Issue 156: Tyson Beckford, Bel Ami, Cal, Clément Méric, Costa Concordia, Matthew Shepard, French bulldogs, Pegrema and more...

the destination for the
week's essential news
and pop culture stories,
with a gay bias.

 PONDER THIS 

THE roar of silence when gay champions are killed. Where is the international outcry?

IT'S time for direct action. "In an effort to do more than simply feel good for skipping the vodka, we must think on multiple levels of impact: Which of these strategies will materially aid LGBTs in a country where it’s not only the government that hates gays?"

IS Western coverage of Russian gay issues missing the positive angle?

TAKING Syria seriously. "The U.S. considers bombing Syria as it marks the 12th anniversary of September 11, 2001... Let's face it, a significant portion of people who voluntarily join the military are doing so to avoid joblessness or poverty."


THE strength in being a queen. "A gay man can be a hero, even if he worships a Bedazzler."


MASKING anti-gay bigotry as "religious freedom" is just gutless.


...AND what Putin didn't tell the American people about Syria. "Russia's leader poses as a champion of the rule of law in a New York Times op-ed, but his record as Assad's backer is shameful."

ONE more reason it sucks to be a waiter in America. "The IRS is cracking down on tips – again. Why go after billionaires when you can squeeze more out of servers?"

WHAT happened to class action? "Sixty per cent of us still identify ourselves as working class – but there are few ways to express it alongside other people."

CAN you spot a rhetorical fallacy? "If you can identify the fallacies in arguments, you can undermine your opponent and demonstrate your own decency."

WHY we argue – and how to do it properly.

 U.S. & CANADA NEWS 

< THIS is Torico Jackson. He has just been sentenced to two life terms for murdering John E. Ray after they hooked up online. Ray's murder went unsolved for seven years, until DNA evidence helped crack it.

HAVE we got Matthew Shepard all wrong? "A new book argues that America’s most notorious hate crime was not a hate crime at all."

OWNER of Ohio gay bar told by city to stop calling police due to "an undue and inappropriate burden on the taxpayers". Police were called to Cleveland's Cocktail Lounge nine times over a twelve month period; numerous anti-gay hate crimes have taken place there.

POLICE arrest HIV-positive Missouri man who may have exposed 300 partners.

POLICE warn public erections at Dallas pride will be charged as felonies.

TEACHER could lose job for showing gay video Macklemore's Same Love in class.

> FORMER Detroit City Council President Charles Pugh has finally resigned after months of unexplained absence from City Hall. He went into hiding back in June after allegations of an inappropriate relationship with a teenage boy.

IN 29 US states you can be fired for being gay, Obama says this must end.

JUDGE orders Pennsylvania clerk to stop issuing same-sex marriage licenses; the state has its own Defense of Marriage act...

...BUT the sixth US Native American tribal nation has voted to allow marriage equality on their territories.

ANTI-gay Family Research Council urges Betty Crocker boycott, after the cake brand donated free cakes to gay weddings.

< THIS is Brent Giroeux, the pastor facing sixty counts of suspected sexual exploitation for allegedly having sex with numerous teenage boys while praying to rid them of "homosexual urges".

SATAN is responsible for gays marrying and having anal sex, according to the Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, ohn Nienstedt. Thanks Satan!

RIGHT Wing Watch clip of televangelist Pat Robertson's claims of an "AIDS ring" is back on YouTube.


> RADIO DJ Mister Cee - who has previously been arrested for sex with male prostitutes - resigns over persistent gay rumours.

THE BIG PICTURE: This is a U.S. marine posting a photo of himself on Reddit, writing,
"Today’s my unofficial last day as a Marine. This is what my unit gave me to say goodbye."
THE BIG PICTURE: A couple kiss in Vancouver as part of a global "kiss-in" protesting Russia's anti-gay laws. Video.
THE BIG PICTURE: The South reflecting pool at the 9/11 Memorial, where friends and family
marked the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center.
THE man who saw 9/11 unfold from the International Space Station.

MEDICAL Examiner in Zimmerman trial sues for $US100m, claims prosecution threw case.

< PIONEERING activist and drag queen José Sarria was laid to rest last week in an elaborate and regal ceremony.

