THEGAYUK

Category: Comment

  • OPINION | Sochi Sucks

    So, there I am, minding my own business when BAM – suddenly being gay in Russia is seen as a crime and beating people much like myself seems to be turning into a national sport!

    To top this off, the eyes of the world are on Sochi from today – with the opening of the Winter Olympics, and the patronage of dozens of sponsors and the IOC. Seemingly, despite calls for the games to be moved, they are staying put with the clarion call of “keep politics out of sport”.

    However, there are mixed signals here – is ensuring that people have basic human rights across the globe really politics? When there were issues over South Africa and apartheid, it actually felt wrong to buy something flown in from there when we were urged to hit them where it hurt – in the economic pocket.

    So what’s the issue here? My social media timelines are full of conflicting messages.

    1: Boycott the games totally as a show of support for gay people over there, show Russia that the world wont stand for this by NOT participating in the myth that everything is lovely and there aren’t cases of state sanctioned beatings and murders which are available to view as shared videos fly around various sites.

    2: Watch the games as a way of showing Russia that the world really is watching and watching carefully. Every loo seat that is put on the wrong way round in a journalists hotel, every reported case of “canine cleansing” where companies are recruited to clear the streets of stray dogs days ahead of the opening ceremony, every report of $30 Billion of a reported $50 billion budget going missing…

    What’s the answer? Is there one? Is it a case of make your own mind up? Make an informed decision? If this interests you, and we have to accept it won’t interest everyone, then read what you can and decide for yourself.

    Me? I hate sport – dull as dishwater, so I wouldn’t be watching anyway – but I am boycotting some of the sponsors.
    Why I hear you cry? It’s simple really – it’s my own little response, my own little act of defiance. I’m just me, one teeny tiny individual in the world – but I hate bullies and having seen some of the footage around, that’s what this feels like it comes down to – sanctioned bullying. I had enough of that at school and I’ll be damned if I’ll stand by and watch it happen elsewhere IF I feel I can do something about it.

    So, a certain well known brand of soft drink is off the menu for good – my teeth and general health will no doubt thank me too! It won’t change the world, it won’t stop the bullying and assaults happening worldwide, but it makes me feel like I’m doing something. They may think they can placate us as a group by adding a lovely image of gay marriage to their recent ad – but compare that with being beaten and humiliated for what you are and it just doesn’t cut it.

    So, do what your heart tells you is right – watch or don’t watch, support the sponsors or don’t. Remember, we have the freedom to decide to do this, some don’t have that luxury.

     

    Opinions 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.

  • COLUMN | Super(Gay)Man

    I was watching an interiors program the other night and, unsurprisingly, the majority of male participants were gay.

    This led me to ponder why it is that gay people are so talented in the fields of the arts? We’re prominent in theatre, dance and design. Fashion would be stuck in the doldrums without us. The world of hairstyling would be severely depleted and there’d be a lot less fancy window displays in the big shops. Do we have a special gene? Is it a class we all take at gay school? Are we just born amazing, with an eye for colour and where to put an accented scatter cushion?

    We’ve got comedy cracked with our acerbic wit. We can write, sing and paint with amazing results. We’re even infiltrating sports with our buffed physiques teetering on the edges of diving boards and our good legs managing to kick balls about whilst looking hot in shorts. Is there no limit to our talents?

    If you listen to our detractors; we can topple governments, corrupt children and make whole nations quake with just a click of our delicately manicured fingers. We can have whole countries living in terror of us, leading them to pass laws to suppress us, trying to make us impotent and powerless. Religions pass judgements on us just so that they can try to hide our clearly superior talents.

    Is there nothing we can’t do? Maybe we’re the master race. We’re a force to be reckoned with, strong, talented and amazing with a little bit of fabulousness and good skin to add to the mix.

    ..or maybe we’re just people. Maybe that’s why we terrify some people so much. We’re just a group of people who happen to be gay and are pretty much the same as people who don’t happen to be gay, with a varying range and mix of talents and characteristics.

    Now that must be truly terrifying for some people.

