Gay Pride 2: Anders Behring Breivik

'Anders Behring Breivik was a self-styled "metrosexual" who used David Beckham as an example, his trial in Oslo heard. 'The Norwegian mass killer's life "fell apart" after a failed relationship with a Belarusian internet date left him struggling with his sexuality, his friends told the court.

"That was perhaps his last attempt at dating a girl like the other boys did," his best friend's ex-girlfriend told the court.

'Breivik's friends suspected the 33-year-old extremist might be homosexual because he was feminine and fastidious about his appearance, another friend, a lawyer in Norway's Ministry of Defence, said.

"He used make-up powder, those kinds of things, and he explained that as being 'metrosexual'. He made reference to David Beckham being that at the time."

Breivik, who admits to killing 77 people in Norway last July, retorted...'

The Daily Telegraph. 
Teh Gays are so good at the bumming and the killing.
Well done.

Gay Pride: Footloose

'Police in Canada are hunting for a gay porn star wanted in connection with a dismembered body part sent to the Canadian Prime Minister’s offices.
'A second package containing a severed hand was intercepted at a post office before the victim’s torso was discovered in a Montreal rubbish dump.
'Montreal police officers appealed for the public’s help yesterday as they searched for Luka Rocco Magnotta, 29, a male model and adult film actor who is said to have known the victim.
'The grim saga began on Tuesday when a decomposing foot was discovered in a box delivered to the Conservative Party offices in Ottawa. A senior aide to Stephen Harper opened a blood-stained package before being overwhelmed by the stench..'

The Times.
She is fit though - she could dismember me anytime.

[PS Due to popular outrage I have deleted a certain link].

Update: The Sun run a picture gallery of "the world's most infamous cannibal killers."  Almost half are gay men.

Update2: The Mail/Mail Online are so appalled by this story they ran seven stories in three days. Best headline; 'A Canadian Cannibal in LONDON: Fugitive killer visited UK just six months ago – and posed outside Buckingham Palace'. They didn't say if the Queen was in.

Teletubbies: Also Not Gay

'A former Teletubby has broken her silence to insist: Laa-Laa, Tinky Winky, Dipsy and Po weren't gay.

Nikky Smedley, who played yellow-suited Laa-Laa, spoke out to rubbish claims smash hit children's show Teletubbies was laced wih gay innuendo.

'She said: "I think it's embarrassing for the people who said it.

"What kind of person can take the obvious innocence and turn it into something else? We were hardly sexual beings."

'Nikky, now working as a professional storyteller, last donned the famous furry outfit in 2007. During her ten years as Laa-Laa, the BBC show battled rumours of gay undertones.

'In 1999, American cleric Jerry Falwell claimed Tinky Winky was a homosexual role model for children, based on the fact he wore purple and had a triangular antenna. Both are symbols in the gay pride movement.'

Daily Telegraph.
Does anyone give a fuck about this? 

Lord Bowne: Out In The City

'Although the UK has some well-known gay entrepreneurs, only a handful of openly gay people have run the largest companies.
'These include Sir Charles Allen, former chief executive of ITV, executive chairman of Granada and chairman of EMI, currently regional ambassador for the Olympic Games. Lord Browne was another, though he stayed in the closet for years.
'There is also Michael Bishop, now Lord Glendonbrook, the ex-chairman of BMI, whose success in building up the airline led to a £223m sale to Lufthansa in 2009. He sits on the Conservative benches in the House of Lords and is a prominent voice for gay rights.

'Another is Tim Hely Hutchison, group chief executive of Hachette Livre UK, Britain’s largest publisher, an old Etonian and son of an earl. He went to Oxford, but started his business career from scratch.
'Entrepreneurs include Allegra McEvedy, the chef who co-founded Leon, the healthy fast-food chain. 'She gave up her role there in 2009 to focus on writing and television.
'In the media, notable entrepreneurs include Eileen Gallagher, founder of Shed Media, creator of the television series Footballers’ Wives. She earned £3.8m from a £100m takeover by Time Warner.
Prominent gay figures in the City have included Ashley Steel, recently promoted to be vice-chairman of KPMG’s UK arm, and Robert Taylor, former chief executive of Kleinwort Benson.'

Financial Times. 
This list was written as a postscript to a news story about Lord Browne - former head of BP - giving a talk in London on the business world's intolerance of homosexuality.

Browne quit BP in 2007 after being found guilty of lying in court about how he'd met his boyfriend.

He has said "being outed is a blessing".
His business and political careers suggest he has made a pact with Satan. 

• BBC TV News item. And Andrew Pierce putting the boot into Browne in the Mail.

Gareth Malone: Deffo Not Gay

'TV choirmaster Gareth Malone has branded rumours that he is gay “juvenile”.

The Military Wives star, 37, who is married and has a daughter, said he was almost used to the assumptions about his sexuality.
'He said: “It was disappointing to find after leaving that behind at the age of 15, then coming into television and discovering, ‘Oh right, everyone is just as juvenile as the kids at school were.’
“I am fairly flamboyant and expressive but I know plenty of gay people who are ­incredibly repressed and aren’t showy and don’t like Judy Garland, you know?
“I don’t know what it is but I’ve sort of got used to it.”
'Malone told the Radio Times he had often heard comments such as “It’s a bit gay” and “Singing makes you gay!” from men who were reluctant to join choirs.
'His Military Wives choir will be perform at the Diamond Jubilee concert on Monday in The Mall'

Daily Mirror. 
Cause being gay means you like Judy Garland and not cock.
I hope that clears things up.

Religious News: No Homo

Sing baby sing; "Ain't no homo gonna make it to heaven."
Praise be!

