KAOS

ka-os|theory
a news compendium
with a gay bias
issue 66 | June 2010

||| Gratuitous Twitter photo of Simon Webbe, who's currently treading the boards at the Palladium in Sister Act: The Musical. In pictures.

||| Meet the gay housewives of New York. Brian Moylan writes at Gawker: "It's filled with just the fame-hungry, attractive, horrible people you could have imagined. They're all models! This is going to be a fantastic mess." Vile beautiful people - what more could you ask for?

||| Jamaica, Zimbabwe, Uganda and Rekers: Anti-Gay bigotry really is a trick to deceive the naïve.

||| At the other end of the scale, Sweden has been named Europe's most gay-friendly country. And let's face it, who'd turn down a nice, fresh Swiss boy?

||| Ukraine comes last (as Mae West said to the diplomat) in the Rainbow Europe County Index.

||| Jockstraps at dawn as organisations clash over the World Outgames and the Gay Games.

||| A Brazilian man has been reunited with his American husband after 3 years. Massachusetts Senator John Kerry lobbied for the reunion on humanitarian grounds.

||| Lt. Dan Choi and Captain Jim Pietrangelo have ended their hunger strike over Don't Ask, Don't Tell after one week.

||| George Rekers doubled his fee to give testimony in the trial to uphold Florida's gay adoption ban - before being caught with a rent boy half his age.

||| "Well I feel my work here is done. I officially made an afghani [sic] holdup a sign that says 'I'm a faggot' while I took a picture of him." Facebook status update from Lance Cpl. Lionel Garcia on 24th May.

||| So what did Wale have to say in the aftermath of DC Pride?

||| More on this, plus further video.

||| African-American hypocrisy: Silence hurting African gays and lesbians.

||| Anti-gays hide their bias behind the Bible, L.Z. Granderson (left) writes. Conservatives don't use Scripture to condemn murder, but often do against gays. Some rarely attend church, but they can find Leviticus 18:22 blindfolded.

||| Lifting a ban on gay blood donors would increase blood supply in the US by some 200,000 pints.

||| Gay? Whatever, Dude: Americans' evolving views of homosexuality.

||| Remember last week's charming gay-friendly McDonalds' ad from France? Here's what an American news wanchor had to say in a report on the Fox network: "Do they have an Al Qaeda ad?"

||| Gay couple told to stop kissing in Chicago restaurant; 100 people turn up for kiss-in in protest.

||| Glad Day Bookshop - North America's oldest gay bookstore - faces closure after 40 years.

||| Ten things I learned at International Mr. Leather, including: You know it's a leather orgy when everyone takes a moment between foreplay and fucking so they can put their clothes back on.

||| Tobias Wong, the artist and designer, is dead. He was 35.

||| Redneck Australian football player Jason Akermanis has been suspended by his team following his newspaper column urging gay players to stay in the closet.

||| Attitude, the troubled gay lifestyle magazine, has been sold, following the collapse into administration of magazine distributer Magazine Marketing Company.

||| Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell will present a documentary on the Pope. He says, "My aim is to make a robustly factual programme that explores the Pope's personal, religious and political journey since the 1930s, as well as the motives and effects of his controversial policies." Perhaps Sinead O'Connor will report from the field...

||| The right-wing English Defence League has a 115-strong gay and lesbian division, as well as "a smattering of non–white faces... one of the group's leaders is Guramit Singh, a British-born Sikh". Islamaphobia unites all, it seems...

||| Of course, as we all know, to be gay and racist is no anomaly.

||| The man tasked with reforming the governing Tory party has a track record of opposing gay rights. Now there's a surprise...

||| GBLT Network demands answers from the Government on "Gay Genocide".

||| The Labour Party group for GBLT Rights is thrown out of Greencoat Boy pub in Westminster - a stone's throw from the Houses of Parliament - and insulted by staff.

||| But you can't fault Punch Taverns - the chain responsible for the pub - for their reaction. The staff member in question is suspended, an investigation launched and a rainbow flag hung in the window.

||| The police are also investigating.

