THEGAYUK

Tag: Issue 23

  • MYSTYLE | Thomas Lauderdale

    MYSTYLE | Thomas Lauderdale

    Meet Portland resident Thomas Lauderdale, the rather fabulous founder and pianist of the multi- million-selling pop-jazz group, Pink Martini. Thomas had an interesting upbringing when his father became the subject of multiple talk shows when he came out as gay. Thomas was just 10 at the time. His father went on to become the first openly gay minister in his denomination.

    Thomas Lauderdale
    CREDIT: Autumn De Wilde / PR Supplied

     

    WATCH: I Like To Watch.
    FRAGRANCE: Victory Wolf in Portland. We are creating a Limited edition in partnership with Victory Wolf Pink Martini presents…
    CLOTHING BRAND(S):
    UPTOWN: I have two out ts one is Hugo Boss suit in grey or navy. And then Vintage Football pants from Army and navy Surplus store.
    DOWNTOWN: There is a hot new gay strip club in Portland called Stag PDX. It is the first club in Portland where men can strip fully.
    FAVOURITE DRINK: Hello Goodbye which is a drink we can get in Portland. What’s in it? Bacardi Silver Rum/ roasted coconut water/ lime.
    FAVOURITE RESTAURANT: Lúc Lác Vietnamese Kitchen in Portland Oregon. – cheapest and best.
    FAVOURITE PLACE TO GO ON A FIRST DATE: Rooster Rock which is a nude beach where the Columbia River meets the Gorge. Check out my Instagram on thomasmlauderdale.
    FAVOURITE TRAVEL DESTINATION: Hawaii – the beaches are amazing.
    FAVOURITE BOOK: A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Tool.
    FAVOURITE TV SHOW: I don’t have a TV.
    THREE TOP SONGS ON MY PLAYLIST: “Everybody’s Talkin” – Midnight Cowboy “Rivers of Babylon” – Boney M “Vera Lynn” – Now is the Hour
    FAVOURITE GADGET: Music Box.
    QUOTE TO LIVE BY: “We may not all break the Ten Commandments, but we are certainly all capable of it. Within us lurks the breaker of all laws, ready to spring out at the first real opportunity. Virtuous people are simply those who have either not been tempted sufficiently, because they live in a vegetative state, or because their purposes are so concentrated in one direction that they have not had the leisure to glance around them.” – Isadora Duncan, “My Life”

     

    Pink Martini are on tour. www.pinkmartini.com

  • POWWOW | 7 real responses to coming out as gay

    POWWOW | 7 real responses to coming out as gay

    We asked our readers and writers “Who was the first person you came out to and what was the response?” Their responses may bring heart into your life.

    what are typical coming out as gay responses in the UK
    ©-Ruslan117-Depositphotos

     

    FINE… but I’m not…

    DANIEL –

    I told my best mate that I’m gay when I was 15. He said, “that’s fine, but I’m not” and that was the end of the discussion. We’re still great mates today. The best reaction I had to coming out was from a friend who shrugged her shoulders and said, “and…?” as if it was no big deal and she couldn’t care less. Really it shouldn’t be a big deal and we shouldn’t need to come out. Perhaps one day people won’t need to.

     

    Out of my first day of a new job

    ANDY

    I told the woman I was working with on my first day at a new job. It was a fresh start and she had no preconceptions about me so it was easier to tell a stranger. I was 21 so kinda old to be coming out really. She wasn’t bothered so it was nice to be finally open about how I had been feeling for years.

     

    My girlfriend did not take it well..

    SEBASTIAN

    My girlfriend – she destroyed her own bathroom.

     

    Mother’s always know part 1

    GLEN

    I told my mum when I was 17 years old. Her response was , “I’m your Mother and I already know you are gay, any decent Mother would know her child”.

     

    Mother’s always know part 2…

    DARREN

    My mum asked me. “Are you gay?” when I was 19. But I think most mothers already know.

     

    I’ve been to paradise, but I’ve never been to me.