Sheila Jeffreys: Hate-Filled Fraud

It's hard to know where to begin with this transphobic, homophobic, misandrist intellectual charlatan.
This is someone who equates heterosexual intercourse with rape.
And thinks a sex change is mutilation. 
Why on Jupiter is The Guardian giving her space?
What next - the thoughts of David Icke?
Nick Griffin?
Or Julie Bindel (again)?!!

Marcus Collins: Newsflash

 

Well whoopie-doo!
You should get Max Clifford to push even more inane stories about you.
I guess the placing of this one is unrelated to the rumour Collins is about to be dropped by his record label?

Advertising: Thou Shalt Not

Here's the list released by the Advertising Standards Authority of the ten most complained about ads of all time.
Unbelievably this 1995 safer sex one from the British Standards Council is at number 5 - and, but of course, it was upheld as being offensive to Catholics!
Although regular viewers will know the ASA is rather overfond of not wanting poor Christians be offended by an advert - and the depiction of gayers in this context appears to be unquestionably "offensive".
Oh, and most complaints seem to come from incredibly boring busybodies.
Who knew!?

Microdisney: People Just Want To Dream

This is my favourite song, like ever. 
It sums up how I feel about ver Thatcher years.
ie They were shit.

Fagburn: Sick

Hello, I'm sick.
See you in a bit.

Woman's Hour: Wow

There are no greater and more pleasing statements in the world than; "And now Woman's Hour with Jenni Murray from Salford,"

Communist Cuba: This Is Your Enemy!

Hello, gentlemen.

                                In the article you have in your blog entitled Cuban American gay activists appalled at Mariela Castro's visit, a mistake was originally made when my name was put with the wrong middle initial. I am not Pedro S. Romanach. I am Pedro A. Romanach. If you click on the following link:

Gay Cuban Americans appalled by Mariela Castro visit ,

 you will see that the mistake has already been corrected in The Miami Herald by Steve Rothaus, where this originally appeared. Maybe you can correct middle initial too. Thank you. I am referring specifically to the sentence that states, "Pedro S. Romanach of Miami calls her visit "patently absurd."

                                                                                              Pedro A. Romanach

                                                                                              Miami, Florida 
 

In no way is this man nuts.

Gay School: How To Dance In The Club

Adorable!
Let's hope this inspires lots of other queens to post uninspired variations on this theme to YouTube.

Disco: The Land Of Make Believe

The Sun.
Okay, it's getting old now.
And this from the guy who wrote Le Freak (Meaning 'Fuck Off!') cause they wouldn't let him into Studio 54.
I love Nile Rodgers - and Chic and Sister Sledge, especially - but enough of this Disco revisionism.

Klaus Nomi: Lightning Strikes

"I can't stop... I can't stop myself!"

Night.

x

One Million Moms: This Is Ridiculous!

'Children desire to be just like superheroes. Children mimic superhero actions and even dress up in costumes to resemble these characters as much as possible. Can you imagine little boys saying, "I want a boyfriend or husband like X-Men?"

'This is ridiculous! Why do adult gay men need comic superheroes as role models? They don't but do want to indoctrinate impressionable young minds by placing these gay characters on pedestals in a positive light. These companies are heavily influencing our youth by using children's superheroes to desensitize and brainwash them in thinking that a gay lifestyle choice is normal and desirable. As Christians, we know that homosexuality is a sin (Romans 1:26-27).

'Unfortunately, children are now being exposed to homosexuality at an early age. Comic books would be one of the last places a parent would expect their child to be confronted with homosexual topics that are too complicated for them to understand. Children do not know what straight, homosexual, or coming out of the closet even means, but DC Comics and Marvel are using superheroes to confuse them on this topic to raise questions and awareness of an alternative lifestyle choice. These companies are prompting a premature discussion on sexual orientation.

'Northstar's wedding will be the first same-sex wedding in the world of mainstream superhero comics, but not the first gay comic books character. Earlier this year One Million Moms emailed Toys 'R' Us concerning the "Life With Archie" No. 16 with two gay characters getting hitched. Toys 'R' Us had the audacity to display "Archie- Just Married" at the front of the store by the checkout counters...'

One Million Moms current issue. 

This American pressure group - famously hopeless at "math" - only seems to get agitated by gay stuff.
Here's their last current issue; 'In Los Angeles, CA, GAP has a billboard located downtown that reads: "GAP- BE BRIGHT- BE ONE" with two homosexual men pressed together under a shared t-shirt. They are hugging each other and facing the camera cheek-to-cheek. "BE ONE" is in large letters which emphasizes the same-sex relationship...'
The horror, the horror!
One Million Moms - or Fifty Thousand Gay Sons, as I prefer to think of them - scored a classic own goal earlier this year when they tried to organise a boycott of JC Penney stores after they chose Ellen DeGeneres to front an ad campaign.
Here's the wonderous Ellen pushing back live on air.

Leveson Inquiry: Call Me Daddy!

The text messages between Jeremy Hunt and Murdoch’s lobbyist [Fred Michel] are just plain embarrassing.

FM: great announcement today. Well done

JH: Merci papa [...]

FM: Full of energy and purpose on Andrew Marr! Liked your answer on Rupert and the BBC! Have a great visit to India. Fred

JH: Merci mon ami

In what is perhaps a reference to mutual fatherhood of new babies — their children were born in the same hospital on the same day — the pair resorted to calling each other “daddy”. At times this drifts off into what could be kindly be referred to as flirting.

FM: You were great on the BBC this week-end!

JH: U too daddy [...]

FM: Great speech. Watched it with cycling team. And I can’t believe you managed to do Newsnight as well! You have stamina daddy!

JH: We all find it somewhere!

Via Political Scrapbook.  
Not that there's anything wrong with that...
We've also recently learnt that Michael Gove uses a private/secret email account under the name "Mrs Blurt".
Not sure anything should be read into this idiosyncrasy of Ivan Massow's former flatmate.
They're a funny bunch these Tories and no mistake.

