Author: Andy Griffiths
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OPINION | 10 things to look forward to (or maybe dread) at Birmingham Pride
This year’s Birmingham Pride which celebrates 20 years of the parade as we know it, promises to be the biggest ever, and the stuff they have organised certainly speaks volumes.
Here’s my handy guide to just some of the things to look forward to over the weekend of Pride.
1. The Vengaboys.
Yep you read that correctly, our favourite guilty pleasure of the 90’s are appearing at Birmingham Pride on Sunday the 29th on the main stage, so you can re-live your Hooch (or Blue Nun) fueled dance routines, while wearing a mask to protect your identity and coolness obviously. One can’t actually be SEEN watching and enjoying The Vengaboys now can we…
2. Willam Belli & Latrice Royale.
Two of the greatest queens from RuPaul’s Drag Race have been booked for the Saturday (Willam) & Sunday (Latrice) and I for one am so excited about this. Willam will be in the Cabaret arena, and Latrice is appearing at the Village Inn. Honestly I’d just be happy to watch Latrice laughing for an hour.
3. Liberty X.
Work it a little, get hot just a little and dance along to the fabulous Liberty X on the Saturday on the Main Stage. After Kevin’s success on The Voice, he’s rejoining his band mates to get our little gay asses dancing to some fabulous tunes from the early noughties. The band is also appearing later in the evening at The Nightingale Club
4. One half of Erasure.
Luckily the singing half of Erasure, Andy Bell. We all know A Little Respect and you can dance along with him on the Sunday on the main stage. For us gays born before 1995, Erasure was the campest thing we’d seen, and it was amazing.
5. Vicky Jackson.
The brilliant and talented Vicky Jackson who sings her heart out at every performance and impersonates some of our favourite artists including Katy Perry, Pink and Amy Winehouse will be gracing the Cabaret stage on the Sunday. I’ve never been disappointed by what she does, and even had the pleasure of performing on stage with her once
6. The random acts.
Sometimes you can find a hidden gem performing in the various bars and clubs around the Gay Village that you forgot about seeing on the line-up or who was booked last minute. A couple of years ago and during a slightly (OK, very) drunken moment, I walked into one of the bars and saw this little ginger Liverpudlian singing away, and loudly announced during a quiet bit in the song “Is that f**king Sonia?” (it was) I got a smile in return.
7. The Parade
Always a great start to the weekend, the actual march itself is something amazing to see, with so many varied people taking part and having the time of their lives. You can’t help but smile at the floats and the shockingly hot men in skimpy shorts.
ALSO READ: What to take to pride. The Pride Survival Kit
8. Being around people like you.
The whole weekend is a brilliant opportunity to just let loose and be yourself. There’s going to be 80,000+ people there, from bears to drag queens, you will find people you relate to and you’ll find yourself having the most random conversations with people you meet
outside the bars, clubs and arenas9. The Gale – Or The Nightingale Club to be precise.
The biggest gay club in the village. It never fails to deliver, and this year Alesha Dixon is appearing there to perform her own and Mis-teeq’s tracks. But if you don’t want to see her, it has multiple floors with various styles of music.
10. Something for everyone.
There’s so many different types of acts that you would be hard pushed to NOT find something that you can enjoy. From DJ’s to pop royalty, there is going to be something there for you, so kick back and relax with a beer in hand trawl round the various stages and clubs with your friends old and new
The full line up is available here and while tickets are limited now, there are still some available, and you can get some on the gate on the day. But be aware it’s going to be incredibly busy that weekend.
https://www.theticketsellers.co.uk/tickets/birmingham-pride-2016/10038743
Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, its management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.
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MUSIC REVIEW | Lemonade: Is Beyonce back?
★★★ | Lemonade
So Beyoncé has released her latest album Lemonade, along with the visual film of it. I must say I was slightly apprehensive about it at first because her last couple of albums I haven’t really enjoyed apart from maybe a handful of the tracks.
I decided to go with the full experience and watch the visual version of the album, and I must say I was actually fairly impressed. The film tells a story so it’s something you have to watch the whole of to understand.