 U.K. NEWS 

> GAY Tory MP Nigel Evans charged with sexual assault and rape. Seven men in their twenties accuse the Conservative Deputy Speaker of offences committed between 2002 and 2013.

ONE in five British people think being gay is "always wrong"...

...SO is it any wonder as one in ten gay men aged between 16 and 19 have tried to kill themselves.

MASS kiss-in for gay equality held in London's iconic Trafalgar Square. In pictures. More images here.

> DETECTIVES reopen investigation into the death of a young Scottish RAF firefighter. Senior Aircraftman Robert Fleeting committed suicide after having his first consensual sexual experience with a male medic at the base.

REVIEW of sex in prisons hears that separation policy thought to be discriminatory towards openly gay prisoners...

...BUT we know very little about prisoners' sexual habits. More needs to be done to prevent abuse.

TOYS 'R' Us to end labelling its toys specifically for boys or girls, and remove all explicit references to gender from store signage.

STREET preacher arrested for making anti-gay slurs.

< RUSTING 9/11 sculpture to be installed in Olympic Park.

WHY fruit is picked by migrant workers.

SCOTLAND: Church of Scotland threatens to axe all weddings in gay marriage strop.

 EUROPE NEWS 

IRELAND: Education Minister launches new policy to combat anti-gay bullying in schools.

> FRANCE: Skinhead charged over murder of gay anti-fascist student Clément Méric, right.

NORWAY: A disturbing lurch to the right.

ITALY: Italian far right movement starts campaigning in Rome in favour of Russian anti-gay laws.

< RUSSIA: Video of raped, beaten gay man surfaces online.

RUSSIA: Meet Alexei Zhuravlev, the lawmaker who wants to take children away from gay parents, and calls gay people thieves and sinners.

RUSSIA: Obama "inspired" by Russian gay activists, extended their meeting.

TURKEY: Grindr blocked by Istanbul court as "protection measure".

TURKEY: Can Çavuşoğlu to be the first ever openly gay mayoral candidate.

AZERBAIJAN: First gay pride march held in majority Muslim former Soviet state, with no attempts to suppress the event reported.

THE BIG PICTURE: Raising the Costa Concordia.
 LATIN AMERICA NEWS 

> JAMAICA: Irene Monroe examines how history, culture, religion, law and a sexual health crisis conspire to fuel gay hate on the island.

JAMAICA: Urgent action is needed to save gay people's lives, writes Maurice Tomlinson.

 AFRICA NEWS 

AFRICANS seek protection for gay Africans - and you can help. Please support this fund-raising effort on Indiegogo, which could lead to life-saving changes in Africa.

< THE International Criminal Court considers arresting Ugandan MP David Bahati, tabloid newspaper editor Giles Muhame (THE KAOS THEORY Issue 85) - who called on the public to "hang" gay people - and infamous anti-gay pastor Martin Ssempa, for crimes against humanity. The complaint was brought by Magembe Norman, a straight Ugandan gay equality activist.

> ZAMBIA: Amnesty urges government to drop charges against James Mwape and Philip Mubiana, who stand accused of having sex "against the order nature".

ZAMBIA: Judge rules activist Paul Kasonkomona will face court for TV gay equality plea.


SENEGAL: Justice Minister reverses course on gay equality.

< SIERRA LEONE: How anti-gay attacks disrupt the fight against AIDS. Left, George Freeman, Denzil Kargbo and Ephraim Bernard Wilson, who were forced to flee their country after a hate campaign.

CONGO: Police and neighbours wielding hammers and machetes have raided the house of a Congloese lesbian who was sheltering gay youth. Her house was torn down, and twenty-one youths made homeless.

> SOUTH AFRICA: This is Gerald Pereira, who was beaten in Johannesburg defending his boyfriend.


 ASIA NEWS 

INDIA: Archbishop of Mumbai says being gay is "not a sin".

INDIA: Qradio - the country's first gay radio station - starts broadcasting.

< NEPAL: Pioneering gay equality group opens Pink Himalayan Center in Kathmandu, to shelter "all persecuted LGBTs". In pictures.

