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Mickey Rourke Admits He’s “Little Bit Gay”
Gareth Thomas’s BFF, Mickey Rourke, has come out as a “little bit gay.”
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RESTAURANT REVIEW | Nipa Thai
The award-winning restaurant Nipa Thai is situated on the first floor of mid-century icon Lancaster London.
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The Independent Published A Picture Of Out Politicians And Some Readers Aren’t Happy
The UK has something to celebrate. It has one of highest number of openly Lesbian, Gay Or Bisexual politicians in the world.
The UK’s political landscape is very different from the rest of the world. For one, we have over 32 out lesbian, gay and bisexual MPs, but some, it seems, aren’t happy about that diversity.
The Independent on Sunday newspaper today published a picture with 28 out MPs and Peers to celebrate LGBT history month.
Along with the published picture, which featured 28 of the out politicians two further MPs came out today; the Scottish National Party’s business spokeswoman, Hannah Bardell, and Labour’s shadow Welsh Secretary, Nia Griffith both made the brave steps in opening up about their sexuality.
However browsing at the comments it seems quite a few aren’t happy about the number of out politicians in the UK.
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COMMENT | Truly Madly Deeply
Roses are red violets are blue if you’re not sane and sorted no one’s gonna f*ck you!
Maybe I was blissfully unaware, growing up as a teen in the 90s, but the only ‘type’ of gays I was aware of – were lesbians, gays, bisexuals and non-gays/straight. It never occurred to me to categorize them with regards to their age, weight, bodily hair or lack of it.
I see it as open minded, others may say I’m a whore but I was never really interested in a particular type. My preference was creative guys with nice eyes, who laughed a lot and kissed well. That’s a pretty wide spectrum.
Current tribes and trends – daddies, twinks, bears, cubs and otters etc. do make me chuckle especially considering I was once a beaver at scout group!
Just as I have got my head around these new labels bam! Along comes sane and sorted.
What does it mean to declare yourself sane and sorted?
I don’t think I’m alone when I say that I am far from sane and a long way off sorted. Although gay men, especially, seem to be afraid to admit this.
So much is expected of us based upon stereotype – we are the funny ones, the ones who are flamboyant, the ones with disposable incomes, creative types, the best friend a girl could have and of course we are but also we are so much more. To me to – be gay is to be courageous and brave.
It is easy to forget that less than 50 years ago it was illegal to be gay in this country. It still is in places around the World. At some point in our lives there is going to be a time that we realise we feel differently to our families and friends and need the process of ‘coming out’ which can significantly impact our mental health.
It’s still so difficult to be gay. You’d think that you would automatically find encouragement and support from other gay men but instead we find ourselves standing alongside these Spartans chanting “No Fems” “Non Scene” “straight acting” trying to take us down in a spiral of their internalised homophobia. To me they are an unlabelled trend, emerging as self-confessed superior gays.
You may not find effeminate guys to be attractive but it is ok for guys to be camp. You may not enjoy going to gay bars or clubs but those that do should not be made to feel there is something wrong with socialising in these places. What ‘sort’ of person discredits another by how much more they are/have/earn in comparison?
The statistics show that the LGBTQ community are more likely to suffer with mental health issues. As if our lives aren’t hard enough sometimes.
I suffer with mental illness. I have done for years and until last year I never really accepted that or sought proper help until it was too late and I had no choice but to face it head on.
This had severe, damaging consequences on my relationships solely because I was in denial and tried to, for too long, hold it together.
Ultimately my relationships suffered because I didn’t take care of myself mentally. I was dishonest and scared because I thought that by admitting I had issues, there would be implications on my love life but it was by not acknowledging them that caused wreckage.
Pre ‘coming out’ with mental illness, I was a hopeless romantic. Post mental illness I’m slightly pessimistic and think cupid’s arrows are prejudice towards me and fellow mad hatters. I do worry whether I will be able to find love again purely down to the fact that I have ownership of a clinical mental health diagnosis.
