Just how much do you remember about Queer As Folk UK?
Day: 29 May 2017
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Who is Gauthier Destenay?
You may have heard the name Gauthier Destenay mentioned in the press recently but who is he?
Gauthier Destenay is the Belgium husband of Xavier Bettel, Luxembourg’s Prime Minister. Mr Bettel is the only current openly gay world leader. That would make Mr Destenay Luxembourg’s First Gentleman.
The couple got married in a private ceremony in 2015 after being together since 2010. They got engaged in 2014. If you’re wondering who asked who, in an interview with The Los Angeles Times, Mr Bettel revealed it was Gauthier who asked first.
So what does Gauthier Destenay do for a living?
Well, Gauthier is an architect and works for the Belgium architecture company, A3 Architecture. He received his qualification in 2003 and became a partner at the A3 company in 2013. He works as an associate architect.
Does Gauthier appear with Xavier at every event?
Just like the spouses of every head of state, Gauthier attends events which are appropriate for partners to attend, however, Xavier has made it clear that he will not attend events where he and his partner are not welcome.
During an event earlier in 2017 Xavier recalled an incident where an invitation was actually removed when the host found out he had a male partner.
The unnamed country’s officials asked that he not to mention the fact that he was gay, to which Xavier said he would purposely bring up and speak out about homosexuality. The invitation was swiftly removed.
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FILM REVIEW | The Naked Civil Servant
★★★★| The Naked Civil Servant
Produced in 1975, The Naked Civil Servant is based on the autobiographical work by the self-proclaimed “England’s Stately Homo”, Quinten Crisp; who lived an openly gay lifestyle in 1930’s London, when homosexuality was illegal and his lifestyle was more than frowned up. Determined to live his life how he wished, Crisp’s journey through Belgravia, Chelsea and Soho is charted in this compelling TV drama.
Despite being over 40 years old, the film remains essential viewing for its social relevance and its fascinating insight into LGBT history. There are points in the film which garner feelings of disbelief, such as Crisp being excused from the army during the Second World War, on the basis that he was diagnosed by a psychiatrist as “suffering from a sexual perversion”. Crisp was subject to prejudice both from the “roughs” (the ‘queer bashers’), the police and even from the members of the underground gay scene, who were terrified that Crisp’s flamboyant and feminine presentation would out them or place them at risk of imprisonment. But in the face of such difficulties, Crisp continued undeterred, refusing to be anything other than himself, as he promoted himself as the self-appointed spokesman for the cause.
Lauded for the quality of the acting, John Hurt’s award-winning performance as Crisp is quite simply outstanding, and given that the film opens with Quinten Crisp introducing the piece; you realise as the programme unfolds, just how perfect Hurt’s performance really is, nowhere more evident than in the scene where Crisp is forced to defend himself in Court for approaching men in the street. There is good support from John Rhys Davies and Patricia Hodge, and the film remains a great piece of drama, with wonderful period details and one which never really shows its age.
Re-released on DVD and Blu-Ray; the film has been digitally remastered, meaning that the picture quality and soundtrack has never been better. The Blu-Ray is presented both in the original picture format and in widescreen, and comes with a number of extras including a very interesting World In Action profile on Crisp, a commentary with John Hurt, a making-of documentary and an interview from 1979 with Crisp himself.
Highly relevant, highly informative and highly recommended, The Naked Civil Servant is released on DVD and Blu Ray from Network Pictures on the 5th June 2017.
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Watch this emotional rendition of Mariah’s Till The End of Time at Martyn Hett’s memorial
Hundreds of people turned up to a memorial held in the memory Martyn Hett, who died along with 21 others during the Manchester bombing last week.
At the end of a one minute’s silence, Martyn’s friend, Rob – sung an emotional, heartbreaking tribute of “Till The End Of Time” a Mariah Carey track from her second album, Emotions.
Martyn Hett was 29 when he was killed by a suicide bomber at the end of an Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena last week. He was one of 22 fatalities.
Mariah Carey paid tribute to Martyn herself in a loving Instagram post, saying that he would never be forgotten.
Speaking at the memorial his mother called Martyn an “iconic diva” and thank everyone for their messages of love and support since his death. She also called the family’s liaison officers “absolute angels”.
She said that she was never going to go down the route of hate or anger for whoever was responsible and the goodness that she’s seen since his death had “by far outweighed the darkness”.
RIP Martyn.