  • OPINION: Age Gap Relationships, What Is The Fuss?

    My name is Daniel Browne. I am 29 years old (although tell people I’m only 19) and I’m in a long term relationship with a man who is 25 years older than me. I wouldn’t be surprised if assumptions are made at this point as I have had to face them over the past couple of years. Am I gold a digging whore? Is my boyfriend a sugar Daddy? What do I get out of the relationship?

    Rather than answer those questions when people ask them, I simply give a death stare that ultimately makes the person feel as small as their mind is. Of course the answers are that I am not a gold digging whore and my boyfriend is not a sugar Daddy. I have my own career, home, and money. Sometimes I pay for things, sometimes my partner does. It’s a very grown up and equitable relationship.

    The reason I am writing about my own relationship is not because I have a great desire to let the world know certain details of my personal life, but because I am a big champion of age gap relationships. Actually, that may be slightly incorrect. I am a champion of all relationships and people having the freedom to be happy. Age gap relationships obviously fall into that. If someone wants to date another person who is years older or younger than themselves then why should it matter? The only thing that really matters is that the people in the relationship are happy.

    The world and his dog (and possibly even creatures in outer space) will have heard about Tom Daley recently revealing he is in a relationship with a man. As rabid gays and teenage girls went into diver boy crush overdrive over this ‘news’, much of the reporting in the following days began to focus on the fact that Tom’s boyfriend is twenty years older than him. Friends of mine commented on the age gap before remembering that I am with someone who is almost twice my age. I found myself getting increasingly annoyed that not only Tom’s sexuality was making the news, but also that his age gap relationship was such a big deal.

    I think that much of the problem with some of the rabid gays is that they wish they were Tom Daley’s older man. Jealousy is certainly playing a part. Personally he doesn’t do it for me but I can see why all these people would fancy him. Another reason for such a big deal being made out of this particular age gap relationship is because I think people love to be outraged or unimpressed by things. Some of it is so feigned that it’s almost amusing. All I can really say to that is people should get over themselves. Live and let live.

    There’s always going to be the haters; people who don’t agree with age gap relationships and say they shouldn’t happen. The only advice I have for those people is that they shouldn’t knock it until they have tried it. I don’t believe in passing judgement on people’s relationships and wish more people could be like that.

    After all, you can’t help who you fall in love with.

     

    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.

  • OPINION | Don’t blame the gay weather man

    So as I woke today, head banging after too much wine last night, I opened my emails to the news that David Silvester, a UK Independence Party councillor had claimed yesterday that the UK’s recent bad weather has been caused by, no wait for it, the legalisation of same-sex marriage!

    After my initial shock and making sure I had actually woken up and wasn’t still dreaming, I actually couldn’t stop laughing and find this extremely amusing. I mean come on!

    Hold on to your hats people…. EXTREME WEATHER WARNING! Tonight for the first time, just about half past ten. For the first time in history it’s gonna start rainin’ men!

    The absurd claims this clown is making is that the country was suffering storms after David Cameron had ‘acted arrogantly against the gospel’. In a letter written to the Henley Standard, he stated ‘The scriptures make it abundantly clear that a Christian nation that abandons its faith and acts contrary to the Gospel will be beset by natural disasters such as storms, disease, pestilence and war.’ This looney who is the councillor of Henley-on-Thames also advised he had written to the prime minister in April 2012 to warn him this was going to happen.

    I hate to be the bearer of bad news and give this fool the rude awakening he needs but further bad weather has been predicted so it doesn’t look like the legalisation of same-sex marriage is going anywhere! The deluded councillor has also told BBC Radio Berkshire in an interview ‘…I believe as a Christian I should love gay people and indeed, I do. My prayer for them is they will be healed.’ He went on to say ‘It is a spiritual disease… it’s not what I say, it’s what the Bible says.’

    All I can say is, it is not us gays that need praying for you knob, it’s the poor people of your constituency.

    A spokesperson for the UK Independence Party said yesterday that the party did not share Mr Silvester’s views but defended his right to state them. They seemed to have changed their tune today as according to Sky News he has been suspended. Well, I hear the Westboro Baptist Church is currently recruiting.

