THEGAYUK

Author: Antony Simpson

  • BOOK REVIEW | Speaking Out

    ★★★ | Speaking Out

    Speaking Out is a collection of photographic portraits of LBGT young people (aged 14-24 years old). 65+ young people, mostly from the USA are photographed. On each portrait young people have shared their thoughts, feelings or an experience. The young people have been honest in sharing their joys and tribulations of being an LGBT youth in a heterosexual world.

    In Speaking Out photographer Rachelle Lee Smith took the portraits, handed young people a sharpie pen and left them to write what they wanted. Among other topics, young people wrote about: stereotypes, identity, homophobia, self-love and romantic love. Young people identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender. It was great to see transgendered young people represented, however the vast majority of the young people identified as lesbian.

    Years later, some young people reconsidered their portrait. They wrote about how their lives had changed and what they would write now. It was enjoyable to read these reflections from young people and the book would have benefited from having more of these. Several pages of the book felt wasted as they contained quotes that either praised the photographer or the book its self. Never was there any praise for the young people who were actually brave enough to share their stories.

    Speaking Out is presented well, it’s a large book with 127 glossy pages in full colour. There is the odd page where a young person’s handwriting makes it difficult to read what they’ve written, but at no point is it unreadable.

    Speaking Out is an enlightening book that shows how we are all the same, rather than how we are different. It should be available in every school, college, library and youth club.

  • BOOK REVIEW | Gaysia – Adventures in the Queer East by Benjamin Law

    ★★★★ | Journalist Benjamin Law is an Australian with Asian roots. In Gaysia, he takes us on a tour of Asia showing us all things gay across the continent.

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  • COLUMN | Growing up gay – my story

    Inspired by Paul Vitagliano’s book – Born This Way: Real Stories of Growing Up Gay, I’ve decided to share my own story of growing up gay.

    I’m about eight or nine in this photo, it’s Christmas and I’m striking a pose in my Power Rangers pyjamas proudly showing off my new cross puppet. I remember loving to entertain others, being full of confidence and having no inhibitions. I remember being sensitive, caring and sometimes in a world of my own. My mum describes me as a child by saying I was “such a joy to have.”

    If you had shown me this photo as a teenager I’d have cringed with embarrassment. By my teen years I’d realised that I was different to others; I became very self-conscious of what my peers thought about me and was hiding my sexuality out of fear of what they’d think, say or do. I also became extremely self-critical of seemingly everything about myself.

    Today, I look at this photo and aspire to be like that younger version of myself. I am so thankful that as a child my mum instilled me with confidence to be myself and always made me feel loved. I am still learning and developing as I experience life, but there are many goals I’ve been successful in achieving and the others I’m working towards.

    If there are any gay youth who are experiencing what I did in my teens I would encourage them to stay true to who they are, only listen to the opinions of people who truly love you – they will love you for who you are, seek out support (Google: lgbt support) and come out when you’re ready.

    I look at this photo and think: how did my family not know I was gay? The answer is that they did! I was born gay and I wouldn’t be any other way.

    Born This Way: Real Stories of Growing up Gay by Paul Vitagliano can be purchased from Amazon.

  • John Barrowman’s success after being dropped by record label

    John Barrowman recently released his Pledge Music fan-funded album You Raise Me Up. It reached #16 in the UK album charts, much better than his two of his previous studio albums with record label Sony.

    Another Side (2007) Barrowman released with Sony BMG only managed to reach #22 in the UK album chart. Music Music Music (2008) also with Sony barely entered the UK album chart at #35. His album John Barrowman reached #11, but after this the record label dropped Barrowman. A fan at a convention in the US later asked Barrowman when his next album was coming out. He explained that it wasn’t and the young fan said: ‘We’ll fund it!’

    Barrowman, when talking about You Raise Me Up said that he felt privileged to make the album and that: ‘I think this is the best album that I’ve ever, ever made.’

    Despite dropping to #25 on the UK album charts this week, it seems that Barrowman is having more success with Pledge Music (a site that allows fans to pledge money to artists in exchange for a copy of the album, merchandise and meet and greet opportunities) than he was with the record label.

    So does this mean that the Record Labels need to watch out?

  • FILM REVIEW | After The Dark (The Philosophers)

    ★★★★★ | | After The Dark (The Philosophers)

    In After The Dark it’s the last day of term and Mr. Zimit, a Philosophy Teacher challenges his international high school students to take part in one final thought experiment: It’s the apocalypse and there’s a bunker that will save some of them. There’s twenty-one of them and only ten places in the bunker. Having more than ten people in the bunker will mean that all in the bunker perish. The class must decide who will get a place in the bunker and who won’t.

