Innehållsförteckning för June 2021 från Attitude Magazine

Ashish Gupta, fashion designer and photographer During an overnight long-haul flight, by the emergency exit near the tail end, with a flight attendant. The lights were off and thankfully no one got out of their seat. That, and the basement of a health-food store in Holborn. David McGillivray, writer Funny you should ask that. In my autobiography, Little Did You Know (FAB Press, 2019), I wrote, “I’ve always regretted that a journalist has never asked me, ‘Where’s the most unusual place you’ve had sex?’ because I would be able to reply, ‘Driving through Camden Town while Trev, wearing Paula’s knickers, gave me a blow job.’” Paul Mendez, novelist In a field outside Birmingham, with cows watching and presumably wondering just what I was helping that gentleman with. It was very…

SONOS ROAM Good things often come in small packages — like the Sonos Roam, an ultra-portable smart speaker producing pitch-perfect sound everywhere you go (although please don’t be that person on the bus or Tube). Available in shadow black and lunar white, the speaker is fully waterproof and, like our favourite men, very versatile; you can position it horizontally or vertically on your chosen surface. It also has plenty of stamina and can go for ages… with 10 hours of continuous playback from a single charge. Price: £159. sonos.com HUMAN BEHIND THE PENIS Stand to attention for a new coffee table book we’re positively cock-a-hoop about. Swedish photographer Jonas Norén used to have the, ahem, willies when it came to shooting male genitalia — but his latest project, Human Behind…

“My biggest turn-on is eight metres tall; hairy; massive hands and feet; large nose — basically, a monster” What were your rejected drag names? I kinda started doing drag without really knowing I was doing drag, so I guess that’s why my real name is my drag name. But I do love Paris Stilton. Describe yourself in three emojis. Describe your drag style in five words. What the fuck is that? Who is your biggest inspiration? Imagine Shirley Bassey and Tim Burton combined – THAT. Like, the campness of Shirley and the awkwardness of Tim. Worst pick-up line someone has said to you? “I hope this email finds you well.” Worst thing someone could say to you in bed? “I love your chins.” Biggest turn-on? Eight metres tall; hairy; massive…

I don’t think it’s farfetched to say that to most gay men François Sagat is as famous as Lady Gaga or Jesus. His iconography is certainly as well-known — the tattooed scalp, muscled physique, and a generous posterior that is more of a watermelon than a peach. Sure, he hasn’t had a number-one single with Ariana Grande like our blessed Lady G (yet) and people aren’t leaving books about Sagat’s nude scenes in hotel-room drawers as they do copies of the fictional retelling of the life of Jesus H Christ. But neither the Mother Monster nor the Messiah has had a career that has effortlessly traversed pornographic movies and arthouse film; nor can they claim to have been the lead in films by celebrated directors Bruce LaBruce and Christopher Honoré,…

PRESIDENT I’ve been attending Folsom since 1999. I started volunteering, which has paved the road that has led me to the community that is Folsom Street. This year will mark a decade since I have been involved with the organisation, from a beneficiary volunteer to board member to employee. I’ve managed the Green Team department for more than six years. In 2017, I was elected vice president of the board and the same year I was offered and accepted the staff position of development and sustainability manager. Due to the pandemic, the staff has been on furlough since mid-October, when I became a board member once again and I was elected president of the board. One of my favourite memories is walking around the fairgrounds in the middle of the…

I didn’t have that classic thing of always knowing that I was gay. It was something I came to terms with when I was 16, 17. There was one person, a schoolteacher, that I knew I liked. I was in admiration of them, and I was really confused: do I want to be like them? Do I just want to be in their company? Then I, kind of, found that, no, I was thinking about them even when I was at home. It dawned on me that, maybe I do have romantic and, I guess, sexual feelings towards this person, which was unfamiliar for me. Growing up, I didn’t really have sexual thoughts or romantic feelings towards anybody. I don’t know if that was partly to do with my conservative…

So, your partner appears in the music video for Same Size Shoe,” I nonchalantly state – before serpentwithfeet corrects me: “Well, that’s actually not my boyfriend.” After removing my foot from my mouth, I apologise for not getting my facts straight. “No, no, no, it’s fine, it’s fine… I guess we [my co-star and I] did our jobs,” he smiles. The convincing performance brings to life the song that best captures the spirit and fluttering heartbeat of serpentwithfeet’s gorgeous second album, Deacon, out now, an unabashed celebration of Black gay love. After striking fertile ground with his 2018 debut, soil – avant-garde RnB wreathed around tracks about heartbreak and loss – the LA-based singer, aka Josiah Wise, lays down fresh roots for his softer, quieter follow-up, which finds him in…