    GRAHAM

    I guess the first person was myself. It took a while for me to be comfortable with that. The first people I then told was in the middle of an acting class whilst training at Drama School. The lesson was about getting your message across to an audience and the lecture was making people stand up and tell everyone something. He picked on me and so I stood up and came out with not too much thought about it. The room went quiet with little eye contact and I thought ‘what the hell have I just done’, but afterwards everyone kept coming up to say well done and that they were all proud of me. My sexuality wasn’t an issue for any of them and I’d never felt so free to be myself…

     

    See Mothers do know…

    MICHELLE

    Trust me, mothers know, it’s the torture of waiting for your child to tell you that’s di cult, watching all that angst is heartbreaking.

  • LOOK AT ME | Sheila Simmonds

    LOOK AT ME | Sheila Simmonds

    Sheila Simmonds is one #BusyLady. She’s a TV legend on a Home Shopping channel as well as an international recording artiste. She’s a huge fan of Polyester and she’s always dressed head to toe in her, now famous, trademark baby pink trouser suit and trusty flats. All the way from Woolloomooloo, Sheila Rocks Our Wheels.

    interview with Sheila Simmonds
    CREDIT: Supplied

    TGUK: So is this the first time you’ve done an interview with a gay publication?
    SS: Oh, I don’t know. No, I think I’ve done quite a few. I’ve done ‘Horse & Hound’, ‘Woman’s Weekly’…

    TGUK: So which one or who is your favourite Kardashian?
    SS: Now, favourite Kardashian. I was going to say the one that had a sex change but she’s not a Kardashian is she? I think it’s got to be Rob actually. He just kind of goes thin and then goes fat. Then he disappears for a while then comes back with a girlfriend looking really hot. Then he disappears and he comes back with a sandwich looking really fat. It’s the unpredictability of Rob that I like.

    TGUK: Is having a tight body and a fit outlook important to you Sheila?
    SS: Well, personally, it doesn’t really matter because I’ve now a range of clothing from ‘#WithTheLady’ range which are all built-in with gussets. So it gives you the option to eat whatever you want. To me it’s not important, to any of the people who wear me clothes, it’s not important but I guess if you’re a Kardashian it’s not important either, is it really? So, no. I’d say no on that one.

    TGUK: Sheila, it must be important for you as a brand to keep healthy, keep fit and keep a trim waist?
    SS: Well I’m Australian you see. We have a varied diet. That keeps us nice and trim as well. A little bit of kangaroo meat, eucalyptus leaves that kind of stuff. Bit of dirt. Fosters lager… You get your nutrients and your five-a-day in just a tin of Fosters these days.

    TGUK: Do you know what sounding is?
    SS: Sounding, no I’ve no idea. Tell me. Enlighten me, darling.

    TGUK: Would it surprise you to learn that it’s when men, it’s a man thing, put metal rods down their pee-holes?
    SS: No, it wouldn’t surprise… I mean what is the purpose of it? Do you kind of tune in? Is it like a radio receiver? Do you kind of put your ear to it and then you’ve got a little Radio 1 coming through? Is that what it is? That’s what I like about the gays, is that they’ll try anything. Any hole’s an experiment isn’t it, with the gays?

    TGUK: Tell me, are you a fan of Madonna?
    SS: Oh, God I love Madge. Do you know we actually went out for lunch, well she invited me over for dinner the other day. We’ve known each other for years. Back to the Woolloomooloo Cabbage Festival in 1975. I came third.

    TGUK: Where did she come?
    SS: She was unplaced.

    TGUK: Liza Minnelli, is she someone that you would look up to?
    SS: I’d probably look down on Liza because she’s shorter than I am, and we don’t get on.

    TGUK: Oh no? Is there a story?
    SS: No. There is a story but I’m not sure if can repeat it right now. Let’s just say it involves a wok.

    TGUK: Have you ever…
    A)     Facebook stalked an ex for two hours?
    B)     Sat alone in the dark with a bottle of red
    wine singing along to Celine Dion?
    C)     Destroyed a man’s wardrobe with scissors because it seemed like the right thing to do?
    SS: B, but that was only because me money ran out on the electric key.

