On The Buses: Busted

The Twittersphere has been ABLAZE this afternoon over news that posters bearing the legend, ‘Not gay! Ex-gay, post-gay and proud. Get over it!’, would be appearing on London buses next week.
This was announced in a statement by two rabidly anti-gay Christian grouplets, Anglican Mainstream and Core Issues, who said it was their response to Stonewall's current advertising campaign; "Some people are gay. Get over it!"
But these went further than Coalition 4 Marriage's highly contentious press and online adverts, as they suggest gay people could, should and can be "cured".
Initially the idea that these would be approved sounded so improbable I wondered if it was an evangelical prank - a false flag campaign that wasn't really happening, but was just designed to generate much sound and fury, and thus loads of free publicity.
Which it has.
But apparently the Advertising Standards Authority had okayed it, claiming the advert "does not infringe any advertising rules in the UK".
Eh?
Section 4.1 of the ASA Code states; "Marketing communications must not contain anything that is likely to cause serious or widespread offence. Particular care must be taken to avoid causing offence on the grounds of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability or age. Compliance will be judged on the context, medium, audience, product and prevailing standards."
Its blatantly false claims about the voodoo of conversion cures are also clearly in contravention of Section 3.
[Update: "Core Issues co-director Mike Davidson said: "We went through the correct channels and we were encouraged by the bus company to go through their procedures. They okayed it and now it has been pulled." BBC News].
Mind you the ASA have form on appeasing homophobic religious nutters. 
At around 6pm it was announced that the campaign had been blocked at the behest of the hapless, hopeless Mayor Of London, Boris Johnson - after The Guardian told his office what was going on.
Transport For London then tweeted to say that they had also been completely unaware of them.
Unbelievable.
What a shower, what a joke, what a farce!

   

Update: Alok Jha in The Guardian online on why the claims of "conversion therapy" are junk science.

Brian Sewell: "I Am An Art Expert"

Oh, this is hours of fun - the Brian Sewell Sampler.
It's like he's right here in the room talking down to me!
Marvellous.

Lovingly purloined from off of Popbitch.

PS You may also enjoy Victor Lewis-Smith giving Mr Sewell a call on the tellybone.

Queercore: Blah Blah Blah!

There's an oral history of Homocore/Queercore by Adam Rache just gone up on the Out website.
Though it covers five virtual pages, it still seems like a bit of a sprint through things, but he does talk to most of the key figures; Bruce LaBruce, Vaginal Creme Davis, Larry-Bob Roberts, Donna Dresch, Lynn Breedlove, Jon Ginoli, Matt Wobensmith...
It's a history that still needs to be written - the Wikipedia entry is a fucking joke.
Unsurprisingly.
I always thought Liz Naylor summed Queercore up best when she said it wasn't a movement, it was a moment.
Or, as Bruce LaBruce puts it here; "We borrowed from The Situationists quite heavily - this idea of creating a spectacle and propping it up in the media, even though it was fiction."
Interesting that Queercore gets glowing retrospectives like this 20 years after - at the time only two journalists wrote much about it outside of zines, Adam Block and that Richard Smith bloke. 
And lest we forget, it was also a tiny scene - I guess the biggest Queercore gathering in the UK was Pansy Division's gig at the Highbury Garage, and I don't think there were 100 people there.
So it goes.
But anyway...
If you want to go in deeper, you can hear interviews with Pansy Division's Jon Ginoli and Fifth Column's GB Jones on the Queer Music Heritage website.
There's also galleries, zine shots and a load of songs to listen to.
Enjoy!

Fagburn: The Richard (Not Judy) Book Club

In the absence of anything interesting to write about today I'm doing some reading.
A copy of The Passion Of Bradley Manning by Chase Madar has arrived, so I've started on that.
Thanks Chase.

'Who is Private First Class Bradley Manning? Why did he allegedly commit the largest security breach in American history--and why was it so easy? Is Manning a traitor or a whistleblower? Is long-term isolation an outrage to American values--or the new norm? Are the leaks revolutionary or a sensational nonevent? Which is the greater security threat, routinized elite secrecy or flashes of transparency? And what impact does new information really have?'

