Shade: It's A Drag

GT launches new dragazine, Shade...

Remember Millivres online trans magazine Meta? Lasted three issues...

RuPaul: Drag Is Punk Rock

Fight the power!

Drag will never be accepted by the mainstream. Drag is punk rock. It mocks the mainstream. The mainstream is sceptical of drag, and rightly so: drag is making fun of it.

The Independent.

Erm...

RuPaul's Drag Race: UK

The Telegraph!

This quiz could prove quite an eye-opener for a few retired old colonels in the Cotswolds.

PS If you've somehow missed the media megablitz, it starts Monday.

Tranny Of The Day: RuPaul

"Does the word ‘tranny’ bother me? No. I love the word ‘tranny... It’s not the transexual community who’s saying that. These are fringe people who are looking for storylines to strengthen their identity as victims. That is what we are dealing with. It’s not the trans community. ‘Cause most people who are trans have been through hell and high water… But some people haven’t and they’ve used their victimhood to create a situation where, ‘No! You look at me! I want you to see me the way you’re supposed to see me!’ You know, if your idea of happiness has to do with someone else changing what they say, what they do, you are in for a fucking hard-ass road… I dance to the beat of a different drummer. I believe everybody — you can be whatever the hell you wanna be, I ain’t stopping you. But don’t you dare tell me what I can do or what I can’t — say or can’t do. It’s just words, like, ‘Yeah, you hurt me!’ Bitch, you need to get stronger. If you’re upset by something I said you have bigger problems than you think.”

RuPaul!

Please don't let the joyless gaybore thought police win again.

Can we just not ban dull gay shit like this?

Tranny tranny tranny tranny tranny tranny tranny tranny tranny tranny tranny tranny tranny tranny tranny tranny tranny tranny tranny tranny poof dyke bumboy queer gay faggot bender.

Who really gives a shit?

Have you not got anything important in your life to get angry about?

Fagburn: Backpfeifengesicht

Ver actual media is full of stuff about Ukip and that smug posh twat Nigel Farage today, but here's a quick round-up of some other stuff that caught my red eyes recently...

Chris Denning: Shameless Ex-BBC DJ busted BBC News.
Burn the witch! etc etc.

Unreported World: Jamaica's Underground Gays Channel 4.
Tonight at 8pm.
RT with a :( if you want to pretend you care, but won't actually watch it.

Gambo: Shameless BBC DJ hosts Ivor Novello Awards Daily Express.
The 30th year he's done it. Good for him. x

Adorable!: The most pukey kid reacts to gayers 'viral' video EVER! Daily Mail.
It's rather instructive that only naff right-wing dweebs like Mail Online and Gay Star News like sentimental gay crap like this.

Old Vic: Matthew Warchus taking over from Kevin Spacey Daily Telegraph.
Old Vic? Queen Vic more like!
[Edit: Apparently Warchus, director of the new film Pride, isn't gay so... 'Old Vic? Old queen more like!' Not that I'm suggesting Spacey is a big gayer, either].

Disco Damaged: London website relaunched!!! DiscoDamaged.com.
Good news.

Brian Paddick: Ex-lover 'threatened to kill me' Via Gay Star News.
No comment.

Brighton Pride: Will they charge for the St James's Street party? GScene.
Probably. They always do what Sussex Police tell them to.

Sitges: Never Mind The Buggers Guardian Travel.
Fagburn's stepsister [Is there a nicer term to use?] used to live there with her kids and they all loved it.

RuPaul: Responds to 'tranny' 'controversy' HuffPost Gay Voices. 
Context is all. If The Sun used 'tranny' in a cruel, sensationalist story about a trans woman that would be offensive, but I really don't think that's what going on here. 

Harvey Milk: A frigging stamp unveiled at the White House! The Independent. 
A stamp!!!! Wow. It's the least they could do - they checked.

Edward Carpenter: Fundraising drive for a memorial in Sheffield Morning Star.
The pioneering radical gay socialist Edward Carpenter is one of Fagburn's heroes. Born in Hove, he didn't stay long...

Fred Phelps: Did a dying Fred come out for LGBT rights? Via Queerty.
Doubt it. This has apparently come from a member of the Phelps clan and they say all kinds of crazy shit.

Giovanni's Room: The last day at America's oldest gay bookstore Rolling Stone.
Thanks amazon! Maybe since your minimum wage slavery and tax avoidance helped put them out of business, some of the money you so publicly gave for mc same-sex marriage could go to help a community LGBT bookshop for gay people who like books. Ah, just realised the flaw in that plan...

PS Backpfeifengesicht is a German word for a person who should be punched in the face.

No idea why Fagburn kept thinking of that today.

Anyway, here is the real news!

Leave me alone, I can't fucking take it anymore

RuPaul Drives...: John Waters

Ru: 'I've always said that people who have uncovered life's twisted hoax find refuge in the irreverent, and twisted and weird. Do you find those people have changed? Are they the same? The ones who flock to the irreverent?'