Now obviously as a proper fan I can quite safely say that while I absolutely love Beyoncé, I can also call her out for releasing some crap in the past (not sure why she’s drinking watermelon, and what’s a surfbort?) and for the first 20 or so minutes of the visual album I was not feeling it, she was going along with the hard edged style that is obviously influenced a lot by her husband Jay-Z, but track 4 (Sorry) came on, and while there was still a hard edge style to it, it didn’t seem so aggressive so my ears perked up and I thought you know what I’ll give this album a chance, but my dreams were slightly dashed by Track 5 (6 Inch) that went straight back to the style I didn’t like. I started to zone out slightly but I was determined to stay the distance of the album.
Suddenly I found myself jigging along to the track Daddy Lessons, this was so different from what had already been heard, it was bouncy, and almost a country style, and I was actually smiling while listening, and my hopes were well and truly raised, and the subsequent tracks I actually really enjoyed, and they all seemed to have different styles, from ballads to heartfelt gospel tracks.
For the visual album, people might not really understand what Beyoncé is trying to say, and like the Formation video, it is unapologetically black and supportive of black women especially, but is also personal where she seems to be talking about the fact her husband allegedly cheated on her and her journey towards forgiveness.
All in all, while the album isn’t on the same level as I Am…Sasha Fierce, Dangerously in Love or B’day it was enjoyable enough and I actually quite liked around half of the tracks and a few of them you’ll end up humming to yourself.
Lemonade is out now, available on Tidal, iTunes and with the potential of Spotify in the near future
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COMMENT | Why everyone should understand Stonewall
Why everyone should understand Stonewall
CREDIT: © evgeshag Depositphotos To some people Stonewall is just an organisation for LGBT people, for others they have no clue what the word “Stonewall” actually means, and this is concerning. For something that happened less than 50 years ago, it’s not good that there are some gay people who have absolutely no clue what Stonewall represents to a community they are part of, and that without they wouldn’t be where they are today.
So… a little history lesson.
In the early 20th century, the world for LGBT people was still a horrifying place, jobs were refused, and legally they had very little protection from the law. They were vilified and shunned and violence was common, and even the FBI has a list of known homosexuals and their frequented places and would regularly conduct operations to “clean up” the areas and either arrest homosexuals or ship them off the mental institutions, but by the early 60s small establishments (mostly organised crime run) were starting to appear, providing a safe haven for homosexuals to go to, despite the poor quality of alcohol and unsanitary conditions. The crime syndicates who owned the venues would pay off the police to keep the raids less frequent. By the late 60s especially in New York, the venues were starting to get larger and were some of the few places that allowed LGBT people to dance together.
But what was Stonewall, and why is it so defining in LGBT history? In 1967 in New York City, The Stonewall Inn was (after much renovation) opened as a gay bar and space for the much maligned LGBT community in New York, and was one of the largest in the US at the time. Over the upcoming turbulent 2 years, the bar was raided at least monthly by the police, but due to mafia payoffs these raids were forewarned to the business and patrons and were conducted in the early evening before business really got going and the night would continue after the police left.
By 1969, the payoffs from the Mafia were starting to have less and less effect on the police, and the raids were coming later in the evening, and were becoming more violent, with more arrests. By June that year the Mafia was starting to exploit the wealthier patrons of the bar, especially those from the Wall Street business district and were not using this money to pay the police. This started to come to a head on June 24th 1969 with one of the usual raids at The Stonewall Inn where several drag queens were arrested or forced to leave the bar, the atmosphere was starting to become dangerous, and the police, who were no longer being placated with bribes decided to shut the inn down by force. And with a spurious reason from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms who were allegedly searching for bootlegged liquor, in the early hours of the Saturday June 28th, four plain clothes police officers who had been in the bar all evening making visual observations made their presence known by loudly announcing “Police! We’re taking the place!” The music was turned off, and the main lights turned up. Several of the 205 people in the inn that night made a run for the doors, and the windows in the toilets, but were stopped from leaving. The usual tip-off about a raid had never come, and now all the patrons who were thought to be cross-dressing were separated, as per standard procedure, in order to identify the gender of those dressed in female attire, but unlike before, the patrons started to refuse to produce identification and a sense of disquiet spread quickly amongst the patrons who objected to the treatment of the lesbians present by the rough handed male police officers.