    The stupidity of some people never fails to amaze me!

    You’re never going to get a rainbow, without a little rain!

     

    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.

  • OPINION | Gays Welcome Just Stay Away From Our Children

    In a vastly seemingly uneducated statement, and one that shows a complete lack of understanding, the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin welcomes the gays to Russia, as long as we away from children.

    With all due respect Mr Putin, it’s a bit of an oxymoronic statement, to be honest. You’re welcome to come to our country – yet you’re basically calling the entire gay community child abusers, by lumping homosexuality and paedophilia in the same sentence – a sure fire way to induce a completely opposite response from welcoming on the streets of Russia.

    If all else fails trot out the ‘gays will harm/recruit/abuse our children’ (delete as appropriate) line. One that is highly offensive and shows a true lack of understanding of the facts.

    Despite the statistics show that heterosexuals are the most likely culprits of child abuse, Putin shows his true colours (a very grey rainbow) that he is incredibly uneducated on the matter of homosexuality and child abuse for that matter.

    Eventually, propaganda or no, gay children will turn into gay teens and will, yes eventually turn into gay adults. For you see Vladimir our sexuality is not a choice, but your misrepresentation of us is. No amount of persuasion by a gay adult will change a person’s mind about their sexuality, just as years of heterosexual propaganda does not effect the feelings of a gay person. It doesn’t matter how many times we gays see ‘traditional relationships’ in our day-to-day lives, we still turn out the way that we are. Which shows that sexual identity propaganda doesn’t work – and anyway how do you propagandise a child?

    A Homosexualist: Hello child – be gay!

    Child: No!

    A Homosexualist: Oh go on…

    Child: No!

    A Homosexualist: Can you spell Propaganda?

    Child: Can I have alphabeti spaghetti for tea?

    So gay people won’t be subjected to harassment at the Sochi Olympics next month, as long as we stay away from children – to be honest Putin’s statement doesn’t fill me with a warm fuzzy welcoming feeling. In fact it feels as though his welcoming statement is inciting wrongful judgement on gay people.

    “We do not have a ban on non-traditional sexual relationships,” said Putin in comments reported by Russian agencies. “We have a ban on the propaganda of homosexuality and paedophilia. I want to underline this. Propaganda among children. These are absolutely different things – a ban on something or a ban on the propaganda of that thing.”

    Sorry sir, but you have already harassed the overwhelming majority of us homosexuals who aren’t interested in children – or even talking about homosexuality to children. To me, that’s just warped and if you’re the person who jumps straight to that conclusion, perhaps that says more about you – than it does of me.

    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.

  • 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.

  • COLUMN: Dogging

    The only time I’ve ever contemplated getting myself tattooed was when I owned a dog. I considered having a banner reading: “Never Get Another Dog, Ever”, on my arm. This was in order to remind myself of the total ball ache that pet ownership could bring and stop me in my tracks in moments of temptation.

    (more…)

  • JAMES ARTHUR: ‘I’m Not A Homophobe Anymore’ – Forgive and Forget?

    I think we’ll be the judge of that James Arthur… Are we ready to forgive and forget?

    Disgraced former X Factor Winner James Arthur speaking at a gig, hopes his new single will be picked up by radio after the last single performed terribly, reaching number 19.
    Arthur hit the headlines last year after releasing a ‘diss’ rap containing anti-gay lyrics.
    During an Edinburgh gig, in which he introduced his new single Get Down, it is reported that he said:
    ‘This one will hopefully get played on the radio, cause I’m not a homophobe any more.’
    I mean it must be true, even Rylan Clark has defended the Impossible singer.
    What do you think? Forgive And Forget, or hold a grudge like a dog with a bone?

    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.