||| In the wake of the resignation of David Laws from the Cabinet, The ~~Scum~~Sun ~~comic~~newspaper asks its readers (readers? Ha!): "Should gay people be cabinet ministers?"

||| Meanwhile, The Daily Mail's Richard Littlejohn comments, "To be honest, I've always considered all Liberal MPs to be homosexuals unless furnished with concrete proof to the contrary."

||| Of course, the press are more homophobic than the public. Patrick Strudwick writes in The Guardian: "The Sun poll on gay people in the cabinet shows the rightwing press haven't noticed how liberal the public have become."

||| And so, it was neither inevitable nor right that Laws resigned. Because the media conspired to make it happen.

||| Britain's youngest Mayor is a 23-year-old gay man.

||| Why are so many men in Irish public life still afraid to come out?

||| "I want to love a strong young man of the lower classes and be loved by him and even hurt by him." Why E.M. Foster didn't publish another book following 1924's A Passage To India, until his death in 1970. More: "Now I am 85 how annoyed I am with society for wasting my time by making homosexuality criminal. The subterfuges and the self-consciousnesses that might have been avoided."

||| Antony Grey, "arguably the most important British gay rights campaigner of the 20th century", is dead. He was 82. "He worked in the hostile environment of the 1950s and 60s to bring about the decriminalisation of male homosexual acts, enabling an open and active gay liberation movement to flourish."

||| Porn entrepreneur Michael Lucas writes about the struggle for gay pride in his native Russia.

||| Pride vs. prejudice in Moscow.

||| Anti-gay, racist attacks surge in Rome on the back of spiralling unemployment, rising alcohol consumption and the election of a former neo-facist as Mayor.

||| A brutal attack on a 24-year-old near the Colosseum has led to calls for new anti-homophobia laws.

||| Some 3000 Greeks marched through Athens on Saturday to demonstrate GBLT pride, and protest against discrimination.

||| Denmark: Why teenagers are more likely to be behind anti-gay hate crimes.

||| "The Portuguese man that I am, I try to keep informed about what is happening in my country. I know the law was passed and the comment it deserves is that we must respect the choices made by anyone, because, after all, all citizens should have the exact same rights and responsibilities." Cristiano Ronaldo on the passage of marriage equality in his native Portugal.

||| Tel Aviv moves to secure its place as a "leading gay tourism destination". The Israeli Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Association will guest at Madrid Gay Pride (Europe's biggest pride parade) in July.

||| The Ghana church that lays the blame for humanity's woes not with homosexuality, but with the global market economy.

||| Ghana: Muslim extremists demand Sharia law be used against the GBLT community.

||| Malawi: "A caring father" and a "tolerant president." Newly free couple Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza praise President Bingu wa Mutharika (left) for their pardon...

||| ...But he only did it for the cash. "The story ends there... I don't want to hear anyone commenting on them. Nobody is authorised to comment on the gays. You will spoil things," he told reporters.

||| Madonna didn't free Tiwonge and Steven (right) – she just signed a petition!

||| Uganda: Blackmail, extortion and threats - the Uganda National Anti-Homosexual Taskforce ratchets up the hate.

||| Nigerian bishop Rt Rev Isaac Orama: Gays are "inhuman, insane, satanic and not fit to live". (Well, maybe James Earl Hardy, but not the rest of us!) But did he say it? Or did he not?

||| Uganda: "The African Church is the only one that is still standing against homosexuality. The Europeans are finished. If we follow them, we shall end up in Sodom and Gomorrah." President Yoweri Museveni warns against the dangers posed by homosexuality.

||| Pakistan jails couple over gay marriage allegation. Replace Pakistan with Malawi... It's all starting again.

||| The couple were subsequently granted bail.

||| The Middle East: It's gayer than you think.

||| On the other hand... Saudi ban on gay foreigners heightens clash of cultures.

||| Gay KLM stewards want to avoid Iran.

||| Charlie Brooker's going to be out of the country for the World Cup. With hollow patriotism drenching Britain like a BP oil slick, lucky him. World Cup? I really, truly don't give a-

||| New York-style countdown traffic lights for London.