John: 'They're the same people who've always been my core audience. Minorities that don't even fit into their own minority. They can't even get along with their fellow lunatics. That's my core audience. People in prison with a sense of humour. That's where I always have my best screen tests.'

Fantastico!

The Guardian: Let's Have An Unheated Debate!

From the late 1990s to the mid-2000s, primetime American television audiences grew to embrace two male characters who would come to define two distinct types of gay male characters. The sensitive Will Truman and the flamboyant Jack McFarland, portrayed by actors Eric McCormack and Sean Hayes, became the backbone of the hugely popular sitcom Will & Grace. It was the first time two such characters regularly took the stage in primetime television.

In the years since, the advent of reality television (Queer Eye for the Straight Guy) and the diversity of cable programming (Queer as Folk) provided more diverse representations of LGBT lifestyles. But now gay characters and personalities have moved from niche to mainstream in shows like Modern Family or HBO’s Looking. Gayness* is now less of a reason for having a character, and has instead become just another plot twist or character nuance.

But it doesn’t mean all the work is over. We’ve invited three critics to discuss the evolution of LGBT characters in pop culture – and to identify cultural blind spots where producers, writers and actors still need to put in work. Answers have been edited for length...

The Guardian.

By golly, this is dull - and that's even if you ignore the inane witterings of the spectacularly thick Nancy Goldstein.

PS The premise for this is shamelessly nicked off this rather good article by Nico Lang. Though they seem to have totally misunderstood his points.

* 'Gayness'???!! What is this 'gayness' of which you speak?

Logo: No Homo Logo

'Logo is evolving its programming focus with new series and development deals that reflect gays [sic] and lesbians’ increasing integration into mainstream culture today and their desire for shows that appeal to their multiple interests.
'In the 6 years since Logo launched, there has been a seismic shift in culture and the network’s new programming slate reflects that. From the push for marriage equality, to the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and even the mass appeal of broadcast TV shows like “Modern Family” all signal a significant movement in today’s culture where “out” characters are celebrated for their success and values and the majority of gays [sic] and lesbians define themselves by multi-dimensional notions other than purely on their sexual orientation.
'“Culturally, we’re past the tipping point. For gays [sic] and lesbians, it’s part of who they are, but they don’t lead with it, because many are leading fully integrated, mainstream lives,” said Lisa Sherman, Executive Vice President of Logo. “Our goal at Logo has always been to honestly reflect our viewers’ lives. We’re now reinforcing our commitment to them with programming that truly mirrors how many of them are living and want to be entertained today.”
'Further evidence comes from a new study Logo conducted in partnership with Starcom Mediavest Group and its Beyond Demographics (TM) series.  Coming out this spring, the identity research gives light on how lesbians, gays, bisexual and transgender community lives today.  For instance, early findings show that 53 percent conveyed that Gays [sic] don’t hide being gay, but that for them it’s not a priority to showcase it. And only 30 percent indicated that they preferred living and socializing in exclusively gay and lesbian communities...'

US cable TV channel Logo announces it's ditching its gay programming.
Quite a big change seeing as the MTV network set out to make; "TV that appeals to a gay audience, and their friends, and their families, and people who are beyond labels, and people who just happen to like a smart, well designed, often outrageous sensibility."
Unfortunately, Logo seemed to think that meant endless gaycentric reality shows. 
Snore!
Despite the mendacious guff puff pedaled above, Unicorn Booty have perhaps pointed out the real reason the channel's turning straight; no-one was watching Logo, because it wasn't very good.
"Anyone who has ever spent more than five minutes watching Logo knows that the network was just dreadful. Anyone watching Logo with access to a remote control probably changed the channel before hitting that five minute mark."
Note to future "gay TV" programmers; queens may be queens, but we's pretty discerning, and we don't like being patronised. 
Apart from re-runs of Absolutely Fabulous, I get the impression that RuPaul's Drag Race is the only thing on Logo anyone watches - they promise they'll carry on showing that. 
Mind you, they did give the world the funny as Rick & Steve, and for that we must be truly thankful.

RuPaul: Tranny?

"In the ACT UP age we called ourselves queers because we earned the right, we took the word back. But in reality, once you go even deeper, you know, you have to come from intent. And black folks call themselves the n-word all the time. It's because the intent is coming from a place of love. If the intent is coming from a place of hatred, that's different. But you can't legislate intent. You can't - there's no way to do it.
"So, the truth is, you have to fix that individually on a one by one basis. If somebody calls you a green martian, would you be offended by it? No, you wouldn't be. Why? Because you know you're not a green martian. But if you're offended by someone calling you a 'tranny,' it was only because you believe you are a 'tranny!' So then, the solution is: Change your mind about yourself being a 'tranny'."

RuPaul gives her two cents on the Great "Tranny" Debate currently raging in the States.
Several celebrities - including Lance Bass and Neil Patrick Harris last month - have been pulled up for using the word, which some argue is always a slur.

Ru was being interviewed by Michelangelo Signorile on his OutQ radio show.