
Director to pay $150,000 to settle rape allegation suit. "Cesar Sanchez-Guzman (above) alleged Singer assaulted him on a yacht in 2003 when he was 17-years-old."
It's complicated
Meryl Streep doesn’t think toxic masculinity is a thing because women can be toxic too.
Is Loqueesha the worst film ever made? "Jeremy Saville’s movie – about a white man who pretends to be a black woman – is flawed in many ways."
The new films bringing a queer bite to the thriller genre. "Dildo-switchblade BDSM murders, psychedelic-fueled nightmare hookups, and tense intergenerational lesbian relationships: these new thrillers are centering queer sex and desire in a way seldom seen before."
Film forever
The ten best queer films you probably haven't seen.
Will Hollywood’s new youthifying tech keep old actors in work for ever?
Box office blues
Can Netflix save the movie star? While A-listers are struggling on the big screen, the streaming platform is providing a splashy solution to ailing stardom.
Only 2% of actors make a living. How do you become one of them? It’s a notoriously tough profession, so what can you do to avoid being one of the 98%?
I Am Mother: why blockbuster sci-fi faces an extinction event.
Brokeback Mountain
Jake Gyllenhaal breaks down his performance as Jack Twist.
Watch
A Bigger Splash, documenting David Hockney’s gay life in the 1970s, has been re-mastered, and captures Hedonistic gay life before AIDS.
Reviews
We the Animals. One of the discoveries of the year. "A young boy sees his family financially struggle while grappling with his sexuality in an outstanding coming-of-age drama."
Storyville: The Raft. Almost too deliciously ludicrous to be true. "Marcus Lindeen’s account of a 1973 anthropological experiment aboard a raft on the Atlantic has it all: mutiny, hallucinations and a huge dollop of hubris."
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. A riotous return trip. "In this smart, lovable gem, now rereleased, a trans woman and two drag queens kick up the dust in Australia’s outback."
Shaft. Regressive sequel swaps out style for ugly homophobia. "Samuel L Jackson returns in the latest take on the 70s detective to unleash a toxic stream of bigotry in a misjudged attack on millennial masculinity."
The Wizard of Oz at 80
How the world fell under its dark spell. "The 1939 classic has inspired everyone from David Lynch to Salman Rushdie. Novelist and super-fan Luiza Sauma explores why the film’s message about home still holds such power."
The
Box
Pose
Season two takes an expansive, captivating look beyond the ballroom. "With a renewed focus on its main characters (and a bit more Madonna), the show's focus shifts without losing its magic."
Black Mirror
How straight guys "going gay" changed my view of sexuality.
Queer fears: the problem with Black Mirror's "no homo" episode. "There’s a frustratingly regressive tone to an episode about two men exploring their sexuality that feels embarrassed and coy about its subject matter."
Striking Vipers is like San Junipero without the heart.
Every episode of Black Mirror, ranked.
Sex
LGBT people reveal the first queer sex scenes they saw on film or TV.
Wilson Cruz
New
Interviews
Talking to Armistead Maupin about Tales of the City.
How Tales of the City blazed a trail for queer representation.
Watch
New web series Insomnia.
Feel-bad TV
Why are we obsessed with small-screen tragedy? "The surprise success of devastating fact-based dramas Chernobyl and When They See Us has shown that summer audiences aren’t always seeking escapism."
The Handmaid’s Tale
The best
TV's identity crisis
I like to watch
TV has this really fraught relationship with the audience. "Why TV’s relationship with its audience has become more intimate, whether we can blame Trump on True Detective, and how a TV critic’s biggest challenge is just figuring out what to watch."
Streaming TV
It's about to get very expensive – here's why. "With Disney, Apple and others about to launch their own services, a lot of your favourite shows are likely to vanish behind paywalls. The golden age of streaming is over."
Friends
Homophobic, transphobic sitcom was "never poking fun at being gay," actor claims.
Judge Judy
Still judging you. "For more than 20 years, Judith Sheindlin has dominated daytime ratings — by making justice in a complicated world look easy."
Beats, Rhymes
& Life
iLoveMakonnen
Out, proud, and back to conquer hip-hop. "With the release of a new EP, M3, and a slew of highly anticipated upcoming projects, the rapper is set to reclaim the spotlight rap’s establishment tried to deny him."
Smashby
The day the music burned
It was the biggest disaster in the history of the music business — and almost nobody knew. This is the story of the 2008 Universal fire.
It’s like that
The makings of a hip-hop writer. Hip-hop was a different kind of music that needed a different kind of writer to cover it. This is how Michael A. Gonzales came of age in a time when Black writers began breaking the white ceiling.
Watch
Talking to Troye Sivan.
Review
Mystify: Michael Hutchence. A heavyhearted portrait mainly for the fans. "INXS frontman’s genius is implied throughout Richard Lowenstein’s choppy documentary but never given the chance to speak for itself."
Meat
Market
Conner Habib
What I want to know is why you hate porn stars. "What is it about us that you don't like?"
Jay Dymel
Blu Kennedy
Racist
Collin Simpson
Arrested
Corbin Fisher’s Travis arrested for having sex with a woman in a shopping center parking lot.
CockyBoys
Galleries
Called to the bar
Bob-a-job
Kael smoothie
Back
Big Ben
The Brady bunch
Sweet meat
Adams family
Seed
Dante's peak
Hell's
Kitchen
Marrot
Going
The race to save endangered foods.
Drive-Thru Dreams
Fast-food restaurants represent the best and worst of America.
Dine in
Don't eat before reading this. A New York chef spills some trade secrets. (April 1999)
Natural wine
Natural wine is ancient, and the latest trend. What makes a wine “natural”?
Zoo
Counting sheep
1 in 12 sheep is gay, according to documentary.
Chicks
Why billions of baby chickens are killed every year.
The great green expansion
How ring-necked parakeets took over London.
Was Jimi Hendrix responsible for the bright-green tropical birds’ presence in the capital? Or was it Katharine Hepburn?
Gallery
Planes,
Trains & Automobiles
London
Chicago
Venice
Cruise ship crashes into pier.
Berlin Brandenburg
Boeing
Boeing finds wing defect, including among some 737 MAX 8.
Flight MH370
Five years ago, the flight vanished into the Indian ocean. Officials on land know more about why than they dare to say.
And
This:
The storm
Six young men set out on a dead-calm sea to seek their fortunes. Suddenly they were hit by the worst gale in a century, and there wasn't even time to shout.
Fake
Identifying a fake picture online is harder than you might think.
The pursuit of high self-esteem is making us miserable.
The D
The stories of penis gods and the people who worship them.
Vloglife
Etika
Desmond “Etika” Amofah, the YouTuber, is dead. He was 29.
Amofah had struggled with mental illness and spoke of his discomfort with internet fame.
Life's A
Goddamn
Laugh Riot
Watch
Max Emerson takes shirtless selfies while the Titanic sinks, in a forgotten chapter from history; Michael nails Tony; Webseries: The Movie; and Jermaine Fowler on black porn.
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Issue 304: 01-30 June 2019
On the cover: Anthony Bowens.
Missed the last edition? Get it:
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Postcript
"You know, we might just as well not have
bothered to come. The whole thing's been ridiculous."
© 2019
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