THE UK'S BEST-SELLING & ATTITUDE.CO.

UK
AWARD-WINNING GAY MAGAZINE SUMMER 2015 £4.85

FROM THE WILL YOUNG

CHOCOL ATE ON SEX ED IN
SCHOOLS , USELESS
FACTORY POLITICIANS AND
TO BATES JOINING GRINDR

MOTEL COLIN FARRELL

WHY HE WANTS
IRELAND TO VOTE
YES TO MARRIAGE
SCREAM QUEENS
THE GAY APPEAL
OF HORROR
AMERICAN TV ICON
ANDY COHEN
CAN WE REALLY
TRUST THE TORIES?
A COLD , HARD LOOK
AT THE NUMBERS

FREDDIE'S
ONE,
TWO, 05

COMING FOR YOU

9 771353 187045

WE GO PSYCHO FOR FREDDIE HIGHMORE

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 64
summer 2015 • attitude.co.uk

a newly single
will young talks
grindr and politics

6 36 121
editor’s
letter &
Inbox

features active
Aljaz Skorjanec
freddie Highmore Real bodies
the former child star talks us dR christian
through his psychotic turn in
bates motel

10
EDIT
THE A-LIST Things we like this month
Joe stone is on it
the rules of music festivals
gadgets
paul flynn is over it
Paris is burning
culture club shortbus
music & Film Reviews
BGF stock aitken waterman
andy cohen
Gratuitous nudity nat weller
horror: the gay fascination
horror journo Sean abley on why we
get our kicks from scary movies
can we trust the tories?
formerly a party of extreme
homophobia, are the tories
135
97
really a changed party? style
equal marriage for ireland
as the world’s first referendum CONTEXT
on equal marriage approaches, we IAIN DALE
look at how ireland has changed R U Coming out? Readers’ stories
why can’t we win eurovision? trend camouflage life lessons patrick gale
experts, enthusiasts and shopping adidas truly madly deeply long-term couples
conchita Wurst analyse where Grooming JO MALONE property industrial revolution
the uk is going wrong story sportswear how gay are you? alexandra burke

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 Parka
£40

T W E N T Y F O U R | S E V E N | S T Y L E

BOOHOO.indd 5 15/04/2015 11:23:29

 Ah, isn’t Freddie Highmore a cutie pie? We noticed him in
the surprisingly great Psycho spin off Bates Motel, where he
plays the baby psycho killer (aww) Norman Bates – as you
do – opposite one of our favourite actresses Vera Farmiga.
Freddie got his big break in Finding Neverland opposite
Kate Winslet, Johnny Depp and Dustin Hoffman – as you
do – and then won the Golden Ticket to get his very own
Chocolate Factory – as you do – and kissed a boy – as you
actually do – when he played the young culinary diva
Nigel Slater in BBC’s Toast. We’re very happy to have him
on the cover of Attitude.
Horror has always had a specific appeal for many of
us. Psycho has queer resonance: A sexually frustrated
loner with a somewhat unhealthy relationship (just a bit)
with his mother – a character who, it eventually became
clear, was played by a bisexual actor; Anthony Perkins.
Horror addresses the undoable and unsayable, often
centred around sexuality. As a teen I loved Halloween and A
Nightmare on Elm Street, not because I wanted to kill people,
but because on some subconscious level, I connected with
the desire for revenge on a mainstream society that had
isolated me. We asked writer, director, actor Sean Abley,
author of Out In The Dark and writer of the infamous Gay of
The Dead blog to explore this further.
We have a whole bunch of exclusives in this issue. There’s
Will Young’s only gay press interview for his great new
album, and we meet Colin Farrell’s gay brother Eamon
who explains why his movie star sibling is so passionate
about Ireland’s referendum and equal marriage. We take a
look at what is going on as the country goes to the polls.
Talking of votes (and horror, for that matter) by the time
you read this we’ll be about to go to the polls *SCREAMS*
THANK YOU GOD, IT’S ALMOST OVER, *coughs*
excuse me – to bring in a new government in the United
Kingdom. I’ve noticed many people – especially young
people – over the last few years who seem to think that
because David Cameron brought in same sex marriage
that there is now an equal playing field between the parties
when it comes to LGBT people. I’m not telling you who to
vote for, that’s your business, but it’s important to know
the facts – that not only did the Conservative party bring
in the most homophobic legislation of modern times in
257_EDIT_EDS LETTER#.indd 6
Section 28 in 1988, they have also, for the last 20 years,
voted consistently to DENY you equal rights; many of
them MPs who want your vote today.
When we interviewed David Cameron before he became
Prime Minister in 2009 he told us that the party was now
a party of LGBT equality. He pushed through marriage
to his credit, but no thanks to his party. Equal marriage
provoked a huge amount of opposition from all areas of
the Conservative party, from MPs and commentariat to
ground level supporters and – when push came to shove
– more than half of the Tory MPs voted against same sex
marriage. Compare that to more than 88% of Labour and
Lib Dem MPs who voted for it. This mirrors the constant
Conservative attacks on gay equality legislation over the
last 20 years where they have overwhelmingly voted
against us literally every single time.
I know many of our readers who vote Conservative – we
are a broad church and indeed I don’t think any other gay
magazine has a monthly conservative writer like we do
in Iain Dale – but to believe that the Conservative Party is
suddenly as gay supportive as the others is simply not true.
Someone in the office said we owe the Prime Minister for
marriage but with that logic we owe the Labour party for
equalising the age of consent, scrapping the armed forces
ban and Section 28, bringing in the anti-discrimination
act and Civil Partnerships – all of which the majority of
Conservative MPs opposed.
Like I say, it’s up to you who you vote for but it’s
important that we all know the facts when the country goes
to the polls on May 7th. So we have a look at the numbers
and then two writers from opposing sides of the spectrum
give us their opinion. And of course you could vote Lib
Dem, Green, SNP, Plaid Cymru, UKIP or others if you so
desire. Make up your own mind. See you next month.
matthew todd Editor
the uk’s best-selling gay magazine
@attitudemag
@Mrmatthewtodd
14/04/2015 17:28:34
 CONTRIBUTORS
PAUL JORDAN
Also known as Dr Eurovision, Paul
is a regular commentator on the
Eurovision Song Contest and has
attended the event since 2000, having
also been a guest on the BBC3 semi-
final shows. In 2011 he obtained his
PhD from the University of Glasgow
and in 2014 he published his book,
The Modern Fairy Tale: Nation Branding,
National Identity and the Eurovision
Song Contest in Estonia. Follow him
on Twitter @dreurovision
MARK CANT
Mark is a beauty and fashion
photographer who lives and works
in London shooting some of the
biggest stars in the world today for
internationally renowned magazines
and brands. We kept Mark very
busy in this issue, calling on him to
photograph the leading man of Bates
Motel Freddie Highmore for our cover,
as well as our sports-themed main
fashion shoot with the gorgeous model
of the moment, Miroslav Cech. Mark
likes Scotch, but not scotch eggs.
SEAN ABLEY
Sean Abley is a playwright,
screenwriter, novelist and horror
journalist. His writing has appeared
in Fangoria, The Advocate, Unzipped
and ShockTilYouDrop.com. In this issue,
Sean writes about the fascinating
appeal of horror movies for gay
men. He is currently working on
the novelisation of the film The Disco
Exorcist, but in the meantime check
out his latest book Out in the Dark:
Interviews with Gay Horror Filmmakers,
Actors and Authors.
ON THE COVER
freddie wears top by dior homme, photography: mark cant,
fashion: joseph kocharian
257_EDIT_CONTRIBS#.indd 7
Editor MATTHEW TODD matthew.todd@attitude.co.uk
Associate Editor CHRISTIAN GUILTENANE christian.guiltenane@attitude.co.uk
Art Director DAVID GRAHAM david.graham@attitude.co.uk
Fashion & Grooming Director JOSEPH KOCHARIAN joseph.kocharian@attitude.co.uk
Editor at Large PARIS LEES paris.lees@attitude.co.uk
Designer LUCY HENDEL lucy.hendel@attitude.co.uk
Editorial Assistant & Senior Staff Writer BEN KELLY ben.kelly@attitude.co.uk
Sub Editor AARON TOUMAZOU aaron.toumazou@attitude.co.uk
Assistant Staff Writer WILL STROUDE assistant@attitude.co.uk
Fashion Assistant NICK BYAM nick.byam@attitude.co.uk
Web Editor NICK BOND nick.bond@attitude.co.uk
Web Reporter JOSH HAIGH
Books Editor WILL DAVIS will.davis@attitude.co.uk
Senior Contributing Editors
SIMON EDGE / PAUL FLYNN / PHILIP REAY-SMITH / TIM TEEMAN
Interns JOAO ANDRADE / KEVIN LONG / CRAIG LEE
CASEY WATERS / LIZZIE REID
Commercial Manager
ANDY GODDARD andy.goddard@attitude.co.uk 020 7608 6305
Senior Sales Account Manager
MARCUS JAMES marcus.james@attitude.co.uk 020 7608 6364
Senior Sales Account Manager
JAMIE BOYLE jamie.boyle@attitude.co.uk 020 7608 6351
Digital Account Manager
HYWEL KENNEDY hywel.kennedy@attitude.co.uk 020 7608 6398
Events Director ANNE-MARIE BRACKEN
ATTITUDE MEDIA LTD
Managing Director MIKE BUCKLEY mike.buckley@attitude.co.uk
Editorial Director MATTHEW TODD
Chairman JUSTIN SANDERS Next issue
available
Finance Director VINCE NICHOLLS to download
Web Development ADAM OSBORN adam.osborn@attitude.co.uk
May 22
Subscriptions Enquiries In shops
attitude@warnersgroup.co.uk 01778 392005 May 27
Warners Subscription Department
Freepost, PE211, Bourne, Lincolnshire PE10 9BR
Attitude Magazine 33 Pear Tree Street, London EC1V 3AG attitude@attitude.co.uk
Copyright © Attitude Media Ltd 2015 all rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be
reproduced in whole or in part without the written permission of the publishers. Unsolicited
contributions must be accompanied by a stamped addressed envelope if they are to be returned.
We cannot accept responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts and photographs or for material
lost or damaged in the post. Letters submitted to Attitude or its editors are assumed to be
intended for publication in whole or in part. The mention or appearance or likeness of any
person or organisation in articles or advertising in this publication is not to be taken as
any indication of sexual, social or political orientation of such persons or organisations.
Newstrade distribution by Seymour Distribution Limited, 2 East Poultry Avenue, London EC1A 9PT.
Tel 020 7429 4000. Published by Attitude Media Ltd. Printed by Benham Goodhead Print Limited
15/04/2015 14:36:20
 C O N TA C T T I N Y U R L . C O M / FA C E B O O K A T T I T U D E
THE MAG T W I T T E R . C O M /AT T I T U D E M A G
AT T I T U D E@ AT T I T U D E . C O . U K
3 3 P E A R T R E E S T R E E T, F I N S B U R Y, L O N D O N E C 1 V 3 A G
TheHeatedDebate
AS ELECTRO VELVET HEAD TO VIENNA, WE ASK:
WILL THE UK EVER WIN EUROVISION AGAIN?
No because they keep putting in
rubbish acts! Not like in the 60s
when chart topping acts did the
job – Lulu and Sandie Shaw to
name just two iconic voices.
But do we really care enough?
PAUL, BELFAST
We can if we send a decent act,
we just need a selection show!
Internal selection does not really
seem to work for us.
ANTHONY, NORWICH
Tony Blair put an end to Europe
liking us when he illegally
invaded Iraq. The Blue song from
a couple of years ago was great,
but it’s so political. Even if we sent
Adele we still wouldn’t win as
they would all just vote for their
neighbours or the novelty act.
JOHN, HARROGATE
We will win Eurovision again
when we send a great song with
a strong performance. We also
need to put in more effort. The
‘it’s all political/nobody likes
us’ argument is wrong – we
send mediocre entries and get
mediocre results. Europe can’t
be that anti-UK, considering
British artists dominate most
European charts. I refuse to
believe that ‘Still In Love With
You’ was the BBC’s best option.
JAKE, GENEVA
257_EDIT_INBOX#.indd 8
READERS’ TWEETS
@OblaKickinIn
WARNING: @adamlambert cover shoot on
@AttitudeMag will self-combust in your hands
from pure hotness! #GhostTown
@TaysunBerry
Reading @MarkusFeehily interview in
@AttitudeMag made me feel a little less
alone in my #depression. Kudos, Markus,
for speaking honestly.
@Fiskitoo
@MarkusFeehily The more I read
@AttitudeMag’s interview the more I
feel I want to hug you and the more
I admire that inner-strength.
@BarbP11
@AttitudeMag LOVED Adam’s interview
and the Mad Men article too!
In a word, yes. Lena’s Satellite in @Sudipta_Sharmin
2010 showed the right song can Whooooaaaaa @MarkusFeehily &
win it for a Western European act. @adamlambert are in the same issue!
Loving it @AttitudeMag!!
JAMES, LONDON
I think that ship sailed for us a
long time ago...
FILIP, NOTTINGHAM @glamberlicious
@AttitudeMag are pretty fucking awesome.
Gonna get me an annual subscription
Yes, it might be a while though. because they’re so nice!
In the meantime Sweden will
have regular victories, and quite
rightly so. It’s lazy to blame it
on politics – Conchita didn’t @barbls23
win because of politics, nor @AttitudeMag @adamlambert looks so
did Loreen. In 2009 we had a gorgeous and what a great, insightful
public selection process, Europe interview! Mega talent and realness!
gave us plenty of points and we Winning combination!
came fifth. With the right song
we can do well.
ED, LONDON @VillyKassiou
@AttitudeMag Thank you so much for having
Nope. Still enjoy watching the the one & only @MarkusFeehily. Such an
honest interview. He’s an inspiration.
show but it’s not likely that we
will win again.
NATHAN, BRIGHTON
Yes! 14 different countries
won in the last 14 years. What THE ARCHIVE
did they have in common? I S S U E 1 3 5, J U LY 2 0 0 5
Impactful, visual, anthemic
ROCK HARD
songs, not politics.
COINNEACH, LONDON We got down with Razorlight frontman Johnny Borrell
in our Rock Special ten years (!) ago, as we prepared
for the onslaught of inoffensive indie pop that was
That’s not the question we should
extinguished with the rise of Gaga circa 2008. We also
be asking! We should be asking, chatted to then-Eastenders star Jake Maskall about coming
‘Who gives a shit!’ out. The former Mr Danny Moon can currently be seen
DAMIAN, HUCKNALL playing bisexual Prince Cyrus in E!’s The Royals, FYI.
14/04/2015 12:58:23
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FLAGSHIP STORE: 83A BREWER STREET LONDON W1F 9ZN ONLINE STORE: WOLSEY.COM

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 Film / TV / Music
Opinion / news
Performance
Books / Boys

andy cohen: grand daddy of american tv PG.22>>

257_EDIT_OPENER#.indd 11 14/04/2015 14:08:26

 LIST
THE THINGS WE LOVE THIS MONTH
WORDS: WILL STROUDE
& JOSEPH KOCHARIAN

↑EVENTS

PRIDE SEASON STARTS

↓THEATRE

IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT The window of acceptability for feather boas, morning drinking and crushing regrets officially
Playwright Claudio Macor has brought the classic dark, steamy opens this month as pride season kicks off, with events in Exeter, Birmingham and Bradford finally
atmosphere of 1930 & 40s Hollywood noir to the stage – without the heralding the start of summer (and, like, politics and stuff. We’re being ironic, double bluff etc.)
social prudery and censorship of the era. It’s all murder, power and Birmingham Pride takes place Spring Bank Holiday weekend, May 23-24. birminghampride.com
sexually-liberated eroticism in this tale of a shady South American town
which flirts with scandal and destruction at the end of World War II.
In the Dead of Night is at the Landor Theatre, London, from April 22
– May 17. Call the box office on 020 7737 7276. landortheatre.co.uk

↑FILM

PITCH PLEASE
The sequel to 2012’s hilarious sleeper hit Pitch Perfect promises to be every bit as riotous and
ridiculous as the original, with all the cast returning for more acapella fracas as the Barden Bellas
fight to save the group from dissolution. In cinemas from May 15. pitchperfectmovie.com

12

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 EDIT_A LIST
←fashion

ad i das x y-3 re ad y for re d cl a y

The French Open is upon us (May 19 – June 7) and French pro Jo Wilfried
Tsonga will be wearing the new adidas tennis x Y-3 collaboration in his bid
to win the red clay Grandslam. The collection is a perfect fusion between
performance and fashion.
#ImpactTheGame. adidas.com and Y-3.com

←fashion

Diesel Zipproundd
trainers
Whether it’s a stud, a rip, or a clothing
patch, Diesel love a bit of detailing,
and this time they’ve focused their
attention on the biker zip on their
restyled ‘zipproundd’ sneaker boot.
The zip runs all the way around the
shoe, fitting in perfectly with Diesel
←tour DNA’s biker concept.

An evening with
Available in red, black and white
from mid-May. diesel.com

D avid Seda ris

Don’t miss your chance to see gay best-
selling author David Sedaris bring his
self-deprecating autobiographical tales
to life in front of a live audience this
month, as the literary funnyman and
BBC Radio 4 star takes his brand of
sharp, warm humour up and down the
country with a 17-date UK and Ireland
book tour. An evening with David
Sedaris tours the UK May 30 – June
15. davidsedaristickets.co.uk

↓dvd

O r a nge Is the N ew Bl a ck
Litchfield Penitentiary’s finest females will be returning to Netflix for an
eagerly-anticipated third outing in June, but if you’re still to get aboard the
OITNB bandwagon there’s just enough time to get up to date with the release
of the season two box set this month.
Orange Is the New Black Season 2 is released on DVD and Blu-Ray on May 18

↑fashion

R ework I t
M&S’s popular menswear brand Autograph has been reworked to fuse tailoring
with casual-wear. The collection sees bold blue tailor-fitted suits mixed with
trainers, geometric print knits and jogging bottoms. So much more than just a suit.
All styles will be available in store and online at marksandspencer.com

13

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 EDIT_OPINION
YEARS AND YEARS
So nice. :-)
JOKES ABOUT ERECTIONS,
SWING VOTES & HUNG
PARLIAMENTS
It’s what the haters expect of us. AND
WHY NOT MO-FOS. (QUADRUPLE
BLUFF WITH CHERRIES ON)
PEPPA PIG FOR PM
If the media wants it they’ll make ham
sure (Ed – damn sure)
they’ll get it…
NICK JONAS
We were there first,
munchkins. Only has the best single in
140,000 years – Jealous. We’re sure he
says ‘Fuck me, fuck me’ on one of the
remixes. #IfYouInsist
THE HILLARY
Something fun to do while
the world ends.
DAVID DIMBLEBY
Hot. Go on, say ‘hommer-sex-schewell’
like they do in BBC posh land. Go on, we
like it. You’re allowed. #Fuzzy
UP
DOWN
THE MEDIA
Brainwashed nation, much?
THEY MUST BE STOPPED.
DAVID STARKEY
ACTUALLY the gay Katie Hopkins.
Button it sister. Let the pain out. It
is clearly fucking IMMENSE girrrl.
#HectorProjector
PIZZA JOKES
Gay people do eat Pizza. Not at weddings,
but we do eat pizza. Can we just deal with
that. Stop with the ‘Which queen would
be seen dead eating a pizza/staying in a
B&B/on a bus? lines’. SOOOO0 90s
PEOPLE WITH DOGS
That don’t smile when you coo at them.
FUCK THAT SHIT.
BRUCE JENNER
CHASING
Leave her alone.
ARGUING ABOUT
POPSTARS ONLINE
No point, really. Waste of life. No, really.
Open your curtains. Look: Air. Sky.
Trees. Birdies. Outsideness. Flapjacks.
Feel it, embrace it. You are not a cave bat.
Madonna does not care. #TruthHurts
14
257_EDIT_JOE-UP-DOWN#.indd 14
Joe Stone
IS ON IT
twitter @Joe_Stone_
THE SIX COMMANDMENTS OF GAY SOCIAL NETWORKING
Guys, I think it’s high time that we
did some housekeeping regarding
our communal approach to social
networking. I know the whole point is
to make celebrities of us all, enabling
each other to live in under the mass
delusion that the whole world finds
us as fascinating as we find ourselves.
There’s no point in complaining about
something which is, fundamentally, a
catalyst for narcissism (anyone who
claims they haven’t scrolled through
their own pictures, trying to guess
what a stranger would make of their
life, is lying.) Believe me, I’m just as
unbearable as the rest of you... BUT
we have to draw the line somewhere.
I suggest we start by following these
six commandments...
THOU SHALT NOT HASHTAG GAY ON
INSTAGRAM
Look, I’m as thirsty for attention as
the next Instagrammer, but every
time I see a homosexual captioning
his pictures #Gay a part of me withers
and dies. It’s embarrassing and
reductive, not to mention desperate.
Besides, surely any vague prestige
associated with potential extra likes
is immediately voided when they’ve
been harvested from the kind of
mouth-breathers who browse the gay
hashtag. Unacceptable. Same goes for
#Instagay #GayBoy and – obviously –
#GayFollow.
THOU SHALT NOT BE A GRINDR DOUCHEBAG
In case you haven’t already, take the
time to visit douchebagsofgrindr.com to
see the worst that gay culture has to
offer – a stew of racism, body fascism
and self-hating homophobia which
will be a familiar sight to anyone
who’s ever stumbled across a profile
insisting on: ‘no femmes, no fatties,
no Asians, no blacks, masc only, my
age or younger.’ It’s a depressing
indicator of how the internet age has
helped to replace a culture of sexual
freedom with segregation – not to
mention, terrible manners. Obviously
it’s fine to have sexual preferences,
we all do, but it’s equally easy not to
be a dick about them. It is your social
responsibility never to fuck anyone
with any of the above on their profile
(‘no offence, it’s just not what I’m into’).
THOU SHALT NOT DOCUMENT ‘LEG DAYS’
People who bang on about going
to the gym are the worst. Actually,
they’re the second worst, after people
who photograph their progress,
alongside #ArmDays and #LegDays
captions. As far as I’m concerned, if
you have arms and legs, every day is
an arms/legs day.
THOU SHALT NOT USE CHARITABLE
WORKS AS A SMOKE SCREEN
It’s interesting isn’t it, how some
AS FAR AS gay guys become unusually
charitably minded when there’s an
I’M CONCERNED,
interconnected opportunity to show
IF YOU HAVE off all that aforementioned work in
ARMS AND LEGS, the gym – whether that’s by tipping
EVERY DAY IS AN a bucket of ice water over their naked
ARMS/LEGS DAY torso, or putting their cock in a sock.
It’s especially interesting when
they forget to include the donation
text number, or any reference to the
relevant charity, or to actually send
any money. Almost as if they don’t
actually care about cancer, and just
wanted everyone to see their pecs.
THOU SHALT NOT SAY ‘ICYMI’
In case you didn’t know, ICYMI is
an acronym for ‘In case you missed
it’, used when re-posting something
which didn’t receive the desired
traction the first time. Unfortunately,
we didn’t miss it, we just weren’t that
interested. Life’s hard.
THOU SHALT NOT POST INSPIRATIONAL
QUOTES
Come on guys, we’re better than this.
You know we are. (There are rare
exceptions to this rule, including Geri
Halliwell: ‘I’m famous enough that the
paparazzi want to sit outside my house.
They don’t sit outside Mel C’s house.’)
14/04/2015 16:44:33
 EDIT_GADGETS

Gadgets
FESTIVALS
FROM PORTABLE CHARGERS TO CASES THAT
TURN YOUR PHONE INTO AN INSTANT CAMERA,
GET READY FOR A SUMMER OF LOVE...
WORDS BY STUART MILES, FOUNDER OF POCKET-LINT.COM

PRYNT
Prynt (pronounced print) is a case that allows you to turn your
smartphone into an instant camera just like a Polaroid. Perfect
for sharing festival photos with new friends, it doesn’t need Wi-
Fi or Bluetooth to work so perfect for when you’re standing in the
middle of a muddy field. PRE-ORDER FOR £90, PRYNTCASES.COM

SOULRA RUGGED RUKUS

A Bear Grylls-esque, all-terrain solar-powered, splash
proof, knock proof, lightweight, wireless Bluetooth
travel speaker that sounds superb - but does so much
more than just play music. It also features a USB output
to charge your smartphone on the go with a simple one-
touch Bluetooth pairing, while just five hours of sunlight
will provide eight hours of music playtime.
£89.99, SOULRACORP.COM

LOMO’INSTANT BOSTON
EDITION
If you want to ditch battery-powered
tech altogether, this 35mm camera
package from Lomography comes
with three lenses and loads of features
to make even Instagram photos look
dull. Setting options include unlimited
multiple exposures, four colour
flash gels, B setting for infinite long
exposures and much more.
£129, LOMOGRAPHY.COM

TYLT ENERGI TRAVEL 6K

This 6,000mAh capacity portable battery gives you enough
to charge your phone around three times from a single charge
of its battery, and comes with a built in micro-USB cable and
the ability to quickly swap the plug for when you go abroad.
£29.99, TYLT.COM

15

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 EDIT_THE RULES

THE RULES: FESTIVALS

YOU’LL ALWAYS ARRIVE BUT YOU’LL ALWAYS ACCEPT NOTHING

FEELING LIKE THIS… LEAVE FEELING LIKE LESS THAN DIAMOND
THIS ENCRUSTED WELLIES

AND IT’S A LONG WAY IT AIN’T OVER TILL BEING SUNBURNED AND
TO A SHOWER, SO GET THE BIG TITTED LADY HUNGOVER AT THE SAME
DOWN AND DIRTY AT PLAYS THE BENNY HILL TIME IS THE WORST
YOUR PERIL THEME!

THREE DAYS IN AND SAME APPLIES FOR IF YOU’RE THAT DICK ON

YOU ARE DEFINITELY BEING MEGA ORGANISED SOMEONE’S SHOULDERS,
TOO SMELLY FOR SEX AND EQUIPPED #HATRED EVERYONE HATES YOU

WORDS: BEN KELLY

DOWNLOAD
THE TABLET EDITION OF
ATTITUDE
ATTITUDE. WITH A MOVING
COVER, EXTRA PHOTO GALLERIES,
INTERACTIVE MUSIC, FILM AND TV
REVIEWS, AND MUCH, MUCH MORE

257_EDIT_THE RULES#.indd 16 14/04/2015 12:54:07


FRANCOFILES
THIS MONTH:
JAMES HUNG OUT WITH ELTON.
GO JAMES!
MERYL TO
PLAY MERCURY
After plans for Sacha Baron
Cohen to play Freddie Mercury
fell through for the fifth
time, the production team have
decided enough is enough, and
released a statement saying,
“we’ll just have to get
Meryl Streep.” The 65-year-old
appears set to play the
showman in a movie spanning
his life. She has already been
measured up for a crown and
is learning about the infamous
hanky codes. An inside source
said, “She’s played fierce
queens many times now, from
The Devil Wears Prada to The
Iron Lady, but this will be her
biggest challenge yet.” As her
star turn in Mamma Mia showed,
Meryl will be more than capable
of doing all her own vocals
too, in addition to yet another
legendary accent. When asked
for a comment, Meryl simply
said, “Ayyyyy-oh, darling!”
257_EDIT_PARIS LEES#.indd 17
Paris BURNING
PETTY HOMOPHOBES OF THE WORLD, LET US EAT CAKE!
A little quiz for you: what four-
letter word, starting with ‘C’, is the
thing I most enjoy putting in my
mouth? A clue you say? It’s got a ‘K’
in it. Oh for goodness sake, it’s cake
you filthy pups. The sticky stuff has
become an unlikely political weapon,
and bakeries political battleground.
Not just any cake though: seditious,
homosexual, blasphemous cake,
like the Bert and Ernie confection
that’s been causing a commotion
in Northern Ireland for over a year
now – perhaps the most ridiculous
controversy around baked goods since
Marie Antoinette told all those poor
old French paupers to just suck it up.
It all started when a man called
Gareth Lee asked for a cake to be
decorated with the Sesame Street
characters Bert and Ernie alongside
the logo for ‘Queerspace’ group and
the slogan ‘Support Gay Marriage’, in
honour of Andrew Muir – Northern
Ireland’s first openly gay mayor.
For who could complain about Bert
and Ernie and a bit of fondant icing,
eh? Ashers, the bakers. That’s who.
Turns out it’s run by evangelical
Christians. Nightmare!
The situation has now gone all
the way to the courts with the
bakers saying it’s an infringement
of their religious beliefs – and
the guys still wanting their cake!
I’ve no idea if the powers that be
will decide that Christian bakers
are compelled to ice pro-gay
propaganda onto Victoria sponges
from now on, but the icing aficionado
in me prays they’ll be forced to with
gritted teeth. This all feeds in to a
much bigger debate raging in the
States right now about so-called
‘religious freedom’ exemptions from
equality laws. The American state of
Indiana is seeking to allow religious
people to discriminate against
gay people if they want to because
EDIT_OPINION
homosexuality is an affront to their
religious beliefs. Famously a Pizza
joint said it would refuse to cater a
same sex wedding.
What else are the bigots trying
to spoil for us? Well, if you’re
transgender and happen to live in a
handful of States in the US, they don’t
even want you to take a pee in peace.
Lawmakers in Kentucky, Florida and –
yes – Texas are currently considering
legislation that will punish trans
people who use the ‘wrong’ bathroom.
They could get a fine or, worst-case
scenario, arrested. It’s all based on that
old lie that trans people are somehow
sexually deviant, a threat to lovely
non-trans people, from which women
and children must be protected.
And doesn’t it just seem really, really
mean? It’s like being back at school
and having the bullies think up ways
that they can exclude the queer kids.
No, you can’t have any cake! No, you’re
not coming in these toilets! No,
we’re not playing with you!
I don’t mean to detract from
all the truly serious crap
that’s still happening to gay
people, but in the West, bigots
are starting to look increasingly
pathetic. Good. In the past, the
enemies of gay and trans people
were just as mean and petty, but the
difference was that they had much
more power over us. Back then they
could throw us in mental hospitals
and prisons and stop us from finding
work, marrying or having children.
In Britain, at least, we’ve won every
major ideological argument and
secured our human rights. As
inspiring veteran activist Maureen
Duffy told the crowd at last year’s
Attitude Awards, though, we can’t
hang our boots up just yet. When we
finally win the right to have whatever
icing we want on our cakes, well,
that’ll be the icing on the cake.
17
14/04/2015 14:31:28
 EDIT_OPINION
TOP TV
this month
■ TERRESTRIAL:
CHANNEL 4’S ALTERNATIVE ELECTION NIGHT
If Dimbleby nods off over on BBC, and
Kay Burley has run out of venom on
Sky, you’ll be in for a few laughs at least
as the holy trinity of Jimmy Carr, David
Mitchell and Charlie Brooker lead up the
Channel 4 coverage.
There’s even an
Election Come Dine
With Me with
Edwina Currie and
Brian Paddick.
■ CABLE: GAME OF THRONES
Season 5 of everyone’s favourite fantasy
drama is arriving on Sky Atlantic this
month, with the plot devised from George
R. R. Martin’s fourth
and fifth novels. Look
out for cameos from
Jonathan Pryce, Mark
Gatiss and Hannah
Waddingham.
■ ONLINE: GRACE AND FRANKIE
So you gorged on Kimmy Schmidt all at
once? So did we. Luckily Netflix’s latest
original comedy Grace and Frankie is
premiering in full on May 8, with Jane
Fonda and Lily Tomlin starring as two
rivals brought together after their husbands
elope with each other. Made by the creators
of Friends, this is definitely one for us!
■ BOX SET: CUCUMBER/BANANA
Russell T Davies’ Channel 4 dramas can
now be enjoyed together, in a box set
for less than £20, so you can relive the
story of Henry and Lance, mull over your
favourite Banana
subplot, and
freeze frame
that Freddie Fox
kitchen sex scene.
18
257_EDIT_PAUL FLYNN#.indd 18
Paul Flynn
IS OVER IT
CUCUMBER EXPLORED GAY LIFE IN A WAY THAT'S NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE
About halfway into its run, I came
to a conclusion of sorts about Cucumber,
the divisive gay sex drama that Russell
T Davies persuaded onto national
primetime TV. There were lots of loud,
unsettled rants about the show from its
target audience. Because it was a
programme covering an area that isn’t
usually covered anywhere in the
mainstream, this was to be expected.
But the vitriol started to bother me. I
despise that gay male voice that slashes
the windpipe of every interesting,
blossoming conversation as it opens
up. Now this was becoming collective.
So that was my conclusion: Are we
really this stupid?
In some convoluted way, the
initial reaction to Cucumber echoed
exactly what it was saying – that
there is a gaping chasm between the
told gay male experience and the felt
one. As a conceptual broadside, that
wins for me. Then Russell began to
really pile the layers on, talking in
brutal, stark new language. That
gay men who see themselves as the
good ones can be petty, mean, vitriolic
and disloyal. That copping off with
someone who identifies as straight
isn’t a victory lap taken for the team
but just another deeply-rooted
anxiety action. That a new generation
may emerge for whom ‘gay’ is not
interesting. That gay sex, in and
of itself, is not all that sexy and
might look less like the shadowy
silhouette of Heath Ledger rogering
Jake Gyllenhaal in a tepee on a
picturesque Texan mountaintop and
more like a bald man with weak
shoulders getting a wank off
somebody he’s not even bothered to
work out whether he particularly
likes or not. That stuff.
These are dismal subjects to stare at.
But that doesn’t mean gay audiences
should turn away, having hissy fits on
our laptops when someone puts
their specs on to do so. Once the
dream-state that our lives were going
to carouse around with the hot
bounce of Michael Tolliver’s in Tales
of the City took root, the feel-good,
comfy gay fairy-tale felt set in stone.
But that was a story that needed to be
told in the 70s. It’s almost half a
century later now and Russell T
Davies is the closest Britain has got to
unearthing an Armistead Maupin of
its own; a chronicler of gay life exactly
in tune with his moment, telling
stories from the inside.
Once the uncurious wall of
complainants disappears, I suspect
Cucumber will be regarded as
something of a minor-key classic.
Then we will wow at the fact that
GAY SEX MIGHT Davies got half a million Britons in
LOOK LESS LIKE front of their telly to watch a gay man
THE SHADOWY get clobbered to death with a golf club
SILHOUETTE OF in his search to feel desirable one
HEATH LEDGER Thursday night in early 2015. How
ROGERING JAKE many of the screeching Facebook
GYLENHAAL IN massive have done that?
A TEPEE There’s that fantastic line from
the Shelagh Delaney play, A Taste
of Honey. “Whatever people say I
am. That’s exactly what I’m not.”
For 20 years now, Russell Davies
has been at the coalface of brilliant
storytelling. For me, with Cucumber
he joins the ranks of Delaney. This
was provocative, hard and provincial.
It dared to say we are not as sexy
as we think we are. We are not as
metropolitan as we say we are.
Sometimes, anchorless, we get
scared and we are right to be scared.
Before Cucumber, I thought of Russell
as a gay Richard Curtis figure, a
full-hearted romantic with an
enviable habit for finding circuitously
happy endings. Cucumber finishes
all that. His dark side is even more
thrilling still.
14/04/2015 12:56:13
 words: Joe Passmore and joseph kocharian EDIT_film reviews