Mariela Castro: Freedom

 

"If we don't change our patriarchal and homophobic culture, we cannot advance as a new society, and that's what we want, the power of emancipation through socialism. We will establish relationships on the basis of social justice and social equality. It seems like a Utopia, but we can change it." 

Mariela Castro, Cuba's leading LGBT rights advocate and the director of the Cuban National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX), is currently in the US speaking in San Francisco and New York, and meeting health workers and gay campaigners. 
It's quite a big deal, I guess. 
It was touch-and-go whether the land of the free would allow her in.
Interesting to note that for some American gay journalists the only story here is the predictable howls of outrage made by right-wing Cuban-Americans. 

Cuban-Americans Outraged by Mariela Castro Visit 
'Cuban-Americans are outraged that the niece of Fidel Castro is visiting the United States to talk about LGBT equality, given the history of repression in Cuba.'
The Advocate. 

Not All Gay Activists Cheering Mariela Castro's U.S. Visit
'Miami resident Pedro S. Romanach also voiced opposition*, saying that despite Castro's efforts, there are still fundamental rights that Cubans, gay and straight alike, lack: "She may be pro-gay marriage, but the very elementary rights Cubans don’t have — freedom of the press, freedom of assembly — gay people don’t have those rights in Cuba. Neither do straights."
'He went on, "She doesn’t represent anybody but herself. The real heroes in Cuba are the gay people who are pro-gay and pro-freedom and the anti-communists who aren’t getting any publicity."
Towleroad.

Snore!
Little parlour game: How many articles have you seen in the gay press about gay life in Cuba's neighbours - and presumably gay-loving capitalist paradises - Haiti or the Dominican Republic?
Like ever?
If the answer's none, then can all the negative coverage of Cuba be seen as anything other than crude propaganda against an Officially Declared Enemy of the USA?
It is surely beyond stupid for gay journalists to complain about the lack of freedom of speech in Cuba if every word they write just shows the lack of freedom of thought in their own.

• Two interviews with Mariela Castro from L'Humanité and from Der Spiegel.

* Wonder if it's the same Pedro who left this charming comment on Queerty; "This bitch needs to be taken down. Why is she even allowed on American soil? They all have blood on their hands!!"

Eurovision: Boo!

Oh noes! Azerbaijan isn't very nice and they are hosting the Eurovision!!!
Things are so bad Sir Peter Tatchell has put out a press release.
Let's read some more about this hell-hole.
The Times takes a look at Baku's subterranean gay life in The Power Of Disco-Ball Diplomacy..
Lucy Bannerman visits a gay club, and meets Elkhan Baghirov, an activist who thinks the Aliyev regime has been rather good for The Gays;
“Back when the opposition party was in power [after independence in 1991] it was not safe to walk the streets. Even in the past five, seven years, Baku was bad.
“I have spoken to many people this week who say they are so surprised. They were scared about coming here. I am pleased that they can now come to Baku and see with their own eyes. If you go out on the boulevard, you see a lot of happy Azeri faces.”
So NER.
Elkhan likes the Turkish entry; "Sexy man, super song."
The Telegraph's take on it is A tale of tyranny behind the kitsch of Eurovision in Azerbaijan, which, in true Telegraph-style, completes the Herculean task of writing about "the annual festival of tackiness" without actually mentioning The Gays.
Well done.
Meanwhile The Economist wonders what the Politically Apolitical European Broadcasting Union can do to protest the repressive regime.
It's funny I don't recall many journalists drawing attention to Israel's piss poor human rights record when they hosted Eurovision last, do you?
Still, it's not like Israel uses Eurovision for propaganda value to try and present themselves as a nice, normal "European" country, is it?
I've also heard some terrible things about the host country of this year's London Olympics.
Apparently they keep bombing, invading and occupying other countries.
And loads of homes were demolished to make way for the stadium!
Imagine.
Anyone for a boycott?
Oh, and since you're wondering I'd quite like Jedward to win Eurovision, obvs.
Top lads.

PS I see someone has started an internet petition complaining about human rights in Azerbaijan. I bet President Aliyev is shitting himself. 

Andrew Pierce: Homophobe

'In my 30-plus years as a journalist I have been the subject of many insults. They range from the size of my teeth, to the standard of my prose, or even to the fact that I am to quote some of my less liberal admirers, a ‘screaming poofter’. But I had never been accused of being homophobic. But that all changed when Carina Trimingham launched her bizarre legal action against the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday.
'Miss Trimingham alleged that I had, along with some of my colleagues, waged a campaign of harassment against her because she is a bisexual. The allegations are a grotesque suggestion and an astonishing and offensive charge to level at me...'

Really!!?
You amaze me.
Let's rectify that immediately - Andrew Pierce is a homophobe.
He's a gay Uncle Tom who never misses a chance to slag off the queers, and to confirm Daily Mail readers' prejudices, and always with the noxious rejoinder; "And I'm gay myself."
As he then proceeds to do in this article.
What a cunt.

Theresa May: And She's Not Making This Up

Ben Cohen, publisher of Pink News, has begun a campaign to get politicos and celebs to record videos saying they are Out4Marriage.
Who says It Gets Better hasn't changed anything?
Much of the UK gay media seem to be imploding with excitement that Theresa May, Tory minister for women and equalities and deportation, has made a video.
That's right - Theresa May, who's always said she supports gay marriage, has said she supports gay marriage!
On Pink News, a breathless Edmund Broch declares; 'Home Secretary Theresa May comes @Out4Marriage to reaffirm Government’s equal marriage promise'
"Drawing a line under accusations that the Government is ‘pushing into the long grass’ plans to allow gay couples to marry, the Home Secretary, Theresa May, has become the most senior politician yet to join the Out4Marriage campaign."
No such line is drawn.
If anything she is markedly less committed than she has been in the past, and stresses she's only expressing a personal opinion;
"I recognise that there are strong views on both sides of this argument. And I need to listen to all of those views and that’s why the Government is consulting on this issue."
Even if she said she was determined to make gay marriage happen, after Conservative conference every word May says has to be foregrounded with the phrase; "And I'm not making this up..."
Meaning she probably is.
It is remarkable and frightening that journalists - who should be the last people to believe anything a politician says - can be the most credulous and unquestioning.