I grew up in Barcelona, in Spain, and it was only when I moved to London – I was 18 – and met other trans people that I actually became relaxed and at peace with the fact that I was trans. Until then, I thought that my transness was the biggest curse. I arrived in the UK and I got into nightlife and met my queer friends and other trans women. I realised that I had been blinded by a society that was constantly telling me that my transness makes me sub-human, less of a person, a second-class citizen. Meeting these girls – some of them hadn’t had gender reassignment surgery; some of them had; a lot of them had boyfriends; a lot of them had great lives – they…

Second jab jitters As the COVID jab has become available, there have naturally been some concerns about side effects, and if they will be worse the second time around, in particular. Side effects are possible after any medical procedure, and in this case these may be a sign that your immune system is doing its job. Luckily, for most people, they are not serious or long-lasting. There is no reason that they will be any worse with subsequent doses of the vaccine, and a lack of them doesn’t mean that the vaccine hasn’t worked, either. So, stop worrying and get your jabs! Outfox the fever Have your hay fever symptoms kicked off? Different types of pollen are more common at various times of the year and tree pollen season is…

SOUND OF SUMMER As my lockdown coping strategy was trifle — I even wanted to name my dog after it — I’m not quite ready for my crop tops. Thankfully, this summer’s tunes are equally as tasty (and calorie-free)… LA-based duo TWINKIDS weave melancholic synths and nostalgic ’80s-infused pop around the tragedy of a relationship that’s just not working anymore on newsingle, I Know.Their album, Nobody Likes Me,takes us on a familiar queer journey of self-loathing, self-esteem and self-love, serving all the relatable realness en route. I’m OBSESSED with Shea Diamond. The singer wrote her 2017 ballad, I Am Her, in a prison cell while serving a 10-year sentence for robbing a convenience store, in an attempt to fund her gender-affirmation surgery. Amazing. Shea says nothing has changed since the…

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GIRL POWER Kehlani, Demi Lovato and Becky Hill all come out to brighten the rainbow familam ON THE MONEY Bank of England’s new £50 features computer pioneer, codebreaker and LGBTQ icon Alan Turing — bring on the Tia Kofi tribute QUEER AS FOLK… AGAIN… AGAIN We’re always a bit ‘meh’ on remakes, but we’ll happily watch a re-do of THAT rimming scene DARLING NIKKI Sweet dreams, Nikki Grahame, Big Brother star, pop culture legend and all-round hun SAVE THE PLANET PENIS! Scientists say penises are shrinking due to pollution. Suddenly, the gays prick up their ears! CATEGORY IS… THE END Season three of Pose willbe its last and we still cannot deal FREEDOM Anyone else kinda enjoying the limitations lockdown put on life? Sorry, did someone say Stockholm Syndrome…? BACK-SCRATCHING…

SEDUCE HIM (WITH LIES). Go ahead, advertise “well hung”, even if you’re just referring to the art on your wall. SET THE SCENE. Your bedroom floor should look like Mary Poppins emptied the contents of her handbag… onto a scrap heap. Most men are comfortable in a variety of positions — and fucking on a heap of your dirty laundry should be one of them. WELCOME HIM. Who says you can’t “accom”, even if you live with seven other people? So what if one of them is a baby? Or your boyfriend… DRESS UP… AS A CATFISH. Like, what do you think is gonna happen? That cute twink is gonna see that you’re more James Corden than James Marsden and have sex with you anyway? Well, yes, probably, because we’re…

I’m scared that I’ve forgotten how to have sex. The last time I fornicated – lol, what a bizarre word – was October 2020, which in gay years is about a millennium, and in pandemic gay years is the lifespan of the Milky Way. The idea of fucking now terrifies me. I’m nervous I’ll be a total rookie again. But more than that, it’s the overwhelming corporeality of sex that feels so completely foreign to my new way of life. “I am emotionally and spiritually depleted” I live alone, and have done since the start of the pandemic. This third lockdown has felt particularly arduous – the freezing temperatures, the early dark, the lockdown anniversary, and the general existential malaise that has plagued us all. What started out in lockdown…

Reno Gold is, like, on top of the world. Like, literally, peppering every sentence with so many ‘likes’ that I’ve had to edit them out for brevity. Reno can’t help it — he just likes a lot of things. Like sex. Which, he tells me, he REALLY likes. A lot. An adventurous, exhibitionist streak has landed Reno the cherished position of being one of OnlyFans’ highest earners, although his brand goes beyond just churning out content for horny homos trapped at home in a pandemic. More than just flashing the D, the 25-year-old performer has made a mint through nurturing intimate and personal bonds with his subscribers, the receipts of which would have the legion of OnlyFans wannabe ‘stars’ salivating and desperate for the same level of notoriety. (Although could…