It's available in the UK now for ten of your English pounds.
You can read an excerpt here, and you can watch an interview with Chase Madar here.
But remember: Other books are available.
Like this one here, Occupy by Noam Chomsky.
Though technically it's a pamphlet.

'Through talks and conversations with movement supporters, Occupy presents a crystallization of Chomsky’s latest thinking on the cornerstones issues, questions and demands that are driving ordinary Americans to protest. How did we get to this point? How are the wealthiest 1% influencing the nation? How are the financial crisis and our political system linked?  How has corporate personhood impacted the country and why should it be stopped? How can we get money out of politics? What would a genuinely democratic election look like? How can we redefine basic concepts like “growth” to increase equality and quality of life for all? How can we sustain the movement and turn this country around?'

PS The book I'm really looking forward to is Tom Daley: My Story, obvs.

UND! Why Do We Need Whistleblowers in a Democracy? An Evening with Craig Murray, Ex Ambassador, Author, Broadcaster, Whistleblower and Human Rights Activist, Cardiff University. Monday April 16th.

Thought For The Day: April 12th 1971

"So what makes you think heterosexual is so normal? I'm glad I'm homosexual - if I had the chance to be born again I'd choose to be homosexual..."
"No, no, I mean it. I'm glad I have nothing to do with the straight male thing suppressing women. Look I went to a psychiatrist once, don't we all. They've got past saying you're sinful, now they say you're sick. But to me, anyone who doesn't say being a homosexual is OK, well he's no good to me. What we're trying to do here is not only make people like you feel that being gay is good. We want to set up a whole new scene for gay people. Because they said we were criminals or ill our sex was furtive, scuffles in public lavatories, cruising on some heath, a quick grope wherever we could find it. That's not what homosexual means, only what society has made it mean. They fill us with self-hate, they make our lives intolerable and then they point the finger."

An unnamed boy in a bar quoted in Gay Is The Word by Jill Tweedie.
Reprinted today in The Guardian's From The Archive section.
Several things may strike a modern reader; how she contrasts the furtive and oppressive UK with the seemingly gay utopias of Arab countries, such as Morocco.
And how homosexuality is presented as an almost existential ideological challenge to the dominant culture.
"Gay Lib is in the business of rocking the boat. Though they want legislative and attitude changes these young homosexuals, by their very acceptance of the normality of homosexuality, challenge the status quo, the dedicated heterosexuality of the normal man and woman which creates the family unit, foundation stone of the capitalist system. Gay Lib does not plead for the right of homosexuals to marry. Gay Lib questions marriage.
"And they are beautiful to see..."
Happy times.

• If you're interested in "this sort of thing" have a look at the website of the Lesbian And Gay News Media Archive, who are currently putting their collection of newspaper cuttings online. It would make for a fascinating book, I think.

Fagburn: Happy Second Birthday!

For a ruthless criticism of everything existing since April 2010.

Twitter: Lego Gay Village People

'Dan bought some lego. So I made a gay club. Chris Lowe is DJing'
Best thing I've ever been tweeted -  via Oliver Basciano on Twitter.

PS You may want to check out the backroom later.

Zac Slams: A Statement on Separatist Faggot Acceptance

From Zac Slams' Tumblr.
Click to enlarge.

Petitions: Well Fancy That!

'PinkNews.co.uk’s Edmund Broch explores how accurate the reliable the system is that appears to suggest that the Coalition for Marriage has amassed 400,000 signatures in opposition to the Government’s plans to allow gay couples to marry and asks ‘do their numbers add up?’'

Pink News, Sunday April 8th.

'An AllOut.org campaign to support Electronic Arts over its inclusion of gay characters in two recent video games has had to be suspended following hackers’ efforts to add thousands of fake signatures.'

Pink News, Wednesday April 11th.

Oops!

PS The Twitter account of America's National Organization For Marriage has been hacked by "radical homosexual activists". Tee hee...