||| Favourite Matthew Rush Facebook status update of the week: "I hope BP kept the receipt for that blowout safety valve."

||| A brief history of transgender issues.

||| How to Use a Condom: Brent Corrigan's Oral Exam with Matthew Rush (uncensored version here).

||| Drinking coffee doesn't make us more alert, boffins claim.

||| The Big Picture: Caught in the oil (7 more pictures - if you can stomach it).

||| Top 10 meat consuming countries. I'm saying nothing.

||| What's that they say about feeling safe back on dry land? Try telling that to Guatemalans...

||| Could Concorde fly again?

||| Kele Okereke's solo debut, The Boxer, is out on Monday 21st June. You might recall the sleek and sexy video for the first single, Tenderoni, back in Issue 63. Overrating The Underrated has two more songs from the album to listen to.

||| Junior Westboro fruitcake Megan Phelps-Roper has now covered Lady GaGa's Telephone. You might remember her ~~excruciating~~hilarious cover of Poker Face.

||| Rue McClanahan, the actress, is dead. She was 76.

||| Rue McClanahan, in pictures.

||| Lady GaGa to star in Doctor Who? Well, let's face it, the current series couldn't get any worse.

||| Torchwood is coming back...

||| ...as a comic book...

||| ...and on screen, with a 10-part fourth series co-produced with American network Starz (of Spartacus: Blood and Sand fame).

||| Coronation Street is cancelled for a week following the shootings in Cumbria, and EastEnders is forced to reshoot scenes that would have seen killer preacher Lucas strangle a prostitute, after the multiple murders of sex workers in the north. Reality really is a pain in the neck.

||| Big Brother is back too, for one last hurrah, and there's a definite funeral atmosphere...

||| Big Brother 2010: Inside the Big Brother 11 house.

||| Joe Turner's Come and Gone, reviews: The Guardian, Telegraph, The Times, Whatsonstage and, er, the Mail Online. If you're in London, make sure you see this spell-binding show (below).

||| I Love You Phillip Morris has been delayed again.

||| Victoria Coren has a fascinating take on the reaction to the much-maligned Sex & The City 2. "If your misogyny is tickled, that's because it is an intensely misogynistic movie. If you despise the women, it is because the film wants you to despise the women. Samantha (Kim Cattrall), once a confident, funny female character who enjoyed casual sex, is, in this film, demeaned, humiliated and punished like no woman has been

since the great days of the Victorian novel. She is made grotesque."

||| Meanwhile, Mark Kermode reviews A Single Man. "I had never even heard of Tom Ford before I saw A Single Man; indeed, when being briefed on his history before an interview for The Culture Show I was genuinely startled to discover that he had some celebrity status. As far as I knew, he was the hitherto unknown director of an oddball, indie-inflected, arthouse pic in which a number of actors whom I greatly admire did some of their best work."

||| Red carpet goodness from the 2010 Grabbys, in pictures (Eric Rhodes above left, and Diesel Washington with his mama, right).

||| New York City, a Pictory. Absolutely stunning (36 more pictures).

||| Things no one should own, nor profit from: the master key for 2 World Trade Center. Sick.

||| And finally, this heart-rending report from The Onion...

||| READ THE LAST EDITION: ISSUE 65

||| ka-os|theory, ONE YEAR AGO: 06.06.09

_____________________________________________________

Issue 66 of ka-os|theory covers the period

31 May - 06 June 2010 - plus some stuff I missed!

Cover: Mister Bello d’italia.

ka-os|theory is not responsible for the content

of external websites.

POSTSCRIPT

"You know, we might just as well not have bothered to come.

The whole thing's been ridiculous."

His name was Wesley, and I met him on Gaydar. On his page, he had a photo of his big 'ole bubble butt, but not his face.

The venue for our meet was the John Lewis department store on Oxford Street, where he worked. We chatted on a staircase in the store, and I quickly realised he wasn't doing it for me. It wasn't just the suit (always a turn-off). He was unresponsive, blank, and sort of jerky - frantic desperation bubbling just beneath the surface... It was 2002 and I'd only been in London for a few weeks. I was like a kid in a sweet shop, and sampling London's best was my only interest.

