Will Young: Destructive

Hard to see the point of this cruel article in The Sun.

Oh, he's going on Strictly, is he?

Wooh! That makes everything okay.

Oh, hang on, wasn't it some cunts on The Sun who threatened to out him after he won Pop Idol?

Will Young: My Shame

SINGER Will Young has opened up about how living with ’17 years of shame’ over being gay resulted in him turning to X-rated videos online.

The 37-year-old didn’t hold back as he spoke at National Student Pride 2016 at London's University Of Westminster on Saturday.

He said: “I was a love addict, I still am an addict, addicted to porn, certainly addicted to alcohol.

“I’d never been on a date without having at least two drinks before I’d left the house and I didn’t even notice that was a problem.” ...

The Leave Right Now singer explained: “I will keep coming back to shame because it’s such a fundamental thing.

“Until I conquered it I just kept having sex to fill the void, watching porn, shopping, anything, and I think we are told that as soon as we come out everything will be OK, but it’s just not the case.” ...

The Sun.

Think you probably like having a drink and watching porn, dear, not sure shame comes into it.

Maybe the real 'shame' is how gay men are taught to think of themselves as victims.

Showbusiness: In The Absence Of News

Roger Moore, who please bear in mind is 88, says that James Bond, who please bear in mind is an entirely fictional character, can not be gay or 'a lady Bond' * A 'really adorable gay couple' (barf!) didn't make it to the X Factor final * Sir Tim Rice makes a completely unconvincing case that the 'baffling lyrics' to Bohemian Rhapsody was 'Freddie's coming out song'; '"I see a little silhouetto of a man” – that’s him, still being haunted by what he’s done, and what he is.'" An interpretation of the next line 'Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the Fandango?' is sadly omitted * Will 'Nice But Dim' Young says in 2012 he checked into a clinic and was told he had post-fame PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). 'I must admit I am baffled. I thought PTSD was linked to single events — a bomb explosion in Iraq, say, or a car crash,' notes The Times' journalist wrily * Mark Feehily, he was the gay one in Westlife you may just recall, has made his first solo album. He has written some songs about his ex-boyfriends. Expected sales: 27 * Everybody loves 'impish star' Ben Whishaw, 'the delicate frame and gentle voice of... MI6’s resident geek, Q...' * Vincent Price might have been bisexual * Casey Conway, another retired rugby player you've never heard of before is gay, he's now pushing over-priced swimwear * Nobody has a clue who those two gay footballers could be, or indeed if they exist * More boring showiz gossip when we hear it...

#SoBrave Watch: Will Young

I had been following a very different idea for the video to Brave Man. When this didn't come to fruition I went back to the drawing board and wondered to myself what it is to be a 'brave man'.

It came to me.

It seems extremely brave to be a man in a woman's body and then decide to do something about this.

As I thought more about it, I realised that there is often coverage of what it is to be a woman in a man’s body, but never to my knowledge the documenting of the opposite (almost a perverted kind of patriarchy).

So the video came about...

To be vulnerable IS to be strong.

To express and show this is actually the bravest and most wonderful thing to do.

I know that transgender people do not like being called brave. It is something that is innate. Not a choice, but a given. Being a gay man I feel the same. I wasn't 'brave' to come out it was simply what I had to do...
Will Young's Facebook page. 

Bless.

PS Don't call trans people 'brave' – we're just trying to live in a prejudiced society, Rebecca Kling, Guardian Cif.

PPS Predictably painfully 'right on' piece by Owen Jones, be still my bleeding heart...

For a reply see Rejecting Allyship.

Gay News: Take That Putin!

Some gays there, keeping it real.

PS Yes, there is no news.

Will Young: Power Bottom Gear (Geddit!!?)

From the dead hand of Dan Wootton at the Sun.

It's Bank Holiday Monday, I might just go back to bed...

Oh, and for the record, I think this is the first time Miss Wootton has said he's a big ole gay in his Sun pages.

PS Will Yah was in the Independent on Saturday. If you can find one interesting quote in this, you're a better man than I.

Will Young: What Is Point?

Will Young says that he has one simple question for Simon Cowell, the man behind Will's first big breakthrough.

Will, who was the first winner of Simon’s TV talent show ‘Pop Idol’, tells HuffPostUK: “It would be like speaking to a devout Catholic or something, someone anti-gay marriage and anti-contraception.”