Neighbours: Kiss Me Quick

'Never have the lyrics - 'Everybody needs good neighbours, with a little understanding' - of the infamous Neighbours theme tune rang so true.
'For Chris Pappas, played by James Mason, and on-screen boyfriend Aidan Foster (Bob Morley), will need some open-mindedness from their friends after sharing the first ever gay kiss on the soap.
'The long-running Australian drama has finally featured its debut same-sex kiss - the first in 27 years...'
'While the topical subject should be commended by writers penning the script, it seems producers weren't quite bold enough to allow the action to occur close-up and instead opted for a long shot.
'But executive producer Susan Bower insists bosses were keen not to scandalise the kiss, saying: 'It’s not sensationalist or token - we are very proud of the way we have done this.'

The Daily Mail.
An unsensationalist and undisgusted piece from the Mail - though I get the feeling they'd've been a bit more excited if it was two good-looking young women "locking lips".
The thing is it's so quick and done in the background, one wonders if anyone would have noticed it if the tabloids hadn't pointed it out.
The Sun was similarly unphased, concluding; "Let’s hope viewers will be more happy to see Chris and Aidan love thy Neighbour."



There's some great readers' comments on the Mail Online, as per:

"Why have they got to spoil a good show with AGENDAS. Sometimes you just want to be entertained and enjoy what you are watching with your family. If people want gay kisses, turn over to Hollyoaks." Lee, London England.

"Sick! End of." Mark, UK.

"Not really bothered one way or the other but oh dear yet another two really good looking guys have turned to the other side....... What are we girls going to do now there's not much TOP TOTIE to choose from? Can't you make you them short, fat and bald like all the rest of the men out there... That way at least I wouldn't get envious." Mum, Cheshire.

"Neighbours is about to lose a regular viewer. Depravity is not entertaining." Annie, Daventry, England.

"I'm outraged. You would think gay people existed in real life or something. PC gone mad. Off my screen now. I don't understand it therefore it must be wrong. blah. blah. blah. (just getting it all out the way)." Dan, Manchester.

And Fagburn's favourite comment on this hoopla;

"Wasn't aware of the fact that they use those large red plastic cups in Australia, I would typically associate that with the US." Annie.

Walliams & Cowell: A Fine Bromance

'MATT Lucas has branded his comedy partner David Walliams and Simon Cowell the “new Hinge & Bracket”.
'Little Britain star Matt said David and Simon are getting so pally on Britain’s Got Talent that they remind him of the old telly drag queens.
'On the left [^] is how David and Simon would look as the couple who used to sing – and bicker – around a piano.'

The Sun.
Oh dear...

The Daily Star adds informatively...

'BRITAIN’S Got Talent stars Simon Cowell and David Walliams are to carry on camping it up to beat The Voice.

'Telly focus groups have revealed that viewers of the ITV1 show are loving the antics between David Walliams, 40, and Simon Cowell, 52.

'They told chiefs they want to see the camp Little Britain actor tease and flirt with the music executive even more.

'A show source said: “David has been given the green light to ramp up his bromance with Simon for the live shows.

'“Producers believe it’s the key to hooking in more viewers. The focus groups said they’re loving the show’s talent but wanted even more of David and Simon.

'“Viewers enjoy seeing him leave Simon speechless and red-faced. It’s going to become the campest show on telly."

'Last weekend new BBC1 show The Voice averaged 9.5million viewers, pipping Britain’s Got Talent, now in its sixth series, with 9.1m.

'Cowell admitted he was “irritated” to come in second best.

'Wild comic Walliams, 40, married to model Lara Stone, 28, repeatedly jokes on the show that he has a crush on bachelor Cowell.

'He also teases the music mogul about his sexuality, calling him “Queen Simon”.

'Cowell has admitted he is fond of his new judging pal, saying: “It was meant to be, wasn’t it? You know the sketch with the Prime Minister and the gay assistant in Little Britain, it’s like that.”

'Cheeky Walliams then added: “Except you’re the gay one.”'