I’d like to think that being open about my struggles reinforces my eligibility to ultimately find a relationship because it’s not a skeleton in the closet waiting to pop out but I do understand it’s not a great selling point. Buy one box of crazy frogs get another free!
Initially I really struggled with being a gay man who didn’t live up to the expectations of sane and sorted but It’s very clear that mental health is potentially more destructive if it’s kept a secret and untreated. So making people feel inadequate if they do have issues is only going to promote suppressive behaviour.
There’s still so much stigma around mental health.
Once upon a time I was one of those guys who wouldn’t have necessarily considered dating someone with known mental health issues. Now the shoe is on the other foot and I’m looking for the other right one to complete the ‘pair.’ Hopefully for a happier ever after.
A proudly not so sane and not sorted Gaz Goulding.
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BOOK REVIEW | Robot Takeover
There’s something a little bit camp about robots isn’t there? From the buxom 1950’s homeliness of The Jetsons’ Rosey to the inane clatter and chatter of C3PO from Star Wars, to the out and out diva that is Borg Queen from Star Trek.
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FILM REVIEW | Freeheld
★★ Freeheld | A dying female police officer struggles to get her benefits passed on to her female domestic partner in the new film ‘Freeheld.’
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THEATRE REVIEW| Single Spies
★★★★★ Single Spies | Divided in to two separate plays –‘An Englishman Abroad’ and ‘A Question of Attribution’, ‘Single Spies’ conveys an era in which spying and mistrust was a fashion statement.
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Anastacia’s I’m Outta Love Gets The 2016 Treatment
Hold on to your hats. Anastacia’s I’m Outta Love gets a smash remix by Big Fish.
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THEATRE REVIEW | The 39 Steps National Tour
★★★ The 39 Steps | A murdered spy, a misty Scottish moor, a dastardly plot and a daring escape (coupled with a stiff upper lip and rather attractive pencil moustache) are the order of the day as dashing hero, Richard Hannay, uncovers the secrets of The 39 Steps in this knockabout comedy.
Based on the book and the Hitchcock film of the same name (and with more than a few nods to the Hitchcock legacy, including a cameo from the man himself), The 39 Steps is a classic spy thriller which finds our hero, Richard Hannay, falsely accused of the murder of a seductive spy, leading him to go on the run to Scotland and to uncover a dastardly plot to smuggle secrets out of the country.
This playful, tongue in cheek production takes a gentle comedy sideswipe at the spy films of the 30’s and 40’s with a knowing smile and an approach which displays a genuine affection for the source material and the genre as a whole. But the twist with this production is that the 130 characters that adorn the stage are played by just four actors, who give a whistle stop tour of the major plot points and protagonists at breakneck speed.
In a style that is not too far removed from the deadpan delivery of the “Airplane” or “The Naked Gun” films and with just a hint of “The League Of Gentlemen” – the rapid delivery and scattergun approach to the stream of gags ensure that if you don’t find the last joke funny, there is another on the way in a few seconds. The cast play their roles with a completely straight bat, taking the narrative deadly seriously and seemingly oblivious to the chaos and ridiculousness that surrounds them.
The use of mime, limited props, quick change costumes and clever staging compel the audience to use their imagination to an extent, but by buying into the premise and presentation, the audience is well rewarded. It was hard to fault the physical performances of the cast who were clearly so well-rehearsed that the switching between characters was second nature; and who were all clearly thoroughly enjoying themselves on stage.
As with all comedy, not every joke hit the mark, but there was a fair balance of comments, actions or situations which led to a smile, a groan, a guffaw or a belly laugh. Despite a few of the repeated gags starting to nudge their way towards outstaying their welcome, the main criticism of the show was that it was sometimes difficult to hear the script, either as a result of quiet diction from the actors, the fast paced nature of the script or due to their indeterminable caricature accents, but these issues were soon passed and soon forgiven as the next comedic moment rolled along.
Happily, the show stays on the right side of silly fun, delivers a joke-per-minute ratio which far exceeds most productions over the course of the show’s 100 minute running time and rightly retains its reputation on its tenth anniversary tour.
The 39 Steps plays at Sheffield Theatres until 20th February 2016.