    To help the students decide, Mr. Zimit hands them cards with skills on (e.g. Organic Farmer, Structural Engineer, Poet, etc.) for their character in this thought experiment. He encourages them to make logical decisions.

    Later Mr. Zimit ups the ante by telling students that they are required to get at least one pregnancy going during the year in the bunker and asks the students to open their cards to reveal another aspect to their character (e.g. one is gay, one is sterile, one is a midwife, one will get cancer in 3 years time, etc.). Then they have to decide again with this new information who will get a place in the bunker.

    After The Dark is a superb film that uses the dialogue and snippets of action to keep the watcher hooked throughout. Set in the Indonesian city of Jakarta, there are some beautiful settings in this film including Prambanan temple. The cast are mostly unknowns, but fitted their individual roles and worked together well.

    There is good representation of gay people in this film. One of the students is a gay man who is out, accepted and valued by his fellow students (and there is another one that isn’t out at the beginning of the film).

    The lead male character who is identified as straight, opens up his Organic Farmer card to reveal that his character is gay. He gets a place in the bunker, but when it comes to pairing up to get a pregnancy going he says he feels he wouldn’t be comfortable sleeping with a woman as a gay man. This is followed by a short scene of him and the openly gay student getting it on and then shows them becoming close as a couple.

    After The Dark is a film that challenges what you believe about philosophy, logic, the survival of the human race and whether it’s important to exist or live. You’ll find yourself watching it again and again and thinking about it for days afterwards. It will be a great source of enjoyment and generate a good debate among the people you watch it with.

    After The Dark is a fantastic five star film, one that has been under-rated and missed by most. It is available to pre-order/order on Amazon.

  • BOOK REVIEW | Best Gay Romance 2014 Edited by Timothy J. Lambert & R.D Cochrane

    ★★★★ | Best Gay Romance 2014 Edited by Timothy J. Lambert & R.D Cochrane

    Best Gay Romance 2014 is a superb collection of fictional short stories about love and romance. Characters in this book are all in different places: some are single, some have just met a special man and some are in a relationship.

    Each of the 15 stories is exceptionally well written, gripping and heart warming. Best Gay Romance 2014 has contributions from some of the best gay Writers out there. One or two of the stories did lack depth, but only because they were too short. Three amazing stories in this anthology were:

    Strange Propositions by Eric Gober
    Strange Propositions is the opening story in Best Gay Romance 2014. The story starts with Kenny ending an unhappy long distance relationship. Then he meets Nate through work and they hit it off. The ending of this story is funny and leaves the reader with a smile.

    Sight by Jordan Taylor
    In Sight, Noah and Archer have been together since their teen years. Now in their twenties, Archer proposes and Noah says no. It’s a clever story about insecurity and getting over it. It shows the reader what a man will do for someone they really love. When life knocks you off your feet, a good man will be there to help you up. This beautiful story will reignite even the most pessimistic readers hope for love.

    Shep: A Dog by Alex Jeffers
    Isaac has unrequited love for Jackson. But he is about to learn that men can come along in the most unexpected of situations. Isaac rescues a dog called Shep from drowning in the sea, but can’t find his owner. Unknown to Isaac is that Shep is about to transform into more than he could ever have imagined. A sweet and imaginative story.

    All of these short stories share the theme of vulnerability. To be in love and loved back means you sometimes need to be emotionally vulnerable.

    If you enjoy romantic tales reads then Best Gay Romance 2014 will delight you. Even if you don’t, Best Gay Romance 2014 will still give you hope that Mr. Right out there; that is, if you haven’t already found him.

  • BOOK REVIEW | The Wolf in His Arms (Runes Trilogy Book 2) by Adrian Lilly

    ★★★ | The Wolf in His Arms (Runes Trilogy Book 2) by Adrian Lilly

    The first book is The Wolf at His Door, which I reviewed here

    Alec & Jared the gay, werewolf lovers are back. With Lucy, Alec’s sister, they set out to reveal the truth about what happened to them by decoding documents they found in a underground lab and to find their pack. But they are not the only ones looking for their pack. The Wolfs are hunting members their pack and offering them a choice: join them or they’ll kill them and their family.