Fagburn, for one, is positively gripped.
Many people on the Twittersphere have been asking about Will.i.am on their rival show, The Voice, incidentally...

PS The general consensus on Matt Lucas's new show, The Matt Lucas Awards, which debuted last night, is that it is absolute ruggish and painfully unfunny. Oh dear...

Tweet For The Day: Rev Giles Fraser

Canon Giles Fraser - Dean of Southwark, and former Dean of St Paul's - on Twitter.

Daily Telegraph: Never Mind the Pollocks

'The majority of Conservative MPs believe David Cameron’s same-sex marriage plan is doomed to failure and is a source of deep concern for their constituents.
'An all-party poll of MPs found only 56 per cent believed the proposal to legalise same-sex marriage would succeed, with 41 per cent of Conservatives believing it. Almost as many Tory MPs (37 per cent) believed the proposal will fail and 22 per cent said they were unsure, the survey carried out by ComRes found.

'It means that three out of five Tory MPs have doubts that the plan will go ahead. By contrast, more than two thirds of Labour MPs and almost all Liberal ­Democrat members polled were confident that it would go ahead.

'The poll also found that 60 per cent of MPs did not think that the policy was of “significant importance” to their constituents. Among Tory MPs the proportion rose to 69 per cent...'

The Daily Telegraph. 

The fact that this is in the serial gay-marriage bashing Telegraph should be enough to set alarm bells ringing.
That the "poll" was conducted by ComRes for Coalition For Marriage means it should be taken with a mine of salt.
They've been incredibly mendacious with their marriage equality poll findings before.
Note also how the Telegraph has inverted the news - that a majority of MPs believe the proposal to legalise same-sex marriage comes after how a majority of Tory MPs thought it was "doomed to failure".
And the opening line; "The majority of Conservative MPs believe David Cameron’s same-sex marriage plan is doomed to failure and is a source of deep concern for their constituents", is contradicted by the fact that 69% said they did not think the policy was of "significant importance" to their constituents". 
Another thing that stands out is the omission of the obvious question of how many MPs polled support gay marriage.
ComRes tell me that only 154 MPs replied to their survey - that's less than a quarter - more data later...

Update: Here are the full findings. As above, the questions asked - and not asked - are absolutely ridiculous.

PS The Telegraph runs a companion piece 'The Tory party has lost sight of its true values: 'Decontaminating’ the brand has alienated voters – but there is a way back' which, curiously, does not mention gay marriage explicitly. 

Mr Gay World: Mr Nobody

Regular viewers will be familiar with my grouch about The Independent's piss-poor coverage of gay news.
It's sparse and seems completely random, usually looking like they've just called in a wire story to fill a gap on a page. 
It's a shame as in the 90s, they were doing far more gay stuff than The Guardian - The Independent even hired gay journalist, Neil McKenna, specifically to file gay news stories.
Today they have a story - lifted from the Press Association - about something called "Mr Gay World".
No, me neither.
The Guardian - who should know better than running such tripe - are also flexing their liberal biceps by publishing a full story and pic.
Mr Gay World is a silly, little commercial event, an international irrelevancy that deserves as much attention as if I'd started the Fagburn Prize For Literature.
Of all the things happening to gay men round the globe why on earth does this cavalcade of nonsense warrant any coverage?
Here is the news, dudes: No gay man in the entire world gives a flying fuck about this.

Letter Of The Week: Infamy! Infamy!

Gay people depicted on British stamps, a definitive list: Emperor Hadrian, Kenneth Williams, Freddie Mercury, King James I, Antony Sher, Ian McKellen. Gay fictional character: Albus Dumbledore (depicted twice). More or less bisexual people: Shakespeare, Lord Olivier, Dame Daphne du Maurier, Alexander the Great, Virginia Woolf, Mary Wollstonecraft, David Bowie. Then there is that treacherous category, "never married": Admiral Robert Blake, Marea Hartman, Eleanor Rathbone, Robert Boyle, MR James, Joan Mary Fry, the last two appearing in the series that includes Alan Turing, whose commemoration sparked this discussion. It is certainly surprising that Royal Mail has yet to get around to Oscar Wilde.
Regarding gay actors (Many gay actors still fear coming out, 7 April): Alec McCowen was out gay long before young whipper-snappers like McKellen and Callow. I once asked him about surviving as a gay actor. "Oh, all actors are more or less gay," he said, adding after an exquisitely judged pause, "with the possible exception of Jack Hawkins."
 