    TGUK: Do you like a bit of Celine Dion?
    SS: I love a bit of Celine Dion. Do you know what me favourite one is, I do like to do karaoke nights actually, is ‘My Heart Will Go On’. People throw ice cubes at me while the Titanic sinks it’s fantastic.

    TGUK: What’s the most outrageous thing you’ve ever bought?
    SS: Twitter followers… and do you know the most outrageous thing about it is, I bought quite a few thousand, three days later they all disappeared! I went from popular to nothing just like that, overnight. Mind you I only paid seven dollars so…

    TGUK: Who’s your style icon? Because you’ve a very strong sense of style it has to be said.
    SS: I do, yes, I do. Well, I’d say, yes, it’s me.

    TGUK: Have you ever dumped a boy because his boy parts were too small?
    SS: I don’t know, but I’ve dumped on a boy… oh no don’t write that one, that’s a bit sick. No, but you know, I had to dump a guy because his bits were too big! I know. I looked at him, I said, ‘Strewth, strike a light and throw a seven’. It was terrible. I thought that’s not going anywhere near me so I palmed him off to me sister Jean. She’s quite happy with him, they’re still together actually.

    TGUK: What do you think about drag queens?
    SS: Do you know what? I don’t mind because all of my clothing are made for women or men that like to dress as women. You know I think of that as more revenue for me really! I love it.

    TGUK: God’s answer to gay men is…
    A)    Blue Nun with a Babycham chaser;
    B)    Tom Daley in his tiniest costume; or
    C)    The ability to light up a room with a single soft-tone light bulb?
    SS: I’ve got to go for the Blue Nun with the Babycham chaser because that just sounds delicious.

    Follow Sheila on Twitter twitter.com/SheilaSimmonds and don’t forget to log into Facebook every Wednesday for her Facebook Live show www.facebook.com/pages/Sheila-Simmonds/

     

    This interview was taken from Issue 23. Never miss another issue. Subscribe for FREE click here

  • INTERVIEW | Anton Stephan

    In deep with Anton Stephans

    Anton Stephans is back in the theatre. After a year of non-stop X Factor appearances, tours and general madness he’s back to his first love – Musicals. He’s about to star in the re-staging of Moby Dick! The Musical, at the Union Theatre in London. We meet in the lush surroundings of a posh eatery in central London. He orders a healthy chicken salad and looks intently at me. He has incredibly bright eyes, an infectious naughty cackle and a very open soul. Within seconds we’re talking about dirty mags and sticky floors in Soho… I can tell this is going to go down well.

    What kind of student were you?
    I was always in trouble. I liked to ask lots of questions, and I liked to explore things, so if we went on a trip to London, me and my friends would go into Soho… I’ve not told anyone this before. My friends and I would sneak off and go in to Soho. It was when it was fun. It was dark. It was seedy. When you went, your feet stuck to the floor. We’d go in, and you know they have all those magazines as well, so we’d go in looking at filthy mags. Of course I was very inquisitive. I wanted to know what people do. I found out.

    So no teacher’s pet then?
    No. I don’t think anyone would call me teacher’s pet. I was more the person that would get on your nerves because I would ask so many questions. I just wanted to know more about the world. Although I’d been taught things, things I wanted to know then, they weren’t teaching.

    What’s your happiest memory?
    I know this might sound cheesy, but I got home today and my aunt came round to the house, she said, “How are you?” “I’m really happy at the moment. I’m really happy.” I’m happiest when I’m working. I think men should work.

    Really?
    Yeah, men should work. If we’re not working, we get up to all sorts. We should be working. The devil makes work for idle hands.

    Are you a happy person?
    I’m generally a very positive, happy person. I think nothing is forever. I’ve learned that everything changes. If you hold on to things too tightly and you live in the past, that’s where you become miserable. You can’t fix what you did yesterday. I can’t fix what I just did. I can only go forward and be the best I can be now.

    Did you get that from a book?
    No, no, no. Let go of your mistakes very quickly. Other people might not. Other people will hold on to them. Let go of the mistakes very quickly and go forward because those things are going to bind you. Those things hold you back. If you let it go, and go, “Okay. I made that mistake. I got it very wrong. If I do this and keep going, it gets better.”