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR My first Folsom was in 1996. I’ll try and keep this somewhat clean: one of my favourite memories is watching a Black woman driving the length of the fair in a chariot being pulled by four glistening white men in pony gear. I was involved at a very casual level, volunteering for years. The women’s and trans folks area (previously just a women’s area) was very disappointing for a couple of years. I wanted that part to be as spectacular and as joyous as the rest of the fair, and I’m a strong believer that if you want something to be different, that requires stepping up and organising. I ran the Playground as a board member in 2019, and it was incredibly successful. Right before COVID hit, I…

Often described as one of the most controversial game developers on the planet, Robert Yang takes it to the next level when it comes to exploring and normalising consenting gay sex in gaming. Indeed, in February, he was named Gayming Icon at the Gayming Awards for furthering the status and increasing the visibility of the LGBTQ+ community in the industry. The former assistant arts professor first fell in love with video games when he played Super Mario Bros on the NES – but Robert has plummeted down a very different pipeline since then and, these days, he fires his own proverbial red shells at the ‘bosses’ (or rather, platforms) who censor queer content. Reflecting on his work – from historical bathroom cruising simulator The Tearoom to steamy ‘shower-em-up’ Rinse and…

Lockdown has been unique for all of us. Some of us binged TV, others took up knitting, while I spent days training my lockdown puppy to behave. Filmmaker and event organiser Samuel Douek used his downtime to launch a positively queer sexual wellness brand, Howl. Their first product, a CBD-infused anal lubricant, hit the digital shelves in December. CBD, or cannabidiol, is derived from the marijuana plant, but does not contain the illegal THC compound that gets you high. Here, Samuel gives us the lowdown on why we should be using CBD for our bedroom antics, the importance of breaking down sexual taboos and how he has learned to be his unashamed queer self in the workplace. When did you decide to launch your lube brand? It began as a…

When we think of psychological trauma, we tend to think of huge life events that have been witnessed or experienced, leading, at worst, to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Although others might not experience PTSD, they may present with residual symptoms of trauma which, in short, lead to negative mental wellbeing. We rarely think of sexuality as traumatising. But for many it is. It was for me. Rather than blind you with the science of trauma and my professional insights, let me share some of what I know through the lens of my own story. It matches some of what the textbooks say, but with a dash of reality. I suspect many of you will identify with what I have to say. I grew up in a working-class area of…

My motto in life is “Suck the dick,” by which I mean, “Go for it.” I mean that figuratively. Unless you wanna suck a dick – if that’s what you’re going for, well, then I mean it literally. I once got advice from a professional cheesemaker for someone who wanted to make cheese out of human breast milk. I’ve given advice to people who wanted to be eaten alive and to people who wanted to be castrated and to people who wanted to have “SEX SLAVE” tattooed on their foreheads. The situations are sometimes unique, and sometimes extreme, but the desire is always the same – to be seen, to be known, to be wanted by someone who wants what you do and what you are. I MET GAY GUYS…

Strutting into our lives, purse first, Bob the Drag Queen won season eight of Drag Race and he has been slaying it ever since, from appearances in Netflix’s Tales of the City and HBO hit We’re Here, to co-hosting podcast Sibling Rivalry with his drag sister Monét X Change. The non-binary comic and actor never fails to bring the funny and he happily shared one of his go-to jokes with us. “There is a lobster on the beach and he’s making love to an oyster,” Bob, 34, begins. “After the lobster is done, I go up to the oyster, ‘Why are you so attracted to this lobster?’ She goes, ‘When he comes up behind me, puts his one claw right here, and his other claw right — my pearls! MY…

The inaugural Sex & Sexuality edition was Attitude’s biggest selling issue of last year. No surprise there, really. As the adage goes: ‘Sex sells.’ And – hold the front page – some people even actually sell sex. One might consider them the smart ones, seeing as most of us are just happy to give it away for free. (Or at least in exchange for a libation or two, depending on your degree of interest.) The phrase ‘more bang for your buck’ seems apt here. But flippancy aside, it wasn’t just our physical and mental wellbeing that has been on a rollercoaster during Covid; our sex lives have also had their ups and downs. Whether fanning the flames with a long-term lover after a year of lockdowns, or single and desperate…

Sex workers are often stigmatised in ‘normal’ times, but since the introduction of COVID-19 regulations, the organisations where I work, CLASH (Central London Action on Sexual Health) and SHOC (Sexual Health on Call), have noticed that this has increased. There are voices who seek someone to blame for the spread of the pandemic and sex workers are often in the firing line. At a time when we are only really supposed to have sex with people we live with — clients are not normally part of an escort’s bubble — sex workers are worried about being judged if they continue to work. And this fear is making them reluctant to use the health services they need more than ever. NHS services CLASH and SHOC have been supporting sex workers for…