However, Will who acknowledges he made a lot of money from the competition and his ensuing career, wants to have a chat with the pop supremo and ask him “What’s it all for? How much is too much? What’s the drive?” ...

Will Young chatting to Huffington Post UK about his crippling sense of existential doubt.

Will Nice-But-Dim regularly writes blogposts for HuffPostUk, I strongly suggest you 'check them out'.

General Election 2015: Those Celebrity Gay Backers In Full

Conservatives: Christopher Biggins.

Only patron of LGBTory who's not an MP!

Though they can also count on Ivan Massow and David Starkey*, too!

What a right bunch of right-wing gay cunts, eh?

Lib Dems: Patrick Smugtwit?

Probably.

He is Britain's most boring wet liberal poove.

And it's a family affair!

Green: Peter Tatchell.

And who better to dispel the myth that the Greens are all a bit nutty, than the publicity shy campaigning celeb?

Pete's probably said somewhere that he founded the Green Party, if not Planet Earth itself.

Bless.

Labour: Owen Jones.

No, really, he is. Trust me on this one.

SNP: Alan Cumming.

Was often wheeled out during the 'Yes!' campaign.

But like their most famous celeb supporter, Sean Connery, Mr Cumming is an ex-pat. Oops!

'England for the English...' etc etc.

Ukip: Morrissey.

"I nearly voted for Ukip. I like Nigel Farage a great deal," he told Loaded in 2013.

"His views are quite logical – especially where Europe is concerned."

And La Mozza's views are highly logical, too.

She loves England so much she's spent much of the last 20 years living abroad in tax exile, cos it's been flooded with foreigners, innit?

Silly old queen.

* Dr Starkey threatened to do a big queeny flounce and leave the country if Cameron didn't win the 2010 General Election. Paul O'Grady - a man Fagburn much admires - has said he'll leave if the Tories win again this time. It's usually the most unbearable right-wing shits who do this - I am unaware if anyone has actually carried it out.

PS If you decide how to vote because of something a famous person has said, may I implore you not to vote tomorrow?

Update: Undecided/Undeclared - Will Young. Former politics student Will Nice-But-Dim offered his astute analysis to Digital Spy; 'I don't know, it'll be a hung parliament and it all just feels like a wet fart.'

Will Young: Dan Wooton Gets The Horn

His first new track, Love Revolution, is a nostalgic affair sampling TOMCRAFT’s 2003 club banger Loneliness.

Other songs on the record include Joy and Thank You, where Will rants about a relationship breakdown.

He said: “Sometimes you’ve just got to say, ‘F*** off, you dumped me, you don’t like this, you gave me a parking ticket’.

“Screw all this zen buddhist stuff.”

There’s also a song called U Think I’m Sexy.

Well guys, take a look. Do you?

A breathless Dan Wooton in The Sun.

Well guys?

Tweets Of The Day: A Very Angry Will Young

Have I Got News For You: Gay!

 

Comedy gold!!!!

Will Young: Are We Talking Crap?

I like to think I'm down with youth culture and its slang. Well, a bit anyway. I understand that the word "sick" can mean "cool", and "bare" can mean "a lot". This is pretty much the limit of my knowledge. But I do like to think I can tell the difference between words that have changed their meaning in a quirky but harmless way, and those that have a damaging knock-on effect.

The evolution of the word "gay" is a case in point. Once it meant carefree or merry. Over time it came to be used to describe a sexual orientation. Now – for many at least – it has been appropriated to mean "rubbish" or "crap". So a word that started out meaning "happy" has ended up being used to denigrate. Well, language changes, doesn't it? Many would see no problem with a shift driven by everyday speech...

Will Young in The Guardian.

I'm sure he means well, but Will Young's interventions on this subject seem like a rather embarrassing turn at the St Cake's School Debating Society.
This is but one example of a problem that's general in our culture, where somebody's somewhat banal and quarter-baked thoughts are given weight and taken seriously just because they're a celebrity.
Why ask Will? He's hardly the only gay man in the country who went to a school.

Presumably this is a slightly garbled response to Brendan O'Neill's piece on the Telegraph blog last week; Gay now means rubbish - get over it. 