SINGAPORE: "There are no ex-blacks, no ex-Chinese, but there are ex-homosexuals," senior pastor of Singapore's Faith Community Baptist Church Lawrence Khong tells local media.

AUSTRALIA: Australian Capital Territory set to become first jurisdiction to allow marriage equality.

AUSTRALIA: What next for gay equality in Tony Abbott's Australia?

AUSTRALIA: 10 ways to survive the Tony Abbott years.

 MIDDLE EAST NEWS 

IRAN: Gay Iranian men face "humiliating" exams for military exemption.

SYRIA: Why Syria matters for gay people. "If you still don't know or care about what's going on in Syria, here's why you should."

OMAN: Sultanate takes newspaper to court over positive gay story, despite front page apology.

 PLANET EARTH 

IF you buy a French bulldog, be sure to meet its mother. "Dog trends lead to mass production of pups, too early separation, and suffering. This cruel practice must be outlawed."

> SO, dogs basically don't care if you are a robot or a human.

< MEET the world's ugliest animal.

MOSQUITO invisibility cloak discovered.

> THE amazing and gruesome world under a microscope. And that? Dust.

THE evidence that wild orangutans are scary smart.


WHAT would happen if all the ice on earth melted?

THE mammoth breaking deep-sea waves that reveal the mechanism for global ocean mixing.

HUGE underground water reserve found in Kenya.

 BODY, MIND & SOUL 


IS this the new condom? "Taken once daily, the pill Truvada can prevent HIV. It's safe, effective, FDA -approved, and usually covered by health plans. So why are so few gay men taking it?"

THE new discovery that brings us one step closer to preventing HIV infections.

HIV dating 3.0: No second chances. "A sexy hook-up turns into regret when the important details are revealed too late."

HIV virus in monkeys cleared by vaccine.

WHY is New Orleans third in U.S. HIV diagnoses?


TESTICLE size linked to father role.


HOW much alcohol is too much?


HOW Grizzlies made me gay. "Being alone in the woods with a few wild grizzlies helped one man finally accept his sexuality."

A 14-year-old boy's "consensual" relationship with an older man seemed thrilling and adult, until...



< SEXY selfies may upset parents, but they're part of growing up today.

FAECES making it through flawed meat inspection program.

 INSIDE THE SPACESHIP 

WE have abandoned our children to the internet. "Young people are addicted to a virtual world that is designed to keep them hooked with little care for collateral damage."

WE don't get the importance of computer code or the scale of the revolution unleashed by the digital world.

TWITTER and the transformation of democracy. "The social networking service has the power to control the expression of public opinion in political debate."

TWITTER Verification is the internet's gated community.

AMERICANS losing faith in technology, but can't break the addiction.

SALES chart predicts gaming doom for Sony and Nintendo.

 ART & DESIGN 

< PARIS' Musee d'Orsay to be adorned with hundreds of naked men. The "Masculin/Masculin" exhibition will exhibit 200 works about male nudes from as far back as 1800.

LOOKING back at the art of Sascha Schneider.

MUCH of the height in Earth's tallest towers is useless space.

 IN PRINT 

THE new book telling the real story behind the Chelsea Hotel, one-time home of gay stars and icons like Warhol, Joplin, Vidal, and Madonna.

BOOK review: The Conspiracy Kid, by E. P. Rose. "A truly enjoyable read... charming and well written."

50 sublime coffee table books for the true sophisticate.

 AT THE MOVIES 

WHY I won't be watching The Butler and 12 Years A Slave. "As a black person, I can honestly say I am exhausted and bored with these kinds of 'dramatic race' films."


AFRICAN-American film isn't having a renaissance: Harvey Weinstein and the myth of the "Obama Effect".

< ISAIAH Washington - he of the infamous anti-gay hate slur - to play the sympathetic dad of a gay teen in the film adaptation of Larry Duplechan's novel Blackbird. Patrik-Ian Polk (Noah's Arc) is directing.

> HERE'S Manny Perez and Cheyenne Jackson in Love is Strange, director Ira Sachs's follow-up to Keep the Lights On. Not only are they New York's Finest, they're also a couple in the film. Hot!