Those not being arrested were forced out of the inn by the police but were not leaving the immediate area, and this attracted other bystanders who came to watch what was going on. As the stories of the police treatment from inside began to filter into the steadily growing crowd, the sense of unrest was becoming obvious. Due to a delay in the patrol wagons that were meant to transport the alcohol and anyone who had been arrested, the crowd had swelled to nearly 150 people standing outside. And once the first trickle of officers and their detainees had begun to leave the bar, the hostility was as boiling point. One officer shoved an African American drag queen (rumoured to be Marsha P Johnson) out of the way who responded by hitting him on the head with her handbag. To the sound of the crowd booing the police and singing “We Shall Overcome” a lesbian was seen battling with the police who had allegedly already struck her for complaining her handcuffs were too tight. And as she was about to be hauled into the back of the waiting wagon, it took one small sentence to change everything. She stared at the crowd and shouted “Why don’t you guys do something?”
And the crowd that that now swelled to 500 took her to her word and fought back, breaking the police line and fighting their way towards the arrested patrons to try and release them from police custody. There was no organised group, just the final straw of feelings from a group of people who had finally had enough of the treatment that they had been dealing with for years.
For the next 3 hours the police and crowd battled each other causing thousands of dollars worth of damage to the inn, until both groups retreated from the scene. Although not the first backlash against the police treatment against the community, Stonewall the first time the LGBT community had taken a more concerted stand and the police hated it, They’d never had that kind of reaction from the gays before and during the daylight hours of June 28th the unrest continued, and many of the protestors from the previous riot were in the area of The Stonewall along with curious bystanders came to stare at the now burnt and blackened inn. The protestors took the opportunity to entertain and enlighten the crowd to their cause.
The following night another riot broke out, which lasted until after 4:00am again with more violent clashes amongst the protesters and police and over the coming six days various scuffles and smaller scale riots were reported, but by now it was already too late for the police to stop the movement that had started, and less than 2 weeks after the first riot, the usual quiet and meek annual protestations by LGBT empowerment group The Mattachine Society were changing and The Gay Liberation Front was formed, a more vocal and out there group.
Over the next 12 months the very first Pride style event was organised along the street the Stonewall Inn had been on (Christopher Street) which took place a year to the day after the riots, and the following year 7 more cities worldwide, including London held pride marches and events and in 1972, 8 more cities were added to the list of locations and it has grown ever since, with there now being hundreds of pride events around the world.
So as you go to your local gay club, or attend one of the many gay pride events this year, stop and think for a second of the brave men and women in 1969 who shouted back to give you the right to do these things.
Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, its management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.
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OPINION: Why the boycott of Zoolander 2 is wrong
All it took was a few short seconds and two lines of dialogue from Benedict Cumberbatch in a film trailer for several thousand people to scream “boycott”.
I have written before about being offended, and I shall stick to my thoughts on that, that taking offence achieves absolutely nothing other than you being offended. But first I’ll look at what exactly has got people up in arms.Benedict Cumberbatch plays a character called All in the film, who appears to be a cartoonish over exaggerated example of the proliferation of androgynous models in the fashion industry. From the trailer, it is nearly impossible to tell exactly how the character is going to be played because we see so little of him. But from the small scene we do see, it actually takes the mickey out of male models and their perceived stupidity rather than someone who is androgynous.It basically involves Stiller’s stupid character asking if All is a male model, or a female model and All replying “All is All” while Owen Wilson’s character says Stiller’s character is asking if All has a “hotdog or a bun”. So, two characters who are meant to be parodies, and walking jokes themselves, say something crass that only two idiots would say, and that is all.