    Along the way, Alec & Jared are at it like rabbits while Lucy is coming to terms with her new inner wolf. They track-down other members of their pack including: Maxwell another gay werewolf and his best friend Haley, and Nadia and her mother Helena.

    Alec, Jared & Lucy discover the Wolfs have much bigger ambitions, than just recruiting their pack. The Wolfs are bent on world domination and already have a plan set into action. Alec, Jared & Lucy decide they must stop them. They learn about the elusive Tutelars, protectors of humans. Will the Tutelars recognise that Alec, Lucy and Co are trying to help or just seem them as another pack of werewolfs?

    The story builds to a fantastic ending as the Wolfs set their plan into full motion, sending human society into panic and disarray. Can Alex, Jared and Co stop them or is it too late? This is where the book ends and it leaves the reader wanting more.

    The Wolf in His Arms is written in third person with a good show and tell balance. It keeps the reader hooked throughout with it’s fast-paced, ever-twisting storyline. The Wolf in His Arms is a brilliant, superb and reasonably told story.

    At times, a lack of editing did let The Wolf in His Arms down. It was repetitive on occasion, overly used description of weather – which wasn’t always consistent and used dialogue tags that distracted from the dialogue.

    I recommend reading The Wolf at His Door before The Wolf in His Arms. The Wolf in His Arms gives an adequate backstory, but doesn’t give the reader the same emotional connection as The Wolf at His Door does. I can’t wait to read the final book in the trilogy.

    The Wolf in His Arms is available in ebook format only and its short chapters mean that it is perfect to read on bus, train or tube to work. The Wolf in His Arms is available to buy on Amazon.

  • 17 Hilarious Karen Walker Quotes

    17 Hilarious Karen Walker Quotes

    A few weeks ago, I was ill and in need of cheering up. I padded over to my DVD shelf and picked up a box set of Will & Grace. After watching one episode, I was hooked and ended up watching the entire box set.

    What struck me as I watched and laughed is that I’d forgotten how funny Karen Walker is. So here are 17 of my favourite Karen quotes, on all the important things in life.

    Karen Walker on Herself

    Karen Walker on Alcohol

    Karen Walker on Drugs

    NBC/KoMut

    Karen Walker on Friendship

    Karen Walker on Maintaining Friendships

    Karen Walker on Marriage

    Karen Walker on Sex

    Karen Walker on Being Lesbian

    Karen Walker on Nature

    NBC/KoMut

    Karen Walker on Fashion

    Karen on Grace’s Fashion Choices

    Karen Walker on The Gay Tree

    NBC/KoMut

    Karen Walker on Crazy

    Karen Walker on Work

    Karen Walker on hook ups

  • Book Review | The Wolf At His Door (Runes Trilogy Book 1) by Adrian Lilly

    ★★★★ | The Wolf At His Door (Runes Trilogy Book 1) by Adrian Lilly

    Alec is an out gay man and his twin brother Adam is straight; both are College Students and live at home with their parents – Ilene & Jason. Their older sister Lucy lives with her partner Rene nearby. Also close is their grandmother – Geraldine, a woman who has psychic ‘vibrations’ when something bad is going to happen.

    With Geraldine’s vibrations getting worse, Alec’s friends Sam & Celeste introduce him to Jared. Then Sam & Celeste are brutally murdered.

    The Prologue is overly dramatic, too descriptive and far too long. But once past that you discover Lilly‘s wonderfully engaging writers voice and his third person writing style that switches between characters perspectives. His writers voice and storytelling makes The Wolf at His Door an easy read that becomes highly addictive as the reader reads on.

    The story is told in three parts. In part one Lilly introduces the characters, Alec’s friend’s are brutally murdered in the night at a cabin in the woods and people are going missing. Part two deals with the aftermath of the murders, the Police start their murder investigation, green-eyed evil Darius targets Alec and the investigation of the missing people is on-going.

    In the third and final part Alec & Co. start their own investigation as to what’s going on. This leads to an absolutely epic ending and sets out the direction for the 2nd book. The love interest for Alec adds to the story. Overall the storyline was outstandingly captivating, oozes brilliance and is well paced.

    The description was perfectly measured throughout; although it did have a few Americanism’s that Lilly could have minimised or removed for more universal appeal. There were a few minor errors in dialogue formatting. But neither the Americanism’s or the errors in the dialogue formatting interrupted the flow of the storyline.

    Throughout the story there is a good mix of scenes: slow ones that evoke an emotional response, investigation ones that ignite the mind with questions and face-paced action scenes that grip the reader.

