Attitude 062015

ATTITUDE.CO.UK SUMMER 2015 £4.85

THE UK'S BEST-SELLING & AWARD-WINNING GAY MAGAZINE

WILL YOUNG

FROM THE CHOCOL ATE FACTORY TO BATES MOTEL

ON SEX ED IN SCHOOLS , USELESS POLITICIANS AND JOINING GRINDR

COLIN FARRELL

WHY HE WANTS IRELAND TO VOTE YES TO MARRIAGE

SCREAM QUEENS

THE GAY APPEAL OF HORROR

AMERICAN TV ICON

ANDY COHEN

CAN WE REALLY TRUST THE TORIES?

A COLD , HARD LOOK AT THE NUMBERS

FREDDIE'S COMING FOR YOU ONE, TWO,

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9 771353 187045

WE GO PSYCHO FOR FREDDIE HIGHMORE

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64

summer 2015 • attitude.co.uk

a newly single will young talks grindr and politics

editor’s letter & Inbox

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36

121

features

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THE A-LIST Things we like this month Joe stone is on it the rules of music festivals gadgets paul flynn is over it Paris is burning culture club shortbus music & Film Reviews BGF stock aitken waterman andy cohen Gratuitous nudity nat weller

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freddie Highmore the former child star talks us through his psychotic turn in bates motel horror: the gay fascination horror journo Sean abley on why we get our kicks from scary movies can we trust the tories? formerly a party of extreme homophobia, are the tories really a changed party? equal marriage for ireland as the world’s first referendum on equal marriage approaches, we look at how ireland has changed why can’t we win eurovision? experts, enthusiasts and conchita Wurst analyse where the uk is going wrong

active

Aljaz Skorjanec Real bodies dR christian

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trend camouflage shopping adidas Grooming JO MALONE story sportswear

135 CONTEXT IAIN DALE R U Coming out? Readers’ stories life lessons patrick gale truly madly deeply long-term couples property industrial revolution how gay are you? alexandra burke

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Ah, isn’t Freddie Highmore a cutie pie? We noticed him in the surprisingly great Psycho spin off Bates Motel, where he plays the baby psycho killer (aww) Norman Bates – as you do – opposite one of our favourite actresses Vera Farmiga. Freddie got his big break in Finding Neverland opposite Kate Winslet, Johnny Depp and Dustin Hoffman – as you do – and then won the Golden Ticket to get his very own Chocolate Factory – as you do – and kissed a boy – as you actually do – when he played the young culinary diva Nigel Slater in BBC’s Toast. We’re very happy to have him on the cover of Attitude. Horror has always had a specific appeal for many of us. Psycho has queer resonance: A sexually frustrated loner with a somewhat unhealthy relationship (just a bit) with his mother – a character who, it eventually became clear, was played by a bisexual actor; Anthony Perkins. Horror addresses the undoable and unsayable, often centred around sexuality. As a teen I loved Halloween and A Nightmare on Elm Street, not because I wanted to kill people, but because on some subconscious level, I connected with the desire for revenge on a mainstream society that had isolated me. We asked writer, director, actor Sean Abley, author of Out In The Dark and writer of the infamous Gay of The Dead blog to explore this further. We have a whole bunch of exclusives in this issue. There’s Will Young’s only gay press interview for his great new album, and we meet Colin Farrell’s gay brother Eamon who explains why his movie star sibling is so passionate about Ireland’s referendum and equal marriage. We take a look at what is going on as the country goes to the polls. Talking of votes (and horror, for that matter) by the time you read this we’ll be about to go to the polls *SCREAMS* THANK YOU GOD, IT’S ALMOST OVER, *coughs* excuse me – to bring in a new government in the United Kingdom. I’ve noticed many people – especially young people – over the last few years who seem to think that because David Cameron brought in same sex marriage that there is now an equal playing field between the parties when it comes to LGBT people. I’m not telling you who to vote for, that’s your business, but it’s important to know the facts – that not only did the Conservative party bring in the most homophobic legislation of modern times in