They are not words of hate, they are words of ignorance, yes, but they are ignorant characters who say them. We do not know yet how big this storyline is or how it’s written. But even this complete lack of full storyline or character arc hasn’t stopped the activists from screaming out. But judging a film 2 months before its release off of a few seconds of footage of a character that may only appear in a short scene that has little or no relation to the rest of the film is ridiculous. For all we know the character may be completely sympathetic towards people of non-binary gender identity. None of the viewing public know yet, but if the scene is an obviously gross and deliberately offensive example that has no humour behind it then I would certainly change my stance on the issue. But it’s really far too early to tell yet.The first Zoolander and its sequel are comedies and comedy is meant to be a mockery of literally everything, nothing should be sacred in comedy. Comediennes like Lisa Lampanelli will mock the stereotypes of black people, Mexicans, Jews, gays, disabled people and literally any kind of person you can think of, which what makes comedy what it is, it’s that no one is or should be safe or above being lampooned with obviously inaccurate examples of how they are. But what makes the reaction to the Zoolander 2 trailer so telling is that trans or non-binary people are not seen as “punching up” when it comes to comedy. By punching up I mean people seem to be OK with relentlessly taking the piss out of Christians, politicians, Royalty, reality TV stars, sports stars, and the wealthy, people with perceived “lucky breaks” They can take it, they are more fortunate than the rest of us so they deserve to be taken down a peg or two so we can all laugh at them.How many of the people who signed the petition have seen an episode of Family Guy, American Dad, The Simpsons or South Park and laughed at the jokes that mock celebrities like Paris Hilton, Britney Spears or Tom Cruise to name but a few. I don’t believe for a second thanks to South Park that any of Paris Hilton’s dogs have committed suicide to get away from her, or that she’d steal child to turn into a pet, but I still laughed at the absurdity of it.I am not heartless though, and I appreciate the fact that the trans community is still very far from acceptance, and that every day trans men and women go though hell trying to find their place in the world and to not be scared for their lives, and they fear that misrepresentation of their community damages the image that they want to get across.Many trans people have vocally said Caitlyn Jenner doesn’t represent them because she has an easy life, and yes that is true, she really doesn’t have a clue how it feels to be an everyday normal trans person because she has it so relatively easy. That’s fine, she doesn’t represent the trans community, but why should a character in a film who so far hasn’t even been marketed as trans somehow be any different.That character doesn’t represent the trans community any more than Derek Zoolander represents male models, but it’s OK to take the piss out of male models because they are rich and pretty, they can take it right? This isn’t me going down the route of saying no one should be mocked because it’s unfair, I say everyone should be mocked humorously to make it fair. Either you pick on everyone or no one, never laugh at anything again, or feel free laugh at everything. Obviously, not everyone is going to appreciate every single joke ever told, so what? If you don’t laugh you don’t laugh. I didn’t find Friends funny, yet there’s several million people who will disagree with me and find it the funniest thing to have ever been on TV, and did Chandler Bing’s drag queen father, played by completely cis-woman Kathleen Turner cause the kind of outrage All has caused because an androgynous character is played by a cis-male actor, not that I can remember. No one seemed that bothered by the fact Chandler’s dad was played by a woman rather than an actual drag queen.But comedy in TV and Film land isn’t meant to be an accurate version of people, if that were true, all people who wear glasses would be spotty nerds, all ginger people would have no souls, all sci-fi fans would be lonely virgins and the list goes on of these kind of things. Zoolander is very obviously about mocking the fashion industry and presenting funny yet inaccurate versions of the people who inhabit that world.However, if you really are offended or bothered by the character of All, then don’t watch the film, but don’t try and foist your views on others and whip a group of people up into a frenzy. The Twitter/Facebook mentality these days means people can feel like they are part of something as it happens, by signing an online petition based off a knee-jerk reaction to something that has in all probability been taken out of context of the whole film. If the trailer was to be taken at face value, Justin Bieber is not only dead, but also some kind of fighting superhero, both of which are plainly untrue.I’m not using my views here to try and change the mind of anyone, or to even make them stop and think for a moment, these are just my views and I don’t expect everyone to agree with me, but nor do I want people lambasting me for allegedly being insensitive towards the trans and gender fluid groups out there. Life is meant to be laughed at and people should stop taking things so seriously. Plainly there is a difference between being outright mean and nasty with no humour behind it, but light-hearted mockery isn’t meant to be taken seriously. A vast majority of people will know that the character of All isn’t a true representation of gender fluid or transsexual individuals and will just see the film as a film lambasting all different types of people. Zoolander 2 will probably be a bit of dumb fun…How about you just enjoy it?Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, its management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.
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13 WTF questions straight people actually still ask gay men and lesbians
We’ve all seen it, the slight confusion and trepidation on the face of a usually drunk or if not, slightly moronic straight person gearing up to ask a horrifically inappropriate question of us.
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COMMENT: 7 Reasons Why X Factor Isn’t As Good As It Used To Be
Who doesn’t love The X Factor? Well, apparently 8 million less people than 5 years ago.