W Stephen Gilbert
Corsham, Wiltshire 

Letter to The Guardian.
Continuing this fascinating debate.
I presume he means the Carry On stamps - here's a Carry On Cleo one.  

Chwaraedy Newydd: The Radicalisation Of Bradley Manning

The Radicalisation Of Bradley Manning - a National Theatre of Wales production - begins a series of performances in Welsh schools on Thursday April 12th.
You can also watch performances live online. 
Blurb! "National Theatre Wales’ much-anticipated political production, The Radicalisation of Bradley Manning, will be performed on two platforms – live on stage in schools across Wales, and in a live stream via an interactive website.
"Written by Tim Price, and directed by the company’s artistic director, John E McGrath, this multimedia production tackles one of the most important political and digital stories of our age, and will bring that story to both local and global audiences.
"Bradley Manning is the 24-year old US soldier accused of releasing 250,000 secret embassy cables and military logs from the Iraq and Afghan wars. After nearly two years in prison without charge, Manning now faces a court martial, accused of crimes that could mean life in prison. But just a few years ago, he was a teenager in west Wales. How did this happen? And who is responsible for his radicalisation?
"Some performances of The Radicalisation of Bradley Manning will be live-streamed on a dedicated website. Alongside this live stream, the site will host hyperlinks to websites, videos and articles referred to in the script, and a live comment stream to which the audience will be encouraged to contribute. The site will be free to view and only available live alongside the stage performance..."
If you want to watch a live-streamed performance online - the first one's on Saturday - you have to sign up here. 
There's a Guardian interview with author Tim Price and a blog thingy here.
Wonder if they'll bring the play to England?

•  I understand Chase Madar's book The Passion Of Bradley Manning is now shipping. This should be good, and I'll review presently.

PS Bradley is back in court for a hearing on Thursday April 24th.

PPS Excerpt from The Passion Of Bradley Manning. 

The Daily Mail: Homophobia Is Gay

'Homophobes could be attracted to people of the same sex but are not admitting it to themselves, a series of psychology studies has found.
'Researchers in New York, Essex and California say they've found evidence that gays and lesbians remind homophobes of themselves - which is why they develop an intense aversion and fear of them.
'They claim homophobic people tend to repress their true sexuality as they've often been brought up in families where being gay is not acceptable...'

Of course there is no irony AT ALL to be found in The Daily Mail running this story.
No sirree!
This is a theory that's long been popular with many gay men, mainly I suspect because it's comforting and funny and annoys the fuck out of homophobes.
Every gay blog or website I've seen has greeted this with a jubilant uncritical cry somewhere between "Eureka!" "Hosanna!" and "GOTCHA!"
"See! Told you so..."
Of course many homophobes are closet cases, but it seems simplistic and reductive to try and universalise it, or even to argue it explains most cases.
I'll wager most hate-filled anti-gay bigots is just hate-filled bigots with no real back story beyond their own colossal cuntery.
Richard Littlejohn springs to mind.
It also smells like Lysenkoism.
Tropfim Lysenko was Stalin's favourite scientist.
He was also a complete fraud who would twist research and invent "findings" to reach predetermined conclusions that suited the prevailing ideology.
You may have noticed that scientists often manage to "prove" what they set out to do.
Just as people tend to uncritically accept research that confirms their own prejudices (pun intended).
Whatever, have a look at the best-rated posts under the Mail's article; the very idea has driven some readers MENTAL.
So I guess there must be something to this.