PS The hyperbole spreads to The Independent who give a leader column to this epochal moment. The piece in The Guardian is so stupid I find it impossible to believe the journalist has been following the gay marriage debate.
Hooray for stupidity!

Jim Parsons: And On That Non-Bombshell...

'When Jim Parsons, the Emmy-winning star of CBS' hit comedy The Big Bang Theory, publicly confirmed that he is gay this week, he didn't announce it in a hyped TV interview, or declare "Yep, I'm gay" on the cover of Time magazine. Instead, the 39-year-old actor casually shared the information with The New York Times' Patrick Healy, who mentioned Parsons' sexuality and his 10-year relationship with a man almost in passing, near the end of a lengthy article on Parson's role in a Broadway revival of Harvey. It was the kind of low-key coming out that's becoming increasingly common. Here, a chronological look at how we got from "mega-outings" to casual exits from the increasingly transparent closet...'

The (US) The Week on how (US) celebrities now tend to come out in passing, rather than splashing it all over the front page.

It's a fair point.

But seeing as they can only name three other sorta famous dudes who've come out in the last two years - Jonathan Knight, Zachary Quinto and Matt Bomer (who? etc) - it's hardly like fags is busting (quietly) out all over, is it?

Gareth Williams: Credible Evidence

BBC Radio 4's The Report returned to the Gareth Williams' story this evening.
The main assertion was that it would have been far easier than has been assumed for Williams to lock himself in the holdall, so it could well have been a solo sex act gone wrong.
This may seem like a minor point, but it's not. 
Earlier this month the coroner submitted an open "narrative verdict" suggesting a third party was "probably" involved and that Williams was "unlawfully killed", as evidence had been submitted that it was a near impossibility he could have locked himself inside.
Even though the keys were found inside the bag beneath his body!
During a reconstruction a yoga specialist "tried more than 100 times without success" - the Report journalist mastered it in five. 
Dr Richard Shepherd, who conducted one of the post-mortem examinations, told The Report;
"Now that we have credible evidence that it is possible to lock the bag from the inside, whilst it doesn't rule out homicide, clearly the chances of this as a solitary sexual act have to be considered in any future investigation by the Metropolitan Police."
Once again it looks to any rational observer that Gareth Williams' death was far more mundane and prosaic than the endless baseless media conjecture has suggested, and than the conspiracy theorists so dearly want to believe.
This case should not rest on the coroner and Williams' family's prudery and prejudices, and how they find other people's sex lives incomprehensible or unseemly.

Daily Mail Privacy Trial: "A Blueprint For Bullies And Bigots"

'The partner of MP Chris Huhne, Carina Trimingham, has had her claim for harassment and breach of privacy against the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday rejected by the High Court.
'Trimingham had an affair with former Secretary of State Huhne which led to him leaving his wife of 26 years in June 2010 when the matter was made public. Trimingham sued over some 65 "highly unpleasant and hurtful" articles which appeared in the Mail which she said represented a "cataclysmic interference" in her private life.
'Trimingham was particulary concerned that many of the articles made reference to her bisexuality.
'But Mr Justice Tungendhat handed down a judgment today which rejected her claim saying: "Ms Trimingham was not the purely private figure she claims to be. Her reasonable expectation of privacy has become limited..."

Press Gazette.

"To the extent that the words complained of include insults and other offensive matter, insulting and offensive speech is protected by the right of freedom of expression. In this case what Ms Trimingham complains of is not so unreasonable that it is necessary or proportionate to sanction or prohibit such publications in order to protect the rights of Ms Trimingham. So the defendant has not harassed her within the meaning of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.
"It is not the case that a reasonable person in the position of the defendant ought to have known that these articles, separately, or cumulatively, amount to harassment of Ms Trimingham."
On the issue of privacy, the judgment adds: "I have also found that she had no reasonable expectation of privacy in relation to various items of information, including the images published on a total of occasions. These were cropped versions of photographs which had been taken at and immediately before her civil partnership ceremony in June 2007, but which reveal no more information about her than the public already knew."

Judge Tungendhat.

"This was an important example of the press exercising its right to free speech in relation to matters of significant public interest.
"We are pleased that the court agreed with us and has today dismissed all of Miss Trimingham’s complaints.
"The references to Miss Trimingham’s sexuality in our coverage were never pejorative, private or in any way homophobic.
"Miss Trimingham chose to level some very serious charges against our journalists in this case. This judgment vindicates both our journalists and their journalism."

Associated Newspapers' statement, quoted in the Mail's grimly jubliant report.

Carina Trimingham will have to pay at least £140,000 towards Associated Newspapers’ £410,000 legal costs.
She said outside the court:

"I am extremely disappointed by this judgment. There is a ray of light, however.
"Thankfully, the court has accepted today that repeated mocking of a person by a national newspaper by reference to their sexual orientation would almost inevitably be so oppressive as to amount to harassment.
"However, the court did not appreciate that when newspapers make repeated irrelevant references to sexuality - particularly in the context of pejorative and stereotypical references to appearance - it amounts to the same type of mocking which the court has confirmed is unacceptable.
"This is confused, and I think wrong. I am very concerned that this judgment may become a blueprint for bullies and bigots. I intend to appeal."