4/5

Far from the Madding Crowd

C arey M ulligan , M ichael S heen , T om S turridge
Thomas Vinterberg’s Far From the Madding Crowd takes
us back to Victorian England, where Carey Mulligan’s
Bathsheba Everdene stands strong against the lure of
three different suitors and the threat of relinquished
independence. This adaptation of a Thomas Hardy
classic has been given the dark romantic treatment,
with grand sweeping shots of rolling landscapes and
formidable weather, with themes of love bubbling
lustily throughout, all bathed in a golden light.
Vintergberg has assembled a platinum cast, too:
Mulligan is stoic and strong-willed as Everdene;
Matthias Schoenaerts’ Gabriel Oak is a silent yet robust
beast; Michael Sheen draws out audience pity as the
rich but lonely Boldwood and Sturridge’s recklessly
charismatic soldier charms his way into your affections.
Each are solid components of a beautiful piece of
cinema, with grit and power in equal measure. jk
R eleased on M ay 1 st

4/5

The Falling 4/5

M asie W illiams , M axine P eake , F lorence P ugh
In a British girls school in the late 60s, a mysterious
sickness epidemic seemingly takes control of its students;
yet the school’s authorities put it down to the behaviour
of the intelligent yet disturbed Lydia (Maisie Williams).
While there’s something deeply troubling bubbling at
the surface, it remains an entrancing and alluring watch
throughout. This is a film with perhaps too many ideas,
rather than too few, but the ambience of this drama is
entirely unique. Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones) gives
a chilling performance as Lydia. While, director Morley
shows great promise in his sophomore feature film. jp
R eleased on A pril 24 th
Avengers: Age of Ultron
S carlett J ohansson , A aron T aylor -J ohnson , C hris E vans , C hris H emsworth , R obert D owney J r
The gang are back together, but not for very long, as Iron Man/Tony Stark's A.I creation
turns on the team and humanity. Add in a rather buff Aaron Taylor Johnson (minus
points for his dyed blonde weave) and Elizabeth Olsen as Quicksilver, complete with
her best Russian accent for a robust action thriller with all the trimmings we've come
to expect from the Marvel franchise formula. This film gets a little more personal, but
keeps all your favourite touches, including Scarlet Johansson (who has not been given
her own stand alone film in the franchise, which looks set to keep going until 2018)
grabbing the scenes she is given. jk
R eleased on M ay 1 st

3/5 Reese Witherspoon, Arnold Oceng,

Ger Duany
The Good Lie 3/5
Three Sudanese men escape the
horrors of the ongoing civil war
in their homeland, taking refuge
in Kansas. Employment agency

The New Girlfriend worker – Carrie, played by an

R omain D uris , A naïs D emoustier , I sild L e B esco
After losing her childhood best friend, Claire (Anaïs
Demoustier) goes to check in on Laura’s (Isild Le
Besco) widowed husband (Romain Duris). Upon this
impromtu visit Claire finds David dressed in his late
wife’s clothes. Though making a confident move at
observing common LGBT ideologies, the drama here
plays out too much like a frivolous soap opera. There
are still moments of poignancy and humour, as well
as interesting commentaries on gender, sexuality and
labelling, but The New Girlfriend just misses the mark. jp
R eleased on M ay 22 nd
irritable Reese Weatherspoon, takes
on the difficult task of finding them
jobs. Performances here are solid
throughout and there is plenty of
substance for a great drama, with the
opening sequences in Sudan being
especially poignant and provoking.
However, an overly American and
often too syrupy script act as a
hindrance to what could almost
have been a powerful, honest and
gritty drama. jp
R eleased on A pril 24 th

19

257_EDIT_FILM REVIEWS#.indd 19 15/04/2015 11:11

 EDIT_MUSIC REVIEWS
9/10
BRANDON FLOWERS
T HE D ESIRED E FFECT / V ERTIGO
The second solo album from The Killers’
frontman is one of the best pop albums
of 2015 so far, and has inspired levels of
approval in the Attitude office not seen
since Swifty’s 1989; Flowers too has stuck
to straight-up, easily accessible pop
harking back to music of the 80s.
The Haim-inspired, bass-pulsing
single Can’t Deny My Love is a good
indicator for the rest of the album – big
anthemic tracks which are lyrically
flippant but serious on pop. On big epic
sing-a-longs like Come True and Digging
Up The Heat, Flowers is undeniably
channelling Springsteen; singing about
highways and money trouble over
acoustic drum beats, piano and pop
horns. On Between Me And You he even
sounds like The Boss as he sings “These
hours I’m working aren’t nearly enough/
Chasing every dollar, girl is this what I
was born to do?” Tribute is also paid to
the camp electro-pop on which Flowers
was raised, with backing vocals from Neil
Tennant, and a sample of Bronski Beat’s
Smalltown Boy on I Can Change.
Easily remembered melodies and
lyrics make for a glorious run of perfect
pop songs, on a ten-track album, the
likes of which we never thought we’d
see again (you can listen to it twice over
and Rebel Heart would still be going): A
further breakthrough solo moment for
a man who we can safely say is not just
a pretty face.
WHAT SHOULD ZAYN MALIK DO NEXT?
% %
▀ 5% MOODY R&B-TINGED SOLO ALBUM
▀ 10% (HOMO)EROTICALLY-CHARGED
TELL-ALL AUTOBIOGRAPHY
▀ 85% PORN
20
257_EDIT_MUSIC REVIEWS#.indd 20
7/10
WILL YOUNG
85% P ROOF / I SLAND R ECORDS
We’re always keen for the success of a
Will Young album, since he and we go
back a long time, but we were a tad thrown
upon first hearing his comeback single
Love Revolution. It’s a foot-stomping,
Motown-esque track built on Tomcraft’s
2002 hit Loneliness, which finds Will in
much the same territory as he himself was
in that same year. Reader, we fretted. But
the rest of the album tells a different story.
Elsewhere, he’s writing more honestly,
about his own life and loves, following
on the same musical path as his previous
album Echoes, with that album’s producer
Jim Eliot – whose work with Ellie Goulding
also hints through. Will channels the
epic synth-pop of Hurts on Brave Man and
Like A River, without sounding try-hard,
and both songs are among the most
personal lyrically. Joy is a track that
recalls Kylie’s All The Lovers – and with
about as much lyrical content – but it’s a
fun pop song all the same. Thank You is a
track that’s got the feel of a modern Take
That doing some old school Beatles, and
it’s on point for Will.
The album hangs together well, and
is a good solid offering from Will after a
couple of years away, but it doesn’t smash
the mould from which we’re used to
hearing his music cast. Nevertheless, it’s
become a regular fixture on the Attitude
iPod, and we’re very happy to see this great
British male back on the scene alongside
newbies like Sheeran and Smith.
WHO IS TIDAL FOR?
▀ 5% EMERGING ARTISTS
▀ 5% #FORALL
▀ 90% BLUE IVY’S COLLEGE
WORDS: BEN KELLY
5/10
JERMAIN JACKMAN
J ERMAIN J ACKMAN / P OLYDOR
It’s third time lucky at giving a winner of
The Voice a winning career, and Jermain
has delivered an album that’s both
middle-aged and middle of the road,
falling somewhere between late-teen
Jacksons and Luther Vandross; with a
few attempts to line up alongside Sam
Smith. To his credit, he’s co-written
most of it and the vocals melt like a bar
of Galaxy chocolate, but there’s little
evidence this will do any better than the
past two forgotten winners.
8/10
FRANKIE KNUCKLES
H OUSE M ASTERS F RANKIE K NUCKLES /
D EFECTED R ECORDS
This album is the culmination of a
project that began in February 2014,
with Frankie hand-selecting what he
wanted to include on a retrospective
release of his career. Following his
untimely death, it’s going out as
planned, filled with the classic songs
he put his hands to, plus his various
remixes. It’s a collection of some of the
best house music of the late 80s and
early 90s. Better still, all proceeds go
to the Frankie Knuckles Fund and the
Elton John AIDS Foundation.
FUND
15/04/2015 14:38
PECCA PICS.indd 21 15/04/2015 11:27:11
 ANDY Shirt by
Burton

COHEN
America’s only gay late night talk show host
pays a fleeting visit to see Attitude in London
22
Photography: Leon Csernohlavek / Styling: Nick Byam / Words: Ben Kelly

257_FEAT_ANDY COHEN#.indd 22 14/04/2015 14:11:17

 andy cohen_ATTITUDE

S
tripping from tuxedo to dressing gown in a suite at London’s Andaz Hotel, I suggest that Andy
Cohen may like some privacy. “Relax,” he says brashly, “I’m not shy, I’m American!” And indeed
it’s in his USA homeland where TV mogul Andy Cohen can consider himself a huge star. He hosts
his own late night talk show Watch What Happens: Live, he’s the creator, executive producer and all round
ringmaster of the popular Real Housewives franchise, and his high flying New York socialite ways are
well documented on his social media accounts as well as his book The Andy Cohen Diaries: A Deep Look at
a Shallow Year. But here in London – where he’s come to see ‘friend’ Ralph Fiennes on the stage, to dine
with Joan Collins, and crucially, to talk to Attitude – he still enjoys some levels of anonymity. “I went out
last night and it was interesting being in London. Some people knew who I was, some people didn’t, and
it was very fun, it was very... refreshing,” he grins. Bubbly and chatty with everyone on set, and happy to
take well positioned selfies, Andy is clearly someone who delights in his work, and every aspect of it. As
we sit down for a chat he asks me gleefully, “Are you a ginge?!” expressing his preference for red tops.
Sadly Andy, I’m not, but there’s a copy of RED HOT in the post with your name on it.

Do you know London well?
I love London. I came out of the closet in
London. I was studying abroad here when I
was in college. Our flat was in Earls Court,
and I thought there’s no way I’m going to
be able to stay in the closet if I’m here, and I
came out. It was a great time.
Who did you tell?
I told my friend Amanda, who’s still one of
my best friends to this day. She’s a shrink
now, which makes sense.
Your show, ‘Watch What Happens: Live’,
is a lot more fun than most other U.S. talk
shows right?
Way more fun! It’s the only live show on late
night in America, it’s totally spontaneous,
and there’s something really dangerous
about it. These huge stars come on and feel
like they’re not really on TV because it’s in
this teeny little room and we just get them to
reveal crazy shit about themselves.
A lot of them are your friends, too.
It started with my friends doing me favours
and coming on the show to get it established
– like Sarah Jessica Parker, Liam Neeson,
Anderson Cooper – and now it’s really
legitimately famous people who I’ve never
met before.
Who’s been your favourite guest?
Maybe Oprah or Cher.
It’s weird when you see Oprah as a guest isn’t it?
Yeah it is, but she’s a great guest. She’s
very engaging. Talk show hosts make great
guests. Always.
You’re also behind ‘The Real Housewives’
franchise, which is hugely popular here. How
did that come about as an initial idea?
Someone came to us at Bravo, which was the
channel I was in charge of programming,
and said “I have these neighbours and their
boobs are bigger and their hair is blonder
and they have huge houses, and they’re
unlike anything you’ve ever seen before,”
and we said well that sounds intriguing, and
we just shot some footage of them and then
tried to figure out what to do with them. It
was the beginning of The Real Housewives of
Orange County, and in my mind I thought,
‘Well this could be like a modern soap
opera,’ and that’s really what it’s become. It’s
become a water cooler churn in the United
States, and around the world, and it’s really
become this kind of, cultural lightning rod.
How much of it is staged?
It’s real. We cast very highly volatile,
emotional, driven, opinionated women, and
because of that, they go to town!
And you sit down with them at the end of the
season and they all have it out with each other.
Yes, I do, exactly. It’s really fun.
What’s the most vicious you’ve ever
seen them get?
You know sometimes it just gets really
personal about their family. The show works
so well because it’s all people who have long
histories with each other. So it’s not just
throwing people together in a Big Brother
house and seeing what happens.
And it kind of led to your cameo in Lady
Gaga’s video for G.U.Y. didn’t it? What were
you meant to be, God?
Yes, I was Zeus! God of everything. She

23

257_FEAT_ANDY COHEN#.indd 23 14/04/2015 14:11:49

 ANDY COHEN_ATTITUDE
directed me, it was fun. She’s a huge Real
Housewives fan, and she was great, she’s been
a guest on my show.
That was a big video, and she kind of did it
off her own back didn’t she?
She did, it was a huge video, and she put
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills in that
video too.
But you didn’t shoot on set at the Hearst
mansion did you?
No, she set up a set for me, because I wasn’t
able to make the actual shoot, and I did it in
a sound stage in Los Angeles. It was cool,
she was very cool.
So although you’re a TV host, you’re also
running the business behind the scenes.
Yes, I have been a TV producer for 25 years,
it’s only been the last seven or eight that I’ve
been in front of the camera, so it’s been a
crazy transition for me. My life has totally
changed over the last few years.
And I guess as a producer you have the
power and control that you don’t get being
just a presenter?
Dressing gown
by Zimmerelli
at MR PORTER
24
257_FEAT_ANDY COHEN#.indd 24
‘WHEN I WAS YOUNGER
Yes, and I’m executive producer of my own
show too, so the buck stops with me. I love it.
In the UK Graham Norton is similar in that
respect, he has his production company too.
Absolutely. And he’s an influence on me IF I WANTED TO GET A
because he has an ‘anything goes’ attitude on
his show, and I always admired him for years. DRINK I WOULD GO TO
A GAY BAR ALONE, BUT
Though our gay TV hosts in this country still
tend to be quite flamboyant...
NOW I DON’T DO THAT
Well I’m not exactly Clint Eastwood!
No, but guys like you and Anderson Cooper,
you’re seen to be a bit more butch.
I can be caught in a dainty moment! Almost
every episode! Don’t get me wrong, you BECAUSE I FEEL SELF
know, it’s a great honour being the only gay
late night TV host in America, but being gay
doesn’t define me, it’s just part of who I am.
CONSCIOUS ABOUT IT’
That being said I hide nothing on my show,
and if you watch my show regularly, I drool
over guys and talk about men and dating and
I objectify them, so there’s an honesty and an
authenticity with the way I present who I am
on the show that I think is certainly different
from anything that is on TV in America.
14/04/2015 14:12:15
 Shirt by Burton;
bow tie by M&S

25

257_FEAT_ANDY COHEN#.indd 25 14/04/2015 14:12:36

 26

257_FEAT_ANDY COHEN#.indd 26 14/04/2015 14:12:57


And how does America respond to it?
Really well. You know, the people who I
think have a weird response to me are gay
people. Some gay people. Whenever there’s
something about me on a gay website, they
love to comment on it, “Oh he’s such a queen,
he’s a bottom, he’s this, he’s that.”
Is any of that true?
What? Am I a queen? Am I a bottom? I can
be queeny... I’m a top! The response has been
great though. I’ve actually had a really nice
response. I’ve gone on these big book tours
and it’s cool to meet young gay guys who
live in America and watch me and say, “Oh
it’s cool watching another gay guy just being
himself on TV”, that means a lot to me.
Let’s talk about your books, ‘The Andy Cohen
Diaries’. It’s kind of an homage to ‘The Andy
Warhol Diaries’, right?
Right, I have two books. You’re a young
fella so I’m glad you know about The Warhol
Diaries, and that was the inspiration for
my book, I thought, ‘Wow here I am living
in New York, going to these parties, and
travelling around the world, and meeting
these people that I never dreamed I would
and hanging out with them,’ and I thought,
‘This could be cool to do a year in my life,’
and it’s a little Bridget Jones’ Diary, I date, I
fall in love with the dog, I kind of hob nob,
and it’s fun, I love the book.
It’s funny because with social media, people
are following your lifestyle in real time, but
there’s still a missing art of letter and diary
writing nowadays.
Totally, and it’s great. You know, you can put
down what you were really thinking. Look,
I’m highly active on social media, but I’m
also highly edited. And part of the reason
is that people are just waiting to jump on
everything you say. I keep telling my bosses,
“I am one tweet away from getting fired.”
Isn’t everyone?
Yes! Everyone is. Because I’m going to be
in the back of a cab drunk some night and
I’m going to tweet something horribly
inappropriate, and it’s all going to come
crashing down on me.
You share a lot about your dog on social media.
Yes, Wacha, he’s two and half.
And you rescued him?
I did, I found him online, I fell in love with
him. It was like Grindr for a guy and a
puppy. But I didn’t fuck the dog of course!
He’s great, he’s so cute, I love him. He’s a mix
between a beagle and a foxhound. He’s got
great disposition, and he’s a good guy. He
sleeps with me, we cuddle, it’s lovely.
And he’s actually famous in his own right.
Suit by M&S Collection; shirt
by Burton; bow tie by M&S
257_FEAT_ANDY COHEN#.indd 27
He is, he’s famous. He has 120,000
Instagram followers! He’s got a great
Instagram. It’s my hobby!
I follow lots of dog Instagrams, but they’re
not as prolific as his.
Well thank you, he has a big platform. I
bring him out at the end of all my shows too.
So he’s the man in your life?
He is the man in my life, I’m single.
What’s it like dating as Andy Cohen –
because it must be hard when you’re a big
name, especially in the gay world.
Well, when I was younger if I wanted to get a
drink I would go to a gay bar alone, but now
I don’t do that because I feel self conscious
about it. Other than that, for me it’s normal.
I don’t think of myself in terms of, ‘Oh I’m
famous’. I mean, I’m not Madonna!
Do you like Rebel Heart?
I do, I listened to it like 20 times on the plane
over here yesterday and I love it.
It’s a difficult one isn’t it...
It is a difficult one, but like everything,
the more you listen to it, the more you
understand it, and there is some really
melodic beautiful stuff on there that I’m
connecting to. Living For Love is not my
favourite.
How did you feel about her fall at the
BRIT Awards?
I just feel like there is a crazy ageism thing
going on with Madonna, where if she
falls people are making fun of her, ‘she’s
a grandma,’ ‘she’s an old lady,’ but she’s
Madonna. You know? I find it gross the way
people are saying she shouldn’t dress this
way, or she shouldn’t be putting out this
kind of music. She’s Madonna. You can’t
tell Madonna not to be Madonna. She is the
one who is redefining what it means to be a
ANDY COHEN_ATTITUDE
56-year-old woman. So it’s everyone else’s
problem with that, it’s not hers.
Do you think there’s ageism in the gay
community?
I do, although... I don’t know, because I think
people like a daddy a little bit.
Are you a daddy?
I might be. Yeah, I think I am. [laughs] I’ve
got no problem with it.
What were your thoughts on Russell Tovey’s
comments about masculinity?
My thoughts are that people in this world
are just waiting to be offended, and this is a
proudly out gay actor who is talking about
his experience of feeling – for whatever
reason or another – as we’ve all felt, that we
had to fit in, and that was his experience,
and I don’t think it was him saying that he
didn’t welcome all kinds of people, I think
that it was grossly overblown.
You don’t accept this implied notion that
there’s a ‘right way to be gay’?
No I don’t. What I gathered from it was
he was talking about his own experience,
feeling for whatever reason, that he had to
butch it up to fit in.
You’re always someone’s type in the gay
community aren’t you?
Yeah, you are. Look, it’s a cruel little pond
we all swim in, but everyone has a type. Some
gay people like really skinny guys, some
people like twinks, some people like bears, fat
guys. There’s something for everyone.
You and Anderson are one and the same in
that respect.
What? We’re both daddies? We’re both
silver guys? We are! He’s my good mate. We
STYLIST ASSISTED BY YASMIN WALKER AND JOAO ANDRADE / GROOMING AND HAIR BY NIBRAS USING CLARINS AND OJON
have a great time. He and I are going on tour
together, starting this month, in Boston. We
travel extensively together actually. We’re
doing a speaking tour soon. But yes, we’re
both daddies.
Who gets more attention, you or him?
Well when he takes his hat off, it looks like
he’s Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, because
his hair is so silver. He is very hard to miss.
You’re very well put together now, but I’ve
seen some old pictures with little afros, long
curly hair...
I know, terrible. I thought I looked good!
Do you feel you’ve got better looking
with age?
I think I look better now than I ever did,
thankfully. I’d rather have it be that than the
opposite. I can’t believe what I looked like
when I look at old pictures. Yeah, I looked
pretty bad. Now I have great suits, I love my
suits, that’s my style. You gotta keep it tight
if you’re on TV every night!
27
14/04/2015 14:13:25
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OB.indd 28 15/04/2015 11:29:31

 BIG GAY
FOLLOWING
WORDS: MARK LINDORES

KYLIE WAS
THE DARLING
OF THE LABEL

STOCK AITKEN WATERMAN

TO CELEBRATE THEIR 30TH ANNIVERSARY, THE HITMAKERS HAVE REMASTERED THE FOUR ALBUMS THEY MADE WITH THEIR MOST
SUCCESSFUL ARTIST, KYLIE MINOGUE. WE TAKE A LOOK BACK AT HOW THE LABEL DEFINED THE SOUND OF THE MID-1980S
In the 27 years since Kylie Minogue released I Should Be So Lucky, Stock Aitken Waterman-produced albums have been given the
she has performed the track in a myriad of styles, from torch song deluxe edition treatment, digitally remastered and packed with
to techno rave-up to reciting the lyrics at the Poetry Olympics (in remixes, B-sides and videos.
trackie bottoms and trainers with a face scrubbed free of make-up, “These really are the definitive versions of the Kylie albums,” says
no less). However, it is the moment she climbed into a bubble bath Pete Waterman. “Everything we did with Kylie is on these reissues,
to recreate the now iconic scene from the song’s video on her Kiss there is nothing else left. We don’t have any unreleased demos of any
Me Once tour that will go down as the definitive live rendition of the artist because we never did them – that isn’t how we worked.
song. Remaining faithful to the original version, the performance We wrote the song specifically for them, recorded it, then put it out.
was an unabashed love letter to Kylie’s apprenticeship at Stock We didn’t have time to write songs we weren’t going to use.”
Aitken Waterman’s Hit Factory, where, under the guidance of the As well as the wealth of material contained on the CDs, the
chart-topping triumvirate, she was veered to becoming the pop reissues feature bonus DVDs featuring scarce TV performances –
icon we know and love today. the ultimate souvenir of the retro-Kylie experience and, says Pete,
To mark the 30th anniversary of the Hit Factory, Kylie’s four an integral part of the Stock Aitken Waterman phenomenon.
WKEN MCKAY/REX

29

257_EDIT_BGF_SAW.indd 29 14/04/2015 14:27:33


“Those performances were
hugely important to our
success,” says Pete. “That was
how people found out about the
songs – they heard them on the
radio or saw them on Top Of The
Pops or the Saturday morning
TV shows, then went out and
bought the record. The music
industry today is vastly different
to what it was then. There was no
social media – those shows were
like the Twitter of their day.”
The Stock Aitken Waterman
story began in 1984 when Mike
Stock and Matt Aitken, a pair of
songwriters/musicians who had
been touring the working men’s
club scene for years, approached
Pete Waterman, a DJ/producer
who had recently enjoyed
success with acts including
Musical Youth and Nik Kershaw,
to form a writing/production
company which would provide
songs to a roster of artists. Their
business model was loosely
based on the legendary Tamla
Motown record label of the
1960s. Waterman loved the idea
and started to seek out talent to
write and produce for.
Inspired by the music that Pete
was playing in the underground
gay clubs, the trio decided that
Hi-NRG would form the basis
for their sound. After the flop of
the first Stock Aitken Waterman
30
257_EDIT_BGF_SAW.indd 30
releases, they explored gay
subculture further, teaming up
with Divine for You Think You’re
A Man, which became their
first Top 20 hit. Along with
Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s
seminal anthem, Relax, the song
helped to propel the sound of
the underground to the top of
the charts. They followed Divine
with Hazell Dean’s Whatever I Do
(Wherever I Go), which became the
first song written and produced
by Stock Aitken Waterman to hit
the Top 10 and established their
trademark sound.
“Most examples of Hi-NRG
were short on song,” recalls
Mike Stock. “I was keen to
bring structured songs into the
style. We saw the club scene
as a genuine way to reach
people who might buy records.
We took forward some of the
dance elements into the more
poppy projects. After Hazell
Dean’s song, Dead Or Alive
approached us and were really
keen to work with us.
November 1984 and steadily
climbed the charts before
hitting No.1 in March 1985,
kick-starting a cacophony of
smash hits for Stock Aitken
Waterman, with each usurping
the success of its predecessor,
and firmly establishing them as
a pop powerhouse. The chart-
dominating trio would go on
to write and produce over 100
Top 40 singles and sell over 60
million records.
“Just as had happened
William Lovelace/Daily Mail/Rex
with Dead Or Alive, we were
approached by Bananarama
because they wanted elements
from them.” says Mike. “That
set the way forward for us.
But I was keen not to be too
repetitive and Princess, a soul
singer, was our next hit. But
memorablia dance orientation was always
from the Stock
going to figure in our records.”
aitken waterman
archives Having enjoyed a run of hits
in the early 1980s, Bananarama
were struggling to maintain their
momentum and turned to Stock
Aitken Waterman to revitalise
their sound. “They were unsure
of who they were when they
“The elements from Hi-NRG came to us,” Mike recalls. “I had
that we put into Hazell’s tracks a strong directional sense for
and how we incorporated them them. We got the first album
into a full-on pop song were past them without too much
what Pete Burns loved. He was debate following the first couple
keen to do a similar thing.” of hits because we were able to
Dead Or Alive had been point to our records as highly
working on their second album successful, so they couldn’t put
when Pete Burns heard the up much argument.”
Stock Aitken Waterman tracks The huge success of Venus
and decided they were the determined the direction
logical sound choice for the Bananarama were to head
“glittery disco record” he had in next. Deciding to work
in mind. He presented them exclusively with Stock Aitken
with a demo tape containing Waterman on their subsequent
four tracks, one of which was album, Wow!, the sessions were
the now-infamous You Spin Me fraught, with the girls frustrated
Round (Like A Record). at the lack of control they were
“As soon as I heard the demo being afforded. They were also
I knew it was a No.1 hit,” says said to feel that Stock Aitken
Pete Waterman. “There was Waterman were spreading
a magic about it. We had been themselves too thinly, thanks to a
fighting to make a living and burgeoning roster of new artists
make a name for ourselves including Mel & Kim, Rick
and Pete Burns walked in with Astley, Sinitta and Samantha Fox.
a piece of gold and asked us to By 1987, Stock Aitken
shine it for him. Of course we Waterman had become an
were going to do it!” unstoppable force in pop music
The song was released in with their newly acquired Hit
14/04/2015 14:27:58
 Factory Studios the epicentre of
Planet Pop. They had developed
a sound unique to them –
outwardly happy music with
songs often addressing doomed
relationships and unrequited
love, which perfectly struck the
balance between chart smash
and club classic. The songs were
particularly beloved by teen girls
and gay men – an audience that
has remained loyal to this day.
“I think it’s the story in the
song the gay fanbase are drawn
to, “ says Mike. “I never intend
to just catch the gay market as
that would be condescending.
But the emotional attachment to
tunes and storylines is far more
powerful than a dance beat on its
own. I can seriously be moved
by songs, but I can only move
my feet to a beat. We worked best
when we combined beats, tunes
and lyrics. It was, after all, our
first principle. Structured songs
with dance beats.”
“It was Techno Disco – that’s
how we saw ourselves,” recalls
Pete. “What we were basically
doing was playing Motown
songs on the latest technology.
We realised that if we were
serious about competing
against Trevor Horn and all
his brilliant records, we had
to have the latest technology.”
Although almost everything
they put their names to was
a guaranteed hit, Pete was
perplexed when labels refused
to sign his next protégée, Kylie,
on account of her coming from
a TV soap.
“Every single label we went
to passed on Kylie,” says Pete.
“No one ever said anything
bad about her or the song, it
was the fact she was a TV star.
Everybody said you couldn’t
turn a TV star into a pop star.
They flat-out refused.”
The snub was the catalyst for
the creation of PWL Records,
a label founded so they could
sign and release any records
they liked. I Should Be So Lucky
was the label’s first release and
the first of 19 Top 20 hit singles
and four Top 10 albums,
257_EDIT_BGF_SAW#@.indd 31
making her the Hit Factory’s
most successful export.
What is obvious from the
reissue of Kylie’s first four
albums is how big the leap was,
both musically and stylistically
between Enjoy Yourself and
Rhythm Of Love. Though it has
been claimed this was the
result of Kylie’s relationship
with Michael Hutchence –and
certainly style-wise she had
transformed herself from Barbie
to Barbarella – Mike is keen to
dispel the myth that her private
life was dictating her output.
“The story that Better The Devil
the credentials
You Know was a direct result
of Kylie’s awakened sexuality
with Hutchence is nonsense,”
laughs Mike. “Matt Aitken and
I had Kylie’s transformation all
planned. We knew we had to
grow her up. We went from I
Should Be So Lucky to Shocked and
Better The Devil You Know in about
18 months. We knew nothing of
her relationship with Michael,
and Kylie did not attempt to steer
the direction of our output.”
Buoyed by Kylie’s success
and revelling in the chance
to silence their naysayers,
Kylie’s four PWL albums are out now from cherryred.co.uk / the live show, A LIFE IN SONG: PETE WATERMAN is on July 29
Stock Aitken Waterman
repeated their soap star-to-
pop star transformation with
Jason Donovan. With the UK
gripped by Neighbours-mania
– Kylie and Jason’s characters,
Charlene and Scott’s wedding
was watched by 21 million
viewers – Stock Aitken
Waterman were inundated
with orders for the Kylie &
Jason Christmas duet, despite
the fact no such thing had
been planned. When store
orders exceeded 600,000
copies, they succumbed to
public pressure and wrote and
Date of birth:
15th January 1947
Place of birth:
Stoke Heath, Warwickshire
worked with:
Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan,
Sonia, Donna Summer, Steps
Best known for:
Producing hits with co-
Producers Mike Stock and Matt
Aitken. Also hosting cult show
The Hitman and Her
Least known for:
His fascination for railways
BGF status:
Producing such camp classics
as Divine’s You Think You’re
A Man and Kylie’s Better the
Devil You Know
recorded Especially For You in
time for Christmas 1988. The
song went on to sell over one
million copies and catapulted
Jason onto the bedroom walls
of teenage girls and sexually
confused boys across the UK.
Although the success of
Kylie and Jason had become
the biggest thing to hit Stock
Aitken Waterman, PWL’s
decision to capitalise on the
pre-teen market cost them
their credibility. By 1989,
they were criticised for their
production-line approach to pop
music. Taking everyday people
and making them overnight
sensations was frowned upon
and a vitriolic backlash ensued.
“It became so predictable,”
says Mike. “The music press
would hate all our records, but
the public still bought them!
Sometimes it verged on the
hysterical. From our perspective,
the songs had passion and
belief, but we were slowly being
marginalised by an industry
which was dismantling itself.
In so doing it dismantled the
connection the public had with
real pop music.”
Despite the criticisms leveled at
them, Stock Aitken Waterman’s
success continued throughout
1989 – their most successful year.
As well as new acts such as Sonia
and Big Fun and established acts
such as Cliff Richard and Donna
Summer turned to the trio to
revitalise their careers.
As the 1990s dawned and
music tastes changed with the
advent of grunge and hip-hop,
Stock Aitken Waterman’s
popularity took a major dip.
With the exception of Kylie,
their songs were no longer the
smash hits they had once been.
The pressure of maintaining an
eight-year stronghold at the top
of the charts took its toll and
Stock Aitken Waterman split.
Following the disbandment
of Britain’s most successful
songwriting/production team
of all time, they all remain
active in the music industry.
Pete went on to enjoy great
success with Steps, while Mike
produced hits for Scooch and
Robson & Jerome. Although
it is 30 years since the Hit
Factory opened for business,
they remain as passionate
about music as they ever have.
Mike has recently worked
with Attitude favourite Shayne
Ward on his comeback album.
“It was a dream for me,” he says.
“Shayne is great to work with.
The more talented the singer,
the easier they are to work with.
He’s focused and delivers the
song. What more could I want?”
31
15/04/2015 15:30
 THIS Gratuitous
MONTH
PICTURES
of

257_EDIT_GRATUITOUS NAKED#.indd 32
NA T
W EL L E R TAKING THEIR
THE ALL-SINGING SON OF C LOTHES O FF
A R O CK LEG END TALK S S EX
someone
to
S
A
F
promote
E sex

14/04/2015 14:09:16
 HIV FACTS

257_EDIT_GRATUITOUS NAKED#.indd 33
KNOW YOUR STATUS AS
HIV
F A C T S LEFT UNTREATED HIV
TURNS INTO AIDS.
HIV CAN ENTER YOUR
BLOODSTREAM THROUGH BODILY FLUIDS
SUCH AS BLOOD, CUM OR ANAL MUCUS.
GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN ARE AT
HIGHER RISK OF GETTING HIV.
MOST GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN WITH
HIV GET IT BY HAVING ANAL SEX
WITHOUT A CONDOM. GET TESTED AT
WORDS
LEAST ONCE A YEAR. YOU CANNOT C H R I S T I A N
TELL IF SOMEONE IS HIV NEGATIVE G U I L T E N A N E
FROM HOW THEY LOOK OR JUST
PHOTOGRAPHY
BECAUSE THEY SAY THEY ARE. K E V I N M C D A I D
1/3 OF GAY MEN WITH HIV DON'T
MAKE UP
KNOW THEY HAVE IT SO ALWAYS E L E N A D I A Z
USE A CONDOM!