    What are you most afraid of?
    Not achieving the personal things that I want. In my life, career-wise, things are going incredibly well. Thank God. You got a rabbit’s foot?

    Are you more a fan of meeting people for real or dating apps?
    Apparently, the guy who looks after all my media has found tons of Grindr profiles of me on it.

    What like catfish profiles, pretending to be you?
    I’m thrilled. I hope they’re getting lots of dates.

    What do you think your porn name would be?
    My porn name? Rex Huns.

    What did you want to be when you grew up?
    I always wanted to be an actor.

    What is the most important life lesson you’ve learned?
    Love is everything. It is everything. It is the most important thing we can do for each other that doesn’t cost any money.

    What if the other person’s a complete asshole?
    Love is still good. It’s the best.

    If you could invite three famous people to dinner, dead or alive, who would you invite?
    Oh, my God. Bette Davis. That would be very fun, I really like Tom Cruise… we’ve been chatting on Twitter and Jennifer Hudson. I love her. I love everything about her.

    If you found £50 in the street, what would you do?
    Spend it.

    If you found £45,000 in a suitcase and you were in a park by a bench and you were absolutely certain that you weren’t being watched, what would you do?
    Oh, my God. Well I’d keep it. I would. I’m sorry. I’m that person. Is that an awful thing to say? I’m going to say the truth. I would keep it. I would probably give some to my friends. People I know who need money. Is that really bad? I’d think it was God’s gift. That, my friends, is God’s gift. That is love in action.

    What keeps you awake at night?
    The only thing I get up for is to go to the loo these days.

    What’s the last thing you do at night?
    I write my list every night. I do a list so I know what I’m doing the next day. I’ve never ever, very rarely, have I ticked off all the things on my list that I was supposed to do. That worries me. Sometimes I wake up going, “Really, really should have polished them shoes. Can’t wear them tomorrow!”

    What’s on the bucket list. Top three things?
    Jumping out of an airplane. I’ve always wanted to get into a car and drive from one end of America to the other. I want to go find music in rare places.

    This is slightly personal. When did you first do the deed?
    Such a long time ago. I also had sex with lots of girls, too.

    How would you describe your sexuality?
    I’m gay. I would say having sex with a woman, at the time, was like visiting Paris. Nice place to go. Wouldn’t want to live there. There’s no real centre. Everything’s spread out with lots of attractions.

    Men are more like New York….
    There it is. There’s Times Square.

    Would you change your first experience?
    No. I think everything happens right, and it did. I was very lucky. I am still friends with these people.

    What song would you have played at your funeral?
    Oh, God. I don’t plan on dying ever. That’s the deal, isn’t it?

    If you could go back in history, where would you go?
    Oh, golly. Well, I wouldn’t go back too far. My folk haven’t been dealt very well. I’d be serving you lunch. I wouldn’t go back too far. I think that’s why I like the now!

    What’s the first thing you do every day?
    Brush my teeth. Usually these days I’m getting up very early and going to the gym. I’m doing this new thing, well, new to me, called gymming.

    What annoys you about yourself?
    I wish that I had more control of my upset at injustice, or when someone says something rude, I wish I just had the ability to let them just do it and get away with it, especially on Twitter or social media.

    What’s your best physical feature?
    I don’t know. My smile, I think. Is that a physical feature? That, and I’ve got really great legs!

    Follow Anton on Twitter @AntonStephans and make sure you book tickets for Moby Dick! The Musical. www.uniontheatre.biz

     

    This interview was taken from Issue 23. Never miss another issue by subscribing for FREE

  • October 2016

    October 2016

    Issue 23 TheGayUK

     

    Inside Issue 23

    We sit down with two of the 80’s most iconic pop singers Marilyn and Boy George to talk growing up, family and of course new music. THEN: Get in deep with Anton Stephans, grill our Aussie friend Sheila Simmonds from Woolloomooloo, chat with film director Ira Sachs about homophobic Hollywood and his latest coming-of-age film, Gogglebox Gays Stephen & Chris talk about virginity and Thomas Lauderdale gives us his stylings. Jake takes a tour around Small Town America, Gregg’s been looking at the NHS decisions behind PrEP, Dannii helps with a homophobic flatmate, Daniel offers his pre-wedding stress-busting tips, Jordan’s been whipping up some autumnal delights in the kitchen and Aunty dishes out some “advice” on Halloween parties and how to ask a lad out from the estate.