This was a particularly nasty, scurrilous and relentless hate campaign, clearly driven by homophobia - and by the simple fact that her partner Chris Huhne has become a punchbag for certain sections of the press, though I can't see how she thought she could have won under English law.
It's interesting that this trial has taken place at the same time as the Leveson Inquiry. Newspapers can write whatever they want about the private life of a "public figure" - though arguably the media made Trimingham in to a public figure - and commit the very nastiest kind of character assassination, especially if they're queer.  

PS This is an really important story that's been unfolding over 12 months now. Coverage of it in Gay Star News, Pink News, and Pink Paper over the last year = Zero! Impressive.

Marriage: The Uncommitted Commitment

David Cameron to offer MPs free vote on gay marriage plans 
The Independent.

The gay marriage-bashing Daily Telegraph predictably recasts this as; 'No 10 backs down over David Cameron gay marriage plan.'
But did anyone seriously think this would not be a free vote - that's if it comes to a vote, of course.
And how can this be squared with;
'Mr Cameron's spokesman said the Government was "committed to introducing same-sex civil marriage" by the end of the current Parliament, in 2015. Asked whether the normal rules of collective responsibility would apply, he said: "It is a government commitment."' (The Independent, yesterday. Emphasis added).
Anyone might think they're making all this up as they go along.
What an utter shambles.

Update: Matthew Parris' column in The Times; "Very slightly odd that Owen Paterson, the Northern Ireland Secretary, should be telling a constituent now that he cannot support gay marriage.
But nobody will be requiring him to. No legislation has yet been proposed and if or when it were, the measure would certainly be put to a free vote in the House of Commons, with MPs voting according to their consciences. That is how the 1967 Act (legalising homosexual relations between consenting adults over 21) was passed, with Margaret Thatcher voting in favour. That, too, was how the 1982 Order in Council was passed, bringing Northern Ireland (where all homosexual relations were a criminal offence) into line with the rest of Britain..." Thank you, Matthew.

Update2: And a predictably dumb and wrongheaded Telegraph blogpost on this appears from Cristina Odone. You can always count on papist fartbag Cristina Odear to grab hold of the wrong end of the stick and start beating us round the head with it.

John Travolta: More Hairspray

'SCANDAL-hit John Travolta is at the centre of another sex storm after snaps emerged of him dressed as a woman.'

Daily Star. 
Man wears drag at silly showbiz party 15 years ago shock!
On the Star's usual form, I was hoping the story inside was going to "exclusively reveal" he played a woman in Hairspray.
Not sure how this constitutes a "sex storm", but I'm starting to get the feeling me and the Star may live in slightly different worlds.

Comics: Superhero To See You!

I'm sure there must be a phrase to describe the media phenomenon whereby the amount of coverage a subject gets stands in inverse proportion to how (dis) interested most people are in it.
Whatever, "gay comic book characters" has to be the queenly king of this.
Though precisely no-one cares beyond the handful of geeks who still bother to buy these things, a new gay comics character will be practically front page news.
So the Daily Mail shouts out in a headline yesterday; 'Marvel Comics announces plans to have gay superhero marry on their pages... just one day after rival publication house promises to 'out' a famous character'.
And just one day before they were wondering aloud; 'Is Batman gay? Major DC Comics character to come out of the closet'.
Both are quite matter-of-fact non-hysterical pieces, but you wonder if their inclusion is because someone at the Mail thinks this is like having buttfucking in the Beano.
Many of the Mail's readers clearly do;

"It has nothing to do with orientation, but the fact sex is even part of comics for kids. You would think that would be the ONE place we could go to see sex free entertainment. I agree with some posters, its politics and appeasment. No wonder kids have babies at 14. What next, Wonder Woman had an abortion? Or Nancy and Sluggo involved in a hate crime? God must be sick at the choices his creations make."

Again, these comics are now aimed at and bought by adults.
Though I'm not sure why kids being reminded that some dudes dig dudes etc would be a bad thing.
There's an interesting blogpost on Guardian online by comics fan, David Barnett, looking at why "the Daily Mail got its knickers - worn outside of its trousers, presumably - in a twist."
(That the story is thought worth repeating in another feature in the Guardian's print edition seems to bear out my original contention).
But what's noticeable is how unphased and unbothered the Mail's coverage has been, though it would have been easy to spin it into one of their make-believe manufactured "scandals";
"Outrage over gay marriage propaganda in kiddies' comics" anyone?

PS A little twitter gag of mine got picked up by a Marvel comics spambot yesterday...

Picture Of The Day: Bible Studies

"Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the Lord." Leviticus 19:28.
Classique!

Via @pocahontasshole

PS 76 Things Leviticus Bans.

Edward Said: Orientalism

To read about Azerbaijan
(or Iran
or
or...)
is to read nothing new
just the same tired old lie dreams of empire
sent to make us feel better
justified

In our divine right to rule over this "Other".
"They are backward,
we are perfect
savages,
is that understood?"

Nick Clegg: His Boring Word Is His Bond

"The Coalition Government, the Liberal Democrats and I remain wholeheartedly committed to lifting the ban on equal civil marriage. We are currently consulting on how, not whether, to introduce proposals for equal marriage and I want to encourage everyone to make sure that their voices are heard during this time."

Nick Clegg, in a predictably banal and brief statement sent to Coalition For Equal Marriage.
Despite it just repeating his stock phrase, and looks like it's been cut-and-pasted onto an email by an intern (such commitment!), this has been bigged up by the Independent with the headline; 'Coalition will bring in gay marriage despite Tory resistance, vows Clegg' 
Pink News takes a similar line; 'Nick Clegg warns Tories against backing down on equal marriage'
Eh?
Can anyone see any "warning to the Tories" in the above statement?
Bizarre.
Still, if Nick Clegg gives you his cast iron guarantee on a policy it must be a shoo-in, right?

Gay Marriage: Look At Me! Look At Me!