This year has seen the worst ratings for the show since it started and ITV are panicking.
Despite on the surface the show being the same as it’s ever been, a camp festival of fun and frolics with the best and worst singers the UK has to offer, a rot has set in and considerably less people are watching it this year. But why has Simon Cowell’s baby lost so many viewers? What has changed about the show that is putting people off?
It’s impossible to pin it down to one thing because that could be easily changed. A series of events in the history of the show has meant people aren’t as enamoured with the show. I’m going to take a look at what I believe has gone so terribly wrong.
1. The personnel factor. The first 3 series were the same judges of Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh and Sharon Osbourne, series 4 added Dannii Minogue then series 5, 6 and 7 kept with the same 4 judges after adding Cheryl Fernandez Versini who was actually relevant at the time after Osbourne left. But series 8 onwards has seen a rotating roster of judges changing year on year and constant changes in format to try and keep the show fresh and people can’t rely on what they know and couldn’t relate any more, and by the sounds of the reception of Nick Grimshaw this year, he won’t be back next year. Rita Ora also hasn’t made much of an impression; she’s just kind of there. The new presenters of the main show, Olly Murs and Caroline Flack, who went down well on the sister show The Xtra Factor, have even been compared to the car crash of a presenting team of Samantha Fox and Mick Fleetwood. The loss of Dermot O’Leary as main presenter and Louis Walsh as a judge has apparently really bothered people.
2. The contestant factor. In the early years the weird and terrible ones were always kept to the initial auditions and possibly made it through to boot camp, but didn’t make it any further. These were generally hilarious, and in some cases downright scary (Ariel Burdett anyone?) but we were safe in the knowledge that this would be the only time we’d see them ever again. It’s what made the show entertaining, you could cringe along to these poor idiots who had been told by their parents and friends they were amazing, only to be ruthlessly torn apart by Cowell and co. Yes there were the camp and cheesy ones like Chico and Same difference who made it tot the live shows in the first few series, but they actually could sing, and could be entertaining in a slightly cringey way, But in 2009, Irish twins John & Edward Grimes, who everyone could hear couldn’t sing a note between them, made it through to the live shows, and stayed far longer than was thought possible, and after that there had to be a contestant who wasn’t very talented yet the judges kept insisting were “entertaining”. Which leads me to…
3. The Fix Factor. Despite Dannii Minogue getting increasing annoyed, Jedward managed to survive to come 6th in 2009 and the whispers about foreknowledge by the judges started. Every time the twins ended in the bottom two, it would mysteriously go to deadlock or the judges would vote to save them, and they would get through another week. And year on year the same thing started to happen, contestants who were bad singers would survive much longer than expected and the whispers started to become chatter. The straw that broke the camels back though, was in 2012, when camp as Christmas contestant, Rylan Clark was dramatically saved by the deadlock vote after Louis was seen being talked too by a producer of the show during the save me song of Carolynne Poole. After he said he wanted to save Carolynne, the presenter Dermot O’Leary kept insisting that Louis say whom he wanted to send home, until Louis said he wanted to take it to deadlock. If you watch the video, you can hear a clearly exasperated Gary Barlow ask, “Why deadlock?” To which Louis appears to answer “Apparently I have to Gary” Seriously people go watch it. But it isn’t just the terrible singer contestants who were saved. After ranting on stage at the six chairs challenge this year, Mason Noise didn’t earn a chair, yet he’s on the live shows after Tom Bleasby quit before Judges Houses. There’s also the little issue of a picture of Seann Miley Moore being put up as part Nick Grimshaw’s final 3 before he was even announced. That could’ve been a technical hitch, but it raises questions.
4. The sustainability factor. Year in and out The X Factor promises to find the next big star, and fill their world with countless millions of fans and albums and money a plenty. But hold on a second, what are the odds actually like to get a sustained career out of The X Factor? Since 2004, 142 contestants (not including this year) have made it through to the live shows. Can you name me 10 of them who are still in the public eye without using Google? Don’t worry I’ll wait…How many did you manage? By my calculations, of that number, less than 15 of them have had a career that lasted over a year, and not always in music. These are not having the odds ever in your favour when it comes to getting a career, and I think the public has cottoned on to that fact and are rebelling against the format of all these types of shows. It remains to be seen if any of the 13 contestants from this year can forge a living out of it, but chances are we’ll have forgotten them by next year or simply not care enough about them.