  • Editor’s Letter | My Coming Out

    I was 20 and at university. It was the week before Christmas and I got dumped. We’d been dating for a year and a half. He was my first love and we had just broken up. It had been a difficult, secretive and tumultuous relationship. I was still fiercely in denial about my sexuality and he was basically a big gay fog horn. Looking back, I was quite jealous of that.

    My insistence that our relationship remained in the closet along with me, would eventually tear us apart. I was so afraid of coming out. Sitting in my parents’ living room, huddled in the corner, I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sleep, I was the walking dead. It’s not quite the image you have for your coming out moment, but as my Mum looked at me, with a worried look, my heart began to beat wildly, I knew this would be the moment. “What’s wrong?” she asked. “Ben* has gone,” I choked.

    Not getting it, she replied, “That’s okay, he’ll be back after the holidays…” “No, he’s really gone,” and with that the floodgates opened. Puzzled she looked at me, and asked, “Is there something you need to tell me?” Through sodden eyes, a clammed up throat, a raging headpounding, I told her that he had been my boyfriend. She sat quietly and listened. She listened as I told her about our relationship. She listened as I blamed myself for this and that. She listened as I wailed that I would never love again. She listened as I started to make coherent sense again.

    I looked up. Wondering what the response would be… And then, thoughtfully, she started to sing. “You’ve got to wash that man right out of your hair…” In that moment, my darkest moment (so dramatic) she had made everything okay. We laughed, (well I was doing that blubbery laughing thing). She knew – I mean she had known from the age of three, but telling her when I felt I couldn’t tell anyone was big, one of the most important moments of my life. It was the moment that I could start living more truthfully.

    *Name changed

    Have you got a coming out story, share your story on our Coming Out archive

    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.

  • 5 cool things | Solar phone charger, Half Hitch Gin and Marilyn

    5 cool things | Solar phone charger, Half Hitch Gin and Marilyn

    Five things we’re totally into this month.

    Groov-e Solar Bank

    best solar panel phone charger

    Dying smartphone batteries are a killer. When 3% becomes a trigger for you, it’s probably time to invest in a portable battery charge. Groov-e has created this rather nifty solar-powered charger meaning you only ever really need the sun to start charging your dead device. Never be caught out again.

    Amazon | £20.99

     

    Banana Tank Top

    Cute Banana vest top

    You’ll go bananas for these new vest shirts from Tiger Stores. Guaranteed to put a smile on anyone’s face be it out clubbing or relaxing at home when you light that first autumnal fire. Just don’t get too hot in it or you’ll have to ‘peel’ it off!

    Tiger Stores | £10.00

     

    Marilyn Love or Money

    When an icon makes a comeback it can sometimes fall completely at, but Marilyn’s musical return, with the aid of Boy George, is a sultry lush track which showcases how wonderful Marilyn’s voice is sounding right now. (Plus he gets very naked in the music video!) It may not be a top 40 commercial radio hit, radio can be terribly ageist (just ask Madonna) but it’s definitely worth adding to your collection and your playlist.

    Amazon | From 99p

     

    Half Hitch Gin

    review of half hitch gin

    Distilled in the heart of London, this is a Gin that’s been reborn in the historic Camden Lock. Black tea, bergamot, wood, hay and pepper make for interestingly sharp and crisp botanicals in what could be a new favourite for the everyday shelf.

    Amazon | £39.95 – 70cl

    Polar A360 Fitness Tracker

    Polar fitness tracker

    This lovely bit of kit ts securely onto the wrist with a double pin clasp. Once you’ve filled in a few details online about your age, height and amount of exercise you actually do, it’ll then sync with this colour touchscreen watch to monitor not only your fitness goals that day but also calories burnt, how you slept and your current heartbeat, which may go up a little when passing other joggers in the park. Looks great and if your exercise for the day is not something you want to look at, well then it also tells you the time!