"The rising use of the word “gay” to mean rubbish has coincided with increased levels of tolerance towards homosexuals among young people," O'Neill wrote. "When I was at school, we never used the word gay to mean rubbish, and yet there was a lot of anti-gay sentiment, reflecting broader anti-gay outlooks in politics and society. Today, the opposite is the case – kids are forever using the word gay to mean rubbish, yet real, genuinely prejudiced anti-gay sentiment is on the wane, both in schools and in society."*

Gay academic Mark McCormack has reached similar conclusions through his research at three British schools, presented in his book, The Declining Significance Of Homophobia: How teenage boys are redefining masculinity and heterosexuality.**

Mark writes here on the need to contextualise how such language is used; Don’t call me homophobic: the complexity of ‘that’s so gay’

Will "Nice But Dim" Young was also in The Sun yesterday.
[Edit: This is clearly now his specialist subject, he's also on Newsnight this evening. I still haven't got over his squirm-inducing appearance on Question Time...].

He suggests calling in the thought police; "It is now time to come down on homophobic language like a ton of bricks."

His Sun article is titled; 23% of young gay people will try suicide.. it's a crisis - Singer's call to end bullying language
This story was filed under Showbiz, natch.

These statistics are highly dubious*** - and, as before, we need to be extremely cautious whenever discussing gay teen suicides; there is much research suggesting ill-thought-out media coverage may actually encourage it. 

But as ever, emotionally potent Cry Homophobia! gay hysteria seems to have trumped a much-needed rational debate.

Will Young, wearing a tea-cosy, and fellow posh gay twat Milo Yiannopoulos.

Clearly BBC  Newsnight's idea of a balanced debate.

* Ironically The Daily Telegraph is the only British newspaper that still tells writers not to use the word "gay", but "homosexual".

** O'Neill acknowledges Stonewall also say this; "Even Stonewall’s own report on the widespread use of the word gay in schools admits that “most of the time it is used unconsciously and without hurtful intent”
See Stonewall's 2012 The School Report - with comments on what school pupils make of all this.
Here Mark McCormack critiques their research and their use of stats for Psychology Today; "The School Report 2012 is a missed opportunity to inform the debate on homophobia in British schools, but the greater concern is that its overwhelmingly negative tone may encourage kids to stay in the closet."

*** By coincidence Fagburn is reading a fascinating, entertaining and thoroughly depressing book on the media's love of dodgy data and statistics; The Numbers Game: The commonsense guide to understanding numbers in the news, in politics and in life. What are the chances of that happening, eh? etc etc.

Schools: That's So Gay!

Nearly all homosexual [!] teenagers say they hear the word "gay" being used as an insult, according to research carried out by Stonewall.

Of the 1,600 pupils interviewed 99% said they had heard homophobic language used regularly.

Eighty-four per cent said they were upset by gay being used as an insult.

Gay, lesbian and transgender [sic] charity Stonewall is launching a poster campaign this week, fronted by Will Young, to tackle the problem.

Copies of the new posters and guidance are being sent to around half of all secondary schools in England, Scotland and Wales.

Wayne Dhesi, from Stonewall, says school children need to be taught that misusing the word gay is wrong.

"People hear phrases such as, 'That's so gay' and 'You're so gay' being used to describe something that's negative or defective," he said.

"It perpetuates the stereotype that being gay, lesbian or bisexual is somehow wrong..."

BBC Radio 1's Newsbeat report on Stonewall's latest campaign.

Fagburn quite likes the slogan above - but fears that it may go way over the heads of many of the people it's aimed at.
As may the other two;  ‘Gay. Let’s Get the Meaning Straight’, and ‘Your So Gay. Can You Spot the Two Common Mistakes?’

Also, is Will "Nice But Dim" Young, the ridiculously posh privately-educated 34 year-old the right man to front a campaign to talk wiv ver kids?

He told the Independent in 2009; "What was great about private school for me is that we were taught the importance of manners, [and] traditional values and basic decency were definitely promoted."

Maybe Mr Not-so Young believes homophobia is a terribly common mistake?

PS Will Young in the TES! If nothing else, it proves that going to a good public school teaches you the skill of speaking with absolute authority, even if you're saying something rather banal.

PPS And finally... School's Out has declared today The Pink Promotion: "To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the repeal of Section 28, the law which banned the ‘promotion’ and ‘publication’ of anything supporting a LGBT ‘pretend lifestyle’ we would like everyone in the UK to wear pink, the symbol of diversity..."
Let me know if you see absolutely anyone at all wearing pink today.

PS And inevitably... an article asking if kids are always being homophobic when they say "gay".
Inevitably it's by contrarian clickbait machine, Brendan O'Neill on the Telegraph blog; Gay now means rubbish. Get over it.
But even he admits; "Even Stonewall’s own report on the widespread use of the word gay in schools admits that “most of the time it is used unconsciously and without hurtful intent”.