5. The predictability factor. Once the live shows start you can usually see who the judges favour. They get given the best set ups, and the best songs and production value, and they are praised week after week, even if the performance is bland and predictable. Then there’s the same old phrases trotted out. When Louis was there, it was always, “You look like a pop star and you sound like a pop star”. But as the show progressed it became painfully obvious who was getting the most attention and who the public were being manipulated to like and vote for. As soon as I heard Mason Noise was coming back, I knew they would sacrifice someone more talented and likeable, like Simon Lynch or Josh Daniel in order to try and create headlines by having the bad boy back and showing his redemption of his past actions.6. The manufactured factor. Yes, yes I know, it’s reality TV and there is always going to be a certain amount of manipulation to make good TV, but it’s scary how many of the contestants are scouted by the producers rather than being a nobody who walks in off the street. Filipina girl group 4th Impact, have from the start been made out to be these four sisters who sacrificed everything to make it to the UK version of the X-Factor, but the truth is a little shadier. They have performed on various other talent shows in The Philippines and in South Korea and done reasonably well on them. The other side of it is that the genuine participants who haven’t been selected by the producers beforehand have been through at least 3 auditions already, before they even get to meet the main judges, so the reason why they seem so utterly put out when they are told they are awful is because they have been told 3 times they are good enough to meet the main judges.
7. The same old format factor. The show has become dull, despite the attempts to inject life into it; there is absolutely nothing new that makes it interesting any more. None of the finalists stand out for the right reasons, none of their voices are unique and even the celebrity duets aren’t anything like they used to be. In the past we’ve had Rihanna, Christina Aguilera, Beyoncé, George Michael and Michael Bublé singing with the final 3. Recently they’ve had to get the judges Nicole Scherzinger, Gary Barlow, Tulisa, and Kelly Rowland (hopefully they won’t let Cheryl do it this year) and previous contestants like Ella Henderson to do the duets. The whole show has become tired, and with one more contracted year to go, maybe 2016 should be the last time we see The X Factor.
How would you save The X Factor from certain doom? What would you do to breathe some fresh life into it?
by Andy Elliot Griffiths | @AndyEG1982Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, it’s management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.
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COMMENT: What Xena Did For The Gay Community?
It’s been 20 years since it started and 14 since it ended, but I can still hear the “Aalalalala” of the Warrior Princess Xena’s war cry, cementing herself into LGBT culture. And with talk of a reboot/re-imagining in the pipeline, Xena and her chakram are back in the public consciousness.
For anyone who has never seen it, Xena Warrior Princess is a fantastically kitsch, camp and raucous TV series that made a then 12-year-old me absolutely enthralled with it. Her sometimes-tragic adventures around the ancient world kept me watching for 6 seasons and to this day I will still have a Netflix binge-watch of all the seasons. She was unapologetically strong and unapologetically female, sexy and powerful, unafraid to get sweaty and dirty on the job, and all the more beautiful for it. And despite the few utterly terrible and pointless future based Xenaverse breaking episodes, I absolutely loved it. But why would a TV series that from the outside could potentially be terrible have such an impact on the gay community?
The relationship between Xena and her sidekick Gabrielle has always been a constant source of speculation for the fans, with thousands of fan fiction stories focusing on it. Even main star Lucy Lawless herself has said that she believes Xena and Gabrielle had a relationship even though it’s never said outright during the show.
But what about Xena appeals to the gay community, why would she make such an impression? I think it has to do with the themes of the show, togetherness, acceptance, strength and community. But like other fantasy TV shows with a strong female lead, gay men absolutely love the Warrior Princess. She is the very epitome of things gay men relate to, the need for courage, love and sheer bravery in a world that is against them with no need for a man to prove themselves. Xena made bold choices in characters, making one of Xena’s main nemeses, the flawed and very much damaged warrior Callisto, almost sympathetic with a legitimate gripe against Xena, and her past as a ruthless warlord. But even through the drama and heartache, one central theme resonated.
Love and sacrifice always won, and even Callisto was saved by Xena’s need for redemption of her past.