TALKING to the cast and crew of Cal, the sequel to 2009's Shank (also one of the kaos Top 30 Gay Films of all time).

WHY I'm going to see Ender's Game.

< NOW this is the Thor 2 movie poster we want.

STAR Trek writer's comments section meltdown proves creators need to leave angry fans alone.

TALKING to Dome Karukoski, director of the newly-announced Tom of Finland biopic.

JOSEPH Gordon-Levitt swerves gay rumours.

DOMINIC West (The Wire) to star in gay miners' strike film Pride, a comedy-drama of how the gay community and miners joined together to fight back against Margaret Thatcher.

CHARLIE Hunnam on how his gay sex scenes in Queer As Folk helped him on 50 Shades of Grey.

SCOTT Thorson, Liberace's troubled former boyfriend, has been arrested again following a failed drug test.

> WINTER Journey, a film about a gay musician falling in love with a petty street criminal, rejected by Kinotavr - one of Russia's main film festivals - over fears it could break that country's anti-gay laws.

SYDNEY gets second gay film festival thanks to Queer Screen.

BEHIND-the-scenes on new movie Dragula.

> JURASSIC World to premiere on 12th June 2015...


< JAMES Bond's submarine Lotus Esprit car sold at auction.

> SUPERMAN fan has 16 years of surgery to look like the Man of Steel.

BEFORE taking on hijackers aboard United Airlines Flight 93 on September 11, 2001, Mark Bingham tackled homophobia in the rugby scrum. Scott Gracheff's new film The Rugby Player shows us the real gay 9/11 hero.

FILM review: Dallas Buyers Club. "Matthew McConaughey is in top form in this entertaining account of a rodeo redneck who becomes an unlikely angel in the AIDS struggle." (The Hollywood Reporter) "A riveting and surprisingly relatable true story." (Variety) "Lazy and uninspired direction... a cookie-cutter screenplay... completely fails to portray the magnitude of the situation at hand." (Indiewire).

< DVD review: Cal. "The impact of great characters and a well-handled central relationship are lessened by the fact the film is so keen on making points about societal decay that it stops feeling real."

 T.V. 

> THE son of Vanna White - the hostess on The Wheel of Fortune - is dating and living with a Liberian Hare Krisha fifteen years his senior. Don't Nikko and Jaycee make a cute couple?

RUSSIAN government warns movie channel over gay content after it airs 2007 French musical Les Chansons d'Amour (Love Songs).

< GUY Wilson to replace Chandler Massey as Days Of Our Lives gay character Will Horton.

> DAVID Tutera - host of My Fair Wedding - settles custody battle with ex-husband Ryan Jurica over twin babies: each gets one.

WENTWORTH Miller on why he had been reluctant to embrace the gay community. "I was filled with fear, anger, and a stubborn resistance that had built up."

MILLER has also confessed that he tried to kill himself when he was fifteen.

> BROTHERS & Sisters actor Gilles Marini says it's "uncool" for gays not to come out. "Don't stay in the closet. You'll only hurt your heart."

< SEAN Hayes' new sitcom Sean Saves the World - about a single gay dad raising a teen daughter - won't be "message-driven" like the torturous vomit-fest that was The New Normal.

BREAKING Bad is a middle-class horror story. "The idea that a high school teacher might resort to cooking meth to provide for his family isn't that far-fetched in today's economy."

THE Newsroom: a new season of hate-watching. "The women are one-dimensional, the men self-important and condescending, the actors are great but the dialogue is rotten. Will Aaron Sorkin's latest effort get better or worse?"

10 failed Aaron Spelling TV shows. Crime, crap, and Drew Barrymore - but oddly, the brilliant, short-lived Savannah isn't on this list.

> TYSON Beckford flaunts it Manhattan. Looking for trade, Ty?

GAYS of our lives: All the latest gay soap developments from around the world, with Anthony D. Langford. Left, Felix and Brad in General Hospital.

> EASTENDERS is turning Glaswegians Cockney, boffins believe. Right, Khali Best and Cornell S John, in a forthcoming episode.

HACKNEY gang drama Top Boy wants to be to east London what The Wire was to Baltimore, but is at its best when telling its own story.