• You may also enjoy gayhomophobe.com which counts the "days since the last prominent homophobe was caught in a gay sex scandal", and lists prominent anti-gay American politicians and preachers who've been caught with a metaphorical or literal dick in their mouth.
Also here's a 'Top 15 Anti-Gay Politicians Caught Being Gay' from Ranker.com
It's American again, I may try and do one for the UK...

Negativland: Christianity Is Stupid

"Communism is good..."

Pier Paolo Pasolini: The Gospel According To St. Matthew

Cause it's still Easter.
Tis teh whole fillum.
And cause Pasolini is me.

The Sunday Times: And On This Bombshell

A leader in today's Sunday Times pauses for reflection at this time of giant humanoid rabbits bearing chocolate eggs to think - in a very real sense - about the challenges facing the Church of England.

"When we said recently that prayers had no place before political meetings, it drew some criticism. We still believe this is the right course. Giving the established church a formal political role is anachronistic and does it no favours. By the same token, politicians should respect the sensibilities of believers, particularly Christians. David Cameron’s government, for example, has embarked on a collision course with the church on the issue of gay marriage. The government would like you to believe it is a modern, with-it coalition facing opposition from a church stuck somewhere in the Dark Ages.
"It is hard, however, to disagree with Ben Bradshaw, the Labour frontbencher, who accuses the government of playing “pure politics” with gay marriage. He, like most other gays in civil partnerships, is happy to call it a marriage. The further step proposed by the government is, he says, an unnecessary distraction. Mr Cameron is pushing gay marriage and picking a fight with the church for political reasons. It is indeed unnecessary."

This is shocking stuff.

Not least of which because The Sunday Times' sister paper, The Times, has made so much of championing marriage equality of late.

And because Ben Bradshaw's tepidity on gay marriage is now being used as an argument against it/us.
A careless remark already celebrated by the gay marriage bashing Mail and Telegraph.

Well done Ben!

I'll have to check what The Sunday Times has said about this before - don't think this has been their line.

It may be another sign of Rupert Murdoch turning on David Cameron because he blames him for the Leveson Inquiry.

More later...

• Dunno how, but I missed this - potentially huge - story when I was going through the papers earlier today. Thanks to Scott Roberts for the alert.

Update: I believe this is The Sunday Times first comment on gay marriage since they broke the story that the government was considering introducing it in February 2011.

Carly Rae Jepsen: Spoiler Alert!

Carly Rae Jepsen's Call Me Maybe has gone straight in at number one.
You may not have noticed this, seeing as no-one cares about the charts anymore.
The video's storyline is; "Girl fancies handsome dude, but oh noes, turns out the dude digs dudes!"
ie one of the biggest gay cliches in the pop culture book. 
Oh well...

Schools: Kissing To Be Clever

Eleanor Mills in The Sunday Times today has become the nth journalist to get a feature - 'Cuddling Schoolboys Kiss Homophobia Goodbye'- out of research by Mark McCormack and Eric Anderson on how homophobia is declining among teenage boys.*
The first of these - 'Straight Men Kissing More' - appeared in The Guardian over a year ago; McCormack has a book published later this month.
I don't blame them, it's really interesting stuff. 
“I noticed the difference as soon as I entered the sixth-form common room,” he tells Mills. “Boys were sitting in circles chatting; one had his feet on another boy’s lap, another dangled his arm over another’s shoulder. They were constantly touching each other and always hugged each other hello and goodbye. That would have been unthinkable when I was at school.”
Eleanor Mills helpfully points out; "His book argues that these behaviour changes are due to the normalisation of homosexuality in the culture surrounding these boys as they have grown up."
Well, duh.
She holds up One Direction as proof of how today's young men are all touchy-feely and homo-friendly.
But so were Take That twenty years ago, Smash Hits called them (approvingly) a "Girlie-bloke" pop group. 
Even so it's as obvious as rain that there has been a marked decline in anti-gay attitudes - and their acceptability - across society in the last 25 years.
And, yes, adolescent males, the most neurotically homophobic sector, are losing their "homo-hysteria", too.
Though Fagburn is with Barney Frank, who argued that most young men aren't homophobic, they just think they should be.
The problem with journalists zoning in on Mark McCormack's research is that it's a study of just three British schools, all sixth-form colleges, which arguably foster a culture where appearing "adult", sophisticated and even academic are valued among students.
Something made clear in McCormack's original title for his book, Gay Friendly High Schools. 
But is this - loaded word coming up - normal? 
A 2007 Stonewall survey had 65% of lesbian, gay and bisexual school pupils reporting having experienced homophobic bullying.
97% said they often or frequently heard homophobic remarks. 
Over half of gay pupils said they didn't feel able to be themselves at school.
And over a third did not feel safe or accepted at school.
In a 2009 Stonewall survey; "Nine in ten secondary school teachers... say children and young people, regardless of their sexual orientation, currently experience homophobic bullying, name calling or harassment in their schools."
Homophobia may be declining in significance generally - and homophobia may be seen as "gay" in some colleges - but sadly it still seems to be in rude health in many of our schools. 