Singer and model Natt is not shy. No sooner has he arrived
at our studio has he whipped off his clothes and hit the floor
to pump his pecs. Here, the dashing son of mod rock legend
Paul Weller shares some of his most intimate thoughts.
DO YOU THINK PEOPLE TAKE SEX TOO SERIOUSLY?
Yes! Sex is very important but I find if there is too much
emphasis on it, it can be a turn off.
WHAT’S THE KINKIEST THING YOU'VE EVER DONE?
I’ve dabbled but it's nothing I’m going to be sharing today...
I want to do the airplane bathroom thing one day.
IS THERE A CELEBRITY BODY YOU ASPIRE TO?
Hands down, Brad Pitt in Fight Club! And Zac Efron.
Sometimes I set my screensaver to a picture of him topless so
when I feel tempted to be veg out and have a carb-fest, I'm like
‘Noooo Nat, get up! Look at Zac's abs!’ I call it Gymspiration.
WHAT KIND OF UNDERWEAR MAKES YOU FEEL SEXY
It's sexier to wear none...
ASIDE FROM US WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON TO
SEE YOU NAKED?
Probably my hetro manager Gary who was on this shoot,
which would have grossed him out, but I’m sure he'll get me
back by over-sharing about his sex life; it's a bit like hearing
your dad or brother talk about sex...
BULLYING IS STILL AN ISSUE FOR MANY GAY KIDS.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE THEM?
Find support and try to stay strong because I promise that
it does get better. You must ultimately live for you. Try to
remember that those who bully or troll are deeply unhappy,
insecure and unfulfilled people. I've learned the hard way
by retaliating and 'flying off the handle' at people, but when
I look closer I see that those people are projecting their own
suffering on other people.
DO YOU THINK GAY PEOPLE ARE ADEQUATELY TAUGHT
ABOUT SAFE SEX?
People see safe sex as a bit of a drag in the heat of the
moment – get over it! It is so important. I’d rather fumble
around strapping one on than have a lifetime of treating a
potentially life-threatening illness.
HAVE YOU ALWAYS PRACTISED SAFE SEX?
Yes, but I’m human. I’ve had close calls, but the bigger
picture always kicks in and I’ve always stayed safe.

H E L P L I N E S The Terrence Higgins Trust tht.org.uk THT Direct 0808 802 1221 10am – 8pm Monday to Friday GMFA gmfa.org.uk London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard llgs.org.uk
Lesbian and Gay Foundation (Manchester) lgf.org.uk LGBT Scotland lgbt-helpline-scotland.org.uk LGBT Ireland lgbt.ie LGBT Northern Ireland lgbtni.org Pace Health pacehealth.org.uk

33
EDIT_SAFE SEX

If alcohol or drugs are causing you a problem and/or are making it hard to have safe sex: talktofrank.org

14/04/2015 14:09:37
 With

CULTURE CLUB tweets

@MattCainWriter

Matt Cain
THE ICONIC GAY FILM WITH
UNSIMULATED SEX SCENES WASN’T
JUST ABOUT ROMPING, IT ALSO
POSED SOME THOUGHT-PROVOKING
QUESTIONS STILL RELEVANT AS EVER
@innocenteyes26
@jaybrannan is a great actor...
and you get to see him naked! ;)
@liammachin
ShortBus made me disgusted
by sexuality & want to jump into
the orgy scene all at the same
time. I’m cured now.
@AlexJCall

SHORTBUS
From Basic Instinct to Fifty Shades
of Grey, we’ve all grown blasé
about the lure of sex at the
cinema. But Shortbus takes the
graphic representation of sex
in film to a whole other level. It
opens by intercutting scenes in
which a dominatrix abuses her
male slave, a straight couple has
comically athletic sex, and a gay
man films himself sucking his
own dick. This is followed by
an endless onslaught of sexual
activity of all descriptions, most
of it unsimulated.
The film’s plot revolves around
a group of misfits and outsiders
who frequent Shortbus, a New
York sex salon named after
the American version of the
‘special bus’ that transports
disabled children to school.
The mistress of the club is drag
performance artist Justin Bond
and regulars include a sex
therapist who’s never had an
orgasm, a dominatrix who finds
it impossible to emotionally
I made some straight friends
watch it at a party once. They
were quite shocked!
@annatation
Some of it’s great, but the
main women characters felt
really stereotyped/cartoonish
compared to the men
@ian_mannly
I LOVE #shortbus. It’s an
incredibly human film that
just happens to have actual
graphic sex in.
@ian_mannly
It’s hilarious, it’s beautiful, has
great complex characters and
someone sings ‘Star Spangled
Banner’ up someone else’s bum!
What’s not to like?!
@adora_boy
Jay Brannan. That is all.
@Michael_Jon
Definitely one of my fave
gay films of all time! The
unsimulated sex scenes really
awoke me sexually...
connect, and a gay couple
who are struggling with the
challenges of monogamy – but
wary of the implications of
opening up their relationship.
While not all of the characters
in Shortbus are gay, the film as a
whole is infused with the queer
sensibility of writer/director
John Cameron Mitchell. Like
it or not, a sexual openness
is one of the qualities most
people associate with gay men,
possibly because we’re defined
by what we do in bed in the
first place. Let’s be honest, lots
of us are happy to play up to
this by regaling our straight
friends with souped-up stories
of our wild sexual encounters.
And how many of us have
gone through with a sexual
experience simply because we
know it’ll make a good anecdote?
As a source of this kind of

book previews
I DON’T CARE
BY PETE JORDI WOOD
I Don’t Care is the first
instalment in the Midnight
Wonders series, based on
Pete Jordi Wood’s Channel 4
drama starring Iwan Rheon
and Paloma Faith. Focusing
on Luke, a gay carer in
Cornwall who receives a day
off from caring for his mother
as a birthday present with
extraordinary consequences.
A fairytale inspired by the
author’s own experiences.
EXPOSÉ
BY PAUL ILETT
Set in the world of Britain’s
bestselling tabloid The
Daily Ear, Exposé is about
a young actor who seems
to have it all: Looks, fame
and adoration. However,
after building up a store of
grudges against The Daily
Ear, he sets about exposing
secrets of the paper’s staff.
A timely tale of tabloid
culture – sure to appeal to
celebrity readers especially.
KISS & MAKE UP
BY CARL STANLEY
The debut from former
nightclub devotee and
make-up artist to the stars
Carl Stanley is a fascinating
coming-of-age memoir
focusing on his relationship
with his manic-depressive
mother, set against 80s
New Romantic club culture.
Examining the character
traits we inherit in our adult
lives, this is set to be a gritty
and hilarious autobiography.

34 BOOK PREVIEWS BY WILL DAVIS

257_EDIT_CULTURE CLUB_BOOKS#.indd 34 14/04/2015 15:53:36


outrageous sexual humour,
Shortbus really delivers. From
its opening scene it’s crammed
with jokes about manginas
and tops and bottoms, and the
lengths the sex therapist goes
to in order to experience her
first orgasm are hilarious. One
of my favourite scenes involves
an awkward gay threesome that
descends into a performance of
The Star Spangled Banner that’s
like nothing you’ve ever seen.
But the film also has several
moving moments, such as
when the former mayor of New
York shares his story of living
snap stills/rex
EDIT_culture club
New York’s electrical supply.
A sudden blackout like the one
that hit the city in 2003 forces
the characters to stop and think
about what’s been powering
them through life and to switch
off their systems and start again.
Once each of them has done so
they emerge with a new insight
into their sexuality and are
able to use this to access their
inner capacity to experience
happiness.
So Shortbus reveals itself to be
a thought-provoking exploration
of the intersection between
sex and love rather than just

through the AIDS crisis. And, a romp of relentless raunch.

as the gay couple evolves into
a threeway relationship and a
disturbing darkness descends, it
becomes obvious that all of the
characters are just looking to
feel any kind of strong emotions
in a city shattered by 9/11. We
gradually realise that all of them
are broken in some way, just like
Clockwise: Attitude’s Shortbus
cover in 2006; Paul Dawson; one of
the film’s tamer scenes...
While it doesn’t leave us
with any concrete message
or philosophy, it does raise
lots of interesting questions
along the way. And if, like me,
you’ve been guilty of putting
sexual activity at the heart
of your quest for happiness,
you might just find these are
questions you’ve already started
to ask yourself.

fact
• Released in the UK autumn 2006
• The film was cast through open auditions
on a website that attracted 500,000 hits

file
and was written following two years of
improvisation workshops
• John Cameron Mitchell previously wrote,
directed and starred in Hedwig and the
Angry Inch
• He plays cameo roles in Shortbus having
snap stills/rex

gay sex during an orgy and performing oral

sex on a woman

classic read
The Winner of the Authors’ Club Best First
Novel Award in 2011, London Triptych by
Jonathon Kemp is a powerhouse of a first novel,
and already regarded by many as a gay classic.
Paralleling the treatment Michael
Cunningham applied to Virginia Woolf and
her seminal Mrs Dalloway, Kemp takes as his
subject Oscar Wilde and his tragic and epic
love letter, De Profundis, written to Lord
Alfred Douglas after Wilde was imprisoned
for gross indecency. Kemp gives us three
compelling narratives in three different
London Triptych ages. First we have Jack Rose, a London rent
by Jonathon Kemp boy in the 1890s who is just getting to grips
with his trade – and who is destined to meet
the incorrigible wit and be involved in his
infamous trial; secondly, in the 1950s, there
is Colin Read, an artist who loves to depict
male nudes, but who is frightened of his own
sexuality and struggles to keep it suppressed;
thirdly and finally there is David, a prison
convict in the modern day, recounting his
own latter day De Profundis, revealing the act
of betrayal by his lover that led to his lonely
incarcerated fate.
Beautifully invoking Oscar Wilde and his
writing, London Triptych is a highly evocative
and stunningly written debut, exploring gay
sexuality and its psychological and social
demarcations over the course of a century.

35

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 freddie highmore_ATTITUDE

psycho, killer
TAKING ON norman IN BATES MOTEL AND EARNING HIS STRIPES AS AN ATTITUDE PIN-UP,
THE FREDDIE HIGHMORE OF TODAY IS A FAR CRY FROM INNOCENT LITTLE CHARLIE BUCKET

Freddie wears top and

jeans both by Whistles

257_FEAT_FREDDIE#@.indd 36 15/04/2015 15:32

 Freddie wears sweatshirt by McQ by
Alexander McQueen at Harvey Nichols

257_FEAT_FREDDIE#.indd 37 14/04/2015 16:39

 Freddie wears jacket by
Hardy Amies at MR PORTER;
t shirt by Paul Smith

38

257_FEAT_FREDDIE#.indd 38 14/04/2015 16:39

 FREDDIE HIGHMORE_ATTITUDE
t the age of 23 and with a slew of blockbuster
movies under his belt, you could say Freddie
Highmore is something of a Hollywood veteran.
Eighteen years in the business, the wavy-haired
former child actor has played opposite some of the
biggest names in acting, from Kate Winslet and
Helena Bonham Carter to Dustin Hoffman, Guy
Pearce and Johnny Depp, in films as diverse as
Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Finding Neverland
and most recently the hit TV series Bates Motel, as
the formidable Norman Bates.
With this impressive body of work, we’d expected
the young British actor to arrive on set masked
behind oversized sunglasses and an obscenely
large entourage, with an even bigger ego in tow. But
when Freddie appears on set (on time, might we
add) he’s a far stretch from what you’d imagine a
boy with his career to be like.
Clad in a baggy jumper and skinny black jeans, he
is the epitome of the boy next door. Quietly sweet-
looking and bookish – you could walk past him in
the street without casting a second look.
But that is all about to change. Today is the day
Mr Highmore can shake his child actor rep. Today,
Freddie will become a cover star pin-up.
When we guide him through racks of designer
garms, Freddie’s face lights up with excitement and
he tells us that he’s happy to let us go to town on
him. Music to our ears!
So with no further ado, our team gets to work on
Freddie, transforming him – Cinderella-like – into the dashing young
chap you see on these pages.
As it turns out, the transformation isn’t that hard. With our cracking
team slicking his wavy locks to one side, Freddie’s babyface becomes
mature, masculine and sexy in an instant. And in spite of his general
reticence, he gives some incredible face the moment he steps in front
of the camera, helped by those dark, penetrating eyes that made him a
shoe in to play the young Norman Bates
The result? He’s almost unrecognisable. We wager that from this
moment on, Hollywood will see Freddie in a totally different way,
deluging him with film roles usually reserved for the likes of Zac Efron
and Dave Franco.
When we sit down to chat, the exquisitely mannered Freddie is
as excited as we are to talk all things Bates Motel, as well as the rise
and overwhelming power of social media, his reluctance to become
a sex symbol and how we can all bring about a bit of social change
with education.

We’re three seasons in to Bates Motel – you must be so pleased

with how it’s being received?
Becoming a part of a story so well known and so well loved, you don’t
want to mess it up. But having our show set in the present day and
going back to see what it was that turned Norman psychotic, we felt
free to bring in our own interpretations and not be restricted by the
original source material. From my point of view, I never attempted
to mimic what Anthony Perkins did in the movie; however he was
obviously an amazing source of inspiration upon which to build.
It must be hard not to fall into those Anthony Perkins trappings.
Did you see the remake?
Yes, Gus Van Sant did a shot-by-shot remake, didn’t he? That was
bizarre. An interesting project, you could say! Isn’t there only one

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 freddie highmore_ATTITUDE
scene that is different? The one where Norman’s peeking through
the hole and… er...
Enjoying what he’s seeing.
[laughs] Yes!
This is a great, meaty role to establish yourself as an adult
actor. You can’t get more ‘adult’ than a classic serial killer.
To be honest, I never thought the transition from child actor to
adult actor would be problematic. I just assumed as I got older I
would play older characters. And the great thing about being on a
long-running television show like Bates Motel is that you can see the
development of the characters. At the start, Norman is a normal boy,
and we watch him grow into the character we know.
Did you throw yourself into the world of serial killers when
you first got the role?
Well, I looked into the life of serial killer Ed Gein, who inspired the
book on which Psycho was based. Max [Thieriot] – who plays my
brother in the show – and I were both keen to take a close look at
Ed Gein’s real life. Gein actually had a brother, who wasn’t in the
Hitchcock film, but it adds an extra layer to Bates Motel.
Why do you think we have a
fascination with serial killers? Freddie wears top by Dior Homme
What’s interesting with Norman in
particular is that watching the show,
you know from the outset what’s going
to happen at the end. We all know what
Norman is going to turn into, but in
Bates Motel you find out why he does
what he does. There’s a fascination from
speculating on how different life could
have been for someone like Norman in
altered circumstances. Would Norman
have gone down the path of serial killer
if his previous life had been happier?
Would he have been able to get past
his psychological problems and lived
happily ever after?
Did you speak to anyone about
what makes a serial killer?
I read a lot about people who have
committed murders to understand
why they did what they did. I recently
watched Louis Theroux’s show about
inmates on death row, investigating at
what point these people are culpable for
what they do. Is Norman responsible for his actions because he’s
suffering from an illness? And to what extent does that mean we
should support or even empathise with him? That’s the tragedy of
Bates Motel; the first two seasons we see a Norman who is lovable
and redeemable. The interesting shift in season three is that we see
Norman become aware of what he is capable of and manipulating
others, and them reacting to him now they know that he has these
blackouts.
The scary thing about the Norman Bates’ of this world,
as opposed to the Freddy Krugers, is that Norman could
be living next door to you.
Yes. Norman’s this normal guy to start with, then various
things happen to him. I try to play against what people expect.
If everyone could spot who the serial killer was in their town, it
would be incredibly easy to put a halt to it. But it’s usually the case
that when you look back people say, ‘Yes, they were a bit odd, but
never that odd.’
40
257_FEAT_FREDDIE#.indd 40
You appear to be a very sweet, gentle man, do you have a dark
side?
Only when I am watching or playing football, that’s when my dark
side comes out. The latter stages of this season for Arsenal have
been a happy time so far.
You’ve been acting for 18 years, has it been an easy transition
getting to where you are now? We read so much about young
stars like Lindsay Lohan and Macaulay Culkin who struggle
to deal with growing up in the industry…
A lot of it is because I had a supportive family growing up. Between
making films, I would go back to ordinary school in London instead
of home schooling. I didn’t go to school in Los Angeles, where it
must be harder to maintain that distinction between a normal life
and film work. I wasn’t defined as an actor in London. And going to
uni studying foreign languages rather than drama helped to keep
me grounded.
Every teen rebels at some point, have you had any tough
times growing up?
To be honest, there have been no real moments where I was
incredibly angsty. Especially not on
a film set. I always felt lucky to do it.
It was an active choice as opposed to
being forced into doing it which would
probably have made me rebel. But I
enjoyed it and wanted to do it. People
often discover their rebellious side when
they are fighting against authority, but
for me, acting was the opposite. It was
something that was great and I loved. I
worked very hard but it would be wrong
to say it was unpleasantly tough or it
caused me grief.
Well, you seem very put together.
It’s all worked out so far! At the end of
school and my second year at Cambridge
I didn’t really do any acting except
voice-work. When I was doing GCSEs
and A-levels I prioritised my academic
work. It was only in my third year at
Cambridge University whilst studying
languages abroad that I was able to fit in
the time to do Bates Motel.
And your time at Cambridge wasn’t
all debauchery like in The Riot Club?
I wouldn’t say it was crazily wild. I certainly never saw anything as
debauched as The Riot Club. Term times were intense and went by
so quickly. You look back and think you wish you could have done
more. Every day was crammed. Two eight-week terms, a four-week
term and then exams.
You must have done some bad things?
I’m not sure to what extent students do bad things at Cambridge or
any uni today. Define bad? I’m not sure how far that myth extends.
But I had great, wild times with people.
Can you remember them?
Yes I can, well most of them anyway, I think!
In that case they weren’t that wild! Do you get people making
a beeline for you these days?
In general I am a trusting person but I have never been badly tricked
in that way, yet. No one at university saw me as an actor. I guess they
may have seen films I’d done but we never made a big deal of it.
Has playing Norman made you more sexy to people?
14/04/2015 16:41
 Freddie wears top by Whistles

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 freddie
adam lambert_ATTITUDE
highmore_ATTITUDE
Freddie wears leather jacket by
Fendi; t-shirt by Lyle & Scott by
Jonathan Saunders; jeans by Hugo

‘It’s always odd for friends

to see you do sex scenes. But
it’s odder with your parents’
[laughs] I’m not sure about that, but I’m
not the innocent ten year old boy people
knew me as anymore.
I would hope not.
But I can’t imagine anyone wanting
to jump into bed with Norman Bates.
Certainly not the shower!
But everyone loves a bad boy.
I would advise people to stay away from
Norman. Especially women.
As long as people don’t think you’re
like Norman in real life. You are
quiet and nice.
So is Norman!
And like him, you’re very close to
your mother too [she’s his agent] –
though nowhere near as Norman is
portrayed to be.
No, not at all. It’s actually funny
watching the show with my parents.
It’s always odd for friends and other
people to see you do sex scenes. But it’s
odder with your parents because they’re
thinking, ‘We really do not want to be
watching our son having sex.’ And it’s
even worse when your real mother is
watching you saying ‘Hello Mother’ to a
screen mum in a sexual way! But we just
laugh about it.
Well, it could be worse. Imagine
you were in a Fifty Shades-type film!
Poor Melanie Griffith said she didn’t
want to see her daughter Dakota
Johnson in it.

Freddie in charlie and the chocolate factory (2005)

42

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 adam lambert_ATTITUDE
freddie highmore_ATTITUDE

Freddie wears jacket by Diesel

Black Gold; shirt by Marc Jacobs

‘it’s important to have

positive role models
in the public so that
people can more easily
gain confidence to freely
express themselves’
[mimicking Melanie Griffith] “I don’t want to see my
daughter’s breasts!”
Was this the first time you had to shoot sexual scenes?
I mean, it’s never been particularly full on with Norman yet. The
thing is though, Norman’s not the most attractive person. Maybe in
a quirky way, he seems to do remarkably well in White Pine Bay.
Maybe they like the sinister glint in your eyes. You also did a
TV film in which you played chef Nigel Slater in which we saw
you kissing a guy.
Yes, it wasn’t different from any other kiss. Kissing a guy is like
kissing a girl on camera. You’re playing a role. And anyway there’s
the mechanics. Often you’re worrying about doing something at
a certain moment to match what you did in the previous take or
you’re trying to stay in the right set-light, and of course there’s a
whole crew watching only inches from you.
Did Nigel tell you any stories about coming out?
His book spoke a lot more in depth about that than we did together.
He was such a nice guy. I haven’t seen him for a while but Helena
[Bonham Carter], he and I do keep in touch. We’ve said we’re going
to get together and cook something for him. He must get sick of
cooking for other people.
Do you always try to keep in touch with your cast mates?
It’s tricky. When a film comes to an end, that’s the worst thing. You
get close to people then after four months of being together, it’s a
complete rupture and you go off on separate projects. You can’t
keep in touch with everyone. I see Helena Bonham Carter more
as we live near each other in North London. We have a very jokey
relationship. I have worked with her a few times. One of the first
things we did was Women Talking Dirty. I was five or six and I played
her son in that. So another mother figure! [laughs]
You look very different in this shoot – are you ready to
become a pin up?
I have never thought about it. I think in a way, being judged as a
sex symbol and being famous almost go hand in hand but it is not

44

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GREEN & CO.indd 45 15/04/2015 11:31:48

 freddie highmore_ATTITUDE
something I have ever sought. It’s tricky because these Freddie wears top and suit
days success relies on promoting the film or the show more jacket both by Dior Homme
and more, and promoting the actors via Twitter and social
media, which I am not on. There is more and more pressure
on actors to try to embrace a public social media presence.
But I am still holding out.
Jeremy Irvine said recently that at auditions he gets
asked how many Twitter followers he has.
Yes, social media has become nearly as important as the
product itself. It’s all about how many people you can get
to tweet and to contact to get them to watch it tonight. It’s a
brilliant resource, but it invades your personal life if you do
it honestly. If you open that door, it is hard to shut it when
you want to. It’s like, if you go to an Arsenal game or have
an evening with friends and you tweet a picture then you’re
putting your private life out there and you can’t complain
when people want to pry further.
But social media seems to rule our lives. There’s less
interactivity. Would you consider online dating?
Well, I do know someone for whom it worked. Again, it’s a
brilliant resource. Why knock it? Especially when people
are finding love through it.
The more you take on these big roles, the more
famous you will become. Are you prepared for that?
Well, who knows about the future but there are some
actors who have managed to be successful and not
necessarily be so in the public eye. Take Johnny Depp,
he’s a world-wide public figure but manages to remain
a relatively private person.
Bates Motel has a big gay fanbase. Does that mean you
get asked to participate in any LGBT support?
In the past I was more often asked to support children’s
charities! In some ways, change is best started with
yourself. You and your friends not just being aware of
what you believe in but standing up for it. If a situation
arises that you don’t agree with – like someone making a
joke at the expense of the LGBT community – you have to
speak up for it: Hopefully remain friendly but don’t let the
moment go by. Alongside the headline big actions, it’s those
countless smaller choices that we all make that will bring
about change. When I was at school, that phrase ‘you’re so
gay’ suggesting weakness was commonplace and kind of
acceptable – but at uni it was happily not used. Maybe that
kind of thing is the real positive education of going off to
university! I don’t think people are born homophobic – at
least, I hope not.
We live in cosmopolitan London, but outside of the
capital life might not be as happy.
Sadly, I think you’re right that big cities do welcome
diversity more. Maybe familiarity has taken away the fear.
That’s why it’s important to have positive role models in
the public so that people can more easily gain confidence
to freely express themselves. Actually, there is a phrase I’m
not wholly comfortable with: ‘More tolerant’. Surely, it’s not
about tolerating others as if they were a noisy neighbour,
or that bloke on the tube with B.O? It’s about accepting
that we’re all unique and that the world’s genuinely richer Hair by Tom Berry
because of it. I’d also like to state that no-one should safely using Bumble & Bumble
accept a Norman Bates as their motel manager! Make up by Rhea Le Riche
Bates Motel season 3 is shown Wednesday nights using NARS
at 9pm on Universal Channel. Fashion Assitant: Nick Byam

46

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 47

257_FEAT_FREDDIE#@.indd 47 15/04/2015 14:52

 scream queens_ATTITUDE

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American horror writer
and blogger Sean Abley looks
at the relationship between gay
people and film’s darkest genre
257_FEAT_SCREAM QUEENS#.indd 49
T
he link between homosexuality and horror
films has been debated rigorously and
endlessly in books, blog posts and film
classes for almost as long as gay people have gone to
the movies. What is it about a genre filled with sex,
violence and heightened performances that appeals
so strongly to queer men?
There are those who feel the tropes of the horror
genre are analogous to the struggles, wants and
aspirations of the gay community. And there are
those who point to the pure entertainment aspect
that appeals to all audiences while pooh-poohing
the queer connection with a “Well, who wouldn’t
want to be Carrie?” rationale.
From an entertainment point of view this
affinity makes total sense, especially for certain
specific horror genre skews (much like the LGBT
community, horror is a rainbow of many colours).
For instance, revenge fantasies. Who didn’t feel
different in high school? Who didn’t want to burn
their bullies to death at the prom? Wouldn’t that
have felt great? Wistful late at night scenarios
about offing the local A-holes or the cruel captain
of the football team (or fucking him, but that’s a
different genre…) are made flesh in movies like
Carrie, Jennifer’s Body, Tamara (written by out
screenwriter Jeffrey Reddick) and, God help us, I
Spit On Your Grave.
The slashers of the 80s started out as gritty indie
grindhouse fare (see the original Friday the 13th,
Maniac, etc.) then, courtesy of the major studios,
morphed into big menus of people you want to
see, which is not necessarily a bad thing. For a
community under-represented on screen, and
under-appreciated in life, watching those gaggles
of guys and gals butchered as they perform those
disgusting heterosexual sex acts can be a tonic. And
let’s be honest – boobies are kind of fun.
The ‘final girl’ phenomenon certainly speaks
to our community as well. The final girl isn’t the
slut, or the bitch, or the bitch’s best friend, nor is
she always the virgin; she’s the survivor. She isn’t
magical like Carrie White; she’s an ordinary girl
in extraordinary circumstances. Think Jamie Lee
Curtis in Halloween (1978), or Jennifer Love Hewitt in
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), or in the
most meta of meta movies, Neve Campbell’s Sidney
Prescott in Scream (1996); girls using all their smarts
to outsmart the masked killer, aka the ultimate bully.
When we watch the late Marilyn Burns, covered
in blood, escaping in the back of a pick-up truck,
maniacally laughing at Leatherface’s attempts to catch
up in the final moments of Texas Chainsaw Massacre
(1974), we can’t help but think, ‘Been there, honey.’
As far as identifying with our captors, one could
argue the affinity for any genre would be the
opportunity to see oneself, yet we’re so infrequently
out and proud in horror films, and too frequently
in and ashamed, one wonders where the appeal
lies. Perhaps it’s comforting to see those coded
images, proof that we do exist, albeit in a less than
49
14/04/2015 15:40
 scream queens_ATTITUDE
spectacular way. Maybe time allows
us to enjoy those old films with the
gay murderer, the queer victim or the
sensitive red herring knowing that we’re
allowed to demand more in 2015.
As we look to the past, on the far end
of the ‘Is he or isn’t he?’ scale we have
Psycho (1960). There are those who
theorise Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece
has a queer element, finely parsing
Anthony Perkins’ performance as
Norman Bates for any sign of homo
tendencies, but in my opinion this is an
example of academic overreach. Yes, his
sexuality and gender expression could
fall somewhere on the queer spectrum
– he is driven to adopt the persona (and
outfit) of his mother and kill the naked
pretty girl the moment he’s sexually
attracted to her. In queer director Gus
Van Sant’s pointless 1998 remake, Vince
Vaughn’s Norman actually masturbates
while spying on Marion (Anne Heche)
before slaughtering her. But having
problems relating to women doesn’t
make one gay, nor does struggling with
gender issues. Certainly in the well-
crafted Bates Motel TV series, Norman
is played more as a garden variety
schizophrenic with mommy issues than
a teen struggling with sexuality and
gender... So far.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s
Revenge (1985), on the other hand, takes
the sub out of subtext and hands the
audience a classroom-ready Queer Film
Studies 101 lesson plan. Out star Mark
Patton (NOES2’s ‘Jesse’) stood fast with
his assertion the film is basically a gay
love story, and after years of denials
the filmmakers finally admitted he was
right. How anyone involved thought a
nightmare involving the protagonist
picking up his gym teacher in a leather
bar, then watching him flogged to death
naked in the gym shower by Freddy
could be considered anything but gay,
gay, gay is beyond this writer. Add
the homoerotic relationship between
Neve Campbell in Scream 4 (2011)
October Moon (2005)
50
257_FEAT_SCREAM QUEENS#.indd 50
Jesse and co-star Robert Rusler’s
‘Grady’ (including a sleepover in their
underwear) and quotes like, “He’s inside
me and he wants to take me again!” and
you have a queer horror film for the ages.
Eventually, the homo movie audience
started demanding more and ‘the gay
best friend’ arrived. In the romantic
comedy the GBF is a shoulder to cry
on while the leading lady figures out
she actually is beautiful and attractive
to the man of both their dreams; in the
drama the GBF lives next door and is
very concerned when the leading lady’s
baby goes missing; and in the horror film
he’s fodder for the body count, while the
leading lady (if she’s a final girl) skips
away, wiser for the experience, and more
importantly, not dead.
Sometimes the gay best friend got cut
to fabulous ribbons because he was,
indeed, gay. Whether implicit in the
dialogue, or implied by the film, gay
accessories have traditionally been
expendable. In The Eyes of Laura Mars
(1978), Faye Dunaway literally sends her
gay best friend to his death by asking
him to dress in her clothes and act as a
decoy, even though she knows a killer
is stalking her. (Her lesbian model co-
workers suffer the same fate). Sorry gay
best friend, but you understand, right?
Ms. Mars and her heterosexual male
colleagues are much more important
and the audience can identify with them,
whereas your sassy antics make them
think uncomfortable thoughts (often
about themselves).
In a mark of true equality, sometimes
the gay best friend dies because he’s
equally inconvenient as the straight
supporting line-up. In out writer/director
Don Mancini’s Bride of Chucky (the fourth
instalment of the Child’s Play franchise) the
gay best friend is unceremoniously hit by
a truck and vaporised. But in this case,
the gay best friend wasn’t killed because
he was gay – he was killed because he
wasn’t Katherine Heigl or Nick Stabile.
Your favourite
horror films
■ Rob Caffrey [Facebook]
I’ve always loved horror. The genre
leaves a much bigger mark on your mind.
Carrie was always my favourite. I felt
a connection because I too was being
bullied. Another favourite has always
been Child’s Play, which was the first
horror I saw. My grandmother put it on
for me because she knew I liked dolls...
■ @anorderlymess
House of Wax, because of Paris Hilton’s
Oscar-worthy performance.
■ Craig Pearson [Facebook]
Love horror films. I obviously love
Hellbent purely because it’s a gay
slasher film and it was very refreshing
to see a different genre for a gay film.
■ @ooooooohmatron
28 Days Later when he has that
shave, HELLO!
■ Fred Vermeulen [Facebook]
I love the old school slashers. Scream,
I Know What You Did Last Summer,
Halloween. I think the appeal is a strong
female character surviving against all odds.
■ @cabinclassboy
Halloween for me. Came out the same
year I was born, plus who doesn’t love
Jamie Lee Curtis?
■ John Oh Cantos Lanuza [Facebook]
I think the creativity and the exaggeration
of the characters are some of the things
that catch our attention… the possibility
that someday the entire community
would accept us and that other entities
are real and coexist with us in the world.
■ Sherry Mitchell [Facebook]
Hellraiser… It was one of the first horror
movies I saw with a strong female
character that didn’t scream and fail.
■ @betterusername
Alien. There’s Queer appeal in the sense
that it goes against the gender norm.
■ Richard Healy [Facebook]
Glitter…. Mariah’s acting doesn’t get
much scarier.
14/04/2015 15:40
 Judy_Attitude_Judy_Attitude 15/04/2015 09:09 Page 1