Wesley didn't fall into that category, he was clearly damaged goods. Perhaps unwisely, I told him straight, "You're not my type, but maybe we can be friends." And off I went on my merry way. Kids are so callous, so stupid, even when they don't mean to be.

It could only have been a matter of weeks before I encountered Wesley again, on another faceless hook-up. The place: Liverpool Street station. The guy: "Jake". When he turned up, late, I couldn't immediately place the face. He said his name was Jake. We went for a walk. It was the weekend. The City was mostly empty of its financiers.

And "Jake" told me that he was Wesley's identical twin brother.

Caught up in the moment, face to face with this person, I tried to process it as "it's-so-weird-maybe-it's-true". Could it be? No. Really? Surely not. But maybe...

Jake/Wesley and I went on a long winding walk through the City, your correspondent in something of a daze. I don't remember what we talked about. We went into a cafe at one point and then we left, and I forgot my bag. I never forget things, and I never lose things. I've never lost my keys, my phone or my wallet in my life. But I left my bag behind that day. And that was before he suggested I have a threesome with him and his identical twin brother.

I played along with Jake/Wesley, completely thrown. The more we walked, the faster the truth dawned on me. His bafflingly soap-operatic lie was so transparent anyone else would have walked off in fits of laughter. Was I too embarrassed to confront it? Or was I playing along? I hope the latter isn't true, because his motivation was frightening. To be that desperate for someone (anyone - because, after all, he knew almost nothing about me) points to real loneliness.

We parted company, at some point, Jake/Wesley and I. I don't remember where we ended up (somewhere in East London), but I descended into the Underground, and returned to Shepherd's Bush. My friend John, with whom I was staying, was amused.

I eventually confronted Wesley about the whole thing, cowardly, by text. He admitted the deception (how could he not?) and we didn't see each again. But he kept on texting and phoning.

Fast forward two years. My kid-in-a-sweet-shop antics had driven my then-boyfriend to an attempted suicide, and ultimately led him to being sectioned. Perhaps because of that, I felt bound to mend my ways, finally caving in and agreeing to meet Wesley on the basis that we'd be friends. Wesley agreed; we'd be friends.

The venue: Queer Nation in Brixton. Everything seemed to be going okay, Wesley was fine, we were just two friends hanging out - until I started getting a little freaky with someone else, a cutey called Joe, in a baseball cap. I remember we were all sitting in a row on the edge of the dance floor - me in the middle with Wesley on one side and Joe on the other. I think Joe and I were kissing, or had our arms around each other, or something. Wesley grabbed the chain on my wrist and tried pulling it off. I thought he was fooling about, but his eyes were crazed. I tried ignoring him, annoyed, now, and turned back to Joe. Then Wesley grabbed the chain around my neck and started yanking on it. I pushed him away. Joe just looked baffled.

I stood up and started walking away - Wesley followed, still pulling at me. I think I punched him, or he punched me, but the next thing I know we were on the floor, fighting. I'd never been in a fight in my life, and never expected to get into one in a club. Bouncers broke us up and ejected us. It took three of them to hold Wesley back as Joe and I departed in a cab.

End of story, right?

The cab got to the end of the road and stopped at a red light. Someone wrenched open the door - Wesley, of course, trying to pull me put of the cab. The driver got out and wrestled him away. Then we were away. Into the night.

I saw Wesley/Jake once more, right outside where I work. We passed each other in the street and our eyes met, briefly, but he continued on his way.

I've been lost wandering the streets in New York, without a dime to my name, and held up by a gang with a blood-filled syringe on the streets in Perth, but passing Wesley on the street was something else. That scared me.

I can still see his eyes, blank, staring. But if he messaged me today I'd still want to see him, to try again. Because maybe we could be friends.

Top picture: Real twins Keyontyli and Taleon Goffney. Bottom picture: "Blue Bird" by Philip Gladstone.

Title quote: "We are all so much together, but we are all dying of loneliness." Albert Schweitzer, German philosopher, 1875–1965.