    Amazon | £154.50

     

  • How They Met: Boy George And Marilyn

    How They Met: Boy George And Marilyn

    In the late 70s, before they became household names and still just teenagers, two pioneers of 80’s queer culture met in a Swiss Cottage flatshare. And yes there was a boy involved.

    When Boy George Met Marilyn
    CREDIT: PR Supplied

    We’re gathered in the basement of a swanky hotel in central London. We’re about to witness the coming together of two of 80’s queer culture’s pioneers. Marilyn and Boy George are about to have a sit down with Kate Flett and 50 journalists.

    M: We met around someone’s (house) I think her name was Jane in Swiss Cottage.
    BG: Punk Jane…

    KF: Nobody had surnames did they?
    M: Punk Jane – Jane was her surname…  (laughter) A mutual friend of ours took me round. I didn’t know what the subtext of the script was, but I was being used by said friend to…
    BG: Piss me off.
    M: That was a bonus…

     

    KF: So there was always a subtext?
    M:  Always a subtext.
    BG: My best friend and I had fallen out and I had been replaced by Marilyn, who was a year younger than me. So replaced by a younger model…
    M: I’ve never grown out of the role.
    BG: My friend was going around with this young blonde person and it was kind of tense.
    M: Very. I was completely unaware of what was going on. I didn’t know the dynamics between (George) and Philip Sallon… It was like walking into a lion’s den. This one (pointing to Boy George) was back-combing his hair and giving me looks, I was so terrified.

     

    Embed from Getty Images

     

    KF: So when was this?
    BG: ’77?
    M: Everything was still in Black and White.
    KF: You were super young.
    M: What are you implying?

    KF: Nothing at all… I just thought it might be ’79 / ’80.
    BG: No no, it may have been the end of ’76!

    KF: You were children!
    BG:  Yes… mental. The second time we met was at a club called the Sombrero, which was a run down 70s disco we used to go to on the weekends. He came with Phillip to this club and I done this whole new look, a complete transformation. So Phillip came up and spoke to me, not realising it was me. As he spoke to me, he realised it was me and kind of ran off. I believe that Marilyn walked up to me and said, “What do you think of Phillip?” which is one of Marilyn’s famous lines when he wants you to bitch about people…
    M: I wanted to know what was going on… that’s why I asked.
    BG: Can we just establish at this point (he) was in full Marilyn Monroe drag.
    M: I still wanted to know what was going on. Since the first meeting and then the second one I had a little more info and I knew there was some kind of… Philip was… I’m editing myself. Philip’s wonderful, he really is wonderful, but he has an opinion, a very strong opinion and his perception of what went on. I like to hear both sides before I make up my own mind. The more info the better.
    BG: You’re padding this out. I was fabulous, you were fabulous, we were destined to be friends.
    M: In a nutshell.
    BG: It was kind of instant really. I loved the way he looked, I think he quite liked the way I looked. At that time, the New Romantic scene was quite tiny, it was a scene with a massive ego. There was only 200 people at the most. So when you met other people that were like you, you tended to kind of befriend them. I just saw another freak and was like, “You’re going to be my friend,” it was kind of destined that we would end up friends.
    M: That’s all great, the way you look and everything, but for me when you look into someone’s eyes, what I see beyond whatever the facade is, that’s the thing that’s important to me. When I looked at him there was a connection…
    BG: Are you being romantic?
    M: It wasn’t that kind of look.

     

    Embed from Getty Images

     

    KF: You just clicked?
    M: On a really deep level… That doesn’t happen very often.