THT_JUDY GARLAND.indd 51 15/04/2015 11:33:06

 scream queens_ATTITUDE
The Academic’s view
Dr Harry M Benshoff,
Associate Professor
of Media and Arts,
University of North
Texas and author of
Monsters in the Closet:
Homosexuality and the
Horror Film, on why he
thinks horror has such
a strong LGBT appeal
I think it has to do with the
fact that horror films always
centre on a battle between what
is supposedly normal and that
which is allegedly monstrous.
The monstrous, to put it in
psychoanalytic terms, is the
ego’s ‘Other’, i.e. those things
– fears, desires, urges, and
impulses – routinely repressed
from consciousness. Here I am
paraphrasing the work of famed
horror scholar Robin Wood,
who theorised in the 1970s
that the horror film is society’s
collective nightmare: The things
it represses/oppresses in daily
life come back to haunt it in the
horror genre. Thus, if white
Western patriarchal capitalism is
figured within culture as normal,
then everything that it excludes
or represses – children, women
and female sexualities, queer
sexualities, non-white and non-
capitalist ways of being – end up
comprising Western culture’s
depictions of the monstrous.
To put it in accessible terms, I
think queer audiences tend to
like the horror film because they
can and do easily identify with
the monster who is out to topple
white heteronormative culture.
In classical horror films the
monster must be destroyed at
the end, unlike in more recent
horror (and of course in fantasy
or sci-fi one can be different in a
million ways without necessarily
being monstrous). All of these
genres create spaces more or
less welcoming to queer
spectators in ways that more
realistic genres do not.
52
257_FEAT_SCREAM QUEENS#.indd 52
Gay horror Hellbent (2004)
Wolves of Kromer (1998)
Although homoerotic content can be
found peppered throughout the history of
the medium, prolific out writer/director
David DeCoteau was the first filmmaker
brave enough to gay up the indie horror
landscape in an ongoing, methodical way.
Beginning with Voodoo Academy (2000) and
The Brotherhood (2001) (and its five sequels),
DeCoteau cast hot, young dudes as his leads,
and created scenes that typically involved
magic ceremonies requiring them to rub oil
on their own – and each others’ – barely-
clad bodies. DeCoteau has made dozens of
these soft-core extravaganzas over the last 15
years, and continues to do so, but sadly still
hedges his bets by labelling them ‘horror
movies for girls.’ Real girls, gents. Don’t get
too excited.
However, during the late 90s someone
figured out that gay guys went to movies too
and indeed, had a lust for the dark side. True
blue gay horror films began popping up in
the crowded indie landscape. Although The
Wolves of Kromer (1998) presented gay men
in wolves clothing, Paul Etheredge-Ouzts’s
Hellbent (2004) was the first widely seen
film crammed full to bursting with gay
characters ready for the slaughter. Set in
West Hollywood (naturally) on Halloween
night, Hellbent follows four friends (three gay
and one bisexual) as they drink, cruise, and
fall victim to a hot maniac with a big bulge
and a sharp scythe. Finally we were getting
cut up just like our straight friends!
Hellbent lead to a boom in ultra low-budget
gay horror flicks, like October Moon (2005),
Creatures from the Pink Lagoon (2006) and
Bruce LaBruce’s twisted hardcore zombie
opus, Otto; or Up With Dead People (2007).
For better or worse, we were finally seeing
ourselves murdered on the screen in a
context of which we approved.
Regardless of the psychological positioning
of the films themselves, behind the scenes
queer men have contributed to the genre
since the inception of the medium. Nosferatu,
the Dracula knock-off released in 1922, was
directed by F. W. Murnau, a gay German.
From James Whale (Frankenstein, The Bride
of Frankenstein, The Invisible Man) up through
Clive Barker (Hellraiser) and beyond, gay
men have created some of the most iconic,
shocking images fed to us via film.
And let’s not forget television, where
arguably some of the most innovative
writing is being presented of late. Hannibal
in particular pushes the boundaries of
subject matter and is being rewarded with
a large gay following. The partnership of
the titular cannibal (strangely handsome
Danish daddy Mads Mikkelsen) and
Hugh Dancy’s Will Graham, is a slow boil
of simmering homoerotic tension and
delectable side-eye. Out showrunner Bryan
Fuller’s take on the popular anti-hero is
exquisite in execution, especially in its
executions. Hannibal Lecter’s meticulously
extravagant lifestyle appeals to those of
us who enjoy the finer things in life (or
aspire to) and who doesn’t like a man who
can cook? Gay comedian Scott Thompson
ups the gay ante, although his character’s
sexuality is a non-issue.
Which brings us to American Horror Story.
While there isn’t a lot specifically gay
about the show, what the series lacks in gay
content it makes up for in gay aesthetic;
everything is shiny, sharp, arch, and the
suffering is backbreakingly artistic. The
show is designed within an inch of its life,
and the performances are so purposefully
camp they make us pitch a tent. The
precision with which gay co-creator Ryan
Murphy – whose latest horror series Scream
Queens debuts this year – doles out the
drama harkens back to the specificity of
Italian horror maestro Dario Argento. For
years remake rumours have pirouetted
around Argento’s ballet school/witches
coven masterpiece, Suspiria (1977), and
judging by Murphy’s strange predilections,
he may be the perfect choice to helm this
reimagining and give it even more gay curb
appeal than the original.
14/04/2015 15:40
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 54

257_FEAT_VOTING HISTORY#.indd 54 15/04/2015 14:28

 ARE we
election special_ATTITUDE

SAFE WITH
THe TORIES?
Five years ago David Cameron gave his first gay
press interview to Attitude in which he said the
Conservative party was no longer the party of extreme
homophobia, something that defined them for the 25
years previous in which they opposed all efforts to bring
about LGBT equality. Prime Minister David Cameron
pushed through equal marriage, but what’s the real
story about the rest of the party he
leads? Are we now safe with the
Conservatives? Attitude takes a hard
look at the numbers.
By Simon Edge

55

257_FEAT_VOTING HISTORY#.indd 55 15/04/2015 14:29

 election special_ATTITUDE
O
n May 7th Britain goes to the
polls in a general election
different from any in living
memory. Five years ago we
saw the death of two-party politics when
the Lib Dems performed well enough
to wield the balance of power between
Labour and the Conservatives. This time
we are witnessing the death of three-
party politics, as the Greens and UKIP
stir things up on the left and right while
the Scottish National Party seems poised
to make massive gains at the expense
of Labour north of the border and Plaid
Cymru are giving them a run for their
money in Wales.
If you support the smaller parties, this
makes everything more exciting than usual.
If any pundit claims to know the result,
they’re probably not much of a pundit.
It’s also the first general election for at
least 25 years where there isn’t a major
equality issue at stake. Stonewall has
been doing its best to lay out a stall,
calling for LGBT-friendly sex education
at primary and secondary level, a new
hate crime banning homophobic bullying,
the inclusion of
LGBT equality ‘Just 49 percent of
as a criterion for
international aid Tory MPs backed
and a review on
laws affecting trans
gay marriage.
people. But none
of these make for a
So much for
key battleground detoxifying the
splitting the
various parties, as Nasty Party’
happened with rows over the ‘promotion’
of homosexuality in the 80s, the repeal
of homophobic laws in the 90s and early
Noughties, and same-sex marriage in 2013.
So if you’re energised by this election,
that may be because you have strong views
about the cuts or the deficit; you may be
horrified by Nigel Farage or excited by the
Green surge; or you may have a lifelong
affiliation to one or other of the main two
parties. But it seems that many people
are less likely than they were at previous
elections to be strongly driven by gay
issues. With the exception of UKIP, all the
national parties are officially pro-equality
these days and in any case, there are no
legislative battles brewing where it’s likely
to matter. When Attitude interviewed the
leader of the Conservatives in 2010, David
Cameron told us that within the Tory
party there was now “a shared consensus
bedrock view that this is a party for equal
rights whether you are male, female, black,
56
257_FEAT_VOTING HISTORY#.indd 56
white, urban rural, straight or gay.” But is
that true? Cameron stuck to his word with
equal marriage, pushing through the new
law despite there being a huge amount of
opposition – from within his own party.
One yardstick of how much less divisive
sexuality is nowadays is the number
of out MPs. Twenty years ago it was
easy to know who all the gay MPs were
because there were so few. Each of them
represented a new milestone: first to come
out; first Tory to come out after being
outed; first Tory to come out with no threat
of outing; first to be elected after standing
as an out candidate. (Chris Smith, Michael
Brown, Alan Duncan and Stephen Twigg/
Ben Bradshaw, since you ask.) Today at
my count there are 25 out LGBT MPs,
some of them familiar, some so obscure
half their constituents wouldn’t be able to
name them. (There are even more LGBT
people standing as prospective MPs at this
election.) Surprisingly by far the largest
number are Tories. There are 13 out gay,
bisexual or lesbian Conservative MPs,
compared with nine for Labour and three
for the Lib Dems. That roughly matches
the size of the parties,
but it’s still a remarkable
progression from the era
when deeply closeted Britain’s first openly gay male MP,
Tory MPs had ‘lavender
marriages’ of convenience
Labour’s Chris Smith, speaking
at Londons anti-Clause 28 (later
and lived in dread of their
blue-rinsed party faithful
Secton 28) rally, February 1988
finding them out.
Nevertheless,
differences endure
between the parties, revealed not so
much in the attitudes of their leaders
but by those of their backbenchers and
party members. Pockets of diehard
homophobia remain, offering a glimpse
of the bigoted traditions they come from
and showing that reform still has some
way to go. Despite the fact that David
Cameron pushed through equal marriage,
fewer than half of Tory MPs supported it.
This is in direct contrast to both Labour
and the Lib Dems whose MPs supported it
overwhelmingly. There were three different Conservative Prime Minister
votes in the House of Commons. A total of Margaret Thatcher giving her
148 Conservative MPs voted in favour on at 1987 Conference speech where she
least one occasion, while 141 voted against attacked Labour councils’ anti-
– including the future Equalities Secretary homophobic bullying policies:
Nicky Morgan – and 14 abstained. That “Children who need to be taught to
means just 49 percent backed gay marriage. respect traditional moral values”
So much for detoxifying the Nasty Party. she said, “are being taught that they
The opponents this time round were have an inalienable right to be gay…
reasonably polite in their rhetoric, with These children are being cheated of
most of the stupidest quotes about the end a sound start in life, yes cheated!”
15/04/2015 14:28

Thousands of LGBT people protest in London at the Tory’s hated homophobic
Section 28, February 1988
of marriage/the family/civilisation-as-
we-know-it coming from church groups
and leaders rather than MPs. But it wasn’t
always so good-mannered. It’s only 30
years since the horrific homophobia that
the Tory party and the right wing press
fanned as a way of turning people away
from the Labour party. In 1987 Leader of
the Tory group on South Staffordshire
District Council called for 90 percent of
gay men to be sent to the gas chamber to
curb the AIDS epidemic. Councillor Bill
Brownhill said, “I should shoot them all…
We must find a way of stopping these
gays going round yet we are making
heroes of some of these people and some
of them are even being knighted.” And
in December 1987, when Labour’s Chris
Smith mentioned in Parliament that
the offices of the London paper Capital
Gay had been firebombed, the Tory
backbencher MP Elaine Kellett-Bowman
called out, “Quite right too.” She later
defended her remark, saying she was
“quite prepared to affirm that there should
HOW mps VOTED: equality act
y es - 15%
dnv - 42%
n o - 43%
Co n servati v e
257_FEAT_VOTING HISTORY#.indd 57
HOW mps VOTED:
Equal marriage
Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013
dnv- 7%
no- 9% dnv (DID NOT VOTE)
L a bour
yes- 84%
be an intolerance of evil.” She wasn’t
speaking against the firebombing but
in support of it. Significantly, nobody in
Tory high command sought to rein her
in. Quite the opposite: less than a month
dnv- 13%
later, she was made a dame.
By that stage, Margaret Thatcher had yes- 42%
already played the gay card to win a
third term. Her party issued crudely no- 45%
homophobic ads during the 1987 election
campaign taunting the ‘Labour Camp’ over
their supposed support for gay rights, and
Con servative
in a party conference speech a few months
after victory she complained: “Children
who need to be taught to respect traditional
moral values are being taught that they
have an inalienable right to be gay… These
dnv- 13%
children are being cheated of a sound start
in life.” That heralded the most vicious
no- 7%
legislative attack on gay people since the yes- 80%
Labouchère Amendment of 1885, which
had criminalised homosexuality in the
first place. Responding to reports in the
L ibera l D e mo c r ats
Tory-supporting Sun about a harmless
book about gay parenting called Jenny Lives
Equality Act 2006
Libera l D em oc r ats
dnv- 26%
dnv- 48%
no- 3% yes- 71% yes - 46%
L a bour no- 6%
57
15/04/2015 14:47
 election special_ATTITUDE

how mps voted: civil partnerships

Civil Partnership Act 2004

L ibera l D em o c r ats
y es - 26% dnv- 26%
dnv- 25%
dnv - 50% n o - 1%
n o - 24% yes- 73% yes - 75%
no- 0%
Cons ervati v e L a bour

how mps
voted:
Gender recognition

Gender Recognition Act 2004

y es - 12%
Gay people protest

n o - 24% against Section 28 in

Amsterdam, 1988 as
dnv - 64% the Queen visits

Conservati v e
‘In 1987 Leader of the Tory group on South Staffordshire
District Council called for 90 percent of gay men to be sent
to the gas chamber to curb the AIDS epidemic. Councillor
Bill Brownhill said “I should shoot them all…’’’
dnv - 29%
With Eric and Martin, David Wilshire, the John Major, during which time the gay
y es - 71% Tory MP who introduced the notorious community waged a massive campaign
no- 0% Section 28 of the Local Government to equalise the age of consent, winning
Act, complained that “homosexuality is only a partial victory with a reduction
Labour being promoted at the ratepayers’ [local from 21 to 18 due to opposition from Tory
taxpayers’] expense, and the traditional MPs. The election of New Labour in 1997
family as we know it is under attack.” at last enabled the gradual dismantling
His new law – passed with government- of Britain’s anti-gay laws. In each case
backing – banned local councils from these reforms passed smoothly through
‘promoting’ homosexuality. Even the House of Commons, where Labour
L ibe ral Dem o cr ats though no prosecution was ever brought
under this measure, its effects included
overhwhelmingly supported gay equality,
but faced opposition from Conservatives
dnv - 35% convincing some teachers that they were
breaking the law if they stepped in to
especially in the House of Lords, where
the Tories still outnumbered everyone
prevent homophobic bullying. That’s one of else. Baroness Thatcher herself returned
no- 0% y es - 65% the reasons why teachers have not felt able in her dotage to vote against LGBT
to stamp out the use of the word ‘gay’ as a equality in votes in November 2000,
playground synonym for ‘rubbish’. October 2002, July 2003, November 2004
After Thatcher left there were five and January 2008. Markedly, when it
more years of Conservativism under came to Labour’s vote to attempt to repeal

58

257_FEAT_VOTING HISTORY#.indd 58 15/04/2015 14:47

BE AN ATHELETE.indd 59 15/04/2015 11:36:07
 election special_ATTITUDE
how mps voted: REPEAL OF SECTION 28
Local Government Act 2003

yes - 14%
dnv- 25% dnv- 28%
dnv- 41% yes- 74%
n o - 45% n o - 1% n o - 0%
yes - 72%
Co n s ervative l ab o ur liberal dem o crats

how mps voted: SAME-SEX ADOPTION

Adoption and Children Act 2002

William Hague, Conservative Leader of
the Commons, who in 2000 when he
was party leader opposed the Labour
government’s plans to repeal Section
28 and wrote in the Daily Mail ‘The
government is showing contempt for the
views of most parents and taxpayers. We
will oppose them at every stage.’
Section 28 in 2000 Baroness Thatcher sat
next to the woman leading the Conservatives
successful effort to stop it.
The Labour leadership put its weight
behind gay equality and the vast majority
of its MPs did too, though not unanimously.
In 1994, 39 Labour MPs voted against an
equal age of consent, including leading
frontbenchers David Blunkett and Ann Taylor,
while a handful voted against any reduction at
all, including future speaker Michael Martin.
A larger number sat the whole vote out, not
actually voting against equality but refusing
to vote for any reform of the cruel law. This
homophobic rump on the Labour benches
continued to oppose equality throughout the
Blair and Brown years and plenty of them
are still there. While 229 Labour MPs voted
in favour of equal marriage on at least one
occasion, 24 voted against and five didn’t
vote. Senior opponents included former
Cabinet ministers Paul Murphy and Stephen
Timms, an East London MP who enjoys
Labour’s biggest majority. (If you live in his
constituency, you may like to know that he
is being challenged by an out lesbian Green
candidate at this election, Tamsin Omond.)
Despite this group it means that 89 percent
of the Labour party’s MPs supported the
measure as opposed to just 49% of Tory MPs.
For the Lib Dems, 52 MPs voted in favour on at
least one occasion while four voted against and
two didn’t vote at all (although one of these,
Jenny Willott, was on maternity leave and is
otherwise a strong supporter.) That means 91
percent of the available MPs were in favour.
yes- 5%
dnv- 21%
n o - 5%
n o - 74%
Co ns ervative
how mps voted: equal AGE OF CONSENT 1999
Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000
yes- 5%
dnv- 30%
n o - 65%
Co ns ervative
It is consistent with the party’s past record,
tending to vote more solidly in favour of gay
rights measures than Labour. For example no
Lib Dem MP voted against repealing Section
28 in 2003, and every Lib Dem MP who voted
was in favour of civil partnerships in 2004 –
neither of which you can say for the Labour
Party.
But to get back to where we started, this
year we have far more than three parties
to choose from and it’s revealing to look at
the smaller outfits’ voting record on gay
marriage. Plaid Cymru, the Greens, Respect
and Northern Ireland’s Alliance and SDLP
all had a 100 percent record albeit with
a much smaller number of MPs: all three
Plaid MPs voting in favour, while the other
four parties each have one MP.
The outsiders are Sinn Fein, who don’t
attend the House of Commons on principle
and therefore never vote – although they
led the attempts to legalise gay marriage
in the Northern Ireland assembly – and
the Scottish National Party, whose six
Westminster MPs didn’t vote because the
measure only affected England and Wales.
dnv- 17%
dnv- 24%
yes- 71% n o - 0%
yes- 83%
l abo ur liberal demo crats
libe ral demo crats
dnv- 30% dnv- 33%
yes- 66% yes- 60%
n o - 4%
n o - 7%
l abo ur
But they too are strongly pro-equality.
When the Scottish Assembly legalised
same-sex marriage a year later, the measure
was backed by 88 percent of SNP members
of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs), compared
with 87 percent Labour, 100 percent Lib
Dem and Green, and again, just 47 percent
of the Tories (including their lesbian leader
Ruth Davidson) supporting gay marriage.
And what of the antis? If you want to
make sure you’re not voting for an explicitly
homophobic party, your main danger of
doing so is in Northern Ireland, where the
ruling Democratic Unionist Party voted
unanimously against marriage, as did the
Independent unionist Sylvia Hermon. And
finally of course there’s UKIP, whose leader
disgusted half the nation by playing politics
with the lives of some of the most vulnerable
immigrants to this country, those infected
with HIV, at the leaders’ debates.
Given that UKIP campaigned explicitly
against gay marriage while the measure
was going through Parliament, taunting
the Conservatives for losing touch with
the traditional views of their grass-roots

60

257_FEAT_VOTING HISTORY#.indd 60 15/04/2015 15:42

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MANCHESTER 1.indd 61 15/04/2015 11:37:32

 election special_ATTITUDE
supporters and offering a refuge for
outspoken homophobes, it’s quite a
surprise to look at the voting record
of the party’s only two MPs. UKIP by-
election winners Douglas Carswell and
Mark Reckless didn’t sit for Farage’s
party when equal marriage was going
through the Commons, but they did
take part in the vote in their previous
capacity as Conservative backbenchers.
While Carswell opposed it, Reckless
voted in favour. This is, of course
because there is only two of them, but
statistically, at 50%, it means they are
one point ahead of the Tories.
But that’s a rogue result, based on the
fact that the sample – two MPs – is tiny.
If you polled UKIP’s parliamentary
candidates in the 624 (out of 650) seats Above: February 1988: Brookside actor Stifyn
in which they’re standing, it’s a fair Parri, Ian McKellen and Peter Tatchell lead the
bet that well over 90 percent of them Manchester demonstration against the Tory
would have opposed gay marriage party’s proposed Clause 27 amendment which
while it was going through Parliament would become the hated Section 28.
and a large number would want the Right: Conservative Nicky Morgan – current
measure repealed. The party’s only Secretary of State for Education and Equalities
openly gay MEP, David Coburn, says Minister who voted against equal marriage.
same-sex marriage is “false bollocks” Below: The fight against Tory support of Section
supported only by “equality Nazis” 28 continued into the new millennium. Protesters
which “makes a mockery of the holy at the 1999 London Pride March
sacrament of marriage… and is just for
some queen who wants to dress up in
a bridal frock and in a big moustache
and dance up the aisle to the Village
People.” Small wonder that Tom
Booker, chair of the UKIP LGBT group,
resigned from the party in February
saying he couldn’t defend it any more.
It’s important to be vigilant against
this lot. If any party yearns to turn
back the clock and undo all the
advances we have made in securing
equality, it’s UKIP. But the good
news is that they have virtually no
chance of doing it. Their homophobic
pronouncements don’t just disgust these battles know that politicians didn’t become
gay people: for most heterosexuals enlightened of their own accord. Gay rights became
too, their bigoted anti-gay utterances a mainstream political concern thanks to the
are one of the main reasons they are unflinching pressure of LGBT people: a handful
so widely reviled. And that’s really of activists at first, building pressure groups on
worth celebrating: whereas once shoestring budgets, gradually maturing into fully
homophobia was a vote-winner, now fledged lobby groups which employed the smartest
it’s an out-and-out vote-loser. people to take their arguments into the corridors of
As a final thought, we should power. Those lobbyists were sustained by donations
remember how that came about. from ordinary LGBT people, whose own day-to-
Those of us who have lived through day openness – coming out at work, to families, to
neighbours, and winning respect and acceptance for
All figures taken from doing so – was what really changed the world.
Publicwhip.org.uk So that’s an uplifting message as you head for the Lesbian protesters disrupt the live
*DNV denotes ‘Did not vote’,
including registered abstentions ballot box. Politicians may aspire to change the world, BBC Six O’clock News in 1988 to
and MPs who were not in parliament but when something really needs changing, it’s people protest against the Conservative
when the vote was taken.
power that actually makes them do it. parties homophobic Section 28 law

62

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 ARE WE SAFE WITH
THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY?
YES
YES, SAYS IAIN DALE, WRITER, LBC 97.3FM
BROADCASTER AND CONSERVATIVE BLOGGER
The suggestion that you’re letting the
side down if you’re gay and you vote
Conservative is so plainly preposterous
that I’m almost embarrassed to even have
to address it. How many gay people really
decide their vote based purely on a political
party’s record on one issue, I wonder. Yes,
the Tories historically haven’t exactly been
that gay-friendly but unless you’re so blinkered to the fact that
parties and individuals can change, then you’ll have noticed how
David Cameron has been hugely successful in leading his party
to a position where there is scarcely a tissue paper between the
position of his party compared to the other two on gay issues. In
his first big conference speech after winning his party’s leadership
he laid down the gauntlet to his party by making clear his support
for gay marriage.
I’m not suggesting you should vote for him based on that record of
leadership and it’s not my role to urge you to vote for any particular
party, but I am saying you should ignore any siren voices who try to
persuade you that the Tory Party hasn’t made progress – and fast –
on gay issues.
In the last Parliament the Tories had more openly gay MPs
than any other party. I’m told they also have more openly gay
candidates standing at this election than any other party, which
ought to tell you something. Cameron took the lead on forcing equal
marriage legislation through the Commons. Yes, too many Tory
MPs voted against it, but that was more out of religious conviction
than anti-gay bigotry.
Ask how many Tory MPs would now vote to reverse the law on
civil partnerships and I’d like to think the answer would be a big fat
zero. In fact, I’m sure it would be. Ah, but what about Section 28 and
Thatcher, Tory critics spit. Well, it was 30 years ago, and what few
people remember is that there were quite a few Labour MPs who
supported it too, not to mention the odd Liberal. That doesn’t make
it right, but let’s live for today and celebrate the fact that virtually
all Tory candidates at this election would be happy to celebrate gay
equality before the law.
Whisper this, but many gay people will vote for UKIP. Shock!
Horror! A recent poll for Pink News showed that the so-called gay
vote has changed a lot since 2010 and the way gay people vote more
or less mirrors the rest of the population. I call that progress.
Ninety-nine percent of gay people in this country will decide their
vote in exactly the same way as their straight counterparts, and isn’t
that exactly how it should be? Which party will run the economy
best? Which party will do most for me and my family? Which
party will best protect the NHS and our schools? Which party will
offer a fair policy on immigration? Those are the key issues which
will decide this election, not which party did something bad to gay
people in 1988.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> THE GENERAL ELECTION IS ON MAY 7 <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
257_FEAT_VOTING HISTORY#.indd 63
NO, SAYS ELEANOR MARGOLIS, JOURNALIST, AUTHOR
OF LEZ MISERABLE NEW STATESMAN COLUMN NO
For too many people, both gay and straight, the
coalition’s legalisation of same-sex marriage in
the UK represents a final victory in the battle for
gay rights. It would be unfair to argue that David
Cameron didn’t put his fusty Tory bum on the line
to secure that legislation. It’s unsurprising that
over half the Conservatives voted against the bill,
social reform never really having been their thing.
And for this exact reason, the Same Sex Couples Act was a complete
anomaly. For LGBT people to vote Tory in May based purely on the
party’s altogether lukewarm support for equal marriage would be
more than a little reckless. I’m not sure if I’ll ever take the Tories up on
their kind offer of getting lesbian married. I’m glad it’s there, don’t get
me wrong, and I was more than ready to pop a bottle of Moët (Okay,
very cheap cava. Okay, Lambrini) when the bill was officially passed
in 2013. At the same time, I wasn’t ready to kick back and let the
new right-wing saviours of gay people get on with whatever the hell
they like. When we trace the history of LGBT rights in the UK, the
overwhelming majority of their proponents have been on the Left. It
was a Labour government that first decriminalised homosexuality in
1967. Subsequently, Labour governments have repealed the insidious
Section 28, matched the age of consent for same-sex couples to that of
straight ones and introduced civil partnerships.
Meanwhile, equal marriage aside for a second, the Conservatives
have done nothing but hinder progress. And it’s vital for us to
recognise that this legion of straight, white Etonians isn’t, all of a
sudden, gay-friendly. Let’s not forget the real harm that austerity has
done. Homelessness and poor mental health, for example, are issues
that affect a disproportionate number of non-heteros. Trans people in
particular face an elevated risk of becoming homeless. So it wouldn’t
be too farfetched to assume that Tory cuts to social housing, benefits
and mental health services will have had devastating affects on the
more vulnerable members of the LGBT community. It might even
be said that equal marriage was, although an important milestone in
the gay rights movement, a distraction from real issues. Cameron, in
many ways, has quite patronisingly managed to beguile a chunk of
the LGBT community by waving about a glittery piece of legislation,
while backhandedly doing away with the welfare state.
Now we’ve secured equal marriage, we need to focus on the next
frontier. A big part of this will be tackling everyday homophobia and
addressing the urgent issue of anti-gay bullying in schools. And it’s
Labour, not the Conservatives, who are willing to make this happen.
It’s Labour who have suggested including same-sex relationships in
children’s sex education programmes. This is a policy that could do a
great deal to de-stigmatise gay and trans kids to their classmates.
The introduction of equal marriage has proven the existence of
socially liberal Conservatives. Now that this minority momentarily
detoxified the Tory brand and provided gay people with a new right, we
need to wave them goodbye before they start dragging us backwards.
63
15/04/2015 14:29
 W I L Lwi th a ne w al bu m
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Words: CHRISTIAN GUILTENANE
Photography: Tom Van Schelven
d ap ps