< CORONATION Street's Michael Le Vell acquitted of child sex offences.

WHY the CPS had little choice but to prosecute Le Vell over child rape allegations.

WATCH this fascinating short public access TV documentary from 1982, featuring first-hand stories of Manhattan's male street hustlers.


LOOKING back at The X Files on its 20th anniversary.

10 biggest dodged bullets in the history of Doctor Who.

LOOKING back at Doctor Who – Genesis of the Daleks. "Unflinching and absorbing. It manages to craft a complex and fast-moving story whilst not becoming over-burdened by annoying techno-babble."

 MUSIC 

A$AP Rocky sorry over apparent Jason Collins VMA anti-gay performance.

KANYE West charged with battery and attempted grand theft over alleged altercation with photographer.

HIP-Hop, tolerance and a D.J.'s bared soul.

A Tupac Shakur musical is in the works.

LETHAL Bizzle wants his word "dench" in the dictionary.

WHO beat up (former gay bully) Ricky Martin? We'd like to think it's karma, but it's probably make-up.

CHER turns down offer to perform at Olympics in Sochi: "I want to know why all of this gay hate just exploded over there."

OUTMusic, the LGBT Academy of Recording Arts, launches Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to complete a documentary about queer music culture. The documentary, For Which WE Stand (One Queer Music Nation in the Visible), is directed by gay film-maker Sean Robinson.

RAY Dolby, the engineer who founded Dolby Laboratories and pioneered noise reduction in audio recordings, is dead. He was 80.

< DON'T miss new music from Cakes Da Killa, and Zebra Katz.

ICONA Pop's follow-up to I Love It is All Night, with a video featuring NYC's gay ballroom culture; drag girl group DWV (Detox, Willam, and Vicky Vox) are back with a Robin Thicke send-up; Craig Storrod & K'n'S perform Redemption, from the forthcoming film Bashment; and 2 Unlimited perform Do What's Good For Me in Antwerp.


 EROTICA 

BEL Ami's An American In Prague grand finale, with Kevin Warhol, Mick Lovell and Gino Mosca, is spectacular.

TALKING to Noah Paris.


 IN THE ARENA 

< TOM Daley: I'm not gay.

IF you think Tom Daley is gay, perhaps it's time to reset the gaydar.

FOX fires sports broadcaster Craig James for historic anti-gay slurs.

THOMAS Bach, the new International Olympics Committee president, is a mate of Russian hate monger Vladimir Putin. Nice.

US Olympic snowboarding gold medallist Seth Wescott slams Russia's anti-gay laws.

> FREQUENTLY naked rugby star Stuart Reardon slams Russia's anti-gay laws.

JOHNNY Weir cares only for himself, Russian porn star Michael Lucas declares.

GERMAN goalkeeper Oliver Kahn says players should stay in the closet.

FIFA urged to pressure Russia and Qatar over anti-gay legislation.

< IS the NFL blacklisting Kerry Rhodes because he's gay? Outsports doesn't think so.

 AND WHILST YOU'RE 
 THINKING ABOUT 
 THAT, THINK 
 ABOUT THIS 

< THE strangest and most tragic ghost towns from around the world. Left, Pegrema, Russia.

ANCIENT Roman coins depict sundry sexual acts, but what were they for?


THE secret history of Monopoly tokens.

THE psychology of a fanboy: Why you keep buying the same stuff.

DUNKIN' Donuts back in the UK after a twenty year hole.

AND finally, Marbasian twins, Walter talks about Truvada, Martin's buzz dies, and Andrew (the hottest guy on YouTube) has got a boyfriend... Yes, I sobbed for a while.


 photo postbodytopheaderJuly13_zps0d33646b.png

Issue 156
08-14 September 2013
On the cover: For editorial reasons, the original cover for this issue has been redacted (29/042017) It was replaced on 3rd May 2017.

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© 2013

Postcript
"You know, we might just as well not have
bothered to come. The whole thing's been ridiculous."

1 comments:

Larry Duplechan said...

Thank you for the first appropriate reportage concerning the upcoming movie of Blackbird.

 
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