    By the end of The Wolf at His Door the reader has many answered questions; but some are left unanswered – which is what will make the trilogy enthralling.

    The Wolf at His Door (The Runes Trilogy) by Adrian Lilly is essentially a werewolf, gay, mystery novel. An enjoyable read that makes the reader impatient for the release of the 2nd book in the trilogy.

    The book is only available in eformat; but this makes it perfect to read on the bus, train or tube to work. The chapters are short meaning you could read several on the way to work. However you will find yourself reading on the way home as well – desperate to find out what happens next.

  • BOOK REVIEW | Henry Darger, Throw Away Boy

    ★★★ | Henry Darger, Throw Away Boy

    Henry Darger (1904-1973) was an Chicago-based artist, who was completely unknown in his lifetime. He created pieces of art that depicted children. In some of the art children were innocently enjoying life and in others they were being horrifically tortured. Darger also completed two fantasy manuscripts entitled The Realms and Crazy House. Many critics dubbed Darger as a mentally unstable individual who may have thought about harming children.

    But as Jim Elledge uncovers in Henry Darger, Throw Away Boy that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Elledge has spent a decade researching and writing this book which gives a comprehensive insight to the life of Darger. It is well researched, which is indicated by the extensive bibliography and notes sections.

    The book starts by describing the poverty, dangerous street life and Darger’s lack of supportive loving parents. Darger’s mother died in childbirth and his father was an alcoholic. It is suspected that Darger was sexually abused on a number of occasions throughout his childhood. This commonplace abuse, did make uncomfortable reading at times. His behaviour, even as a young child, was feral which is understandable given the emotional trauma he experienced. His bad behaviour led to his father putting him in a religious mission and later an asylum institution.

    Darger escaped the institution and became a Janitor in a hospital. He began to create his art and write his manuscripts, as a way to fictionalise his traumatic childhood experiences. In his manuscripts he wrote about a number of secret societies, all that have one mission: to protect children. He fell in love with a man (Whillie) and continued to work tirelessly on his art over the decades that followed. But after some early criticism, he didn’t feel able to share his work with the world. It wasn’t until after his death that his landlord discovered the work.

    Essentially Elledge tells the story of a gay man filled with fear and shame because of societies attitudes towards children, child abuse and gay people. Glossy pages show some of Darger’s work, but more would have been welcome.

    Elledge brings Darger’s story to life through his engaging writing style. If you’re into gay art – in all its forms, you’ll love Henry Darger, Throw Away Boy. Available from Amazon

  • COMMENT | Tom Daley’s Search For Acceptance

    I know it’s old news now, but Tom Daley recently revealed that he is in a relationship with a man. He made this disclosure on his YouTube video.

    My initial reaction was pride. All out gay or bisexual men have had to have these difficult conversations at some point, so I definitely empathised. These conversations are hard enough, but for Tom it must have been even more difficult given his position.

    Tom is an Athlete in the Sporting Profession; and how many out gay professional Athlete’s or sports people do you know? Gareth Thomas the retired Rugby Player comes to mind, but he only came out as gay after he retired.

    Then there’s Robbie Rogers a US Football Player, who used to play in the UK but no longer does. It is unbelievable that of the estimated 4,500 Professional Football Players in the UK, he is the only gay or bisexual one. Statistics apparently show that 1 in 10 men are gay or bisexual, so it is likely that there are many professional footballers as well as other Athletes and sports people that haven’t come out.

    The reason Athlete’s and sports people don’t come out is the stigma still attached with being gay in the sport industry. Professional sports people worry about losing fans, sponsors and ultimately their jobs. Tom will have been aware of all this and is very brave for risking all.

    I’ve read many journalistic reactions and opinion pieces on his disclosure. I’ve also read many supportive messages to him, along with some quite blatantly homophobic ones.

    I wasn’t just proud that Tom had come out as being in a relationship with a man, but that he had put himself in a position of emotional vulnerability in search for acceptance. Acceptance is an innate human desire and in order to gain acceptance, you have to let people know you.

    I have pondered if Tom deliberately avoided using the words gay or bisexual, or even if these words needed to be said. I’m sure that Tom coming out will be a great role model to any gay teens struggling with their sexuality – what it means for them and their life.

    If I were to give a message to Tom it would be this:

    Thank you for sharing who you are. I wish you every happiness, you deserve it. Keep the people in your life that accept, love and care for you. The people that don’t this feel this way – don’t worry or waste your time thinking about them. Just keep working, living and loving who you are.

    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.