    KF: Where did ‘Marilyn’ come from? Let’s find out how you ended up being in that room with Phillip, wearing your full Marilyn Monroe drag. What’s the journey?
    M: I started off at school. I had huge problems at school. I was hiding. I was always hiding and trying to get through the experience. I had it from every angle. I felt really repressed. I started getting into punk. I was attracted to the freedom of it because I felt so repressed. I started going to these nightclubs and there was this one club, called the Embassy Club. By this time, my hair was bleached and I put on a little bit of makeup and I was sitting on this stool at the bar and there was a group of guys standing next to me and one of them turned round and went, “Oh my god! Look at him!” There was a spotlight above the stool I was perched on. He was going, “Look, he could be in my front room he’s like a work of art!” and for me, who had that repression, it was like, ‘oh my god’ I was used to getting attention, but not that kind of attention. He was going, “Oh, you’re beautiful, I could have you in my front room under a spotlight and I found out after that his name was Roy Miles, who was the Queen’s art dealer. That validation felt amazing to me. In my head it was obviously to do with the makeup. I had a little bit of blusher on. So the next week I had a little bit of lip rouge on, and I got more attention, I kept thinking it was to do with that. I didn’t think it was anything to do with people liking me for the inside.

    KF: It gave you a confidence?
    M:  Yeah. I was being noticed and in an appreciative way. That felt good and I wanted more of it.

    KF: What kind of life were you living outside of the nightclubs?
    M: I just didn’t exist. I stuck black bin liners on my bedroom walls and windows. I would sleep. I was like hibernating until the next nightclub I went to.

     

    Embed from Getty Images

     

    KF: Were you more unhappy than your average teenager?
    M: I think something had snapped in me by then, I was like, “Oh f*** off”. It might sound bitchy, but something inside me snapped. I would look at people and go, “You are picking on me? Get a mirror.” I started being really judgmental of how other people looked. “Don’t f***ing tell me about me, take a look at yourself before you start picking on this”. It went from one extreme to the other. I turned into this creature.

    KF: (to Boy George) did you meet ‘the creature’?
    BG: My story is quite similar. I think what happens when you’re a kid, your defensiveness becomes a powerful tool. When I met my first manager Tony Broaden, and he was trying to get me signed to a record deal, he said that I would walk along the road with him and I’d be really dressed up and people would stare and make comments and I’d scream at them, “What you looking at”… That weird defensiveness was very much part of the 70s. You don’t know whether people are laughing. A lot of eccentric people don’t like be to honed in on. You dress up, but you don’t really want people to make comments. Which is odd because obviously they’re going to. I recognise a lot of myself in that weird defensiveness and becoming a bit spikey to manage yourself getting through… You were always running the gauntlet. Particularly in the 70s because you had all that fabulous tribal stuff, with Mods and Rockers and Skinheads. There was always someone to punch you. It was quite brave. When you’re a kid, long before you start dressing up, you’re made aware that you’re different. Because you’re not interested in the same things as other boys, in football… You’re made to feel different. Later on you start to discover fashion and music and start to build an identity and then people pick on you for different reasons. I guess you make a choice. You either fold in on yourself or become… fabulous.

    You can read the entire Q&A in the latest issue in THEGAYUK. Subscribe now to never miss another issue.

    Watch Marilyn’s brand new single “Love or Money”

  • INTERVIEW | Ira Sachs

    With the release of his new film, Little Men, Ira Sachs sits down with THEGAYUK’s Editor in Chief Jake Hook to talk about why ‘coming-of-age’ films don’t need to be about sex and why economic woes could be making Hollywood’s homosexuals homophobic.

    CREDIT: Jeong Park

     

    I’m led up some steep stairs to an attic room where the critically acclaimed director Ira Sachs is waiting for me. I’m the last scheduled interview of the day in a press junket for his new release, Little Men. When I find out I’m the last one in, my heart sinks a little, that means every conceivable question has already been asked. In my experience interviews held at the end of a “press day” can yield very little with the subject of the interview being a little jaded from the barrage of questions from nosey journos. However  I find Sachs in good spirits. He’s polite and there’s a sparkle in his eye.

    We sit. Our ten minutes together begins. I ask if I can record the interview – he says “of course, and thank you for asking…”

    JAKE: So often, coming of age films, especially coming of age films concentrate on a sexual awakening of the characters and Little Men is not that, but there is still an intimacy between two guys. Was that a conscious decision from the beginning with you? To kind of create a coming of age film but also to stay clear from sexuality?
    IRA: It was certainly something we consciously discussed as we were writing, shooting and editing the film and I would say two things. One, speaks to my own experience as a gay man. In which, my friendships were not the sight of my erotic or romantic attachments so it was kind of what I knew. Secondly, with these two boys and particularly with Theo Taplitz who played Jake, he’s not there. There’s a youth and there’s an innocence to him, particularly around sexuality which I didn’t feel comfortable imposing on. Not because it would be negative but because it would be artificial. It did not feel true to the characters that we had created together. If I’d cast a different kid who was maybe at a different point, but it’s interesting when you start casting kids, you realise sexuality is almost like an age. It’s not as easily described as a number, but people are at certain points.