PoliticsHome has got some nice graphics for the latest YouGov/Sunday Times poll on gay marriage.
They conclude it's unconvincing for the Tory right to say the issue is a "distraction", when a majority of people now support it.
Here it is broken down by age...

• Conducted May 10th-11th. Original online versions appear to have disappeared into the ether...

Disco: Disco Revisionism Sucks!

I think that's enough articles about how Disco changed the world - and brought all society's most marginalised people LIKE TEH GAYS! into the mainstream and set us free from our bondage blah blah blah de-blah - for the time being, thanks.
Is there nobody who's prepared to stand up and say they always thought Disco was shit?

Tweet Of The Day: Clicktivism

Via @bengoldacre

These internet petitions really do make me despair sometimes.
It's a sign not of political engagement, but of a highly depoliticised culture.
Maybe I should be touched by the naivety, but do people really think that, say, the mayor of St Petersburg is going to stop doing something homophobic because some fags in the wicked West have clicked on a button to say they think he's being homophobic?
Sadly, I've a feeling the only e-petition that anyone's ever taken much notice of has been the Coalition 4 Marriage one.

PS Yup, there's not much in the papers worth commenting on today. "Laters."

Daily Mail: Are Teachers Turning Britain's Farmers Gay?

This isn't a real headline, by the way.
It's from Daily Mail-o-Matic - which generates new evermore hysterical headlines at the click of a button.
What larks!

• Gay Farmers Helpline (This is real, by the way).

Marriage: Here Is The Latest Non-News

'The Advertising Standards Agency has been accused of bias after its chairman publicly campaigned for gay marriage while it has placed advertisements from opponents of a change in the law under investigation.'

An almost record-breakingly inelegant and unwieldy sentence from the Daily Telegraph there. 
So what's the story?

'The watchdog rejected calls for Lord Smith of Finsbury – the former Labour cabinet minister, Chris Smith – to resign last night but accepted that he had a “conflict of interest” on the matter and therefore would not vote.

'It emerged last week that the ASA is investigating an advertisement from the Coalition For Marriage (C4M), which campaigns against changing the law, following claims it is “offensive” to homosexual people...' 

Erm, the "calls for him to resign" have come from one single - and seriously barking - blogger.
Since when did deluded rants from the wilder fringes of the blogosphere carry any political weight?
Fagburn hereby calls for David Cameron to commit hara-kiri live on The One Show on Friday whilst whistling Dixie.
Are you going to turn that into a news story?

Arts News: A Brush With The Law

This beautiful painting by Ronnie Kray, one of the nation's best-loved violent psychofags, is part of a set being put up for auction.
Toby Service, of Brightwells Fine Art Auctioneers, told the Mirror; “They did a lot of paintings and drawings in prison.
"They were never particularly good, to be honest, but I wouldn’t say that to their face."

Eurovision: Boom Bang-a-Bang

Like several other people I could name, even though until recently I couldn't even spell Azerbaijan, I now consider myself to be something of an expert on it.
And I can state quite authoritatively that it is not a very nice place.
Azerbaijan is a grubby little oil and gas-rich mafia state run by this crappy and corrupt dynastic regime, the Aliyevs.
Though they don't seem as big on state murder and mass political imprisonment as some of their neighbours, elections are rigged and freedom of speech is a somewhat nebulous concept [See Human Rights Watch Report].
Homosexuality is legal but remains a secret.
Tonight's Panorama, Eurovision's Dirty Secret, looked at how Azerbaijan's rulers are wetting themselves with excitement over Eurovision, as they want to milk it for propaganda value to try to normalise how they're seen on the world stage.
And why not? It's worked so well for the "European" state of Israel.
That a large residential area in the capital, Baku, was forcibly bulldozed to make room for the Eurovision stadium seems like a perfect metaphor for this whole sorry charade.
Rather hilariously, the first lady heads their Eurovision committee, and the half-time entertainment at the final will be provided by her doubtlessly talented son-in-law.
On Panorama you see the bizarre spectacle of a BBC reporter trying to get Engelbert Humperdinck to condemn the regime, claiming that his appearance is a tacit endorsement.
But the 'Dinck don't do politics, which means he's a lickspittle running dog of President Aliyev. 
If so, what does that make the BBC?
Azerbaijan is a bit of a pariah state, though the US has been extremely grateful for all their help during their wars against Iraq and Afghanistan.
They do have one really good new best friend though - Israel, who are hoping Azerbaijan will be just as accommodating if/when they bomb Iran.
It might prove instructive to watch how they both vote on Saturday.

PS There's been much chatter in the gay meeja about an apparent spat between Iran and Azerbaijan over a non-existent "gay parade" in Baku during Eurovision. Though there doesn't seem to be any official statement from the Iranian authorities on this - does anyone think it would be high on their list of priorities right now?
Please bear in mind that if you're reading anything about Iran it's likely to be a fiction. And please spare us your Orientalist fantasies.

Update May 23: 'Downing Street refuses to discuss UK plans for Iran-Israel conflict: PM's spokesman will not say what preparations are being made after claims that ministers discussed legality of intervention' BBC News.

Update2: Mark Lawson on the BBC's chutzpah/hypocrisy.

Justine Bieber: Huge Penis

Via Popjustice.

Colin Firth: Begins Ambitious Project To Play Every Gay Man Who Ever Existed

'Rupert Everett will make his directorial debut with The Happy Prince, a comedic biopic on Oscar Wilde that will star Everett as the legendary Irish writer and playwright and Colin Firth as his friend and confidant Reginald "Reggie" Turner...'
Hollywood Reporter, 21st May.

'Colin Firth has signed up to star as Noel Coward in BiteSize Entertainment’s dramedy Mad Dogs and Englishmen, the story of Coward’s two weeks at The Desert Inn in Las Vegas in 1955...'
Hollywood Reporter, 19th May.  

As to whether either of these fillums actually get made...