  • COLUMN | Life before and after ‘My Transsexual Summer’ – LEWIS HANCOX

    So I’m sat here in bed, sore, swollen and slightly nauseous from all the painkillers. I have various tubes coming out of me for various reasons and just thinking about them makes me lose my appetite. I’ll be honest, I’m not always an optimistic person and I often take things in life for granted (who doesn’t?) but as I use my seemingly endless spare time to reflect, I start to think about how fortunate I am… how I’m surrounded by loving people… how I have a whole future of opportunities… and how far I’ve come in the past three years. Three years ago I could only dream of being in the position I am now – and by that I don’t mean bed bound, sporting surgical stockings, willing on the day I can eventually take a shower – I’m talking about the much bigger picture.

    I entered 2011 with no particular expectations or hopes. I wouldn’t say I was content but I’d accepted my life for what it was. I’d already dropped out of uni so I wasn’t destined for greatness. The dreams I had as a kid of working for Disney, making it big in Hollywood – probably not gonna happen without a B.A, right? I was working part-time at an arts and crafts shop so at least it was a vaguely creative area… ish. I loved my co-workers though, they became like family. They were so supporting of my transition from female to male and I owe most of my confidence to them. I needed their support even more so since the local Primary Care Trust turned down my request to fund my chest surgery – the next vital step in my transition.

    I appealed, I spoke with the woman in charge personally, I sent suicide threats, I did everything I could think of. It didn’t matter. They said a double mastectomy was not a part of the gender reassignment process the PCT consider funding. Lower surgery is funded however. Trust St. Helens to be the one town in the whole country who have things totally backwards. Now it wasn’t only my dreams that had come to a standstill… it was my transition. It’s easy to see why I predicted 2011 was going to be a pretty uneventful year… I predicted wrongly.

    It all started with an email around Spring time titled ‘Channel 4’. That sure caught my attention. A TV producer had found my awkward vlogs on YouTube and apparently decided I was fitting for an upcoming reality show all about transgender people. I phoned her and the next thing I knew I had a TV crew in my living room, then I was on route to a huge mill house in Bedford where I met six other trans folk, some of whom became my best friends! I’d never knowingly met another trans person before – partly the reason I wanted to be involved in the show. I also had an urge to prove wrong all the prejudiced people out there and spread awareness of trans issues. I can’t pretend it was solely for unselfish reasons though… I had always been fascinated by the media and I revelled in the opportunity to become a TV personality. Who knew what could come of it? Maybe it wasn’t too late to make something of myself after all.

    ‘My Transsexual Summer’ had much more of an impact than myself and the other contributors could ever imagine. Since it aired in Autumn of that year we were being recognised left, right and centre by people of all ages, backgrounds and identities! Even the most unlikely viewers would come up to me in my small-minded hometown and congratulate me as though they knew me personally. People I’d never met before seemed genuinely touched by how open and honest I’d been on national television. I had a lot of ‘wow, I’d never be able to tell you were born a girl’ and a shed full of beard compliments. Then there were the people that approached me not because of their disbelief that I was trans but because I’d inspired them to live an authentic life, or even just because they liked my personality. Whether I inspired or entertained people, it still meant I affected them one way or another and there’s no better feeling.

    The amazingly generous public contributed towards my chest surgery fund and in only two weeks after the fourth and final episode aired I had a whopping £6000! Stephen Fry and Graham Norton donated online – I love telling people that, it never gets old (to me). I began 2012 with a new chest and a new found self esteem. A UK club tour awaited me… ‘BRING IT ON!’ would sum up my attitude. Let me tell you, having bouncers shuffle you from the club entrance to the VIP section to try avoid fans mobbing you is a very surreal experience. Free drinks, dancing the night away, feeling like you’re somebody… if I could go back and do it all again, I would in a heartbeat.

    Like the domino effect, one good thing led to another and I met my soon-to-be girlfriend in the Summer. Sophie Moore was like no other. It began with a Facebook message – Sophie had watched My Transsexual Summer and wanted to get in touch with a few kind words. A few kind words led to back and forth, essay-style messages and a few months later we met up in London. Despite Sophie living down South while I was all the way up in the North West, I knew from the start this was vastly different to my previous flings. I have many a terrifying tale to tell about ex-girlfriends and if I was still the bitter lemon I once was I’d probably divulge… but a year and a half in with Sophie and I feel like I’ve never known anything but her.