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 WILL YOUNG_ATTITUDE

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 WILL YOUNG_ATTITUDE
There’s something quite extraordinary
about Will Young. Fourteen years on from
winning TV talent show Pop Idol, he’s not
only still making music, he’s critically
acclaimed for it! Quite something, when
you consider the cut-throat industry he’s
working in.
But that’s the thing with Will: Even back
in 2001, we knew there was something
special about him, and not just because of his
unique voice and the courage he displayed
in standing up to then fledgling TV meanie
Simon Cowell. He had that special something.
That much talked about ‘je ne sais quoi’.
Musically, he’s never put a foot wrong (yes,
we are kindly ignoring that ill-conceived,
corporate-sanctioned Long and Winding Road
duet with Gareth), and his forays into acting
(Mrs Henderson Presents, Bedlam and Cabaret)
and even political activism have been done
with aplomb.
This is the TV talent show winner who not
only came out as gay at the very start of his
career – which in 2002 was a BIG deal and
almost unheard of – but was also asked to
debate on Question Time and appear opposite
the ferocious (and then rather dashing)
Jeremy Paxman.
When I meet Will at Bush Hall near
his home in west London, I do so with
trepidation. Although I’d heard he was a
doll from everyone who’s met him, he later
confesses that wasn’t always the case when,
during a dark year, he went through a patch
“where [he] wasn’t very nice.”
When he greets me he narrows his eyes:
“We’ve met before, haven’t we?” he says,
smiling warmly. Having been a tough and
cynical journo for nearly 15 years, I am well
aware of that celebrity standard of flattery
in return for a lovely write up. But he’s
right. We have met, albeit only for a fleeting
“Hello” at a booze-fuelled after-show party,
just hours after he triumphed on Pop Idol
all those years ago. When reminded he
politely acknowledges it (though I’m still
not convinced he remembers, and why
should he?) before fondly looking back at his
triumphant night and sharing stories about
a mutual show producer friend.
But today isn’t about looking back.
Will has a new album to talk about,
85% Proof, and has a lot to say about the
ever-changing world we live in, from politics
and homophobia to dating and sex...
Will, you never disappoint, but this album
really is a corker.
Thank you, that’s very nice of you to say.
I’ve really enjoyed the process. I basically
did it in five sessions, starting in June and
finishing in August, which was fast for me –
66
257_FEAT_WILL YOUNG#.indd 66
normally it’s a year and a half!
So it was easier this time?
It’s been a while since the last album so
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to write, and
considered singing other people’s songs.
But that didn’t feel right. So I hooked up
with Biff [Richard Stannard] and started
writing. With this album, I wanted to do
something with less blinkered eyes. A lot of
my previous stuff was introspective and I’m
in a different place now. I have more of an
understanding of myself and people now.
Are you given free-reign or do you have label
bosses looking over your shoulder?
No, we are a team. It’s actually a myth that
there are these ‘bosses’. It’s not the case with
me. I have David Joseph and Darkus at the
label who let me get on with it. Darkus was
like, “Well, you know, I could have A&R’d
the record, but you have done that for me.”
He has no ego. I think he had confidence in
me when he started to hear the songs. Which
was great because at first I wasn’t sure. When
you get good feedback it’s great, but it’s only a
‘I remember on the
Pop Idol tour, someone
wrote ‘Faggot’ in the
lift. Someone tried
wiping it off but I
said, ‘No, I am going
t o w i p e i t o ff . ’ I t
was all very filmic’
marker and I am drawing on the experience
of everyone at the record company.
You say your earlier songs were introspective.
Do you feel like you’ve given away lot of
yourself in your music?
That’s what being a songwriter is about. I
don’t think about it, it just comes out. You
have to give yourself to the song otherwise
it’s just frothy shit. It has to have layers.
That’s what it has to be in any field of art.
You’ve been around for a long time now.
Do you still have the same excitement about
the music industry?
I think you find the excitement in different
ways. I always loved CD:UK and Top of
the Pops, but now they’re gone. Now you
have shows like The Voice and The X Factor
that people can watch, and big acts put
on amazing performances. Rihanna’s
performance of Diamonds on The X Factor
when it rained on her was art. It was
incredible. I just thought, ‘Wow!’ I think you
can find excitement via social media now.
But it’s a different experience. It’s group-
sharing in a different way.
That’s the great thing about social media.
Yes, and the good thing is you can take more
control as an artist. You don’t have to rely
on the TVs that aren’t there anymore. If you
can’t get on a radio station then you have
YouTube or Vevo to showcase your work. I
mean, I have just shot a video for a song that
won’t be a single. [Will presents a picture
of himself stripped to the waist, shrouded
in a sheer veil] Island have embraced that
side of me. I love creating characters and
performance art. Making videos has become
a big thing again. You don’t have to spend
lots of money on videos. I remember a while
ago budgets were squeezed so much and
Sony said, “Do we need to do a video?” And
I was like, “But I love making videos!” Now
they realise how powerful videos are these
days and have splashed out again because
they know people can share them. Back in
the day they were just shown on TV, there
wasn’t a link. Now it’s straight out there.
Social media appears to be an important
feature of almost every industry now.
I don’t think I was wise to it to start with. In
fact, I think I was terrified of it. I don’t know
why. Now I can do things like shoot a video
that isn’t for a single. It’s a whole different
world. My video for Love Revolution was
available the minute it was on radio. I like
the fact I can go out and film it and put it out
there with a blogger or an online magazine.
It’s almost 14 years since you came out,
but what you did back then really was
amazing. Your coming out opened the door
for other popstars to feel strong enough to
come out at their peak, like Mark Feehily.
It wasn’t a conscious thing. But it was
something that I am very proud of. I’m
really proud that I stayed true to myself
and didn’t do anything different. I don’t
think I’ve ever said it before but it is one
of my proudest moments and I feel quite
emotional now that I think about it. I have
done a lot for young LGBT people over the
years and if that is a way of giving them
someone to look up to, whether it’s me or
Sam Smith or whoever, then that’s great! I
didn’t have that when I was growing up.
I heard the news of your coming out in a
kebab shop in Angel on the radio.
A kebab shop? I love that! [laughs]
It was just so amazing to hear!
15/04/2015 11:06
 It was a big deal! And it was scary. The next
day I was walking out of my flat and it was
like that scene in Notting Hill. There was
a sea of photographers waiting outside. I
felt so nervous because this was uncharted
territory. I remember shopping in the
supermarket and suddenly thinking, ‘Fuck,
everyone could know I was gay’ and I had a
panic attack because of it.
So coming out was stressful?
It was in a way. I experienced a bit of
homophobia too. I remember on the Pop
Idol tour, someone wrote ‘Faggot’ in the lift.
Someone tried wiping it off but I said, ‘No, I
am going to wipe it off.’ It was all very filmic.
Then there was another time I was getting
a sandwich from a café and this girl – this
really nasty girl, it turned out – wanted me
to meet her mum. When I said I couldn’t
because a car was waiting for me outside
she suddenly shouted at me, “Is it because
I’m a woman?” and I snapped back, “No it’s
because you’re a cunt.”
Blimey!
You never think you’re going to hear
homophobia from a woman. I am proud of
what I did. I’m glad that now it’s not a big
deal if you’re gay. Sam Smith can talk about
it or not talk about it. People just don’t seem
to care anymore, do they?
You made it easy. But those
announcements are still necessary. Away
from the cities there are closeted boys who
need people like Tom Daley.
Sure, it’s great, and he’s a sportsman.
In London we’re so used to diversity
but we live in a time where
homophobic bullying is still rife.
I had a Twitter war thing with
Nicky Morgan recently because
she refused to meet me. I thought,
‘Fuck this’: I copied in The Sun,
The Independent and The Times and
then she got back to me in half an
hour, which I thought was highly
insulting. Then it took another six
weeks to see me and she only did
because I kept telling her I would
stand outside her department
with a sandwich board saying
that 41% of LGBT people have

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 EVAN DAVIS_ATTITUDE
attempted to or thought about killing
themselves, 55% will experience some form
of bullying, while 99% find the word gay
derogatoryand damaging. Now we have
gay marriage – brilliant. And we have more
legal rights – great. But there are young
kids who need our help. We need to focus
on education. It’s outrageous! For me the
use of the word ‘gay’ as a derogatory term
is terrible – if someone used a racist term or
anti-religious comment people would jump
on it and rightfully so. It’s about teaching
people who don’t know what they’re saying
about the hurt they cause. There was this
dickhead who wrote an article who said
that he wasn’t being homophobic but I
said there’s a difference between being
68
257_FEAT_WILL YOUNG#.indd 68
homophobic and saying homophobic things.
It’s about educating people that their misuse
of the word gay is offensive to me and they
don’t realise it. So if we educate people, they
grow up to be more liberal and LGBT people
don’t grow up screwed up for the rest of
their lives.
But where do we find this education?
On TV, you see artists and actors who
are openly gay. In school you don’t. Head
teachers seem not to give a toss about these
issues and kids don’t get any sex education.
Staff don’t feel empowered. They get no
back-up from local authorities or direction
from government about how to deal with
gay issues in schools.
It’s terrible when you consider that the rise in
HIV rates in young people has doubled.
I think the problem is people have dropped
off because they think we dealt with
the problem of HIV. Medication is more
advanced, you can lead a full life now.
So people don’t think it’s as important
anymore. The thing with sex education is
that it was always about wearing a condom
to not get pregnant. It was never wear a
condom to protect yourself from getting
an STD. So people believe condoms are all
about pregnancy and not STDs, for straight
or gay relationships. All you have to say in
schools is that you have to use condoms to
not get HIV. How is that more specific to gay
people? The action is still the same.
Remember the icebergs in the adverts in the
15/04/2015 11:06

80s? It scared the nation silly.
Oh, I don’t remember those.
Oh Will, you’re so young! When did you get
your education?
I found out when I was working with a
charity when I got to uni. I was 20, I didn’t
really know about it. It’s a scary thing.
Over the past 20 years there have been so
many changes in the LGBT world. What have
been the landmarks for you?
People coming out in the music industry is
a big thing. There are more openly gay MPs
and actors. We have more legal rights. Legal
partnerships and marriage are amazing.
When my two friends got married I realised
what a big deal it was.
When Attitude published its Love &
257_FEAT_WILL YOUNG#.indd 69
Marriage special so many readers told us that
it was nice to read about gay men in love.
Yes, love. It’s all about love. Love is love,
that’s why people want to get together and
make declarations of their love. Gay people
just want to be like everyone else. Forget all
that religious shit – but don’t get me started
on Catholicism.
With the election fast approaching, why do you
think young people are disillusioned by politics?
I don’t actually think they are disillusioned.
I think older people are. Younger people can
be politically motivated. A friend of mine
recently said to me that she was pleased to
see her daughter questioning things. I think
it’s important to constantly question things.
Politics and voting is a way of doing that.
It’s making a statement. Start as you mean
to go on. That’s why I studied politics – even
though I got a 2.2 – but I didn’t do any work.
I wanted to go out into the world and know
the basics of how it all worked. We live in
democracy and we can change things, unlike
so many other countries...
What do you make of our uncharismatic
politicians and the rise of UKIP and Farage?
Some politicians don’t come across as
human. That said, I met a Sports and
Culture minister recently. She was amazing.
She had a twinkle in her eye and she was
so passionate. I told her it was so nice to see
that! Others are dead-eyed because they are
terrified about what they say. Where’s their
passion? I think the system takes it out of
them. They become a pastiche of themselves.
At least Farage is passionate, but he’s just
a bit ‘pub landlord’. Maybe that’s why the
public seem to relate to him more. But an act
alone doesn’t make a politician.
I always feel when MPs speak in public
everything seems so stage-managed...
I remember meeting Tony Benn – what a
dude. He was on Question Time once and was
asked about his party doing stuff. And he
said, “That’s New Labour – I don’t know what
they’re doing.” Tony was passionate, even if
he did have some questionable policies for
gay rights looking back. Politicians I meet
speak waffle. I had a meeting with Nicky
Morgan and Michael Gove and came away
like I had been eating smoke for half an hour.
I came away with nothing.
How do you feel about the likes of TOWIE stars
being perceived as role models.
To be honest they’re not on my radar, but I
often get told that I just potter around in my
own world. That said, you have someone
like Charlie King, who I have met a couple of
times, using his fame for good. He has found
a voice and is really brave opening up about
coming out and the depression he dealt
WILL YOUNG_ATTITUDE
with, and that is a great thing.
It’s important for celebrities to normalise
those aspects of life.
It’s a hard thing to do. People as humans
aren’t encouraged to see emotion as
equal. I’m feeling sad is not seen in the
same way as being happy. Depression can
be crippling, and there are different levels
of depression. You can be depressed if you
drop an egg, though you’d be overreacting.
You can be depressed because you have
bipolar, like I have. Or if you have low self-
esteem, which I have also had to deal with.
Depression is such a broad term. Talking
about it and owning it is really important.
If people talk about their problems, others
can relate, and that can only be a good
thing. Stephen Fry started that – he was
incredible.
Indeed. On a lighter note, are you seeing
anyone at the minute?
Sadly romance isn’t going well. My ex-
boyfriend Jesse has just gone back to
America. He was the best relationship I ever
had. He was going back for visa reasons and
neither of us wanted to do long-distance. We
are still great friends. We had such a great
time. He taught me a lot. He was my first
adult relationship. It happens when you
get to your thirties. I see all my pals getting
engaged now and having kids.
Are you an easy boyfriend?
I certainly wasn’t, but then I never went for
easy people. Now I know a lot more about
myself – about communicating. Jesse was
American so he was good at that. Americans
have emotional intelligence.
It must have been heart-breaking to end it
for logistical reasons.
No, not really. That was just the way it was.
I knew it was going to happen. It was very
adult. We are great friends. We still have that
friendship – it was a year we were together.
Do you use dating apps?
I never did before because of being famous,
but I feel differently now.
It could startle a lot of people if your face
popped up.
It’s not just going to people’s door. I know
someone who is getting married after
meeting online. There are so many ways
of people getting together. There are
smorgasbords of everything you are looking
for. I think I shall become more liberated
with the idea. If you want a shag you can get
one, as long it’s safe and it’s coming from the
right place. As long as you know yourself
and you know what you’re getting into,
then there’s no harm. But I’m probably very
conservative.
Will’s album 85% Proof is out May 25.
69
15/04/2015 11:06
 ireland_ATTITUDE

Road
The

to

Equal
marriage
70

257_FEAT_IRELAND#.indd 70 15/04/2015 11:36

 On May 22nd, Ireland is holding the
world’s first referendum on same-sex
marriage. Traditionally one of the
most conservative Catholic countries
in the world, who only decriminalised
homosexuality in 1993, Ireland is a
curious candidate for this accolade, and
yet opinion polls show the ‘Yes’ campaign
enjoys a healthy lead of well over 70%.
Ben Kelly takes a look at how it came to be...
‘M
arriage may be contracted in accordance with
law by two persons without distinction as to
their sex.’ This is the line the government of the
Republic of Ireland have proposed adding to the
country’s constitution, which would enable gay couples to marry.
But as a republic with a constitution, it’s necessary for the people
to ratify this statement in a national vote, and that referendum
is fast approaching on May 22nd. Falling just one day before the
Eurovision Song Contest, a delightful gay serendipity means the two
sets of results will roll in together.
Upon its creation in 1937, the Republic of Ireland went from
the hands of Britain straight into the clutches of the Catholic
Church, and anti-gay laws that had been left over from the days of
colonialism weren’t about to be reversed by the new government.
Its constitution put the traditional family at the heart of society
and afforded no place for thorny issues like divorce, abortion,
contraception or homosexuality. The process of updating this has
been a long social and legal journey, but today – despite the Church’s
continued opposition – every single party in Ireland’s parliament
supports same-sex marriage, and public support has remained
around 75% for the past two years. In contrast, the issue divided
parties at Westminster, and UK opinion polls showed only around
55% of the public supported the measure when it was introduced in
the summer of 2013. More striking yet is the juxtaposition of the UK
having decriminalised homosexuality in 1967, while Ireland only got
around to it in 1993. Gay rights may have accelerated in the past two
decades there, but the years before that were bleak – with economic
depression, and a Church which dominated social morality.
Today, Senator David Norris is one of Ireland’s most revered
political figures, in particular for his work on gay rights, but in the
1950s and 1960s, he was an isolated young man in a country that
had no place for him. He told me how the culture of homophobia
257_FEAT_IRELAND#.indd 71
manifested itself as complete silence. “In those days the word gay
was never spoken, or printed in the newspapers. The only time
anything squeaked out was when there were whispers of very
unsavoury law cases – people being sent to jail and asylums.
I thought I was more or less on my own, and it was absolutely
horrendous.” Despite being well educated and highly cultured,
he didn’t hear about the Stonewall riots of 1969 until years later,
but gained inspiration from an article he read about gay rights
in Holland, and from getting in touch with the Campaign for
Homosexual Equality, who were holding meetings in England.
“It was of no earthly use for me living in Ireland, but it did signal
that there were others.”
While social revolutions erupted around the world in the late
1960s, a quiet one began in Ireland too. The advent of new and
accessible birth control led the Vatican to publish Humanae
Vitae in 1968, which reaffirmed it to be against Church law. Tom
Inglis, a Professor of Sociology at University College Dublin
believes this caused a huge break in public obedience to the
Church. “The influence of the Catholic Church’s attitude to sexuality
began to decline at this point, and women – particularly mothers
– began to distance themselves from the teachings of the Catholic
Church.” Slowly, across the 1970s, people also began to question
the Church’s lead on other issues, like divorce, abortion and
crucially, homosexuality.
Senator Norris also believes at this point, the mood of the Irish
people was already a fair bit warmer than the statutes on the books.
“I think Irish people by and large were fairly compassionate and
tolerant anyway – to use those awful words. And before there was
any sign of gay rights in Ireland, a plurality of people thought the
criminal laws were wrong and should be removed.” Nevertheless,
when Norris began the Campaign for Homosexual Law Reform in
the 1970s, with the aim of decriminalising homosexuality, it was still
71
15/04/2015 11:37
 ireland_ATTITUDE
a largely taboo subject to be advocating publicly.
Norris’ campaign led to a case at the Supreme Court in 1983, to
challenge the 19th century UK laws which criminalised homosexual
acts, and had since been repealed in England, Wales, Scotland and
Northern Ireland. The court rejected his case, citing the ‘Christian
and democratic nature of the Irish state’ and the need to protect
public health and the institution of marriage. Not one to be easily
discouraged, Norris went to the European Court of Human Rights,
quite literally taking on the government in the Norris v. Ireland case of
1988. This time, he won. The ECHR ruled that these laws violated its
Convention, which guarantees the right to privacy in personal affairs.
It took five more years before decriminalisation was realised in 1993,
but fittingly, it was signed off by President Mary Robinson, who had
represented Norris as a barrister and Senior Counsel at the ECHR.
The year before, in an unprecedented move, Robinson invited 34
representatives of the gay and lesbian communities to her official
presidential residence to promote her support for them. In her
memoir Everybody Matters, she describes her surprise and sadness
that after a pleasant day for all, most of them shied away from having
an official photograph taken at the end. They weren’t out to their
families. Even the most powerful advocate for the gay community
was unaware of the isolation they felt in their private lives.
Socially, things did start to pick up around the time of legalisation,
and continued to do so throughout the ‘Celtic Tiger’ days of the
1990s – a period of economic and cultural boom for Ireland, during
which the wealth of the average citizen quadrupled within 15 years,
and the country’s place within Europe helped shift its attitudes
forward in line with its peers on the continent. Professor Inglis,
finds it odd that gay rights jumped forward, ahead of divorce
(legalised in 1996) and abortion (still illegal in Ireland). “I think
there is this belief that because it’s a minority, it wouldn’t really
Thousands march
in the streets of
Dublin in the March
For Marriage,
August 2014
‘A Yes vote would send a powerful message of positivity
to even the most repressed, conservative, religious
countries – including the one across its border – that
they can hope and aspire towards equality too’
72
257_FEAT_IRELAND#.indd 72
impact on the rest of culture – whereas divorce and abortion would
maybe more so.”
Born in the year homosexuality was legalised, Sinn Fein’s Fintan
Warfield has seen the country’s social attitudes move in his lifetime,
and at 22, he became the youngest Mayor of South Dublin, a
position he currently maintains. “There were a couple of things on
TV around the time I was going to school” he recalls. “I think the
programme was called Growing Up Gay, and I remember watching my
mum having a positive reaction to that, and bringing that positive
reaction to the dinner table. She unknowingly raised an issue that
was very relevant to me.”
He watched in 2010 as the Irish government introduced civil
partnerships, but explains why equalising marriage remains crucial.
“There are 160 differences at the moment between civil partnerships
and marriage – one such example is the family home, which has a
cherished place in the constitution. In civil partnerships, the home
is just a ‘shared home’, and that equates to student digs. So, largely,
across the board, a need was identified for a referendum on the issue.”
The referendum was announced at the end of 2013, for spring 2015,
and both sides have been working hard to secure victory ever since.
The first face off came unexpectedly when drag performer Panti
Bliss discussed homophobia in Irish media and society during a TV
appearance. Those named – a handful of journalists, and a powerful
Catholic lobbying group called the Iona Institute – took legal action
against RTE and Panti, who told me it got political there and then.
“They couldn’t have people going on TV calling them homophobes,
because there’s going to be a referendum, and they realised that if
people were to say ‘Oh you would say that, you’re a homophobe,’
then their argument is kind of over.”
RTE paid out 85,000 Euro in damages, and in doing so ignited
disapproval from the public, who felt the state broadcaster shouldn’t
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 ireland_ATTITUDE
have to appease anti-equality figures who were offended at being
called homophobes. Professor Inglis believes that where once the
Catholic Church was the conscience of Irish society, over the past
20 years, the role gradually shifted to the media to point people in
the right direction; but ‘Pantigate’ was a further watershed moment.
“That section of the media took a traditional Catholic
view, and they were increasingly seen as being out of
sync with a modern, urban, cosmopolitan view.” If the
state broadcaster was going to
appease people like the Iona Leo Varadkar
Institute, the public weren’t
going to support it.
That’s not to say that
those in the No camp
‘I’d like the
were discredited – referendum to
far from it. The pass because
very mention of I’d like to be an
the Iona Institute
equal citizen
is enough to make
Senator Norris’ blood
in my own
boil. “They’ve gone country’
from strength to strength.
They’re financed, it’s said,
by huge amounts of money from Domino’s Pizza
and other American sources of income. They’ve
established themselves as a charity, even though
they’re a political campaigning group. They’re not
a charity at all, and they’ve managed to get away with
that. It’s dreadful.” He also doesn’t believe that the Yes
campaign is safe from the confusion and fear the
group is stirring up. Crucially, both sides of the
argument must be given equal airtime during an
Irish referendum campaign, meaning every
debate could be chipping away at the Yes camp’s
lead. “I don’t believe these huge figures, not for
a moment, and the gay community
would be ill advised to take them at Senator
face value. It most certainly is not
in the bag, and those people in the
David Norris
Iona Institute are trying as hard as they can in order to
stop it going through, and they could well succeed.” He
has joked on Twitter though, that after a lifetime of ‘People are
campaigning, he’s looking forward to ‘retiring as a trying as hard as
homosexual’ professionally, if the Yes vote passes. they can in order
Spirits were lifted at the start of the year when
the Fine Gael Health Minister, Leo Varadkar
to stop it going
became the most high profile politician in the through, and
country to come out. Speaking on RTE Radio in they could well
January he said the impending referendum had succeed’
moved him to speak up, on what was his 36th birthday.
“I was thinking about the arguments that I might
make, and all the arguments that I was going to make were kind of
detached. What I really want to say is that I’d like the referendum to
pass because I’d like to be an equal citizen in my own country.” His
reception was overwhelmingly positive, and will have sent ripples
of awareness across a very small country of 4.6 million, where he
may well be the only gay person known to many people. Professor
Inglis believes the size of the country has had a big impact socially
on the acceptance of homosexuality. “In the same way that you
could say in Ireland that everybody knows somebody who has been
touched by cancer, increasingly everybody knows of somebody
74
257_FEAT_IRELAND#.indd 74
whose son or daughter is gay, and in a way it’s about accepting them into
the community, accepting their children, and it’s part and parcel of the
idea of Ireland being as much a society as it is one large community.”
One of the main consequences of a Yes vote would be a further
widening of the gap between the Catholic Church and the state.
When the Church threatened excommunication for
members of the government who voted for an abortion
law in 2013, the Taoiseach Enda Kenny made a clear
distinction between his private religion and his
public duty. “I am proud to stand here as a public
representative, as a Taoiseach who happens to be
a Catholic but not a Catholic Taoiseach”, he said
to the Irish parliament. “A Taoiseach for all of the
people, that’s my job.” The Church has slowly lost
any remaining claim to a moral authority on the Irish
people through the revelations of historic abuse in the
past 15 years. The issue of gay marriage could really bring
about that final divorce; while a change in the abortion
law would hammer a final nail in the coffin.
A further consequence to consider – particularly
here in the UK – is
Fintan Warfield the effect a Yes vote
will have on Northern
Ireland, which could
‘There are soon find itself as the
only jurisdiction on
160 differences the British Isles
at the moment where same sex
between civil marriage is not
partnerships yet legal. The DUP
and marriage’ – an historically
homophobic party
founded by the Rev Ian
Paisley and rooted in his
Free Presbyterian Church –
have blocked same sex marriage three times, after it
was tabled by their Sinn Fein government partners in
the Belfast Assembly. With no hope left for legislative
progress, the Assembly may find themselves being taken
to court as a means of securing equality.
Patrick Corrigan, from Northern Ireland’s Amnesty
International told me he felt these politicians were out
of step with most ordinary people. “When this block
on equal marriage is taken alongside attempts by
government ministers to block adoption by gay
couples, and the refusal to publish a long-overdue
sexual orientation strategy, it seems some politicians
wish to make Northern Ireland a ‘cold house’ for the
LGBT community.” However, he still seems positive,
and affirms “Amnesty International is determined that,
whether through Stormont or through the courts, everyone
in Northern Ireland will be treated as equal citizens.”
In less than four weeks, Ireland has the opportunity to make
history, not just for itself, but on a global scale. A Yes vote would
send a powerful message of positivity to even the most repressed,
conservative, religious countries – including the one across its border
– that they can hope and aspire towards equality too. And while some
feel the equality of the gay community shouldn’t be left to the mercy of
public opinion, there would be a certain beauty in same sex marriage
being chosen not behind the closed doors of a parliament, but openly
and publicly, through the ballots cast by millions of fellow citizens.
15/04/2015 11:37
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 hey
brother
COlin Farrell backs his brother Eamonn and his husband
Steven Mannion to push through equal marriage in ireland
Words: Christian Guiltenane / Photography: Aaron McGrath
startraks photo/rex

Eamonn and Colin Farrell

76

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 eamonn farrell_ATTITUDE

W
hile it would seem that young and
old Irish citizens have been coming
together to fight for marriage
equality, the campaign has for as
long time been given a big boost
by Hollywood superstar Colin
Farrell, who recently took the time to pen
an open letter celebrating his gay brother
Eamonn and his husband Steven Mannion’s
relationship and expressing how unfair it
was that the pair had been forced to travel
overseas to get married. “My brother Eamonn
didn’t choose to be gay. Yes, he chose to wear
eyeliner to school and that probably wasn’t
the most pragmatic response to the daily
torture he experienced at the hands of school
bullies,” Colin wrote last November. “The
fact that my brother had to leave Ireland to
have his dream of being married become
real is insane. INSANE. It’s time to right the
scales of justice here: to sign up and register
to vote next year so that each individual’s
voice can be heard.”
On the eve of the referendum, Attitude
joined Colin’s brother Eamonn and his
artist husband Steven at their home in
Dublin to hear how they felt about having
to get married away from their friends and
family, how Colin has been a rock and why
achieving this new legislation will have a registrar for deaths, births and marriages. difficult to be part of an often marginalised
massive impact on gay Irish youth. I asked him very clearly to marry me, in minority group living in Ireland. I really
Ireland someday, when we were able to. do think that most people don’t want that.
It’s not long now until the referendum takes Unfortunately I couldn’t wait as long as it Most people want society, human rights and
place. How life-changing do you think it will has taken so we went to Vancouver and got equality to develop and grow.
it be if passed? married there. There’s been phenomenal support from Irish
Life will not really change for us as a couple What difference do you think having people of all ages. Has that surprised you?
at all. We are married already and our marriage will make to the way gay men and Not at all. We have become a very inclusive
Canadian marriage will be recognised almost women are viewed by general society? society really, especially in the last couple of
immediately as a civil Irish marriage. The day I think in the next 50 years we will look back years. We’ve had to stick together very much
after we got married in Vancouver six years and our kids and grandkids will ask us if through adversity, through recent mass
ago, I woke up and looked out the window we remembered when it was not legal for immigration and through the recession. I
of our hotel and said to Steven, “Oh look, same sex couples to get married. They will think people now see that a question which
the world is still there, everything looks be shocked! We can look back ourselves to relates to two people wanting their love to be
the same, all those right-wing, anti-equal somewhere as close as 1967 and think that recognised by their society is actually not a
marriage types were wrong. We haven’t in certain parts of the United States a white bad thing. We have a campaign running in
caused the destruction of civilization!” And person could not marry a black person. Now Ireland called Call Your Grandparents and
so it will be when the referendum passes in we are shocked that society could ever think it’s available on YouTube. If you need to have
Ireland. All will go on as if nothing happened, that such blatant racism was okay. There a good cry – a happy cry into your glass of
and LGBT people will have the same rights as will come a time when being gay will be as Chablis some night – have a look at it. It’s
every other couple to get married. uninteresting as being a brunette, and that truly magical. It’s a series of videos of young
Is it important for you and Steven to be seen day can’t come quickly enough. LGBT people calling their grandparents and
as married in your own home country? And what impact do you think it will have for asking them how they will be voting in the
We were married in Canada but getting a Ireland’s younger gay people? referendum. It totally backs up the idea that
civil partnership in Ireland wasn’t for me. It will be huge. It will be a recognition of people who have a gay person in their lives
That’s why we went away. I had always their relationships as equal and inclusive. would never even dream of voting against
dreamed of getting married. I used to rob The passing of the referendum is a yes equal marriage. It’s a total no-brainer. We
one of my sister’s doll houses and my two for us all; it’s a yes to us being a fully also have Straight Up for Equality, which is
action men lived in it together... seriously! recognised part of Irish society. We need to straight people coming out in support of the
And when I proposed to Steven I asked him say yes and move forward with our lives as referendum, changing their Facebook profile
to someday marry me. Not to civil partner LGBT people. Saying no would be moving pictures to equals signs.
me, or register our relationship with the backwards to a time when it was very Take us back to when you came out. Was that

