Tweet Of The Day: The Guyliner

"Grindr is killing romance." Yes, cottaging was a famously beautiful and romantic experience.

— The Guyliner (@theguyliner) January 24, 2016

Please read comments for some gay dating do's and don'ts...

Letter Of The Day: Technically Yesterday

From yesterday's Independent - when I was out getting drunk with my mum. x

Alec Guinness: Happy 100th Birthday!

Salutations to probably the greatest screen actor of all time.

Fagburn might start an online petition asking for a Royal Pardon for that dreadful cottaging business.

x

George Michael: Where's Georgie?

This looks like Victoria Station, but I could not possibly comment.

roundaboutsofbritain.com

And congratulations on your number one albumen, George!

Thanks to DS. x

Police Guidelines: To Serve and Protect Doggers

A shouty headline from The Daily Mail; 'Now police are ordered to protect 'Doggers' indulging in outdoor sex with strangers from hate crime.'
"An extraordinary new Hate Crime Guidance Manual has been handed to officers telling them to arrest anyone suspected of committing a hate crime against those engaged in ‘dogging’.
"Although it notes that outdoor sex can have an ‘impact on the quality of life of people using these locations for leisure pursuits’ - for example dog walkers and tourists - the rights of those cottaging, cruising or dogging must be taken into account by officers."
Well, it's extraordinary that the Mail thinks it doesn't have to explain to its readers what cottaging, cruising and dogging are.
Police being told to arrest people who commit a (hate) crime - that's not so extraordinary.
It's also encouraging to see that the Mail appear to be more outraged by the lenient policing of dogging; an activity that is almost exclusively part of the sordid twilight world of the heterosexual.
Doggers have certainly made arguing for cruising a lot easier.
We used to have to try and defend public sex with "it's a gay thing", now we can just point out how everybody's at it.
Thank fucking for that.
The Scottish Sun is all-over-the-place, veering between disgust and desire.
"COPS are being told to protect kinky DOGGERS - in case the perverts are targeted by hate mobs.
"Barmy new advice is being handed to officers on how to deal with the seedy thrillseekers, who have illegal outdoor sex with strangers."
Are doggers "seedy perverts" (Boo!) or "kinky thrill-seekers" (Wa-hey!)?
It's hard to tell these days, isn't it?

• The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) Hate Crime Guidance Manual 2010 is available as a PDF here.
It's all a bit 'stating the bleeding obvious', and probably doesn't warrant its own 60 page booklet, but hey-ho.
Maybe someone should write a booklet explaining what the law is to journalists?