All the characters are flawed in their own way, and many of the fans could see a part of themselves in them. However, unlike some other female-empowerment shows, Xena eschewed overtly feminist messages (with occasional exceptions, such as a jab at beauty pageants when Xena went undercover as a contestant). Xena and Gabrielle fought a variety of mostly male baddies, but they were not fighting sexism or the patriarchy. Gender, in the Xenaverse, just wasn’t a big deal. No one questioned Xena’s ability to fight and command, or Gabrielle’s desire to be a warrior, because they were girls. Ironically, one of the few episodes that dealt explicitly with gender issues introduced a man-hating female outlaw just to teach her the lesson that it’s not women vs. men, it’s good people vs. bad.
In fact, plenty of the shows good people were men, its primary male regular, Xena and Gabrielle’s occasional tag-along, Joxer, was a comically bumbling warrior wannabe but also, in his own way, a true hero willing to risk his life for his friends. Meanwhile, the Amazons were not an idealized sisterhood but tribes with their own power struggles, conflicts and tyrannies. Women on Xena were simply human, no better or worse than men, feminism as it ought to be. It showed that everyone has their strengths and weakness and the gay audience appreciated that.
Various episodes within the Xena canon showed gay characters in a positive light and how everyone should accept and love them, even resulting in a musical number in the episode Lyre, Lyre, hearts on Fire for Joxer’s gay brother Jace, but dedicated to the shows gay fans. And while gay men adore the ass kicking, leather clad anti-heroine, it was our lesbian sisters who took Xena into their hearts. They related to the strong connection between the two friends and Xena was one of the first major TV characters that had a possible lesbian sub-text and the devotion Xena and Gabrielle showed one another was never in doubt.These were two women who loved each other fiercely, and for a generation of lesbian and bisexual women, that meant everything. But even to gay men, the relationship between the two women resonated with them, simply because it was such a wonderful example of solidarity, trust and overcoming all odds to remain close to one another. But while the show had the serious themes, the fact it didn’t take itself too seriously and could whip out a musical episode or two, along with a drag queen winning a beauty contest and many other humorous moments kept the gay audience entranced.One could say that Xena’s sexual ambiguity adds to her larger-than-life quality. She is beyond labels, all things to all people. And yet it’s a pity that so much of the buzz generated by a show about a mythic female hero has ended up focusing on who she’s sleeping with. As openly gay Xena producer Liz Friedman once said in an interview, the show was “not about the romantic foibles of Xena and Gabrielle,” it was about redemption and friendship.Xena came at the right time to bring fans together. The Internet was out of its infancy and people flocked to the Xena message boards to talk about the show. But like everything on the Internet these days, the show divided fans almost from the word go.Some fans praising the idea of a possible lesbian relationship between the two main characters, while others thought it overshadowed the rest of the themes of the show. My own personal opinion is that at the beginning of the show the characters weren’t gay, but actually were close friends who had formed a strong bond, but unfortunately towards the end, especially the 6th season the lesbian sub-text became too apparent and took the edge off the show. The fans stayed true though, and it still spawned numerous spin-off media and in 2011 The Xena Movie Campaign was launched on Facebook that encouraged the fans to mass tweet and write to NBC and may well have influenced them to consider rebooting the series.The annual Xena conventions used to bring thousands of fans together from all walks of life who could identify with the show. No one was judged, everyone just went for a good time, and even though the last convention took place this year, if the re-boot is made and takes off, there could be a new generation of LGBT fans treading the floors of convention centres around the world, screaming out a war cry or two.
Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, its management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece
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12 Campest Moments Of X FACTOR
Here they are… the 12 campest moments from X Factor
Another chance for the weird and wonderful to grace our TV screens with glittery performances and outrageous outfits. There has been many a camp moment over the years and this year will no different. Now we take a look back at some of the great, and not so great contestants and their camp moments during the last 12 years.
Chico (Series 2, 2005)
It’s Chico time…You can’t have a camp list without Chico and his time. So naturally his campest moment is Chico Time from week 6. But it comes to something when you can’t even beat the dull as dishwater Andy Abraham who finished second eventually.