77

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 eamonn farrell_ATTITUDE
a difficult process in such a strictly
Catholic country?
Well I was never in. I’ve never had a
girlfriend, I’ve never even kissed a girl. I
wanted to marry a guy called Rory in my
class at school when I was 12 years old.
There was no question in my mind ever
that I would marry someone one day, and
that someone would be a man. So coming
out was a non-event for me and I was lucky
enough within my family to be supported
totally. It always makes me smile when
I say that. They had no option but to be
supportive... I was not for changing!
How did people outside your family react?
As we say in Dublin, I often got a real hiding.
I was bashed, and I was verbally abused.
I did arrive home bloodied and I was the
victim of homophobic bullying, but I was
never a ‘victim’. I often felt as sorry for the
bullies as I did for myself; more so actually.
I thought they just didn’t get what life is
about! I thought how miserable they must
be, needing to do this to me, how they must
be hiding their own demons and must have
very little happiness in their own lives.
Was it a terrible period for you?
It was really awful, yes, and when Colin
spoke about it, it really brought me right
back to the way I used to feel. I may not
remember exactly what someone said or
did to me, but I remember exactly how they
made me feel. If I drive even close by the
school I used to attend where the majority of
the bullying happened I feel physically sick,
still to this day. And that’s how I felt every
day when I was walking towards it. It was
a really crappy part of my childhood, but
it motivates everything I do in my life now.
It motivates me to help other kids, to strive
78
257_FEAT_EAMON FARRELL#.indd 78
I am very proud of
colin in everything he
does. It is gre at that
he can speak out because
he’s in a position for
so many people to hear
w h a t h e h a s t o s ay
for happiness in my own life and to try and
make the world a kinder, more accepting
place for everyone.
Did it ever become too much to handle?
It often became too much to handle and
when I think back there is one thing I would
say to the ten-year-old me, or the 12-year-
old or the 15-year-old me. Talk to someone.
I spoke to no one about what was going on
until I was 16. Not one word. I would make
excuses for ripped and bloodied clothes. I
would divert attention from trying to get
out of gym class or football matches. And
I would hide any weakness I felt behind a
rather robust and flamboyant personality.
When I did speak to my teachers they were
so upset and so shocked that I had put up
with eight years of abuse and had not gone
to them. I guess I also didn’t want to show
any weakness. Because I was gay and I
was openly so in a hugely homophobic
environment, I had to almost promote
myself more to go ‘Hey, this is okay.’ I
don’t know if I even believed that myself.
Sometimes when I think of how full on I
was, I’d probably have bullied myself!
Was Colin a good brother in this time?
He was incredibly supportive, he always
is. My whole family are. But Colin is the
youngest so the reversal of roles was always
more pronounced. He would mind me and
he would try and talk to me. Even when
he was nine. He would ask was everything
okay and did I need to talk about anything.
He has always had an old soul. We have
spent our lives – the four of us – looking
after each other. It’s like a pendulum, and I
guess that’s why family is so important. It
provides the equilibrium of comfort. It is
particularly hard at the moment with them
all living in Los Angeles, even my mam.
Do you think that without marriage, gay men
have enjoyed more unrestricted lifestyles?
I think that as LGBT people in society have
become more visible, the idea of the hedonistic
pink pound-flashing lifestyle of gay people is
now outdated. A lot of us have always been
striving for that one long-term relationship,
and to that end, marriage provides us with a
wonderful goal to aim towards.
How did you and Steven meet?
We met in a nightclub in Dublin. It was a great
night, and it really was love at first sight.
How did your families take to one another?
Both of our parents are divorced so we really
only had our mams to get around, and that
was easy. We are very close to our mother-
in-laws. They are more like friends to us
than anything else.
When did you realise that this relationship
was for keeps?
I am 15 years older than Steven, so when we
met he was 22 and I was 37. I was not out
looking for love at all, it just happened. I had
kissed a lot of frogs and he was my Prince
Charming from day one.
When was marriage mentioned?
We were in New York for a few days and I
had planned the whole thing. I had booked
an appointment with a jewellers in the
Jewellery District so one day I snuck off and
got the ring. We went ice skating in Central
Park and it was there I asked Steven to
marry me. I had done the whole honourable
thing the night before by calling his mam
and asking for his hand in marriage. She
was so thrilled and of course gave her
total blessing. We had never spoken about
marriage but it is something I wanted from
a very early part of our relationship. We had
been together for three years and the time
felt right. I remember exactly the words I
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 eamonn farrell_ATTITUDE
asked because they were so important and
so politically loaded. I asked him to marry
me someday, somewhere we are allowed to
get married. That’s only six short years ago,
and I had no idea when marriage equality
would ever be legal in Ireland, so although
I was proposing, it was with the very sad
stipulation that it would be as soon as we
were allowed. That time is almost upon us.
So what made you go overseas?
I just needed our relationship recognised
somewhere in the world. For that week in
Canada after we were married we were the
exact same as every other committed, in
love, married couple. When we returned to
Ireland we reverted back to being unequal
citizens, which was sad at the time.
How did you plan your wedding?
It was very simple really. I researched all the
countries where we could get married and
what the legal requirements were. Most of
them had citizenship issues and residential
requirements. In Canada we could get our
licence one day and get married the next.
I found a registrar and we took a taxi to
Stanley Park and got married there. We
80
257_FEAT_EAMON FARRELL#.indd 80
stopped a passing jogger to act as a witness
for us, and it turned out that she had been
married to her girlfriend by the same
registrar five years earlier.
Was there an element of frustration when it
sounded like equal marriage was coming to
Ireland then? So close, yet so far!
There is an opposition at home to equal
marriage which I find very hard to take.
I find it unusual that people could be so
interested in my relationship with Steven,
and in what we do in bed, because basically
that’s what it comes down to. Ireland is the
first country in the world to have a public
vote on same sex marriage. In every other
jurisdiction the legislators have changed
the law to introduce it. We have a wonderful
opportunity in Ireland to show the world
how we as a nation care about our citizens.
All of our citizens. We have a chance to say
to every gay person that they are equally
legitimate and equally important, and you
have an equal role to play in the next phase
of the magical story of Ireland.
You must be very proud that your brother
has weighed in on the cause?
I am very proud of him in everything
he does. It is great that he can speak out
because he’s in a position for so many people
to hear what he has to say. But personally, it
is very empowering to have someone who
knows you so well say, “You deserve this.
This is bullshit and we need to change the
law in our country.”
Are kids the next thing on the agenda for
you and Steven?
No, kids are not on the agenda! Family is
the most important thing, we care about
all families, we value all families, we
respect all families in all their different
forms, shapes, colours and genders. We
embrace family as the building block of
society. My family is not the same as yours
and yours is not the same as mine, but the
defence and protection of your family is
as important to me as the protection and
defence of my own. All are important,
all are wonderful and all are equal. I just
want to get on with my life, to bother no
one and be married to Steven until it’s time
for him to throw my ashes over the beach
near our home.
15/04/2015 14:11
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 NUL
EUROVISION SPECIAL_ATTITUDE

POINTS? AS THE 60TH EUROVISION SONG CONTEST APPROACHES, WE ASK

WHETHER OR NOT THE UK CAN REIGN SUPREME AGAIN. WE’VE WON
FIVE TIMES, COME RUNNER UP 15, BUT IN RECENT YEARS WE’VE
BEEN A LAUGHING STOCK, AND THIS YEAR’S ENTRY ELECTRO VELVET
DOESN’T LOOK LIKE THEY WILL FARE ANY BETTER. WE ASK
THE EURO EXPERTS HOW WE CAN CLAW BACK SUCCESS...
WORDS: CHRISTIAN GUILTENANE

82

257_FEAT_EUROVISON#.indd 82 15/04/2015 11:23

 EVAN DAVIS_ATTITUDE

PAUL JORDAN [DR EUROVISION]

“Europe hates us!”
“We’ll never win because of politics!”
“It’s Eastern Europe’s fault!”
These are just some of the explanations
that are put forward for the UK doing
badly when it comes to Eurovision. It’s
fair to say that we’ve not exactly set the
scoreboard alight over the past decade or so. Gone are the
glory days of when the UK was a force to be reckoned with
on the Eurovision stage. The UK hasn’t won the contest since
1997, narrowly missing out on the double in 1998. Since then we
haven’t really come close to winning again. Over the past 15 years
we have only been in the top five twice and have finished last three
times including the dreaded nul points in 2003. So where did it all
go wrong? Is there any truth in the arguments that we are disliked
by our European cousins?
The short answer is no.
Arguments that Europe doesn’t like the UK and that the voting
is political are largely misinformed and fail to take account of
the major changes that have taken place in Eurovision. The
contest is bigger than ever, nearly 40 countries compete every
year. The UK isn’t the only country who hasn’t fared well in the Blu e
modern Eurovision era; the difference is that other countries don’t
consistently bleat about how they’re hated. points for simply turning up. When other countries are making
Language is also an issue. Before 1999 the UK, Ireland and Malta an effort, putting in credible acts, we enter failed pop stars, ageing
were the only countries permitted to sing in English, providing us crooners and grown men dancing with schoolgirls. Our biggest
with a massive advantage. Since free language was introduced, the chance in recent years was 2011 with Blue. However a poor
majority of countries opt to sing in English, putting everyone on a performance on the Friday night when the juries were voting
more equal playing field. meant that we limped home in 11th place. That said, the UK
The rise of the public vote has highlighted voting patterns, and yes came fifth in the public vote. Not too shabby for a country that’s
there is neighbourly voting. However that has always been the case apparently hated.
in Eurovision with juries as well as the public. The UK and Ireland There’s an argument that our music industry doesn’t need the
are just as guilty of this as anyone else. We gave 12 points to Ireland contest as much as other countries. Perhaps that’s true but Eurovision
in 2011 not because of politics but because Jedward were known here still generates hits, the 2012 winner Euphoria was huge, reaching
and were popular. Why is it okay for us to vote for our neighbour number three in the UK charts. We are missing an opportunity here.
and not, say, Serbia for Croatia? If Germany can win, as they did in 2010, then the UK can too.
The turnout for European elections is usually poor. Do we really Austria waited nearly 50 years for its second victory and Portugal
think that people across Europe are sitting at home thinking politics which first entered in 1964 has never even made the top five. And
on a Saturday night and casting their votes accordingly? Unlikely. let’s face it, most of us love a handsome Portugueezer!
The sad truth is that we’ve just not been good enough. It’s worth remembering that we still have the strongest overall
When we put in the effort, like we did in 2009, we are rewarded. record with five wins and a record 15 second places, it’s time to stop
When it comes to Eurovision it’s almost like we feel we deserve moaning and face the music!

E U R OV IS IO N ’S G AY ACTS W HO CHANGED T HE WORL D

Gay people have always been part of Eurovision, but these five
broke down international boundaries and caused controversy.

Dana Marija Serifovic Conchita Tatu (Russia) Krista (Finland)

International (Serbia) (Austria) So they weren’t In 2013, the
(Israel) The 2007 out 2014’s sassy gay, but back Finnish singer
1998’s first and proud drag queen with in 2003 they kissed a girl
transgender Gypsy lesbian face fuzz who kept the world on stage to
winner received who ignored the faced the wrath gripped with a support same sex
death threats jibes and stole of homophobic tease of a snog marriage. Turkey
from Israelis. the show! Russian leaders. on stage. went ballistic.
Scooch

83

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 EUROVISION SPECIAL_ATTITUDE
SARAH CAWOOD
[FORMER EUROVISION
PRESENTER)
So here we are again,
on the cusp of yet
another anticlimactic
Eurovision with the UK
being represented by a
band they don’t know
singing a song they
didn’t choose. The BBC really are intent on
never hosting Eurovision again aren’t they?
You only have to glance across social media
on Eurovision night to see that the UK LOVE
THIS SHIT and the event itself remains one of
the highest rated shows the BBC has, so why
do they keep getting the process of choosing
who represents us so woefully wrong?
The BBC seem obsessed with either sending
faded superstars (Bonnie Tyler and Engelbert
Humperdink) or PWL wannabes woefully
out of touch with the times (Josh Dubovie
singing a Pete Waterman B-side, and Scooch).
The only real contender in recent years for
me has been Blue. Great band, great song and
what’s more: they had a European fan base.
The BBC could do worse than look to the
Swedish model for tips. The Swedes take
Eurovision VERY seriously and it shows
in their track record: Since their first win
with ABBA 40 years ago, they have notched
up the highest number of victories of any
country other than Ireland and, in the last four
years, have finished in the top three on three
occasions, winning once. The UK hasn’t SEEN
the top three since 2002. 13. Long. Years. Ago.
So what do they do differently? Well, for
starters they have an X Factor style TV show
with ten songs voted on by international
juries and the Swedish public. If half the
battle is choosing a catchy song sung
by an unforgettable performer then
there’s no wonder that Sweden keep
winning: The public are behind both
artist and song before they even
step foot on a plane.
Oh and while it’s true that
sometimes it seems like neighbouring states
seem to be biased, these days that has more to
do with the fact that culturally, they prefer the
same thing, than any Iron Curtain nonsense.
So there we have it, for what it’s worth:
Cawood’s guide to winning Eurovision.
Now if only we could get the bigwigs at
the BBC to listen to the common
sense happening down here.
Oh and good luck Electro Velvet.
You’re gonna need it...
84
257_FEAT_EUROVISON#.indd 84
UK FACTS KARL BATTERBEE
[EDITOR OF SCANDIPOP.CO.UK]
In order for the UK
W IN N E R S
to start doing well at
Eurovision again, it
needs a song selection
3 17
process that the voting
RUNNERS UP public can get behind,
IN THIRD PLACE and in which artists
and songwriters would want to compete
13
For inspiration, the UK should look to the
Swedes, who have now mastered the format.
In Sweden their Melodifestivalen competition
is not just the biggest television event of the
NIL
year (its ratings continually exceeding that
of Eurovision, by far) but the most prolific
POINTS
pop music event of every year too. It’s a six
week contest: Four heats, a semi-final, and
a final. In terms of media saturation, it is
TO P 10 S
to Sweden annually what the X Factor is to
the UK. It’s become such a big event now
that the fact the eventual winner will go to
LAST PLACES Eurovision is pretty much an after-thought,
being more a showcase of Swedish pop
artists and their music.
With the press coverage and the ratings
Gina G so high, winning isn’t really the most
important thing to a lot of artists. They
just want their songs to be played on the
radio, exposure for their new albums, and
a heightened public profile, leading to more
bookings in the twelve months until the next
batch of 28 artists the following year. In the
Swedish pop music world, there’s really no
bigger exposure than Melodifestivalen. As a
direct result, the Swedish music industry
would suffer enormously if Melodifestivalen
were to suddenly cease to be. Melodifestivalen
has launched national superstars like
Loreen, Eric Saade, and Ace
Wilder, and revived the
flagging careers of Måns
Zelmerlöw, Alcazar, and Darin.
It’s a format that the UK could
benefit from. The winner of a UK
Melodifestivalen getting to represent
their country at Eurovision could perhaps
be one of a few different prizes afforded to
them, with something bigger on offer too.
With established artists then scoring radio
hits, and up-and-comers gaining success on
the charts, it’s a national selection process
that the country could get behind every
year. And with that, there would be more
public goodwill than ever before to see each
nationally selected winner do the UK
REX
proud at the Eurovision Song Contest.
This year’s Swedish scandipop.co.uk
entry Mans Zelmerlow
15/04/2015 11:23
 JAY ASTON
[BUCKS FIZZ]
The Eurovision Song
Contest is hugely
different now to how
it was when we won
back in 1981. There
are so many different
countries with so many
flavours of musicality that it’s hard for the
millions of viewers to, er, make their mind up.
I think the UK has always viewed the show
as cheesy, while the other countries take it
seriously. For them, it’s like the Olympics

ALEX GOLDBERG [VOICEOVER AND EUROVISION FAN]

and they just don’t understand us. I think
to some degree, that’s why they don’t vote
for us; because we’re not on the same page.
Perhaps if we changed our attitude it’d make
a difference. When Jade Ewen entered back
in 2009 with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s song
we came fifth, because all the other countries
thought, ‘Ooh, they’re taking it seriously!’
I think we need to send established stars.
We’ve got some of the biggest acts on the
planet, like Ed Sheeran for example, but we
can’t seem to convince the really good acts
to take part! Mainly because it’s Eurovision.
Bucks Fizz were put together especially for
the competition. It was about the song, the
look and the routine. When we won it was a
moment of pure joy.
Success is down to those individuals
choosing the song and the act. I’m not sure
how this year’s UK entry Electro Velvet will
fare. It’s certainly fun, and has a nice novelty
‘Gatsby’ element, but I don’t think it’s a great
song. That said, it’s probably the best I’ve
seen for a while, in terms of hopes for a win.
It’s very hard to predict.
It’s great that Australia are involved this
year, because they were massive fans of
Bucks Fizz. Making Your Mind Up was number
one for about seven weeks over there. The
bonus is that we might actually get some
more votes, because they love us!
It’s hard to get enthusiastic about our
chances considering the way it has gone in
recent years, but we have to win again one
day. By the law of averages we will
win again. Whether we’ll all be
alive to see the day is
another matter.
Jay is currently touring
with Bucks Fizz bandmates
Cheryl Baker, Mike Nolan
and their guest vocalist Bobby
McVay (who entered the Eurovision
Song Contest in 1983 with Sweet Dreams
jayaston.co.uk / formerlyofbucksfizz.co.uk
I am an American but have lived here for many years. My first
Eurovision experience was back in 2005, when Popstars: The Rivals
cast-off Javine represented the UK. Now I mean no shade aimed at
Miss Hylton when I say that as a Eurovision virgin, I just DID NOT
get why the British entry sounded like a Turkish knock-off. I found it
quite painful to watch.
And so to 2007. You sent the fabulously camp Scooch. This was
ridiculous and colourful and perfectly encapsulated the eccentric side of Britain that I’ve
come to love in my time here. Personally I’d like to see a lot more of this. 2008 was when Sir
Terry had enough and threw in the towel after a desperate looking Andy Abraham sent the
UK to the Eurovision trash heap again.
After sending a string of nobodies, musical theatre supremo Andrew Lloyd Webber
was asked to write the British entry. Amazing! Lord Lloyd-Webber is world-famous and
respected in Europe, and along with newbie singer Jade Ewen, they came fifth. But the
main grab was – shock horror – A GOOD SONG.
2010 to 2014 were a ghastly blur. You called upon another big songwriter (Pete Waterman,
2010), but if the song is DRIVEL it just won’t work. Blue in 2011, Engelbert in 2012 and
Bonnie in 2013 – all huge, respected names, but their songs were all either lacklustre or dated.
Newbie Molly in 2014 was an attempt at finding a fresh artist, but a low-energy performance
held her back. This year’s entry, Electro Velvet? Well I don’t even know where to begin.
I love the UK. Your pop music is unmatched, you’re the wittiest nation on earth and
you’ve got thousands of singers and songwriters at your disposal. Why not use the talent
you have to pull off your sixth win? You can chortle at Poland’s busty butter churners and
take home the trophy. No need to cry politics when no one votes for you.
Alex Harris Goldberg is an American expat in London. You can hear him in-between telly shows on
More4, E4 & 4Seven. Eurovision fan since 2005, attendee since 2007.
Bonnie Tyler, Andy
Abraham, Daz
Sampson, Jade Ewen

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 EUROVISION
EUROVISION
SPECIAL_ATTITUDE
SPECIAL_ATTITUDE

JOSH JAMES (DUBOVIE) Did you feel a lot of pressure on your

shoulders with a duff song?
festivals and events, with a crowd of 19,000
in Sweden with Anderson Berglund. Next

[2002 EUROVISION ENTRY] Once I’d managed to convincingly persuade

You represented us in 2002 with Pete
Waterman’s That Sounds Good To Me.
When you heard the song for the first
time, what did you think?
I can’t tell you how underwhelming my
first listen of the track was... Nevertheless,
I had a job to do and was going to give
it 100% whatever happened. I was just
happy for the opportunity. Obviously, like
every contestant, the dream was to win
Eurovision.
REX
myself that I had to be positive no matter
what, I didn’t feel any pressure at all.
Besides, I was 19 and this was my biggest
break, who was I to argue with the likes of
Pete Waterman and the BBC?
The song wasn’t a popular choice with
fans. Did you go to Eurovision with a
heavy heart?
It was pretty tough at times because like my
audition, I felt that another song would’ve
not only suited my voice better, but suited
the competition better too. You can’t blame
the fans for their opinions though, especially
when they matched mine!
What was the show itself like?
The competition itself was incredible. I
had the best time out there! Interviews,
performances, parties etc. People think
it’s massively bitchy but for the most part,
everyone was awesome. Don’t get me wrong,
there was one country who were extremely
unapproachable. They were so adamant
they were going to win, they actually hired
out a stadium in their home country before
the competition had even started...
How did you feel when you saw the
song wasn’t getting much love?
I think we all knew what was going
to happen. But we just laughed it
off. In all fairness we were so surprised
every time we actually got a point that we
celebrated as if it were 12!
How was life after Eurovision?
For the most part, it was great, but also
confusing. One minute I’m singing at
minute I’m twiddling my thumbs awaiting
orders from Pete Waterman and my
manager Steve Crosby... Regardless, I believe
everything happens for a reason and it has
all lead me to this point. Watch this space is
all I’m saying.
Why do you think the UK hasn’t done
well in recent years?
The UK have one of the best music
industries in the whole world, yet we seem
to be sending music over that we think the
Eurovision fans ‘might like’. Why don’t we
send the music that we’re good at! For some
reason we can’t get our asses out of the 80s
but everyone else around us is evolving.
Do you think we take it seriously
enough?
I think we want to. But word on the street is,
we couldn’t even afford to host Eurovision
if we won. Just speculation, but interesting
nevertheless. I do think it’s strange we’re not
using our full potential. Maybe one day...
Should there be a show like
Melodifestivalen?
I think it is a great idea and would really get
the UK behind our entry. However I’m not
sure if that will help us on the field. We just
need to keep being positive and believing
that we can win.
Should the public have more of a say?
The public aren’t stupid, they know
what they want. Unfortunately not all of
them vote so it’s pretty hard to get an idea
of the whole public’s views. That said, I
guess it would be better to have the option
in the first place.

CONCHITA WURST [EUROVISION WINNER 2014]

We’ve been thinking about the UK’s chances and whether we’ll ever win again, and whether we
take it seriously enough. What are your tips for what makes a great Eurovision entry?
Well to be completely honest, the Austrians didn’t take it seriously either. The gay community is always
excited about the show but the media and national broadcasters always thought, ‘Oh, we won’t win’, and
so we – Austria – didn’t for 48 years. Rise Like a Phoenix, it’s not a commercial song, it’s not a song which
wouldn’t be played on the radio if I hadn’t won Eurovision, so I guess for me the key is do whatever you
have to do; you have to enjoy it. You have to deliver the kind of music you are interested in. We had this
meeting thinking, ‘Maybe we should take this song on because it’s more for the radio stations, it’s more
like a pop song,’ but then Rise Like a Phoenix came in and I said “I’m sorry everybody, we have to start all
over again because this is the song,” and this is what we did.
A lot of people say that the UK will never do well because we’re not liked. Do you get a sense of that?
Everybody loves the UK! We had the same way of thinking. We also thought that it was a political thing,
that Austria’s too small, nobody cares about us, blah blah blah... and then I won. That’s it. I think it can
happen if there is the right moment, the right artist, the right song, the right performance – it could
happen. That’s basically it. Just try, try, try and you will win again, as we won again after 48 years.
Read more from Conchita at attitude.co.uk

86

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 At this very moment two
young lovers are beaming
in the Vienna sunshine.
When are you going to
have your day in the sun?

WWW.VIENNA.INFO

Gloriette in the Schönbrunn Palace Gardens

VIENNA.indd 87 15/04/2015 11:41:30

 B E Y O U R
P R I D E
S E L F
ATTITUDE GREAT
GREAT GREAT LATE SELFIE GREAT
PRIDE NIGHT’S FREE WI-FI
LOCATIONS BREAKFAST CHECKOUT STICK WEEKENDS
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CELEBRATE THE PRIDE SEASON WITH US!

1 MAY - 30 SEPTEMBER
However you like to spend your weekend, we’ve got an exclusive Attitude digital Pride guide
to keep you in the know and a selfie stick on hand for an unforgettable weekend!
We’re proud to be celebrating the Pride season with you.

Choose from over 55 hotels across the UK in destinations that give you the weekend you want – towns, cities and countryside.
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WeekendPride 15/04/2015 11:42:33
14/04/2015 13:13
 Let The Music Play
words: AARON TOUMAZOU attitude_festivals

Summer is fast approaching, so it’s time to fetch your tent out of the shed and get prepping for festival
season. Here we chat to your favourite new musicians about their festival experiences, and run through our
pick of this season’s best musical weekenders, from UK staples to holidays with a soundtrack, and if you’re
precious about muddy shoes and a bit of b.o, we’ve thrown in some nifty non-camping offerings too

Glastonbury in the
uk
The unlikely Saturday night
headline announcement of
Kanye West might have sparked a bit
of controversy, but you’re more likely
to bump into any one of the Attitude
team dancing ALL DAY to Yeezus than
moshing out to Foo Fighters. And anyway,
they could announce the dog that Dolly
Parton nearly adopted last year as the
Sunday night pyramid stage slot and it’d
still be this summer’s hot ticket.
Where is it? Worthy Farm, Glastonbury, Somerset
W hen is it ? 24-28 J une
B est for ? K anye , general atmosphere & mud
glastonburyfestivals . co . uk

V Festival

YEARS & YEARS

The breakthrough band of the year are releasing their debut album early this
summer and will proceed to wow crowds at music festivals from Devon to Helsinki
What was the first ever music festival
you went to?
I went to this festival called Glade, which is a
drum & bass festival, when I was 17 or 16. It was
really messy; I got horrendously wasted and left
after one day.
What’s the best item to take to a festival?
Tissues? Just take tissues. Because if you’re ever
caught short, you have tissues.
What’s your best festival experience?
Secret Garden Party last year was really fun.
We played on the last day but we went for the
whole weekend.
What’s your worst festival experience?
Ermmm, day three at Secret Garden Party, when
we had to perform and I thought I was gonna
pass out. I really don’t recommend two days of
partying before playing at a festival. I thought I
was gonna die. But I made it through.
Which festival are you most excited to play
this summer?
Glastonbury, for sure. It’s legendary, it’s iconic.
I’ve never been. We’re doing Flow in Finland
this year too, which is going to be sick. All
those Scandi festivals are SO cool. There’s one
called Way Out West as well. They’re all the
BEST line ups.
Y ears & Y ears debut album C ommunion is out early
summer . R ead our in - depth interview with frontman
O lly A lexander on attitude . co . uk
V unashamedly devotes itself to
mainstream pop, with artists like Calvin
Harris, Paloma Faith, Ellie Goulding, Sam
Smith, Olly Murs and even Tom Jones.
If you fancy a jig in the mud to all your
chart favourites of the last year, this is the
festival for you. They’re also introducing
a host of new dance acts and up-and-
coming DJs, and will bring back their much
loved comedy tent which has hosted the
likes of Alan Carr and Tim Minchin before.
W here is it ? H ighlands P ark , C helmsford
and W eston P ark
W hen is it ? 22 - 23 A ugust
B est for ? P op
V festival . com

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 attitude_festivals
HUDSON TAYLOR
The Irish brotherly folk duo have just released
their debut album Singing For Strangers and will
be doing the rounds of UK and European festivals
this summer. Here we chat to Harry (left)
What was the first music festival you went to?
The first one I went to was Oxygen festival in
Ireland. It’s not going anymore but it was, at
the time, a huge festival. The first year I went I
saw Kings of Leon and Eminem, it was a great
mismatch of stuff.
What’s your must-have item to take to a
festival with you?
Well it’s obvious: Wellies. Although, if you’re
going to do wellies, make sure you’ve got long
socks. If you’re walking around festivals in
wellies and no socks, you don’t realise but
you rub all the hair off your legs. You get that
friction rub. I woke up one morning and thought
someone had jokingly shaved my legs.
What’s your best ever festival experience?
That’s gotta be when we played at Glastonbury
last year. There was that big electrical storm.
Rudimental were on the pyramid stage while
little Hudson Taylor were over in the Avalon
stage. Because of this electrical storm every single
stage had to shut down and, harking back to our
busking days, we did it with no microphones. We
just hopped down to the middle of the crowd and
played a few songs while we were waiting for the
storm to pass over.
What about your worst festival experience?
Hmmm, I generally have a pretty good buzz at
a festival. It wouldn’t be anything that bad. Any
time it rains and you’re not wearing the right
clothes, that’s a bummer, but at the same time,
sometimes it rains and you just embrace it, and
you dance around like a mad lad.
Which festival are you most looking forward
to playing most this year?
We’re at a good few, with more announcements
to come I’m sure. We’re playing Benicassim in
Spain which is exciting, and there’s a few little
ones in London here and there.
H udson T aylor ’ s debut album S inging F or S trangers
is out now . H arry also kindly requested we credit
their track D on ’ t T ell M e , which they ’ d like to
dedicate to the LGBT community . K eep an eye out for
H arry ’ s extended interview on attitude . co . uk where
he chats about the I rish E qual M arriage R eferendum
in M ay and what it means for his lesbian sister .
90
257_EDIT_FESTIVALS_PRIDE#.indd 90
Flow outside
Helsinki’s urban music and arts
festival features an unrivalled line- the uk
up including old school legends
and topical newcomers in abundance, from
the Pet Shop Boys and Beck to Major Lazer,
Years & Years and scandi artists like Tove
Lo. The event is one of a kind, taking place
at a defunct Suvilahti power plant and its
industrial surroundings in downtown
Helsinki’s immediate vicinity, showcasing
visual arts, film screenings, talks, design
and world-spanning cuisine on top of that
insane line-up.
W here is it ? H elsinki , F inland
W hen is it ? 14-16 A ugust
B est for ? EVERYTHING
flowfestival . com
Benicassim
Get your Brit-pop on in the Recinto de
Benicassim, where Blur headline among
acts like The Prodigy, Jamie T and Noel
Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. There’ll
be no need for wellies (or Kayaks a la
Glastonbury 2014) in this almost rain-free
coastal climate. By day you can swim and
sunbathe till your hearts content, and by
night an incredible line-up of Brit classics
(as well as some more worldy, alt acts) will
have you dancing the night away.
W here is it ? R ecinto de B enicassim , S pain
W hen is it ? 16-19 J uly
B est for ? S un
fiberfib . com
non
The Great Escape camping
The Great Escape in lovely
sunny Brighton is fast overtaking
its Stateside equivalent South by
Southwest as the premiere festival
for emerging artists, descended on by
industry execs and music lovers in
equal measure. This year it celebrates
its ten year anniversary with a line-up
including a bunch of new R&B girls
we’re championing (Seinabo Sey, Ibeyi,
Kelela and Lion Babe) among many
other exciting talents who are sure to
be on your radar in the near future.
W here is it ? B righton
W hen is it ? 14-16 M ay
B est for ? U p and comers
greatescapefestival . com
Radio 1's Big Weekend
Who’d pass up the chance to see Taylor
Swift in Norwich? This month in
Earham Park, just off the grounds of
the University of East Anglia, Tay-tay
headlines Radio 1’s annual extravaganza
alongside Florence + the Machine,
who’ll be showcasing her new album, as
well as Attitude favourites Years & Years
and many, many more.
W here is it ? E arlham P ark , N orwich
W hen is it ? 23-24 M ay
B est for ? T aylor S wift
bbc . co . uk
15/04/2015 15:59
CARDIFF PRIDE.indd 91 15/04/2015 11:48:31
 Summer of Love
attitude_festivals
dON'T LIMIT YOURSELF TO THE LOCAL THIS YEAR: AS PRIDE SEASON BEGINS, WE BRING
YOU A TASTE OF WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE BEST EVENTS ON OFFER AROUND THE COUNTRY
Birmingham where
to stay
Marriott Hotel
Centrally located in the heart
of the city, Birmingham
Marriott Hotel is just a 20
minute walk from all the
action in the gay village and
the perfect base if you’ve got
an action-packed weekend
of festivities in mind. One
of the few Brum hotels
with onsite parking, the
luxuriously kitted four-star
rooms have high-speed
internet access for those
Instagrammed memories
and all include king-size beds, meaning extra space for you and any
potential, erm, guests. With hearty grub at the West 12 Bar & Grill and on-
site leisure facilities including fitness centre, indoor pool and spa to treat
yourself to throughout the day, you’ll be rested and recuperated enough to
hit the town and main stage night after night.
M arriott W eekends . co . uk /P ride
92
257_EDIT_FESTIVALS_PRIDE#.indd 92
words: WILL STROUDE
THIS MONTH:
BIRMINGHAM PRIDE (May 23-24)
It’s Britain’s perpetually underrated second city,
but the Brummies do pride with the best of them,
boasting the country’s biggest two day LGBT festival
and more canals (and boys, probably) than Venice. As
well as being home to some world-class art venues
such as Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and
The Waterhall Gallery, the likes of Cadbury World,
Drayton Manor Theme Park and West Midlands Safari
Park are all on hand for a day excursion – and that’s
before you even get to pride itself. Poignantly lead this
year by the real-life members of Lesbians and Gays
Support the Miners – the subject of last year’s BAFTA-
winning Pride – the march kicks things off on Saturday
lunchtime before a host of big name acts keep the party
going across the four stages on offer in the village,
including the Nightingale Main Stage and predictably
riotous Cabaret Tent, which will be graced this year
by acts including notorious Drag Queens of London star
Baga Chipz. As for that chart-topping line-up, you can
expect to see the likes of Jess ‘Rather Be’ Glynne, Union
J, Example, Marvin Humes’ post-JLS group LuvBug
and rare The Voice success story Becky Hill, who’ll be
playing the Chic Dance Arena alongside star DJs like
Chris Lorenzo to keep you going ‘til the early hours.
B irmingham P ride 2015 takes place S aturday 23 –
S unday 24 M ay . birminghampride . com
Forest of Arden
Marriott Hotel &
Country Club
If your #PrideSelf demands
a bit more space between the
raucous and the relaxing,
the Forest of Arden Marriott
Hotel & Country Club is the
perfect rural bolt-hole for
when the hotpants and angel
wings reach critical mass.
Nestled in the stunning
Warwickshire countryside,
even the late-nighter crowd
won’t be out on a limb, with
the elegant four-star country resort just a 20 quid cab ride from the city
centre. As well as boasting two 18-hole golf courses, an esteemed golf
academy and tennis courts, you’ll have full use of the swimming pool,
sauna, steam room and fully equipped fitness centre to help you unwind
after a hard day’s march.
M arriott W eekends . co . uk /P ride
15/04/2015 15:59

BE YOUR #PRIDESELF
WITH ATTITUDE AND MARRIOTT
257_ADVERTORIAL_MARRIOTT APPROVED.indd 93
ATTITUDE_ADVERTORIAL
I
t’s that time of the year already, when
men and women up and down the
land join together to march for a
better tomorrow/consume a year’s
supply of Lambrini by midday
(delete as appropriate) – but whatever
way you do it, prides are rightly earning
their status as some of the UK’s best music
events, with the country’s biggest artists
on display at a fraction of the festival
cost. To ensure you can make the most of
your weekend – whether it’s the politics,
partying or a peaceful retreat – Marriott
Hotels are offering an exclusive Attitude
Pride Package to ensure you can be your
#PrideSelf wherever you choose to spend
your summer breaks. With city hotels at
the heart of the action or rural retreats to
escape to with your other half, don’t limit
yourself to your local this year and get out
to see what else is on offer: If you want to
explore some of the UK’s best cities, there’s
no better time to do it than through the
rainbow-tinted spectacles of pride. Marriott
and Attitude’s Pride Package comes with
all the little perks and extras that’ll ensure
you can live your pride weekend to the full:
an overnight complete with an Attitude
and Marriott Pride Guide; a selfie stick
and free wi-fi to ensure you can capture
and share every minute of the action, and
finally late check-out, so you can make the
most of a weekend lie-in for two (or enjoy
the necessary recovery period from the
night before...) However you do Pride, it’s
message has always been to be yourself,
and with Marriott’s selection of luxurious
hotels and sites across the country, you can
be your #PrideSelf however you choose to
spend it.
Marriott’s exclusive Attitude Pride package runs
May 1st to September 31st. To find out which
hotels are taking part head to MarriottWeekends.
co.uk/Pride.
93
15/04/2015 14:41:36
 Best of theRest
ATTITUDE_FESTIVALS
PRIDE IN LONDON (JUNE 27)
It’s up there with the world-beaters and remains the capital’s biggest
one day event, with a quarter of a million people turning out for Pride in
London 2014 – figures no doubt explained by the fact Sinitta used it as an
opportunity to debut her first original material since 1997. With a ‘Heroes’
theme and rainbow-clad parade route passing some of the world’s most
iconic landmarks before ending in a monumental party in Trafalgar
Square, if you’ve yet to experience the buzz that is Pride in London, this
is the year. You can even spend Sunday recovering at Pride in the Park
as live entertainment, community stalls, sports events and, who knows,
maybe even good weather descend on Vauxhall for the afternoon.
PRIDEINLONDON . ORG
PRIDE CYRMU/CARDIFF MARDI GRAS (AUGUST 15)
The official pride fest of the west returns to Cooper’s Field this year,
exactly three decades after a grand total of 30 people took part in the
city’s first ever march in 1985. The event’s transformation shows just
how far we’ve come, and while this year’s line-up is still to be announced,
last year’s roster of Misha B, Stooshe, Eternal and Britain’s Got Talent-
winning boyband Collabro promises exciting things to come. Highlights
from 2014 included the boys covering Let It Go and making a girl in the
front row cry with unfettered joy: If that’s not the true meaning of pride
we don’t know what is.
PRIDECYMRU . CO . UK
94
257_EDIT_FESTIVALS_PRIDE#.indd 94
NORTHERN PRIDE (JULY 17-19)
As well as being one of the best prides you’ll find on these shores,
Newcastle’s resident LGBT event is also one of Attitude’s favourite things:
free. And if that doesn’t get you firing up the confetti cannon then frankly
there’s no hope left for you. This year the Geordies are putting on a
three-day ‘One Love’-themed spectacular, with headline performances by
Belinda Carlisle and B*Witched and a line-up including former X Factor
finalists Lucy Spraggan, Misha B and Joseph Whelan. As well as the
music, a host of food outlets, stalls and themed zones will be open at the
Town Moor, and if you’re yet to visit Newcastle’s Pink Triangle, the pubs
and clubs will be hosting additional events throughout the weekend.
NORTHERN - PRIDE . COM
MANCHESTER PRIDE (AUGUST 28-31)
The perfect summer swansong, the UK’s biggest pride festival outside
the capital takes place each year over August Bank Holiday weekend,
meaning four days and three nights of partying as Canal Street
transforms into carnival central for The Big Weekend. Celebrating its
25th anniversary, this year’s event is already shaping up to be the best
ever, with pop legends Texas already confirmed to headline and bags
more acts to be announced. Given the likes of All Saints, Anastacia, MKS,
Steps, Sugababes and Kelis have all graced the main stage over the last
few years, expect big things for 2015.
MANCHESTERPRIDE . COM
15/04/2015 15:59
 SA L E NOW
E T S ON
TICK
The BIG Weekend
Friday 28 - Monday 31 August 2015
Tickets & further info at manchesterpride.com
Raising money for LGBT and HIV charities
and organisations in Greater Manchester
manchesterpride Registered charity 1117848

MANCHESTER 2.indd 95 15/04/2015 14:40:49

 19TH JULY
FRIDAY 17TH
2015
TO SUNDAY
19TH JULY
2015

PUT PRIDEE IN YOUR

R BUSSINESSS AND
D ENG
GAGE WITH
H THEE LGB
BT CO
OMMUNITY
WELCOME TO NEWCASTLE PRIDE 2015 – A YEAR IN WHICH WE CELEBRATE ONE LOVE.