I travel to Brixton, where I lived for five years, on a deep grey, early spring Sunday. How I’ve missed it: the people, the clothes, the Jamaican takeaways. In a city undergoing expansive renewal, there remains a permanent, historic feel to the Atlantic Road/Railton Road stretch. Its side streets are named after political and literary titans. Its much-contested arches and the market were immortalised in Steve McQueen’s Small Axe instalment Alex Wheatle, and in Topher Campbell’s 1995 film, The Homecoming, a gorgeous portrait of the great Black British queer artist, archive curator and sex activist, Ajamu. I can’t tell you how it feels when the first person you’ve come into contact with outside your household in six months is Ajamu. The warm chuckle. The serious “How are you?!” before I…

"Disneyland for perverts”, is how San Francisco’s Folsom Street Fair has been described — both by critics and its fond admirers. The sights, sounds and smells of our “only in San Francisco” festival are difficult to put into words. Suffice it to say, you see people in every sort of dress, including nothing at all; performers and participants gleefully tying each other up and flogging one another; humans dressed and acting like any animal, real or imaginary that you can think of; giant games of Twister; amazing musicians; the hottest burlesque; and thousands of tourists with busy cameras (always ask first!). You’ll also witness a dedicated crew of volunteers, amazing camaraderie, and people at home in their bodies and at ease with their sexualities, like nowhere else in the world.…

‘‘I wish people would approach it as a positive thing, as opposed to me telling them that I’ve just been afflicted with a sudden illness,” states Yasmin Benoit, a model, writer and asexual activist. More often than not, the letter ‘A’ stationed at the end of the LGBTQIA+ acronym is forgotten about or, worse, wilfully ignored. Although representation and visibility is slightly improving, asexuality (applied to a person who does not experience sexual attraction) is still met with confusion, not to mention a flurry of maddening misconceptions. Yasmin, who created the #ThisIsWhatAsexualLooksLike movement and also helped establish International Asexuality Day, proved to be the host with the most when Attitude asked her to lead a discussion centred on her community. The 24-year-old trailblazer and Attitude 101 ‘listee’ was joined by…

Tom of Finland’s drawings of muscular men look almost too good to be true — until you lay your eyes on Terry Miller, a walking, talking Tom of Finland model. Although he just turned 50, he recently started entering body-building competitions — he has no plans to slow down. Here, he discusses his metamorphosis from being slim with a pair of “bird arms” to sculpting the limbs of an Adonis, as well as the joys of strutting his stuff at leather events and his life with sex-advice columnist Dan Savage. Were you active in your youth? I was super scrawny. I have a picture of me when I was 18 years old and I had what I called “bird arms”; they were like sticks with little hands at the end.…

We’ve started using lateral flow tests for COVID at work. I’m a bit worried because someone told me they contain ethylene oxide, which is known to cause cancer. Is this true? Paul, Ireland Up until recently, the only way to diagnose someone with COVID was to do a PCR swab, where a swab of the nose and/or throat is used to pick up traces of coronavirus DNA. It is a highly sensitive test, but it can take several days to get a result. Lateral flow tests (LFTs) are on-the-spot COVID tests, which can give you an answer within 30 minutes – and that means they are really useful from a practical point of view. However, the downside is that they are not as accurate as PCR tests. What they are…

BOOK OF THE MONTH The cyborg solution The fascinating true story of a man’s quest to overcome a terminal illness with robotics PETER 2.0: THE HUMAN CYBORG Peter Scott-Morgan/Michael Joseph The breathtaking true story behind the Channel 4 documentary, Peter: The Human Cyborg. Peter Scott-Morgan is a brilliant robotics scientist and leading world expert on the complex workings of society. A maverick thinker, Peter dares to see the world differently, living his life to the full, travelling the world with his husband Francis, who he loves passionately. Then one day, when getting out of the bath, he notices something wrong with his foot. A slight slowness to respond to command. Tests follow, eventually leading to a diagnosis of Motor Neurone Disease, a condition universally considered to be terminal. He is…

HIDDEN DEPTHS With Acqua di Giò Profumo, a scent inspired by volcanic rock and deep ocean waters, Armani has created the perfect storm. Incense, sweet bergamot, sage and rosemary blend with marine accords to make a perfume that has all the exhilarating power of ocean waves crashing onto the rocks. We’re here for the drama. Acqua di Giò Profumo, 125ml, by Armani, at notino.co.uk EVERGREEN You can’t beat a classic, which is what Creed do with aplomb. Blending lemon, Indian verbena and a touch of mint, Green Irish Tweed is forest freshness in a bottle. Escape to the lush Irish countryside through its aromas of freshly cut grass, summer flowers and herbs swaying in the breeze. In lieu of being able to go anywhere right now, we’re ready to be…