Same Difference (Series 4, 2007)
Well what can one say about the eternally smiling, incredibly close, brother and sister duo Same Difference, who every week the viewers had to be reminded were brother and sister. Their constantly upbeat and sparkly performances really puts them in the camp category, but I would have to say their campest moment would be the performance of “Blame it on the Boogie”.
Rhydian Roberts (Series 4, 2007)
Rhydian with his jawline that could carve a steak, how do I best describe him? Well his shock of white blond hair made him stand out every week and his operatic style voice propelled him into second place that year to eventually lose to Leon Jackson. He was larger than life and put on quite the show every week. However his campest moment came in week 5 of the live shows when dressed as a sailor he sang The Pet Shop boys classic “Go West”.Alexandra Burke & Beyonce (Series 5, 2008)
Not exactly a camp moment in itself, but it got all the gays moist with excitement when Alexandra Burke started singing “Listen” by Beyonce, and low & behold the lady herself glided effortlessly on stage and completely stole the show with her powerful vocals that helped Alexandra win the whole series.John & Edward Grimes AKA Jedward (Series 6, 2009)
Oh Jedward, you distressingly annoying pair of idiots. From the word go with their hybrid American/Irish accent I knew I would hate them and every week I willed them to not make it any further. Jedward started the trend of having at least one “entertaining” contestant rather than actual talent. Their vocals harmed TV speakers over the whole country and while it’s difficult to pick a best camp moment out of the many they decided to inflict us with, I’m going to have to go with their dreadful, red PVC suit wearing rendition of “Oops I Did it Again”.Diva Fever (Series 7, 2010)
If gay was personified, it would be Diva Fever, who didn’t exactly sing a whole lot. The public were never entirely sure if they were watching a singing act or a dressage performance. They only managed to survive 2 weeks in the live shows but they certainly left an impression with their high camp moments from the auditions through to the live shows.Katie Waissel (Series 7, 2010)
Song destroying Katie Waissel, who many people think didn’t deserve her place because she rarely made it through a full song during the auditions, managed to outdo herself in the camp factor during week 4 of the live shows. Dressed in a birds nest on her head and bright white eyelashes, along with dancers with inflatable pumpkins she mutilated the theme song to “Bewitched”.Wagner (Series 7, 2010)
I can’t pick one camp moment from Wagner because he did so many hilarious mash-ups of various camp classics. Trouble was, he took himself seriously and thought he was amazing while the rest of the country didn’t. He managed to cause controversy when he described Cheryl as “A girl from a council estate who got lucky” and not long after he was booted from the competition after a series of rants about the showJohnny Robinson (Series 8, 2011)
A Kylie Minogue classic, a kimono and a fan that threatened to upstage him, made for the campest moment of this series with Johnny Robinson singing “Can’t Get You Out of my Head”. No other contestant could’ve pulled this off quite like Johnny did, so it made quite the interesting performance.Rylan Clark (Series 9, 2012)
Nicole, Nicole, Nicole, why did you do this to us and inflict Rylan upon the world. The perma-tanned, TOWIE wannabe who cried in a very scary way was forced upon us, despite his obvious absence of talent. And most weeks he was there, he murdered camp classics but managed to survive to come 5th. But the controversial deadlock decision by Louis Walsh in week one against the slightly boring yet more talented Carolynne Poole made people start to openly question the validity of the show.Stevi Ritchie (Series 11, 2014)
This time it’s Simon Cowell’s fault. Stevi Ritchie was the one who looked like the creepy, friend of the family who you were forced to call “uncle”. He certainly tried his best each week despite his lack of vocal ability, and his campest moment had to be the strangely Egyptian themed version of “I’m Still Standing”.Seann Miley Moore (Series 12, 2015)
Anyone who comes on stage in high heeled boots, a fur jacket and a see-through top has to be a camp moment. Singing The Show Must Go On, he does have a good singing voice, and might actually break the curse of being the irritating “entertaining” one and actually be talented instead. We’ll just have to see if he makes it through to the live shows. -
Interview: Why We Need A Gay Film Festival In Shropshire
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Shropshire Rainbow Film Festival that takes place annually in Shrewsbury, Shropshire. (more…)
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INTERVIEW: Miss Marty The Girl Who Likes To Party
If you’ve ever been on a night out in, or to the wonderful pride events of Birmingham, you’ll more than likely have seen the girl who likes to party, Miss Marty Smith.