    With what seemed like pure miracles finding me over the course of two years, I started to believe anything was possible. I started to believe in myself again. I don’t often consider myself a brave person but there are a few plunges I’ve taken in my life that remind me I can be. Deciding to finally leave St. Helens and pursue my dreams is one of them. I applied to university again and got onto a film making course! I left my Mum’s house, quit my job at the art shop and moved in with Sophie in Buckinghamshire. In a year I’ve made films to be proud of and I’m doing well at uni for once – I’m as ambitious as when I was a kid again. I have a passion for story telling and entertaining. I’ve been writing comedy films and pushing my filmmaking to new limits, confidently contacting people within the industry as though I’m worthy of a reply. It’s all about confidence and a positive outlook, believing the universe can be good to you and not spending your time mulling over mishaps and regrets.

    In combining my creativity with my status as a transgender advocate, I teamed up with Raphael Fox (who I met on the set of My Transsexual Summer) and together we have created the ‘My Genderation’ film project that won us a place on the Independent On Sunday’s Pink List. The series of short films explore transgender and gender variant people in a way that the mainstream media has never before – with sensitivity, creativity and most of all, empathy. We’ve had one film endorsed by the BBC and have some upcoming work that will potentially air on Channel 4. See, I could be all ‘woe is me’ about being born transgender, I mean, it certainly isn’t an easy ride… but without having starred in My Transsexual Summer I would have never been given such a platform to showcase my films and get them recognised. Fox and I have received many messages from My Genderation viewers telling us how inspirational and helpful the films have been in one way or another – we couldn’t ask for a better response.

    So there you have it. A summary of the past three years of my life. Three years that shocked and surprised me with every twist and turn. It’s so easy to lose hope when your life appears to be moving backwards, or moving nowhere at all… but I’ve learned that in reality we’re always moving forwards and there’s always the unexpected waiting for you around that next corner. As I type this I’m reminding myself it’s true. I don’t want to be forever knows as ‘that transman from My Transsexual Summer’. I want to be a writer, an actor and a director. I know I’m aiming pretty high, some people tell me too high. However, I think I’ve already proved anything is possible and I’m slowly making a name for myself in the filmmaking world. I was walking down a corridor in uni last month and was greeted with my own face on a massive poster hanging on the wall! I was in the ‘London South Bank spotlight’ for having one of the My Genderation films recognised by the BBC before even entering my second year. It’s moments like that I realise I must be doing something right.

    I’ve not yet explained the reason I’m bed bound and full of tubes… kinda sounds like I’ve been abducted by aliens for experimentation. Well that just isn’t the case, although I have felt pretty spaced out since I went in for my lower surgery seven days ago! That’s right, I’ve done it – I’ve completed my medical transition! I opted for a type of surgery called metoidioplasty. With that I had a full hysterectomy plus removal of the other ‘female’ parts inside me. It feels surreal that those organs are all gone. Then again, it feels surreal that they were even there in the first place. I can’t see the benefits of the surgery just yet because everything is so swollen and painful but I know in a few months time when I’m as right as rain I’ll be so thankful I got it over and done with. There’ll be no more surgery to get in the way of my ambitions. I’m entering 2014 with a lust for life and more determination to achieve my filmmaking dreams than ever before.

    Visit Lewis’s Website: http://www.lewishancox.com

     

    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.

  • OPINION | Revising The Resolutions

    So here we are again. The start of a new year – And how do many people celebrate the coming of a new year? By looking at what they are not going to do over the next 12 months.

    No matter how you look at it, people who make resolutions are looking to give something up. Whether it be dieting (giving up food), quitting the cigarettes (self-explanatory) or even something such as getting fit (giving up slobbing on the sofa), they all involve getting rid of something out of your life. In keeping with the tradition, I have been giving some thought as to what I am giving up for the next 12 months.