PJoin us for the biggest free LGBT festival the North East has ever seen!
Following the success of last year’s pride celebration, which welcomed Here are some great facts about last year’s event:

PUT RIDE ETown

IN Moor
YOUR R BUSSINESSS AND D ENG GAGE WITH H THEE LGB BT CO
OMMU
65,000 people from across the region, UK and overseas, Newcastle • The festival ran from 5th July to 4th August and included a gallery
Pride is back and the event will be even bigger than before. exhibition, two film screenings, talks, five social events, Paws with

Newcastle & Newcastle’s Vibrant Gay Scene

This year we’ll be staging a mega three day celebration with eight Pride (family pet show which attracted over 2000 people), and the

Upgrad
satellite events running throughout the months of July and August – our
biggest and most ambitious festival ever. It will be welcoming, loud and
main event – Newcastle Pride - which ran for three days

e to
BELINDA CARLISLE B*WITCHED
• 65,000 people engaged with the festival

Golden C
proud and offers the perfect opportunity for organisations to get involved
• The estimated economic impact to the region was £7.8million

ircle
and engage with the LGBT community and our allies.

WELCOME TO NEWCASTLE PRIDE 2015 – A YEAR IN WHICH WE CELEBRATE VIP Marq ONE LOVE.
• In PR terms (based on a six month campaign including print,
Our theme this year is ‘One Love’ as we commemorate 45 years since
broadcast and month-long FM broadcast on Pride Radio ) we

uee
the first Pride event was staged in New York following the Stonewall
generated £1million in positive awareness
Riots. This marked the turning point for gay rights around the world and

Following theLUCY SPRAGGAN KITTY BRUCKNELL MISHA B HereJOSEPH WHELAN

we’ll be reflecting on this important milestone with a number of satellite • 87% of those who attend travelled from the Northeast with visitors

success of last year’s pride celebration, which welcomed are some great facts about last year’s event:
events, printed material, a parade featuring replicas of banners from
pride events over the decades and main stage speeches.
from throughout the UK including York, London, Brighton, Glasgow,
Bradford, Edinburgh, Belfast, Aberdeen, Birmingham, Liverpool and

Main Stage Acts Health Zone Family Zone Dance Tent• The festival ranTent
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65,000 people from across the region, UK and overseas, Newcastle
This unique celebration, hosted by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and
Transgender community, welcomes all the community as we come
from 5th July to 4th August and included a
together and celebrate the rich diversity Newcastle and the North East
• 8% stayed in a hotel – generating over 4,500 sleepers. Hotels
included: Jurys Inn, Holiday Inn, Sandman Signature, Grey Street,

PrideBear
is back and
Zone the event will
Fun Fair be even bigger than
Market Stalls before. Food Outlets & Bars Cabaret
exhibition, two Tent talks, five social events, Paw
film screenings,
has to offer. It’s about sharing ideas, learning from one another, changing
perceptions, promoting health and wellbeing, celebrating diversity,
Hotel Indigo, Hilton, Roomzzz, New Northumbria Hotel, The County
Thistle, Copthorne, Sleeperz, Royal Station Hotel
raising awareness and, of course, having lots of fun. • 7,000 people marched through Newcastle as part of the Pride Parade
This year we’ll be staging a mega three day celebration with eight
And many more! Check website for details... Pride (family
It’s also a fantastic opportunity for businesses, charities and
organisations to get involved.
pet show which attracted over 2000 people), a
• 5,000 people engaged with our satellite events
• 94% rated the festival Excellent/Good
satellite events running throughout the months of July and August – our main event – Newcastle Pride - which ran for three days
DETACH & DISPLAY

DETACH & DISPLAY

DETACH & DISPLAY

THIS YEAR WE HOPE TO INCREASE OUR • 310 people were screened for STI’s – ranging from Chlamydia to HIV
ATTENDANCE FURTHER WITH A BIGGER • 200 people attended the first candle lit vigil to end Newcastle Pride
biggest and most ambitious festival ever. It will be welcoming, loud and
THIS POSTER

THIS POSTER

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• 65,000 people engaged with the festival

*figures based on 728 completed surveys
AND MORE DIVERSE CELEBRATION.
www.northern-pride.com www.northern-pride.com
proud and offers the perfect opportunity for organisations to get involved design
• The estimated economic impact to the region was £7.8milli
and engage with the LGBT community and our allies.
• In PR terms (based on a six month campaign including print
Our theme this year is ‘One Love’ as we commemorate 45 years since

Cinq&Sept
the first Pride event was staged in New York following the Stonewall
Riots. This marked the turning point for gay rights around the world and
we’ll be reflecting on this important milestone with a number of satellite
GAY GUESTHOUSE SOUTH OF FRANCE
events, printed material, a parade featuring replicas of banners from
pride events over the decades and main stage speeches.
This unique celebration, hosted by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and
Transgender community, welcomes all the community as we come
together and celebrate the rich diversity Newcastle and the North East
has to offer. It’s about sharing ideas, learning from one another, changing
perceptions, promoting health and wellbeing, celebrating diversity,
raising awareness and, of course, having lots of fun.
It’s also a fantastic opportunity for businesses, charities and
organisations to get involved.
THIS YEAR WE HOPE TO Hosts INCREASEAlex & Greg
OUR
ATTENDANCE FURTHER WITH A BIGGER
AND MORE DIVERSE CELEBRATION.
broadcast and month-long FM broadcast on Pride Radio ) w
generated £1million in positive awareness
• 87% of those who attend travelled from the Northeast with
from throughout the UK including York, London, Brighton, Gl
Bradford, Edinburgh, Belfast, Aberdeen, Birmingham, Liverp
Manchester
• 8% stayed in a hotel – generating over 4,500 sleepers. Hot
included: Jurys Inn, Holiday Inn, Sandman Signature, Grey S
Hotel Indigo, Hilton, Roomzzz, New Northumbria Hotel, The C
Thistle, Copthorne, Sleeperz, Royal Station Hotel
• 7,000 people marched through Newcastle as part of the Pride
• 5,000 people engaged with our satellite events
• 94% rated the festival Excellent/Good
• 310 people were screened for STI’s – ranging from Chlamydi
• 200 people attended the first candle lit vigil to end Newcast
*figures based on 728 completed surveys

Six elegant self-catering suites in a 300 year-old mansion.

25mins from Mediterranean beaches. Enjoy superb restaurants,
wine tasting and garden parties. Relax and make new friends.

cinqetsept.com

Briefs_97x129.indd 1 14/04/2015 13:05

NORTHERN PRIDE_CINQ_EMG.indd 96 15/04/2015 11:51:44
 Attitude.co.uk/Style • @Attitudestyle
Lyle & Scott X Jonathan Saunders
We loved it the first time around, but the strength of this
collaboration shows no sign of slacking in its second season.
Lyle & Scott and Jonathan Saunders have created a
26-piece collection, taking inspiration from Shane
Meadows’ Stone Roses: Made of Stone, with a
sports lux aesthetic and bold stripes,
something of a signature of Saunders.
The collection is Italian-made,
with pieces including bomber
jackets, jumpers and knitted polo
shirts with contrast collars.
Paint splatter-print tops and
footwear add a bit of chaos to
the orderly stripes.
The graphic patterns
and mixing and matching
of prints in frivolous
colours jigsaw together
to showcase the best both
brands have to offer.
We’re big fans.
Lyleandscott.com

Photographer: Mark Cant

Fashion and words: Joseph Kocharian
Hair: tom berry using BUmble & bumble
make up: rhea le riche using MAC
model: George hammond at amck models

257_STYLE_OPENER#.indd 97 14/04/2015 14:18:42

 trend_ATTITUDE

Camouflage
with a-listers ben
stiller and owen wilson
championing camo on this
season’s valentino catwalk,
camouflage is back in a big
way, and it no longer has to
adhere to the earthy colour
paletTE that we’ve become so
used to...
Photography:
Mark Cant
Fashion and words:
Joseph Kocharian

Contrasting colours
work well for this
trend, but choose
your hues carefully
to make sure they at
least complement one
another.

Jacket by Markus
Lupfer, £455; jeans
by Rufskin, £129

Total
look:
£584

Hair: Tom Berry using

Bumble & Bumble / Make
up: Rhea Le Riche using
MAC Cosmetics /
Model: Christopher at
Nevs Models / Styling
Assistant: Nick Byam

98

257_STYLE_TREND#.indd 98 14/04/2015 16:44

 Polo shirt by
Lyle & Scott,
Camouflage shorts £65; shorts by
by Asos, £20 H&M, £24.99

TOTAL TOTAL
LOOK: LOOK:
£20 £89.99

If you go for the traditional colour palette, mix it up a bit Mixing a subtle print with a block colour can be a good
with a different print, like these pixalated camo shorts. way to introduce some boldness to your wardrobe.

FINISH THE LOOK

CLOTHES, BAGS AND ACCESSORIES
ARE ALL COVERED IN CAMO. PICK
YOUR COLOURWAY AND COMMIT TO IT

Valentino shorts, £285

Eastpak backpack, £40 Havianas flip flops, £20
at matches fashion

99

257_STYLE_TREND#.indd 99 14/04/2015 16:45

 ATTITUDE_STYLE

TROLLEY Y-3 have combined adidas’

iconic three-stripe panels with
rubber detailing on hawaiian

DASH
print t-shirts this season, in
keeping with their focus on
all things subcultural

ADIDAS
Adidas have made a
name for themselves
as the kings of
collaboarations,
having partnered with
Raf Simons, Rick
Owens, Juun.J and
various celebrities
including Pharrell.
There’s always
something exciting
going down in
Adidas towers.

adidas x juun.j Promdel 80s Hi JJ, £225 Y-3 FS Backpack, £180

Spring/summer 15
is the first season
collaborating with
Korean designer
Juun.J. They have
updated the adidas
Superstar by
deconstructing the
well known three
stripes to give a
minimalist style,
available in low and
high-cut versions
Porsche design sport by Adidas Y-3 Yohji Boost trainer, £210
Windblocker Jacket, £300

PHOTOGRAPHY: DAVID MARQUEZ/ EDIT & WORDS: JOSEPH KOCHARIAN / ASSISTANT: NICK BYAM

100

257_STYLE_SHOPPING#.indd 100 14/04/2015 14:15:59

 Adidas and
its various
collaborations
can be found at
Selfridges, Dover
Street Market and
Matches Fashion,
or online at
adidasx.com,
adidas.co.uk and
Y-3store.com

porsche design Sport by adidas Y-3 Hawaii SS Shirt, £285

Colorblock Pique, £100

Adidas Originals
have teamed up with pop
superhuman Pharrell
Williams. The iconic
trainers are available
in 50 colours, it’s a
footwear rainbow!
The floral pattern Y-3
are using this season
is called the pulmeria
print, which is more
commonly known as a
frangipani flower adidas originals = Pharrell Williams
adidas by Raf Simons Bounce trainer, Supercolor trainer, £67
£355

Posche Design
Sport by adidas
has been a
collaboration with
the luxury car brand
since 2006. Their
Bounce S3 trainer
was created with
exclusive BOUNCE
technology, with car-
inspired suspension
that converts
vertical impact into
Y-3 Surfer Stripe Tank, £65
Porsche Design Sport by adidas Bounce:
S3 trainer, £295
forward propulsion

101

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 STYLE_GROOMING

JO MALONE
You might not know this,
but Jo Malone London’s
products- that’s everything
from colognes to fragrances to
candles- are all unisex. Their
scents are crafted with the 1
2
perfect balance of floral and
spice ingredients so that both
men and women can enjoy
them. Their latest fragrance
Incense & Cedrat Cologne
Intense is no exception-
definitely catering for the men.
To make it, Jo Malone London
researched the sap of the
Omani frankinsense tree, then
used nature print technology
to replicate the sap to remain
environmentally conscious.
With plenty of beautifully 3
blended fragrances to choose
from, we encourage you to
take a trip into your nearest
Jo Malone store and find your
signature Jo Malone fragrance.
Incense & Cedrat Cologne
Intense is out in June ‘15.
jomalone.com

Photography David marquez

Edit & words by Joseph Kocharian

1. Jo Malone London Amber & Lavender Cologne, £82

2. Jo Malone London Oud & Bergamot Dry Body Oil, £48
3. Jo Malone London Pomegranate Noir Bath Oil, £50
4. Jo Malone London Dark Amber & Ginger Lily Scented Home Candle, £48
5. Jo Malone London Incense & Cedrat Cologne Intense, £105

102

257_STYLE_GROOMING_CRUSH#.indd 102 14/04/2015 14:21:12

 MR PORTER AND COS HAVE TEAMED UP TO BRING YOU ‘THE MODERN
TRAVELLER’ – A WARDROBE THAT’LL GET YOU FROM A-TO-B IN STYLE

T
his summer, Cos and MR PORTER have created a capsule
collection for the modern man who gets around. The limited
edition 23-piece collection features plenty of styles, from slim-cut
single-breasted tailoring, swim shorts, footwear and even luggage.
Cos’ head of menswear design Martin Andersson said they wanted
to create a collection “where the tailored suit can take you from a
business meeting in NYC to an art gallery opening in the evening.’
Not every crush has to be unattainable; with reasonable price points,
this is a collection full of staples for a wardrobe on the move.
The Modern Traveller Collection will launch on May 7 on
MRPORTER.COM, in selected COS stores and cosstores.com

Shoes, £59
Bag, £115

Patterned shirt,
£49; shorts, £69; Photography: Mark Cant / Fashion & words: Joseph Kocharian
shoes, £59 Hair: Tom Berry using Bumble & Bumble / Make up: Rhea Le Riche
using MAC / Model: George at AMCK models

FENDI MONSTER LOUIS VUITTON GOES ON HOLIDAY

Everyone in fashionland has been talking
about these little creatures - Fendi’s men’s
accessories have expanded their hugely
popular Monster Design range. You
may have seen their playful backpacks
in our last issue, but they have gone
on to do wallets and keyrings, too.
(some even have little haircuts!)
fendi.com
Louis Vuitton has got literary this season, launching two new travel titles:
A
‘ rctic’ by Blaise Drummond and ‘Edinburgh’ by Floc’h. The Louis Vuitton
travel book series that these are a part of offer a new vision on travel
from both established and young talents from the fields of fashion, comic
illustrators and contemporary artists. They look at both natural and urban
desitnations, and for £38 each they make rather nice coffee table books.
louisvuitton.com

103

257_STYLE_GROOMING_CRUSH#.indd 103 14/04/2015 14:21:46

 Meet me at
the bleAchers upgrade your sportswear

104

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 Photography: mark cant Fashion: Joseph Kocharian
This page: t-shirt by River Island, £28; briefs by D.Hedral, €29; trainers by Lacoste, £65; socks by sockshop, £10
Opposite: Sweatshirt by Emporio Armani, £1375

105

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 This page: Jumper, by Lacoste Live, £135; shorts, by Lacoste, £60
Opposite: Shirt, £400; shorts, £315 both by DSquared2

106

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 107

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 Tyler wears blazer, £564;
trousers, £317 both by
Vivienne Westwood, polo
neck by John Varvatos,
£225, shoes by River
Island, £45

108

257_STYLE_FASHION#.indd 108 14/04/2015 10:15

 This page: Shirt by Topman, £25; shorts by Asos, £22; trainers by adidas at Office, £69.99; socks by sockshop, £10
Opposite: Jacket by Farah, £65; shorts by Marc by Marc Jacobs at MR PORTER, £120

with Wimbledon just around the corner, a head-

to-toe white outfit can look on point. add
extra panels to give your outfit a modern edge
109

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 T-shirt stylist’s own from Gotta Have It Vintage Boutique; from $35; briefs by D.Hedral, €29

110

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 111

257_STYLE_FASHION#.indd 111 14/04/2015 10:16

 This page: Hooded jumper by Marc Jacobs, €3025
Opposite: White polo with bands, €420; small round plexi earrings, €245 both by Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci

Keep your sportwear simple. strong lines and contrasting

colours bring a sports-luxe feel to your outfit
112

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 113

257_STYLE_FASHION#.indd 113 14/04/2015 10:17

 Vests and mesh
are a good way
of keeping you cool
whilst working out

Tyler wears black coat with tone and tone

on band details on body, €3200; white shirt
with black band details on body, €490;
black Bermuda with white rubber bands
on belt; €350, Black poplin tie, €120; Low
COMMANDO boots in black grained leather
with white laces and lacing and cross detail
at the back, €995, black wig cap; small
round plexi earrings 16mm, €245 all by
Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci

114

257_STYLE_FASHION#@.indd 114 15/04/2015 16:07

 This page: Tank top by Louis Vuitton, £550; shorts by T by Alexander Wang, £125
Opposite: Net t-shirt, £212; jogging bottoms, £230; boxer shorts, £45 all by Versace

115

257_STYLE_FASHION#.indd 115 14/04/2015 10:17

 Tyler wears black coat with tone and tone
on band details on body, €3200; white shirt
with black band details on body, €490;
black Bermuda with white rubber bands
on belt; €350, Black poplin tie, €120; Low
COMMANDO boots in black grained leather
with white laces and lacing and cross detail
at the back, €995, black wig cap; small
round plexi earrings 16mm, €245 all by
Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci

116

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 Jogging bottoms by Adidas, £35

117

257_STYLE_FASHION#.indd 117 14/04/2015 10:17

 Gilet by La Perla,
£720; shorts by
Marc by Marc
Jacobs, at Harvey
Nichols £120

stockists
Adidas at Office office.co.uk
Adidas by Juun. J adidadasX.com
Adidas by Raf Simons adidasX.com
Adidas Orginals = Pharrell Williams adidas.co.uk/supercolor
ASOS asos.com
Boohoo FIT boohoo.com
Burton burton.co.uk
D. Hedral dhedral.com
Diesel Black Gold store.diesel.com
Dior Homme dior.com
DSquared2 dsquared2.com
Eastpak eastpak.com
Emporio Armani armani.com
Farah farah.co.uk
Fendi fendi.com
Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci givenchy.com
H&M hm.com
Hardy Aimes at MR PORTER mrporter.com
Havaianas havaianas-store.com
HUGO hugoboss.com
La Perla laperla.com
Lacoste lacoste.com
Lacoste Live lacoste.com/live
Louis Vuitton uk.louisvuitton.com
Lyle & Scott by Jonathan Saunders lyleandscott.com
Lyle & Scott lyleandscott.com Hair:
M&S Collection marksandspencer.com Tom Berry using Bumble & Bumble
M&S marksandspencer.com Make up:
Marc by Marc Jacobs at Harvey Nichols harveynichols.com
Rhea Le Riche using MAC Cosmetics
Marc Jacobs marcjacobs.com
Model:
Markus Lupfer markuslupfer.com
McQ at Harvey Nichols harveynichols.com Miroslav Cech at
Paul Smith paulsmith.co.uk Premier Model Management
Porsche Design Sport adidas.co.uk/porsche_design_sport_ Styling assistants:
by_adidas Nick Byam and Yasmin Walker
River Island riverisland.com Photography assistant:
Rufskin rufskin.com Jacob Snyman
Sockshop sockshop.co.uk
T by Alexander Wang alexanderwang.com
Topman topman.com
Valentino at Matches Fashion matchesfashion.com
Versace uk.versace.com
Whistles whistles.com
Y-3 Y-3.com
Zimmerelli at MR PORTER mrporter.com

118

257_STYLE_FASHION#.indd 118 14/04/2015 12:20:49

WellmanSK15 Attitude FP Ad.qxp 17/03/2015 12:07pm Page 1

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VITABIOTICS.indd 119 15/04/2015 11:52:40

LA MUSCLE.indd 120 15/04/2015 15:44
 EXERCISE
NUTRITION
SPORTS
ADVICE

OPINION
DATING
REAL LIFE
PROPERTY

JUST DANCE RELATIONSHIPS

TRAVEL

aljaz skorjanek
GOING OUT

PG.126

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257_ACTIVE_OPENER#.indd 121 14/04/2015 12:42:43

>>>>>> ATTITUDE / ACTIVE THE CLINIC
THE CLINIC
with Dr Christian
There’s been a lot in the news
recently about preventative
HIV drugs such as PrEP and
Truvada, but do they really prevent
HIV and are they safe to use?
Harrison, London
Firstly, the term ‘PrEP’ stands
for ‘pre-exposure prophylaxis’,
which is a new HIV prevention
method, while Truvada is one of the
PrEP drugs currently available in
the US and currently undergoing
trials in the UK. PrEP involves
taking antiretroviral drugs in
situations where you feel you may be
at risk from contracting the disease.
The drugs work by preventing HIV
from establishing a permanent hold
or infection in the body. It is highly
effective but it has to be taken
consistently in order for it to be
effective. So far, there have been no
significant safety concerns with
PrEP medication. The most common
side effects are an upset stomach,
loss of appetite and sleep problems
but these tend to resolve after a
month of regularly taking. There
have been concerns about drug
resistance developing in people on
PrEP should they become HIV
positive at some stage, but new
testing methods and sensible clinical
advice can help avoid this happening.
My boyfriend sweats
excessively at the gym, and
sometimes if it’s hot he comes home
smelling awful. What can cause this
and how can it be helped?
Jordan, Cork
Let me just clarify this:
Sweating at the gym is an
entirely universal thing. I would be
more concerned was he not sweating
122
257_ACTIVE_CLINIC#.indd 122
&
Our health expert
Dr Christian Jessen
answers your
medical queries
Got a problem, want answers? • Email drchristian@attitude.co.uk
at the gym. Sweating is a sign of an
effective workout but combating it in
the
probe
a medical sense is tricky. I think the
simple answer is to buy him some
good, sweet-smelling deodorant and
to encourage him to shower straight
after working out rather than
waiting until he gets home to do so.
Regularly wash gym gear too as
sweat, along with dead skin cells,
can cling to the material and allow
Didn’t
know? the smell to linger.
Hyperhidrosis Recently I’ve been catching my
boyfriend watching porn on Body Dysmorphic Disorder
Hyperhidrosis
is a common quite a regular basis. Should I be
condition worried that his online habits could Body dysmorphic Disorder (BDD)
which causes a affect his sex drive and our sex life? is a personal subject for me
person to sweat Matt, Edinburgh as I suffered from it Myself
excessively. for a long time. An anxiety
Commonly affected
Unfortunately I would say that disorder related to body image,
areas include the
armpits, palms only you can answer this. If BDD causes the sufferer to
of your hands, your sex life does seem to be affected believe they need to conceal
soles of your by your partner’s solitary activities non-existent flaws. Often
feet, face, chest then clearly this is an issue you may linked to low self-esteem,
and groin. It has want to talk to him about. However, I bullying and perfectionism,
been estimated to will say that masturbation and men with BDD can spend many
affect between watching porn are completely hours thinking negatively about
one and three in
normal and harmless pastimes for their appearance, build or body
every 100 people
in the UK. most men. Of course, there is cause size, which can often lead to
for concern if watching porn eating disorders or obsessive
becomes a regular, frequent or fitness regimes. My own BDD
obsessive habit. Porn becomes was linked to being a skinny
problematic when it directly teenager at school so I started
interferes with you and your aggressively working out. Many
partner’s sex life or daily routine. If people do not seek help because
you are not able to have sex without they think it will be shrugged
watching porn – or would simply off as a trivial vanity. This
prefer to – then this could be a sign can result in depression in
of a more serious underlying some cases. Treatment typically
problem. It is worth seeking involves psychotherapies such
specialist advice when these kinds as cognitive behavioural
of problems arise, so to speak. therapy or medication. I would
always advise specialist
support from a doctor who is
D r Ch r i s t i an i s o n T w i t te r : well-versed in the condition.
@doctorchristian
14/04/2015 16:38:06
USN.indd 123 15/04/2015 11:53:36
>>>>>> attitude / ACTIVE HIV
H IV D I A R I E S
The day-to-day strugle HIV-positive people have with
sticking to their prescribed Anti-Retroviral Therapy
HAART – It should be called Highly
Annoying Anti-Retroviral Therapy in
my book, because that’s what it is to me:
Annoying. Yes, it’s saved my life and I’m
being an ungrateful bastard, and yes, plenty
of people breeze through HAART without
side-effects, but I’m not one of them. From the
day-to-day (a constant case of the runs, which
kind of puts a dampener on the old sex life,
chronic insomnia and night sweats) to the
slightly more worrying (a cholesterol reading
of 7.5, prostate problems and liver function
that would make an alcoholic feel grateful)
those little bastards give me constant grief.
And the problem is, when the drawbacks
are more immediate and visible than the
benefits, that’s when stubbornness comes
into play. Perhaps I’m alone, but I call it ‘pill
fatigue’. It’s when you get out of bed, schlep
to wherever you keep your pills, grab a glass
of water/milk/champagne/whatever and
then think to yourself, ‘I just don’t WANT
to take them today.’
So that’s what I do. I get stubborn, and I don’t
iF YOU WANT TO FIND OUT WHERE YOU CAN GET TESTED GO TO tht.org.uk/sexual-health OR CALL 0808 802 1221
take my pills. And it’s stupid. But this is the
real world, and sometimes in the real world,
we don’t do what we’re supposed to do, we do
what we want to do. And that’s probably why I
ended up with HIV in the first place.
Logic tells you that the pills keep you
healthy, that they keep the levels of virus
down to undetectable levels in your body so it
doesn’t get the chance to nuke your immune
system from the inside-out. Logic tells you
that if you skip your pills, it runs the risk
of the virus mutating into a drug resistant
strain, and then you’re TRULY fucked.
Logic says that you’re not just putting
yourself at risk, you’re putting the people
you have sex with at risk too. But when
that pill fatigue hits, and all you can hear in
your head is that little voice saying, “Throw
them back in the bottle and have a day off,” I
can’t ignore it. I wave goodbye to reason and
logic, and just do what I fucking well want to
for a change.
You may think it arrogant and childish.
Truth is, you’d be right, but I’d bet money
that few positive people on HAART haven’t
had the thought cross their mind at times,
even if they have the mental self-discipline
not to act on it. I’m not one of those people.
124
257_ACTIVE_HIV KRISTIAN#.indd 124
I struggle with discipline. I rebel against Kristian Johns,
34, living with
authority, and that’s what those pills become HIV since 2002
to me. A hard taskmaster, forcing me to do
something I resent, practically begging me
to disobey. They don’t call it a regime for
nothing. I have HIV, I take pills every day,
and some days, it’s just fucking tiring.
So I don’t take them. It’s as simple as that.
And for 24 hours, I feel ‘normal’. It’s hard to
describe, that feeling of not being bound to
them for a day. It’s freeing. I don’t spend half
my day rushing to the toilet and back. My
head feels clear and I can think. I sleep
better. Perhaps it’s not all down to the
medication; perhaps there’s a certain
calm that comes with the false sense of
control my act of defiance gives me, but
all I’ll say is that there’s a lot to be said
for normality; even if that normality is
somewhat false.
Let’s just get one thing straight: I’m not
advocating nonadherence. It’s stupid
and it’ll only end up causing hassles
further down the line. But I’m not a
politician, I’m not a doctor. I hesitate
even to call myself a spokesperson,
especially since I’m writing this column
at midnight on a Sunday, wearing nothing
but a crappy pair of grey jogging bottoms,
bad hair and glasses, with a bag of pic ‘n’
mix to keep me company. I’m the man on the
street, and this is how I feel.
So I’ve taken myself to the doctor to talk
about it. I’ve laid out how the pills are
making me feel, and I’ve been honest about
my adherence to them. The nice thing about
living in 2015 is that we’re not limited to just
a handful of treatment options. There are
new drugs and new classes of drugs hitting
the shelves all the time, and if you’re not
getting on with them, if you’re struggling –
or like me, just plain resenting them – there
are other alternatives. You don’t need to put
up with crappy side-effects.
It’s been a week on the new meds so far.
Too early to tell if the day-to-day annoyances
are on their way out or not. But
for the first time in a long while,
I feel something I haven’t felt
with regards to chucking pills
down my neck every day. I think
they call it hope.
14/04/2015 12:40:36
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PROTEIN DYNAMICS.indd 125 15/04/2015 12:45:47

>>>>>> attitude / ACTIVE aljaz skorjanec

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dance off
25-year-old Aljaz Skorjanec
is the Strictly Come Dancing
heartthrob who waltzed Abbey
Clancy to success. Now he’s
showing us his moves
Words ben kelly
Photography Simon Taylor
Styling Nick Byam

126

257_ACTIVE_FEATURE#.indd 126 14/04/2015 12:33:54

 Where are you from in the world Aljaz?
I’m originally from Slovenia. I’ve lived
here for just over two years now.
How did you get into dancing?
Well I started when I was five and signed
myself into dance school. I progressed
from there and carried it on for 13 years.
I’ve had loads of support from my family,
especially financially. I was 19-time
winning national champion in Ballroom, Latin
and Ten Dance. By 18, I wanted to hang my
dancing shoes in the corner for a little
while and didn’t really want to go back.
Then a job offer for a Broadway show in
Australia called Burn the Floor came my way.
I went to the audition in London and from
that day I never returned home. I went on a
world tour for three years and ended up in
London’s West End. At that moment, I knew
that the show was going to close. There were
producers that came to our show who were
from Strictly and they approached me to ask
if I would participate in their show.
Is that your career peak so far?
Competing all around Europe was a big part
of my career, but what stays in my head is
winning Strictly. I never imagined being
on the show, and winning it even less so.
It was a dream come true.
You’ve got to be very fit to be a
professional dancer haven’t you?
It’s more of an art than it is a sport
but you do need to stay fit so you’re not
restricting yourself from getting better.
Strictly is only four months every season,
so you’ve just caught me off-season
– thank you very much! I’ve only just
started my training for next year.
You say you’re in Strictly season, is jeans in three different colours, the like my body is struggling to function
that all you need or do you have to go same shirt in five different colours and after long periods off. I’m now monitoring
to the gym as well? a couple of jackets. I’m not really good when I eat and how I eat. I have very
When I’m in season, I don’t go to the gym. at experimental shopping. bad habits when it comes to food but I’m
Everything is day-to-day so it’s really When you are actually training for getting healthier.
hard to plan any workout sessions. But when Strictly, what is the schedule like? Surely you need to eat a lot of calories?
the season is off we have to visit a gym. It depends on your partner’s job. You have I always have a happy meal once a week and
How often do you go? to work around their schedule so you might I’m not good with salads. I’ll always have
I haven’t been to the gym in the last year. work in the mornings, evenings or even both. a bit of chocolate to boost my energy.
Some people like to aim for the masculine With Abbey last year, we trained for eight Do you like your body?
look, but that’s not for me. Getting too big hours a day. We’ve added something this year Your body can always be better but I
would restrict my dancing, so I just take where we rehearse in Birmingham for four think we live in a world where people are
care of myself by doing my own exercises. days, then come back, do the show, and then obsessing over body image. I don’t want
You’ve got to look good for those really professionals get a Sunday off. But that’s to change myself too much.
tight outfits on Strictly, haven’t you? when we choreograph our routines for the What do you look for in a dance partner?
Sometimes you get to the outfit room following week. So there are no days off as It’s important to get along with your
and almost start running. We have an long as you stay in the competition. But partner because you spend so much time
incredible team of people that take care you’re so caught in the bubble, it doesn’t together. I admire patience. If you
of the costumes and I trust them 100%. I’m really matter how busy you are. work at things slowly, it will get done
not normally one for sparkles on a casual What kind of food and drink do you eventually. I even have it tattooed on me,
Wednesday, but for Strictly I don’t mind. have when training? ‘shorter is the longest way’. I also love
What do you usually wear? I drink loads of water but I’ve never hard working partners who don’t mind being
I’m a very plain guy. I have the same watched what I eat. I’m 25 now and I feel told what to do.