* 'It’s Just Not Acceptable Any More’: The Erosion of Homophobia and the Softening of Masculinity at an English Sixth Form. Read it here.

•  The Declining Significance of Homophobia: How Teenage Boys are Redefining Masculinity and Heterosexuality by Mark McCormack is published by Oxford University Press on April 19th.

Postscript: There's an interesting tug of war going on, better documented in the US, where more school kids are coming out, and younger, and are finding more straight pupils supportive, but simultaneously, and perhaps due to this increased visibility, anti-gay bullying may be the worst it has ever been.
Witness for example It Gets Better, the rise of Gay-Straight Alliances in high schools, and all those all-singing, all-dancing mass anti-bullying, pro-gay videos on YouTube.
Here's one of the biggest videos from Cypress Ranch High School, Texas.

Update: A blog from Mark McCormack on Psychology Today - Men 2.0: Masculinities, Sexualities and Homophobia - is a good introduction to what he's arguing. Also see his comments below...

Thought For The Day: Father Bernard Lynch

"I can go into confession and say I have been in every sauna and bath-house and sex club in London 10 times a week and I can get absolved from my sins, but if I go in and say, 'I have been in love with a man for 19 years, married for 14,' there's no absolution. That's the sickness in my Church."

Father Bernard Lynch interviewed by the Independent On Sunday.
"He claims that half of all Catholic priests are gay – and has himself been married to his husband for 14 years. He believes celibacy is to blame for many of the Church's problems – and that the Vatican must take responsibility for the paedophilia in its midst. Is it any wonder so many people want rid of Father Bernard Lynch?"
That's the funny thing about religion - good men tend to get crucified. 
 

Morrissey: Knowing Me Knowing You A-ha!

Apropos of nothing...

'Morten is asked about fandom, and is also asked what he thinks about other musicians who’re inspired by his voice and a-ha.

Other famous artists are also known fans (of a-ha), Morrissey from the influential band The Smiths introduced himself as “Morten” at the Quart festival in 2004 (Kristiansand, Norway), after he’d entered the stage singing his own version of “The Sun Always Shines On TV”?

"I’ve met him, he almost had an erection around me! We met up in New Orleans some time in the eighties."

Did you speak with the whole band, or just him?

"It’s him I remember. He thought it was a bit difficult I think, the whole thing. He said something… I thought he was decidedly on the gay side."

He’s never confirmed that he is?

"Well, then I don’t know. Then you can only speculate."

Currently burning up the Morrissey-solo message boards.
Translated from the Norwegian newspaper VG (Verdens Gang).
Check out some of the other translations.
Tee hee-hee. 

The Sun Sunday: Here To Help

You can say what you like about The Sun, but they always go that extra mile to help their readers, don't they?
And well done to Trenton Oldfield, you woke England up from its dreaming, if only for a few minutes.
We can all go back to sleep now...

• With perfect timing, Julie Burchill is resurrected in the pages of The Observer today; 'The Queen's diamond jubilee points up just how divided socially the country still is'

This is the first thing in years by La Burchill that hasn't made me go; "Oh do shut up!"