    For me, as someone who does not smoke, gamble, do drugs, engage in criminal activities, conducts himself as a serial philander, pushes old ladies over in the street or generally engages in behaviour that could be considered as anti-social either by myself or by others, I am left with little choice but a rather obvious one. Part of me thinks that it is ok to be carrying those few extra pounds, simply because I can’t be bothered in getting myself out of the dent in the sofa cushion (which has to be said, has found itself nicely moulded into the shape of my backside – the very fact that when you stand up, there is a perfect imprint of my rear end still hollowed out in the cushion suggests that I need to get off the sofa more or that I need better foam cushions in the sofa… I have a feeling it is not the latter), but then there is another part of me which knows that for my health and happiness I should really get out in the fresh air a little more.

    The problem that comes with this type of resolution is that they often commence with the best intentions at New Year and last anything up to the 3rd or 4th of January. That said, placing too much pressure on yourself can be counter-productive, so as opposed to calling them New Year’s resolutions, and I going to term them as “objectives”. Furthermore, instead of being too specific in terms of my goal, I am going to attempt to change aspects of my lifestyle around my goal which (I hope) is a positive distraction from the primary objective. So here are my objectives (which may or may not be adhered to).

    1. I am going to try and swim for an hour at least three times per week

    2. I am going to reduce the number of times I have biscuits for breakfast

    3. I will make sure that my wine cellar reduces its stock in a more steady and elongated way ie. I need to stop downing wine at the weekends like it is going out of fashion. Emptying the wine cellar is not an Olympic sport (although if it was, I would be a gold medallist).

    4. I will make and stick to a shopping list as closely as possible without getting distracted by chocolate in shiny wrappings

    5. I will reluctantly accept that Pizza is not one of the basic food groups.

    6. My secretary will no longer be a bad influence when it comes to our cups of tea which, by her rules, seem to compulsorily include some form of chocolate or cake.

    7. Cheese will not be the cornerstone of my diet.

    So there it is. My last piece of writing of 2013, and one which commits me to a number of changes That said, regardless of your resolutions/objectives/panicked promises at ten seconds to midnight, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all every success with whatever changes, goals or resolutions you make and most importantly to wish you all a very happy 2014, which is filled with good health, laughter and happiness.

     

    Opinions 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.

  • COLUMN | Chris Bridges’ That Was The Year That Was

    It’s that time of year when we all get reflective, and occasionally sentimental and mawkish, thinking about the past year. I’m definitely not going to do that. Instead, I thought I’d share a few cultural highlights of 2013. I’ve waded through some pretty grim stuff and also been lucky enough to witness some totally stunning stuff. Here’s my gay Top 5 of 2013:

    1) Cabaret: The Black Cat Cabaret
    As sleek and slinky as a black cat stalking the back streets of Paris, this is a diverse mix of burlesque, novelty acts, dance, comedy and music. It’s definitely atmospheric and often dark and enticing. Featuring a variety of hosts including the alluring Dusty Limits, this show played to packed houses at the remarkable Café de Paris in Leicester Square. 2014 sees new line-ups and exciting new venues. Check out the itinerary here: http://www.theblackcat.info

    2) Dance: Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty. If you weren’t fortunate enough to see this in the flesh then the television screening on Christmas day was well worth seeing. Matthew Bourne dazzles as ever with inventive sets, eclectic choreography and clever reworking of classics. Catch up with the latest projects here: http://www.new-adventures.net

    3) Theatre: The Pride. This was an exceptional play with comedy, pathos and a thought provoking message. Justifiably praised by critics, this was a play that cleverly explored the parallels between gay life in the 1950s and the present day. Look out for upcoming shows at the Trafalgar here: http://www.trafalgar-studios.co.uk/

    4) Film: Behind the Candelabra. High camp, pianos, Matt Damon in tight trunks? What more do you need to know? Oh, it was actually quite moving in places too as well as being hilariously funny. Buy it here.

    5) Comedy: Scott Capuro. One of the most naughty and funniest of our openly gay comedians, he’s a pleasure, albeit an uncomfortable pleasure at times, to witness. Check out his next dates here: http://scottcapurro.com/wp28/upcoming-shows

    2014 is definitely going to be an exciting year for culture. I’ll keep you posted with hot tips.