Tom Daley: Birthday Update

Tom Daley has been a very busy birthday boy - mainly as his autobiography, My Story, is published today.*
He was on This Morning this morning.
And he's on The One Show later.
He did a book signing at lunchtime at Piccadilly Waterstones.
I did seriously think about going, but thought it might seem too creepy.
A friend said; "Don't worry - it's not like he's going to be in his trunks, is it?"
Please see photo above.
*facepalm*

* Please feel free to send me a copy. Thank you.

Journalism: Defining The Public Interest

"I'm wary about attempts to define it or to pin it down, partly because I think this could end up being restrictive, but mainly because our view of what the public interest entails changes quite dramatically over time and I think, as journalists, we should be willing to fight the public-interest battle on a case-by-case basis. For example, 50 years ago it was assumed that there was a public interest in knowing that an MP was gay, but little or no public interest in whether he drove home drunk, hit his wife or furnished his house using wood from non-sustainable sources. Now, obviously, it's the other way round. Society does – and should – constantly redefine what the public interest entails and journalism should be part of that."

Andrew Sparrow, quoted in The Guardian's Readers' Editor column. 

Angela Lansbury: Bad Romance

'Despite being what she describes as “an old soul” she was unsophisticated when it came to romance. She married her first husband, Richard Cromwell, when she was 19. He was a handsome leading man — charming, knowledgeable about jazz, and that interested her. He was quite a bit older, too. “I haven’t thought about it because the marriage was so brief,” she says. She tilts her head to one side adding it up. “I think he was 37 at the time.” The marriage ended seven months later, after she came home to find her husband’s car and clothes gone and a note reading, ‘I’m sorry darling, I can’t go on.’ Cromwell was gay — something she wasn’t made aware of until after they separated. “I knew how to act mature but I wasn’t,” she smiles faintly, referring to being in the dark about this. She found out only when it was about to be in the newspapers. A woman from MGM’s press office called to let her know...'

Angela Lansbury profiled in the Daily Telegraph.
It's such a cruel irony that a press officer from the film studios had to break the news.
God, don't the good old days sound like HELL?

Letter Of The Week: And It's Only Monday!

John Sentamu's patronising and long-winded writing is a mere cloak to disguise his backward and offensive views. He'd have saved a lot of time if he'd simply written "all couples are equal, but some are more equal than others, and that's just the way it is".
Sam Cannicott
London

A letter in The Guardian, written in response to the Archbishop of York's beyond embarrassing bollocksathon on gay marriage, which they ran on Friday.
Another well-known phrase that sums up Sentamu's position is of course; "Separate but equal."
There are three other longer letters in The Guardian going through some of the devils in the details, but I think the one above says all that needs saying.

Tom Daley: Happy 18th Birthday

Happy birthday, Tommy.

xxx

PS For those who don't follow the sports, Tom won the European championship again yesterday!

Fagburn: Good Grief

Well, that soon descended into the usual circlejerk of absolute Dianabollocks.
"Oh boo hoo-hoo, I'm even more upset than you."
Next time someone famous dies please tell me to turn off Twitter,
lest I drown under another avalanche of idiotic and insincere sentimental vomit.
"Don't feel it, show it!"

"There's an emotional kind of almost decadence, where people are encouraged to shout and to scream and to weep over the most trivial issues. There is an emotional licentiousness where people just give way to hysteria over nothing, over trivia. You've got this emotional incontinence over things that don't matter, and you've got this passivity over things that do matter.
"So it's almost like the cultural establishment is letting you lose all your feelings of rage and suspense and of pain, when the things you should be raging and in pain about we tolerate."

Ken Loach, interviewed for A History Of The Stiff Upper Lip, BBC Radio 4, May 19th 2012.

Robin Gibb: 1946-2012

John Travolta: You, The Jury

John Travolta Sex Massage Reenactment - watch more funny videos     

Sunday papers exist to serve up sex and scandal, and the occasional free Carry On DVD.
Today's bring yet more lurid "gay sex claims" made about John Travolta, a popular Hollywood actor.
Will his torment never end? 
Fagburn really doesn't know what to make of all this malarkey.
Perhaps these allegations are all being made by extortionate evildoers out to make a quick buck from the Saturday Night Fever star?
Or maybe Mr Travolta really loves sucking the cocks of built and buff dudes on the sly?
Who can say?
Before ye judge, may I implore you to watch the above video - a re-enactment of an ALLEGED encounter between John and a "male masseuse" using dialogue taken from your actual court documents.
Don't enjoy!

Thought For The Day: Antony Hegarty

"Future Feminist Foundation is not a group that thinks women should just crawl towards economic equality in the way we have been engaged in since the 60s. That can't be the climax of feminism.
"It's like gay rights, as if gay marriage is the end point, as if we just want to be included in these business-as-usual institutions. That's not the point of being queer, just as mitigated reproductive rights aren't the point of being a woman.
"We want to move this forward. Do something great... overturn all these failed male structures of thinking, all this aggression in decision-making."

From a cracking interview with our Ant'ny in the Observer by Tim Adams, particularly good on young Mr Hegarty's influences, musical and performance arty.

PS Googling "Future Feminist Foundation" - a NY group he says he helped found - only brings you back to this article. Anyone?