Edit: Forgot the Daily Telegraph is the only newspaper that still tells writers to use the word "homosexual", not "gay". Irony...

Will Young: Manners Maketh Man

Chart star Will Young has said more should be done to clamp down on homophobic language and the use of the word “gay” as an insult in schools.The Leave Right Now singer said he had even taken up the issue with Education Secretary Michael Gove who he said had been “encouraging”.
Young draws attention to his concerns writing in the Independent On Sunday this weekend, as the paper publishes its annual Pink List of powerful gay and lesbian figures.
The Pop Idol winner, who came out shortly after winning the show and has gone on to have an enduring music career, said the issue had to be addressed.
He writes: “A few months ago I attended a teachers/education conference at the Barbican organised by Stonewall.
“Through the various seminars I attended I picked up one recurring theme, teachers and heads of schools were more than often not backed up by local authorities when it came to homophobic language.
“Michael Gove attended the conference and I put it to him that this use of the word gay as a derogatory form of description HAD to be addressed.
"His reaction, I was pleased to say, was attentive and encouraging. Let’s see words turn into actions Michael."

The Daily Mirror, like several other papers, pick up on Will Young's article for the St Cake's school magazine yesterday.

This is not the first time Will 'Nice-But-Dim' Young has spoken out about the sorry state of Britain's (state) schools.

He told The Independent in 2009...

Will Young, outside St Cake's, circa 1994.

"It was taught in independent schools that you are privileged, but this was also tinged with a hint of snobbery. I remember writing a letter at prep school that read: “I must pass common entrance to take me to public school, otherwise I’ll be going to state school and everyone will be very disappointed.” State school wasn’t an option. It would have been devastating for me. There was a fear of state schools that came perhaps from a sense of feeling better than others. What was instilled in you was the sense that people were more unruly in state schools and not as lucky as we were."

But his time at Wellington College had a profound effect on young master Young II.

"What was great about private school for me is that we were taught the importance of manners, and that is something that has never left me (hopefully). I am not implying that state schools don’t teach manners but traditional values and basic decency were definitely promoted – and that has been invaluable to me as an adult."

Though according to Dominic Cummings, Michael Gove's special advisor on education, where you go to school may be irrelevant - what really counts is good breeding.

No-one can deny chart star Well Hung has that.

But at least public schools keep you away from all those uncouth oiks and their filthy language. 

Pink List 2013: The Mourning After...

Now that the near palpable excitement has abated a little here are some elementary remarks on The Independent On Sunday's Pink List 2013...

1. This list of 101 LGBT people in the UK who have "made a difference" looks completely random, ridiculous and silly.

2. Newspapers and magazines love lists.
They fill space with hardly any effort; you get the readers to vote, just possibly massage the results a little bit, then get an intern to fill in the gaps via Google and/or Wikipedia.
Unfortunately, if you do it like this you usually end up with a shit list.
QED.

3. Lists - of top gayers or top albums or top pizza toppings or whatever - are guaranteed to "start a conversation".
Or better generate controversy.
Fagburn lives in a rarified world admittedly, but all I've heard people saying (okay, technically, tweeting) is that this Pink List is a complete joke.

4. Just looking at the top ten, whilst all the people listed have done good work, do they all warrant a placing over others?
The only two choices that sound solid and uncontroversial are Paris Lees and Peter Tatchell.

5. An illustrative example; Owen Jones is a very good journalist, he's out and proud, and an all round good egg of the left, but, as I'm sure he'll readily admit, he hardly ever writes about gay issues (as is his perfect right), so should he be here over other writers?
Mind you, by coincidence, Owen is the Indy's hot star columnist.

Similarly, why Out4Marriage not Coalition For Equal Marriage etc etc...

6. Filleting out almost all older people with more established reputations into a quick list of 40something "National Treasures" (BARF! Last year there were Lifetime Achievement Awards) only makes the actual Pink List 2013 look even more random and inconsequential.
Galloping through them and dismissing them with often just a one-word summary ("Writer", "Musician") is, again, insulting.

7. To repeat: The most telling entry is number 16 - the man who thought of dying a Union Jack flag pink, and selling them FFS! - and he got in there with 62 votes!

8. If the IoS don't ditch this list next year, I hope people will realise it'll be easy to rig it and nominate themselves - and why not, you deserve it as much as anyone, ordinary gay person - or propose spoiler/joke candidates.
Fagburn would love to see Dennis Nilsen at number one.