    JAKE: There is a point in life where you kind of go, “I’m finding myself attracted to guys” and I was just interested whether you had made up in your mind whether either of the characters were gay or bi?
    IRA: Well definitely I think Tony is a heterosexual kid, we see his attraction to a young girl and we see his disappointment when things don’t go (his) way. And Jake, at the end of the film, without giving too much away, you sense that he has a new community. That community is certainly open to queer identity. I think, for example, one of those extras, as far as I can tell seems like a gay kid and you sense that’s going to be acceptable. Some people think at the end of the film he’s trans. I think the film leaves an openness to his future. What I really hope, my first film was about a gay closeted teenager and the suffering he experienced and caused. Whatever these kids future is, I hope it’s not as tortuous as my own at that age.

    JAKE: Keep The Lights On was about the millennial age group, Love Is Strange was about older men – Little Men is about teens… Which has been your favorite generation set to talk about?
    IRA: Each film, if I don’t find it passionately interesting, I can’t make it so I’m incredibly engaged with the work that I choose to do. I haven’t had a favorite … Different films have different pleasures. It was a real pleasure to work with these kids and kids aren’t as demanding as adults!

    JAKE: You’re one of the most visible out directors. How hard is it in circulation, how hard is it to be out and a director?
    IRA: For me, it is not hard experientially in terms of my life and the community and the world and I think I’ve actually been given a certain amount of affirmation by just taking that position and making the work that I do. I think what is challenging is sustaining a career telling the stories that are meaningful to me. I say that from a position of having done that successfully and it’s still very hard.  It’s about content and the content’s and ability to move past the economics of the culture. That is the challenge.

    JAKE: The film industry it gets a lot of criticism for lack of diversity and  homophobia, maybe the industry is internally homophobic?
    IRA: It certainly is. Gay men are some of the worst in Hollywood.

    JAKE : Oh really?
    IRA: Well, for understandable reasons, people live by fear and they make choices based on fear. Look at this film, it’s all about what economics do to individuals and the choices they make. When the choice is about your job and your fear of what happens if you don’t succeed, if you take a risk that’s actually personal, so there’s a lot of reasons people choose to be safe.

    JAKE: Are we still in that place where a Hollywood leading man wouldn’t be able to come out as gay? Is that still a fear?
    IRA: Of course, people are engaged in the narratives of actors’ lives. I’m making a film about Montgomery Clift, who is a gay actor who lived in New York who was a Hollywood leading man and four time Academy Award nominee and didn’t like Rock Hudson, have a beard and married a women, but struggled with the imbalance of his private life and his public persona and died at 46.

    JAKE: There’s a lot of people in the past who have talked about the fact that maybe gay men shouldn’t play straight parts or the other way around. What do you think?
    IRA: In that way I agree with, isn’t it Olivier who says, “That’s why they call it acting?” Natalie Portman isn’t Jackie Onassis either. I think transformation within the context of fictional storytelling is part of the job.

    JAKE: Do you genuinely enjoy watching the film as a punter?
    IRA: What’s a punter?

    JAKE: A fan… Someone who pays money to go and watch something…
    IRA: Oh yeah, I very much do and I think I go to films in general that are like films that I make. I think I go to films that are going to move me. Now, I have 4-year-old kids so I’m going to some different ones. We just saw Wizard of OZ for the first time with our kids and that was an amazing experience. My husband, he’s a painter, he goes to many more movies than I do he’ll go every week to see the newest horror film and I love that there are still people like that. Have to get their popcorn and be in the cinema and watch a movie every week.

     

    Little Men is in Cinemas now, click here for showing times.