Gay Marriage: Dammit Janet

Back in the heady days of April, it seemed like every week every Sunday broadsheet star columnist felt duty-bound to vomit up their quarter-baked opinion on gay marriage.
Today, perhaps tellingly, I can find but one, and as that's by Janet Street-Porter - the Independent On Sunday's "Editor-At-Large" no less - I'm not sure it really counts.
Her columns appearing in the IoS are the boardroom version of a paper publishing some fluff by an intern on their last day.  
Bless.
Today, La Porter is on top "Will this do?" form.
She begins by making what has to be the most hand-eatingly over-used "observation" on marriage equality - the only people still enthusiastic about marriage these days are The Gays!
She mentions our mad old friend the Archbishop of York's comments last week - I guess this is the article's "hook".
Apparently, he is "entitled to his opinions".
She makes the obligatory reference to her gay friends - though in Janet's case the cliche rings less hollow.
She only has gay friends.
She makes a completely baffling "comparison" to some mass Islamic (straight) wedding ceremony in Nigeria; "Without being judgemental about Islamic law – sharia – who is to say that mass weddings are any less valid than a Church of England service with a vicar and a load of clapped-out hymns?"
She drops in something about those vouchers for parenting classes - just to keep things contemporary, like.
Approaching the home strait, she switches into full-on waffle-mode, throwing both caution and sense to the wind; "Getting married should involve the same counselling as faiths provide before they allow couples to tie the knot."
Eh?
Then - and only then - Janet boldly states her conclusion; "Marriage must be available to all."
Textbook stuff.

News In Briefs: Pants!

These three stories have appeared in most of your actual gay news media in the last few days, with much the same take on them. 
I don't think any of them warrant their own blogpost, but as they've generated much babble here's my two cents. 

1. Hillary Clinton to officially accept WorldPride award
'US Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton has formally agreed to accept WorldPride’s “World LGBT Award” as the event comes to London this summer.
'Mrs Clinton will be honoured for her “outstanding contributions” to gay and transgender rights globally.
'The award will be presented at the World Pride Gala Dinner, Dine With Pride.

This report takes its cue from the press release which said; "...Hillary Rodham Clinton formally agreed to accept WorldPride’s World LGBT Award".
How would you interpret this?
That she's said she wants to come over for the award ceremony and get it?
I checked with Pride London and all that's happened is she's said she accepts the honour - as if she was going to reject it.
Have you ever heard of a press release being sent saying someone had agreed to be given an award before?
Do they do this with the Oscars?
Hmm...
Apropos of nothing tickets for the dinner cost £250. 

2. Disneyland champions gay rights in Japan
'Disneyland has become an unlikely champion of gay rights in Japan, by allowing same-sex couples to marry on its premises, even though same-sex relationships have no legal recognition in the country.'

Disney have said they will hire out a venue to a lesbian couple for cash-money for a meaningless made-up ceremony - this does not make them gay rights champions.

3. Will Smith Slaps Some Sense Into Reporter Who Tries To Kiss Him
'Rapper/Actor Will Smith was not having it when a reporter tried to kiss him on the lips at the Moscow premiere of Men in Black 3'A wacky Ukrainian journalist tried to plant one on Smith on the red carpet, but the star pushed him away and gave him a backhanded bitchslap on the face. Smith tried to stay all smiles but seemed ticked off, saying “He’s lucky I didn’t sucker punch him.”

I would also be extremely pissed off if some unfunny jerk tried to do this to me.
Wouldn't you?
I don't think you can automatically read anything else into it (it has been interpreted as indicating/confirming he's either closeted or a homophobe).  
Incidentally, just two days before Will Smith said he supports gay marriage.

Jedward: So Not Gay

'EUROVISION hopefuls Jedward have put to bed rumours they are gay, insisting: “We get a girl every HOUR.”
The testosterone-charged twins made their shocking boast as they faced Europe’s press ahead of the contest’s opening parade in Azerbaijan last night.

Quizzed over their outlandish stage look, John and Edward shrugged off the suggestion they are into fellas — insisting the public has no idea what really goes on between their sheets.
John revealed: “Me and Edward are straight. You don’t know the stuff we get up to with girls.”
And Edward jumped into the discussion, pointing at his PRIVATES.
He bragged: “Yeah, we got a girl every hour — there are people waiting out there, they are waiting for this!”
However, the Lucan lads, 20, did acknowledge that their wacky style sense has heightened interest in their sexuality.
John said: “I think a lot of people ask this question because we wear crazy outfits and some people who are gay wear crazy outfits but, yeah, we are straight.
“We have loads of girls so sorry to all the guys out there — you are still awesome but no, not this time.”
His brother chipped in: “A big shout out to all the gay fans — you guys rock.'

The Irish Sun.
Thanks for clearing that up, lads. 
Though, as with so much with Jedward, you get the feeling they didn't mean for their "denial" to be taken seriously. 
I'd quite like them to win Eurovision by the way.
But then I'd also like them to make a twincest video.
Is that just me?

Ziggy Changed My Life: Lipstick Traces

Okay, maybe this one doesn't look too good on paper.
A radio documentary about Ziggy Stardust written and presented by Gary Kemp of Spandau Ballet fame - but it was pretty good.
Kemp can be a thoughtful writer (I remember Julie Burchill once saying how shocked she was at how good he was) and forty years ago, he was there.
A working-class lad from north London who had his world turned upside down by Ziggy Stardust, Kemp was also a witness to Ziggy's legendary farewell performance at Hammersmith Odeon in 1973.
At times this seemed a bit York Notes; racing through a litany of the influences David Bowie fed off for his greatest creation; Little Richard, Vince Taylor, Lindsay Kemp, Andy Warhol blah blah blah.
Its strength lay in the interviews with a number of Bowie's friends and collaborators, most hilariously Spiders Woody and Trevor, two very straight blokes from Hull wondering how far into poovery they were being taken.
There are also some great little jolts about how threatening many found this at the time, like the TV producer who didn't want "those perverts" on his show.
Kemp is particularly good on how thrilling he found it all, it was, he has written, his "teenage crush".
John Lennon once quipped about Bowie's early 70s model/s; "It's great - but it's just Rock n Roll with lipstick on."
This programme shows why Ziggy Stardust meant so much more than just that.

PS If you're reading this in the not-too-distant future and the above i-Player link has expired, it's being repeated on BBC Radio 2 on June 6th - your actual 40th anniversary of the album's release.