127

257_ACTIVE_FEATURE#.indd 127 14/04/2015 12:34:23

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 ALJAZ SKORJANEC ACTIVE / ATTITUDE<<<<<<

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131

257_ACTIVE_FEATURE#.indd 131 14/04/2015 12:35:20

>>>>>>ATTITUDE / ACTIVE LIFESTYLE
OPEN UP

REAL BODIES
ABOUT
YOUR Diet
BODY I try to be as healthy as I can and I
think my diet is actually pretty decent.
I will always have a protein breakfast in
the morning. I’ll eat a salad at lunch
and dinner is usually something along the
lines of tuna and jacket potatoes.

G u ilt y Plea s u r e s 120cals

RE D W IN E
si ng
I like the odd le gl as s

Darren Merchant, glass of wine

and I like
43, Sales Order pizza. Sometimes

Administrator 285cals Ben and Jerry’s

ice-cream too.
PI ZZ A Two for £4
pl ai n sl ic
e deals are hard
I thought doing ‘Real to pass up.
Bodies’ would be
something different,
a little challenge for
myself. I wanted to
push my limits. I’m
doing this today for
the older generation.
We don’t always get
a look in. My body
has changed a lot – I
was heavier when I
was younger – so it’s
an acknowledgment
of that.

IDEAL
HEIGHT/WEIGHT MAN

6’0
11.4stone
I guess it would be
Dan Osborne, the guy
159.6 pounds
from TOWIE. He’s
got a really good body.
His build is great in
that he’s not overly
muscly but he’s not
PHOTOGRAPHY: JOSEPH SINCLAIR

skinny either; a perfect

middle-ground so
to speak. I wouldn’t
WORDS: KEVIN LONG

complain about looking

like him... Or being
with him.
132

257_ACTIVE_REAL BODIES#.indd 132 15/04/2015 10:01:30

 Manscaping
I trim. I use a trimmer to trim my chest
mostly as I think it just makes it cleaner. I
wouldn’t shave or wax my legs or anything
like that. I think guys should be guys. Of
course, I give the pubic area a trim as well;
that kind of goes without saying.

Top Body Product

I can’t remember the exact name of it but I’m
using a Boots moisturiser at the moment,
which I use daily. I always moisturise
straight after the shower when I’m at the
gym just to make sure my skin is clean and
fresh after the workout and hot shower.

Clothes
I dress to fit my shape. I like slim jeans,
quite a relaxed look. I like t-shirts and polo-
shirts. I pay more attention to how I dress
now that I’ve lost weight.
Quick Questions
Do you feel that there’s
pressure on gay men to
look great from porn and
dating apps?
People definitely look for
certain things when it comes
to online dating and dating
apps. Guys almost have a
‘character’ of what they want
already built up in their
head, and they expect guys
to fit this mould. People tick
off things like ‘the ideal six
pack’. In my own experience
using them, it has come down
to age and older guys usually
wanting to date 19/20-year-
olds. As a community we are
rather fascinated with the
physical appearance.
Would you post shirtless
selfies or anything similar
to this on social media?
I have done. Mostly on
Instagram, but yeah, I have
posted one or two. It’s not
something I do regularly
though. I was bigger when I
was younger so it’s more for
my own self-esteem.
Has your body image
impacted on your sex life?
I would have to say it has.
It’s definitely improving
since I’ve lost the weight and
started going to the gym.
Do you feel comfortable
naked?
No, not at all.
Have you struggled with
accepting your body image?
I think if you join a gym,
it’s definitely good for both
your physical and mental
health. Setting yourself
these goals and achieving
them are essential to
realising this and growing
to accept your body. In my
case, I wasn’t happy with
how I looked so by taking
that first step and joining
a gym it helped transform
my body image and how I
viewed myself.
What do you find more
terrifying? Going out on
the gay scene or going to
the gym?
The gay scene, definitely.
At the gym you can whack
your iPod on and ignore
everybody but that’s not the
case on the scene.
8 Motivational
tips in
association
with USN
Lean-8’
1 Set yourself goals...
It is essential to help remain motivated and ensure you
challenge yourself. Remember to keep your goals realistic, and
achievable end use timelines.
2 Keep track of your progress...
Take progress pictures, and have them around, put them up on
your fridge to remind you how far you have come.
3 Work out with others...
A training partner/group can be a huge motivational boost. A
bit of healthy competition and the support goes a long way.
4 Be prepared...
Plan your meals, that way you can keep yourself from the
temptation and on track for your goals.
5 Schedule your chest meals...
What better way to reward yourself for all your hard work! And
to motivate you to work harder!
6 Take advice...
Speak to your gym/trainer, they can help you if you are feeling
like you need a boost, and push you forward.
7 Make your workout and meals creative...
If you are looking forward to training and your meals, then you
will look forward to doing it! What better motivation!
8 Importantly have fun...
Your goals, training and nutrition are important, but remember
it’s all about balance. Take time to have fun with your friends
and enjoy yourself!

257_ACTIVE_REAL BODIES#.indd 133 15/04/2015 10:02:02

 attitude_advertorial

Going Below the Belt with

TV trainer Matt Miller
He’s an ex ballet dancer
with a bionic leg who
has helped thousands
get in shape. We get
down with Matt Miller
– founder of men’s hot
yoga movement Broga
and star of Channel
4’s Fat Fighters – as he
dishes on his craziest
clients and reveals how
he stays super fresh
between workouts...
We hear you are part bionic?
[laughs] I got injured playing American
football in university and was the youngest
person ever to receive a titanium hip, aged 17.
You are an international super heavyweight
body builder who also practices ballet. How do
you manage two such polar opposite activities?
Growing up, my parents encouraged Matt loves Below
everything. When I was seven they enrolled the Belt products:
me in ballet school. I was also a beach ‘They make a
lifeguard and swimmer. It’s all helped me be massive difference
more rounded as an athlete and coach. to how I feel.'
You have achieved some amazing results,
personal training private clients. What are about living more healthily. Tell us more?
the most common, and the wackiest, reasons It’s my vision of a real and manageable
guys give for wanting to get in shape? healthy life, filled with better choices instead
I only take on personal clients who are of draconian diets or workout plans. It’s
properly willing to make dramatic change called California Shape Up and you can check
and up for turning themselves over to me. out a sneak preview on YouTube now.
Probably the wackiest was someone who did Can you quickly tell if a potential client has
not want to work out at all. Turns out after the grit to see it through?
two months of training they just wanted to Usually yes, but sometimes people are truly
ask me out! (I am married, by the way, so it good liars. I once had a client who was not
was a no-go!) budging after six months of work on her gym
You are a fan of Below the Belt Grooming. Can and diet. Some time after we parted ways,
you tell us what you like about these skincare because I did not feel her money was being
products and why they work for you? well spent for the results we were getting, I
I am so on the go between my fitness saw her as a participant on Secret Eaters.
activities, clients and meetings that I can’t Which celebrities would you like to get your
possibly shower after each, and sometimes hands on?
I simply like to wait and shower in my own Right now I would like to have a proper go
home. I find myself using Waterless Shower, at Leo Di Caprio who has just gotten out of
followed by Fresh & Dry, a couple of times hand and Bruce Jenner who is just plainly in
a day, post-exercise and it make a massive need of a whole new body!
difference to how I feel, even knowing that I Visit broga.uk.com for a schedule of Matt’s
am actually desperate for a proper wash. classes.
You have a new TV show coming this summer btbgrooming.co.uk

134

257_ADVERTORIAL_BELOW THE BELT APPROVED.indd 134 15/04/2015 11:56:27


WE LOOK AT HOW YOU TACKLED
THE WHOLE COMING OUT THING
TOM DINGLEY, 28, GREENWICH,
PHOTOGRAPHER
Fear played a large part in my
adolescence. I understood what my
feelings were, but I just assumed
when I reached 18 I would simply
move away, somewhere over the
rainbow where it wouldn’t matter.
But age 19 and 20 came and went and
I still hadn’t addressed my sexuality. I
had never had a girlfriend and avoided
social situations – I was painfully shy
– but I was comfortable with the front
I put on for family and close friends.
In hindsight I should have given them
more credit, but my fear was greater
than my trust in them.
I had a different persona online. I
found I could easily talk to guys,
albeit via a faceless profile. I talked to
a few guys but never met any of them,
or even sent a photo. The fear of being
recognised was too strong. I managed
to strike up a friendship with one
particular man, Paul. We emailed
each other a lot and he seemed
genuinely supportive of my situation.
But I was still too afraid to meet him. I
convinced myself it would be identity
suicide. After some time and lots of
coaxing, we finally arranged to meet.
Luckily I saw no one I knew nor did
anyone pay us any undue attention.
During this time I joined the local
gym and started running. It was at
the gym I noticed someone who I was
immediately attracted to. Using my
new-found confidence (bolstered by
meeting Paul), I wrote my email
address on a piece of paper and gave
it to him. To my great surprise, I
quickly received an email from Steve.
After much to-ing and fro-ing (as
with Paul) we arranged to meet, as
friends, in Soho (which was far
outside my comfort zone). We had a
wonderful afternoon together and I
asked him out on a date.
As the weeks passed we went on lots
of dates. I hardly spent a weekend at
home. But with each passing week I
257_CONTEXT_R U Coming Out#.indd 135
felt a greater need to come out. I finally
confided in my two closest friends,
Nicola and Jessica, who I felt already
had an inkling – neither were shocked,
and both were loving and supportive.
ALL THREE Spurred on by this, the next person to
OF US BROKE tell was my sister Laura. I’ve always
DOWN IN been close to Laura and knew she
TEARS, NOT would be fine with it. Of course she
OF SADNESS, was, we became closer than ever before.
BUT OF PURE The final hurdle remained: my
RELIEF parents. At the time I was living at
home but, as luck would have it, Paul
needed a house-sitter for a couple of
weeks. It presented the perfect
opportunity as I had space away from
home should I need it. I invited my
mum over to Paul’s, and Laura came
too. Through many tears and
stomach-churning nerves, I managed
to utter the words “I’m not straight.”
All three of us broke down in tears,
• For more coming out stories visit rucomingout.com
REAL LIFE
not of sadness, but of pure relief. My
mum finally knew and she loved me
the same, and assured me my dad
would too. I agreed I would tell him
the very next day.
I don’t know why I was more scared
of telling my dad, I just was. Mum and
Laura were both there to give me
support. My eyes welled with tears as I
began to talk, but my dad sat calmly by
and let me take my time. I said the same
three words: “I’m not straight.” He
replied with, “Are you happy? Because
that’s all the matters,” he didn’t need to
say anything else. I couldn’t have
wished for a better outcome. Life would
carry on as normal – nothing had
changed, they just knew something
about me they didn’t know before.
Five years on and Paul is now my best
friend and I am engaged to Steve. I
couldn’t feel more loved by my family,
and I honestly couldn’t be happier.
I think it’s important to let people
coming out know that although it may
seem hard, and although they may feel
isolated, there are so many people in
the LGBT community who are happy
and optimistic about the future. My
current photographic project,
#Outcome, focuses on the ‘coming out’
journey LGBT people go through and
shows there are countless opportunities
out there for everyone, no matter who
they are or where they’ve come from.
tomdingleyphotography.com
135
14/04/2015 12:47:53
 OPINION
Iain Dale
He hadn’t told anyone. Not even his agent.
It was going to be done on his own terms.
Adam Ranger hadn’t told his mother what
he was about to do, nor his gossipy sister.
They would all find out like the rest of the
country. Had he told any one of them, he
knew they would come out with all sorts
of reasons why he shouldn’t go ahead with
what he knew would affect him for the
rest of his life. You see, Adam Ranger, star
England central defender, was about to
announce to the world he was gay.
He knew the risks. He was prepared for
the media storm that would no doubt engulf
him. People who do something ‘first’ always
become renowned. Adam was prepared for
that – what he didn’t want to become was
‘notorious’. He calculated that if he did it,
others would follow suit. He knew that in
every dressing room up and down the land
there were men like him. Indeed, he knew of
one Premier League team where four of
the starting eleven were gay. It wasn’t
as if anyone was particularly secret
any longer. People just knew, but
rarely said anything.
Adam had thought long
and hard about how to do it.
Press conference? No. Too
uncontrollable. Newspaper
exclusive. No. The other
newspapers would be angry
and seek to trash him. TV or
radio? Maybe, but would he get
the time to say what he wanted
to say? Would he be able to
control the editing? Probably
not. No, Adam decided to ‘do a
Tom Daley’ and record his own
YouTube video.
After training one day, he
went down to PC World and
bought a video camera and
tripod. “Alright, Adam?” said
the sales assistant. “Got the girls
coming round, have we? He joshed,
with a deliberate wink. “Yeah,
something like that,” smiled Adam.
“If only you knew, mate,” he thought
to himself.
He went home, set up the camera and
looked straight into the lens. “I’m Adam
Ranger. I play for England. And I’ve got
something I want to tell you…”
136
257_CONTEXT_OPINION IAIN DALE#.indd 136
IMAGINING HOW A GAY Four weeks later…
It had been a momentous month. The praise,
FOOTBALLER MIGHT the almost entirely positive reaction from
COME OUT IN 2015
his own teammates who had lined up after
training and done a collective moonie while
pissing themselves laughing. The phone calls
from other players, his England teammates
had been a mixture of hilarious, emotional and
highly charged. Tears were shed.
Three other international players followed
Adam’s lead in the week after he came out to
the world. A dozen lower league players did
too. And all to an ever increasing shrug of
the shoulders.
In his first game after the video release on
YouTube Adam ran out at Upton Park, a
difficult place for an opposition player at the
best of times, to a standing ovation from most
of the crowd. He hadn’t bargained for that
and for a moment lost his composure. As the
applause died down a chant started from the
Bobby Moore Stand of “Does your boyfriend
know you’re here?” Adam laughed,
grabbed the hand of one of his teammates
and bowed. The applause restarted.
Yes, there were problems. He knew
there would be. His agent was furious
with him. “You’ve jeopardised all your
commercial contracts,” he fumed. Adam
suspected the very opposite would
be true. And he was right. The offers
flooded in. “We want you to be the face
of our company,” said the chief exec of
a major clothing brand. And there was
more. Lots more.
Back in the room…
And that’s how I’d like to think
things would be if a professional
footballer took that great leap.
He knew Okay, I might be writing with
rose tinted spectacles, but I
that in every genuinely think it would be a lot
more like this scenario than it
dressing room was for Justin Fashanu 25 years
ago. I have no idea how many
up and down professional footballers read
Attitude. Probably more than
the land there you think. But if there’s only
were men
one, think about the trail you
would blaze. Think about what
like him
kind of example you would set,
not just to your fellow footballers
but everyone else. Be proud of who you
are. And tell the world.
14/04/2015 12:47:02

TrulyMadlyDeeply
Paul Gregory, 38
We first started chatting on Growlr. I was beginning to get a bit
disillusioned with the app because everyone seemed to be after
one thing. I wanted more. I wanted a relationship, not just the
physicality. Just chatting to John on Growlr, I felt a connection.
We eventually lost contact on the app, as you do, but we finally
met by chance on a night out in the Gay Village in Manchester. I
could feel someone staring at me from the corner of the pub and
it was him. We got chatting, in person this time, and we just
clicked. It felt right. That was January of last year and we’ve been
together ever since. It was instant attraction. Neither of us have
the perfect body, or what everyone else would class as perfect, but
we were both drawn to each other straight away. I suppose we look
pretty similar: Chunky bears with beards, piercings and tattoos.
I love all the small things we do together, the quiet times when we
can chat about what the future holds. We enjoy writing poetry
together and performing it for others – we’re both members of the
same script writing group and we’re in the middle of planning our
first book together, which is really exciting.
if you want to feature on Truly Madly Deeply email a photo and a few words to aaron.toumazou@attitude.co.uk
257_CONTEXT_TMD#.indd 137
real life
John Darby, 49
If I could put together an identikit of my ideal man, it would
definitely be Paul. I knew we were going to be in it for the long haul
from the moment we met, I’d never been more certain of anything in
my life. The biggest milestone in our relationship has probably been
our move away from Manchester, relocating in Torquay, where we’d
holidayed a couple of times together. Each of us agreed it felt like our
more natural environment. Aside from our writing, we’re members
of the National Tust and we like to watch cheesy old movies together
on the couch, or chill out and watch anything that features Alex
Polizzi – she’s my favourite. The only time we really spend apart is
at work; we’re pretty much manacled as one. Paul gets on great with
my family, and why wouldn’t he? He is so easy to get on with and we
have close contact, especially with my sister who also attends our
writing class. She even penned a poem about me finding happiness
through my relationship with him, which was sweet. We’d like to
be married one day. It would probably be a Devonshire wedding
with cream teas in abundance and Torquay palm trees in the
background. We just have to find suits big enough to fit us.
As told to AARON TOUMAZOU / photography: Jason Thompson
137
14/04/2015 12:49:34
 REAL LIFE

THE BEAUTY OF THE NOVEL IS I’M VERY LUCKY MY

I’M CONFIDENT IN MY ABILITY HUSBAND AIDAN IS EQUALLY
TO DRAW YOU IN, PUT YOU IN A INTROVERTED AND STRANGE
PLACE YOU’VE NEVER BEEN
SO HE DOES UNDERSTAND
BEFORE AND JUST TELL YOU A
STORY YOU JUST HAVE TO
WHEN I’M WORKING ON A
KNOW. I HAVE AN UNLIMITED NOVEL I WILL BECOME
BUDGET ON THE PAGE. SORT OF ABSENT.

I like the reader to have to do a bit of work because I think

if they do a bit of work they somehow become implicated in the
story and more directly involved.
My new novel is based on a mystery I WAS BORN OUT. I WAS A
in my own family, which is my great VERY CAMP CHILD, IT WAS
BLINDINGLY OBVIOUS BUT
grandfather Harry Cane who one day, for
I OFFICIALLY CAME OUT BY
no reason whatsoever, left his wife and GIVING MY MOTHER MY FIRST
children and went to Canada to become a NOVEL TO READ - WHICH
farmer. I’ve taken the story and made him WAS A VERY GAY NOVEL -
gay. It’s a western, but it’s a gay western. WHEN I WAS 21.

Nowadays we have everything. On one hand we can get married but at the same
time technology is handing us the ability to have more sexual experiences than
ever before. We’re being pulled in two different directions at once.

I think we need to be offered much YOU HEAR FRIENDS OVER

better protection. It’s getting better AND OVER AGAIN SAYING
in London, Manchester and ‘OH I’VE TAKEN GRINDR
Brighton but when you go outside OFF MY PHONE’ BECAUSE
to the big provinces where I live IT’S JUST GOT TOO MUCH,
gay people don’t feel safe – not BUT THEN THEY GO BACK,
really – gay teenagers are still SO IT’S CLEARLY LIKE A
getting beaten up and bullied. LITTLE ADDICTION.
Cherish your friendships. The great gay gift is friendships – it
comes from when gay visibility wasn’t that high. When you met
another gay person growing up, my God, you hung on to them.
AS T O L D T O B E N K ELLY / PHOTOGRAPHY: LEON CSERNO HLAVEK

138

257_CONTEXT_LIFE LESSONS#.indd 138 14/04/2015 12:45:08

 Life
Lessons
PATRICK GALE

PATRICK GALE IS A
NOVELIST WHOSE LATEST
BOOK A PLACE CALLED
WINTER IS ABOUT AN
ENGLISHMAN WHO MOVES
TO CANADA IN THE EARLY
20TH CENTURY TO BECOME
A FARMER, AND EMBARKS
UPON A GAY AFFAIR.

139

257_CONTEXT_LIFE LESSONS#.indd 139 14/04/2015 12:45:29

 relationship expert joe kort

My boyfriend is getting controlling

and raised his fist to me
Dear Joe
I have been with my boyfriend for the past nine months or so. The
beginning was great, we hit if off well and everything looked promising,
but in the last few months he’s changed and has become really critical
of me. He puts me down in front of friends, when I tell him I don’t like it
he tells me I am just imagining things and being too sensitive. When we
make plans he’s often late or doesn’t even show, and if I complain he tells
me he is upset that I do the same thing – which isn’t true. Lately he has
been accusing me of being on Grindr and hooking up with other guys,
which is absolutely not true. Things came to a head last week when he
grabbed my phone from me after I received a text. I tried to grab it back
but he shoved me and showed me his fist in anger while shouting at me.
He didn’t hit me but it terrified me. I get on with him like no one else
when things are good but I feel bullied by him. What should I do?
Matty, Rochdale

Hi Matty
Everyone’s relationships are good in the beginning, so that is not
surprising: Anyone can put their best foot forward and showing their best
face. That is the easy part. It’s not an indication of who that person truly is.
I don’t like the warning signs that I am seeing in your story. In my
opinion you are with an emotionally – and potentially physically – abusive
guy. He doesn’t sound like he feels accountable for his behaviour at all and
you are taking on most – if not all – of the blame for them.
Emotional manipulation is when a partner turns what you say about
him back onto you. Your boyfriend does this when you tell him you don’t
like how he treats you in front of your friends, him blaming you for being
“too sensitive” rather than taking responsibility for his own actions. He
is the one who is late for events and denies it and turns it around on you.
These are very bad signs.
Perhaps the most troubling fact is that he raised a fist to you. This is a
major red flag and danger sign. I recommend you get individual therapy
immediately or go to a Domestic Violence Shelter. While he has not hit
you yet, he is undoubtedly on the continuum of what power, control and
emotional abuse look like.
He is engaging in what we call in the field of psychotherapy, ‘Gaslighting’.
Gaslighting was originally a stage play transformed into a movie in
which a man attempts to make a woman go crazy by denying her reality
and manipulating her environment. She notices things are different but
he denies they are in order to prompt her toward insanity so that he can
marry her and take all of her money. Gaslighting is a form of mental abuse
in which information is twisted, spun and selectively omitted to favour the
abuser, or false information is presented with the intent of making victims
doubt their own instincts, memories and perceptions. The whole goal is to
cause disorientation and to make them question their own reality.
There is also a possibility he has Narcissist Personality Disorder (NPD).
A person with NPD has an inflated sense of their own importance, a
deep need for attention and admiration, and a strong sense of entitlement.
They believe they are superior and have little regard for the feelings of
others. The narcissist views people as objects and possessions which
can feed their needs. Narcissistic abuse is insidious because the abuse is
covert, cunning and indirect.
There are signs in your boyfriend’s behaviour of ownership and
entitlement. Abusive men may feel justified in the abusive behaviour
because they have a sense of entitlement or ownership over their partner.
Him taking your phone without asking shows signs of his entitlement,
that he can take whatever he wants from you. You had every right to have
an immediate reaction and him showing you a fist means only one thing,
and that is that eventually he is going to hit you.
All of these things are signs of what we call ‘grooming’, where a
perpetrator starts out with small verbal assaults and ‘mind fucks’ his
victim by turning the accountability of problems and conflicts onto their
partner and then threatens to harm, but doesn’t until the day comes that he
does physically abuse his partner.
Sometimes people get themselves involved with these people because
they have their own histories of being treated this way either by adults
from their childhood or from past partners which had similar issues that
were unresolved. Is this true for you? If so, now is the time to break the
cycle and get some help.
It is also common for people to end these relationships but then go
back because the partner makes them feel guilty and crazy, making
them believe that nothing was wrong in the relationship. Sometimes the
breakups and makeups occur a number of times before the victim finally
finds the nerve to completely end the relationship.
You need to decide what your boundaries are. In other words, how much
worse do the signs need to get before you really do leave? What would it
take for him to go against a value that you hold dear that would be the last
straw? Knowing this is important so that you recognise that you do have
limits and that you won’t tolerate something in particular. Some people
decide that last straw is if he comes after the children, if he breaks a bone,
puts you at risk for HIV and more. Then the decision is easier for them.
Even if he never lays a hand on you, what he is doing to you emotionally
and psychologically is enough to be called domestic violence. It is worse
to be emotionally abused because the bruises remain invisible and no one
can see them, not even you.
What are your bottom lines?
Dr Joe Kort is a licensed clinical social worker and
board-certified sexologist. He is also the author of
10 Smart Things Gay Men Can Do to Improve their Lives
joekort.com

140

257_CONTEXT_RELATIONSHIPS#.indd 140 14/04/2015 12:48:42

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257_CONTEXT_PROPERTY#.indd 141 15/04/2015 11:18:41

 thailand
A NEW STYLE OF GAY TRAVEL
Experience Thailand like never before with TropOut luxury holidays
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142
257_CONTEXT_THAILAND#.indd 142
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CLASSIFIED DPS.indd 145 15/04/2015 11:57:58

 how gay are you?
How much is too much for a haircut?
how gay is No more than 15 quid babes. It shouldn’t be
more than that, although I know it is. Babes, I’ll
ALEXANDRA
be straight with you: I don’t like paying for stuff.
1/5 Britney didn’t want to pay for a haircut
BURKE
either and we all know how that turned out.
What’s your idea of a top night out?
So start it off at my house. I’m thinking
She’s making a pop champagne, music on full blast... and I always
comeback and following tell people, ‘If you’re going to drink you
need to eat,’ so I’d start off with a nice dinner
in the footsteps of at mine, which I’d cook personally, or if I
Beverley Knight and couldn’t be bothered we’d go to the local in my
Whitney in a UK tour village... [some time later] ...and no one sits
of The Bodyguard – but down. I don’t like people who sit down. You
have to stand up. If you’re going to come out
will we be saving all with me you have to dance.
our love for the Burke? 1/5 No sitting down? We were almost
horizontal by the end of this.
You’re currently starring in The Bodyguard,
but have you ever copped off with a member
of your own security team?
NO WAY. That’s crazy. No sweetheart, I
don’t do that. Nuh-uh. I ain’t gonna mix that
business with pleasure. Oh no. No way.
0/5 Prude.
You appeared on BBC One’s Star for a Night as
a 12-year-old but lost to Joss Stone. How did
you celebrate her public fall from grace?
Noooo, she’s my friend! I know she’s still
making music cos she’s in the studio
recording another album. I’m not sure who
she’s currently signed to – but no, I never
made any fun of anything to do with that,
because she’s my friend.
3/5 ‘She’s my friend’ *questions existence
of record deal*
You cried at the sight of Jane McDonald on
that same show. Did you enjoy that more
than your cry with Beyoncé?
Oh no, on stage with Beyoncé darling, that was
the most satisfying cry. I don’t tend to watch it
that often because it still makes my eyes water
to be honest with you. My family watched it
the other day and we watch it together every
so often, but not all the time, no.
3/5 it’s playing on a loop in the living
room, isn’t it?
Do you remember what you were doing
when Madonna fell off stage?
I was performing. I really thought she should
have used Velcro. I feel for her. The other day I
got kicked in the head on stage by my leading
man. The doctors told me not to perform for
146
257_CONTEXT_HOW GAY#.indd 146
three days it was that bad, but thank God I’m
okay. I had to carry on the show because it was
near the end, but I couldn’t even stand up.
4/5 If Madonna’s heard of Velcro we’ll
swallow this magazine whole.
You collaborated with Pitbull on All Night
Long. What is it about him that’s so
weirdly appealing?
Well I think it’s the fact he wears a suit and
wears it so well. And the way he carries
himself, he’s got a very sexy way of being.
I think that’s what’s probably attractive.
2/5 Not the ringing endorsement we were
hoping for tbh. Is it just us?
Who is your favourite Beckham and why?
As much as I fancy David and have done
since I was ten, I would have to say Victoria,
because when I met her she was really
sweet. I spent most of a flight to L.A. chatting
to her and it was a great experience because
I’m such a big fan still to this day of the Spice
Girls. If you follow me on Snapchat, last
week I did a whole dedication to them.
5/5 Britain 2015: A world in which dick pics
are interspersed with videos of Alexandra
Burke singing Love Thing on her patio
What is the gayest thing about you?
Probably that the one place in London I
always love to perform is G-A-Y. I don’t give
a flying hoot, I’d perform there five times a
year if I could! I always stay and party after.
My gay fans are absolutely hilarious and
so intense. I think they’re amazing but my
family are like, ‘Oh my god they’re crazy!’
3/5 Like every boyfriend we’ve ever taken
home to mum and dad, tbh
Is size important?
Not at all. Not at all. To me what matters is,
‘Is it a nice person or not?’
4/5 For assigning personhood to genitalia
52% gay
Alex might appear to be living the gay
lifestyle with Spice Girls Snapchats,
Beyoncé-induced tears and intense men you
can’t quite shake off, but a true gay man
would commit to a role in The Bodyguard by
jumping on the nearest bouncer with a head
set. #method. • Alexandra’s EP Renegade is
out now. She is currently touring the UK
in The Bodyguard. thebodyguardmusical.com
WORD s : will stroude
14/04/2015 10:18
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