9. There is no gentle or polite way of putting this but many inclusions and placings in the Pink List seem based on tokenism.
This is insulting and patronising to both them and us.
Several entries read like a particularly cruel Private Eye pastiche/pisstake of a painfully "worthy"poll such as this.

10. Take a look at the judges - including a panel from the Independent itself - and see if you can detect any possible "conflict of interest"/favouritism in the Pink List 2013.
No, me neither...

11. The Ones To Watch list appears to resemble many other publications' Ones To Watch lists; how many are chums - or crushes - of someone at The Independent or of a judge?

12. Regular viewers may know that as a general rule Fagburn thinks politicians should be taken out and shot, but the Politicians' Pink Sublist is unbelievably slapdash, and looks like it was thrown together and written by a spectacularly ignorant intern in a panic.

13: Tilda fucking Swinton?????!!!

That is all for now on this IoS Shit List.

Fagburn could rave about some people that I think were glaring omissions.
Or rant about some people who really should not have been included.
But this would be pointless when the Pink List 2013 is so debased, and has now completely negated itself as being any meaningful marker of British LGBT people who have "made a difference".

And finally...
There is an accompanying article to all this pink palaver by Will "Nice-But-Dim" Young; Note to society: We're not G*Y – we're GAY!
I've been struggling with what to say about it, but it's even beyond satire.
Young Tom put it best; "Will Young writes like a 15 year-old school newspaper editor."

Will Young: Gay Shame

Metro.

Aww.
Poor old Well Hung Will Young.
Fagburn's like that - depressed, single, addicted to porn tick tick tick - but without the sense of mortal shame.
But then I never went to a posh private school or nuffink.

Update: Good piece on Guardian online by Matthew Todd on how shame still damages gay men - and how it can be taboo to even raise this issue. Matthew is writing a book on this - look forward to it. 

Will Young: MC WY

Hmm... alll seems to be Olympics, Olympics, Olympics in the press today.
But look! Here's the first photo of Will Young as the Emcee in Cabaret at the Savoy Theatre.
Apparently, Will "Nice-but-dim" and co-star Michelle Ryan are going to "raunch up" - whatever that means.
Theatre fact: Earlier West End revivals of Cabaret have seen the Emcee played by Wayne Sleep, Alan Cumming and James Dreyfuss.
Hmm...

Equal Marriage: Heated Debates

Conor Marron from Coalition For Equal Marriage vs the beyond evil Sharon Jones from Cunts For Marriage.
Think it's safe to say Conor wins this one.

Update: Newsnight hosted an embarrassing bunfight - poor show Channel 4.
The subject wasn't brought up on Question Time tonight - presumably the producers thought they'd "done that" last week.
And who could top Will "Nice But Dim" Young?
It was the hot topic on BBC Radio 4's Moral Maze this week.
Sadly, Melanie Phillips was away.
The highlight?
Michael Portillo: ‘Ben, can you confirm that one man cannot impregnate another man and bring about a child?’
Ben Summerskill: ‘I’m surprised you need to ask that question, Michael.’
Michael Portillo: ‘Help me out with the answer.’
Ben Summerskill: ‘I’ll assist you. It’s why you have no children, Michael.'

Will Young: I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar!

“I have a bit of a funny thing with Rihanna. I’m a bit of a feminist and I think what Rihanna represents is not necessarily the best thing.
“She’s overtly sexual. And it’s so, ‘I’m an object and oh there’s another women in my video, are we lesbians, I’m not sure!’ It’s so disparaging towards women.
“Everyone plays the game, but it’s not good enough. It’s not empowering.
“I think as a woman Lady Gaga is far more interesting.”

Will Young - arguably Britain's most respected public intellectual since Bertrand Russell - gives his highly honed thoughts on the great "sexy videos" and fauxmosexuality debates during a discussion on that salon du nos jours The Jo Whiley Music Show.
This month your sex-hysterical and censorship-bonkers government announced it wants record companies to introduce an age ratings system for music videos.

Will Young: Well Thick

"My sexuality wouldn't have stayed as quiet as it did if I was auditioning now.
"There's far more of an appetite to know about contestants' private lives.
"It was still madness around Pop Idol because it was growing so quickly, but much less than now."

Will Young, The Sun.

Will Young was outed by The Sun's sister paper The News Of The World
Why the fuck is he talking to these cunts?