Section 28 in 1988, they have also, for the last 20 years, voted consistently to DENY you equal rights; many of them MPs who want your vote today. When we interviewed David Cameron before he became Prime Minister in 2009 he told us that the party was now a party of LGBT equality. He pushed through marriage to his credit, but no thanks to his party. Equal marriage provoked a huge amount of opposition from all areas of the Conservative party, from MPs and commentariat to ground level supporters and – when push came to shove – more than half of the Tory MPs voted against same sex marriage. Compare that to more than 88% of Labour and Lib Dem MPs who voted for it. This mirrors the constant Conservative attacks on gay equality legislation over the last 20 years where they have overwhelmingly voted against us literally every single time. I know many of our readers who vote Conservative – we are a broad church and indeed I don’t think any other gay magazine has a monthly conservative writer like we do in Iain Dale – but to believe that the Conservative Party is suddenly as gay supportive as the others is simply not true. Someone in the office said we owe the Prime Minister for marriage but with that logic we owe the Labour party for equalising the age of consent, scrapping the armed forces ban and Section 28, bringing in the anti-discrimination act and Civil Partnerships – all of which the majority of Conservative MPs opposed. Like I say, it’s up to you who you vote for but it’s important that we all know the facts when the country goes to the polls on May 7th. So we have a look at the numbers and then two writers from opposing sides of the spectrum give us their opinion. And of course you could vote Lib Dem, Green, SNP, Plaid Cymru, UKIP or others if you so desire. Make up your own mind. See you next month.

matthew todd Editor

the uk’s best-selling gay magazine @attitudemag @Mrmatthewtodd

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CONTRIBUTORS PAUL JORDAN Also known as Dr Eurovision, Paul is a regular commentator on the Eurovision Song Contest and has attended the event since 2000, having also been a guest on the BBC3 semifinal shows. In 2011 he obtained his PhD from the University of Glasgow and in 2014 he published his book, The Modern Fairy Tale: Nation Branding, National Identity and the Eurovision Song Contest in Estonia. Follow him on Twitter @dreurovision

Editor MATTHEW TODD

[email protected]

Associate Editor CHRISTIAN GUILTENANE Art Director DAVID GRAHAM

Fashion & Grooming Director JOSEPH KOCHARIAN Editor at Large PARIS LEES Designer LUCY HENDEL

[email protected]

Editorial Assistant & Senior Staff Writer BEN KELLY

Assistant Staff Writer WILL STROUDE

Mark is a beauty and fashion photographer who lives and works in London shooting some of the biggest stars in the world today for internationally renowned magazines and brands. We kept Mark very busy in this issue, calling on him to photograph the leading man of Bates Motel Freddie Highmore for our cover, as well as our sports-themed main fashion shoot with the gorgeous model of the moment, Miroslav Cech. Mark likes Scotch, but not scotch eggs.

Fashion Assistant NICK BYAM Web Editor NICK BOND

[email protected]

[email protected]

MARK CANT

Sean Abley is a playwright, screenwriter, novelist and horror journalist. His writing has appeared in Fangoria, The Advocate, Unzipped and ShockTilYouDrop.com. In this issue, Sean writes about the fascinating appeal of horror movies for gay men. He is currently working on the novelisation of the film The Disco Exorcist, but in the meantime check out his latest book Out in the Dark: Interviews with Gay Horror Filmmakers, Actors and Authors.

[email protected]

[email protected]

Sub Editor AARON TOUMAZOU

SEAN ABLEY

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

Web Reporter JOSH HAIGH Books Editor WILL DAVIS

[email protected]

Senior Contributing Editors SIMON EDGE / PAUL FLYNN / PHILIP REAY-SMITH / TIM TEEMAN

Interns

JOAO ANDRADE / KEVIN LONG / CRAIG LEE CASEY WATERS / LIZZIE REID

Commercial Manager ANDY GODDARD [email protected] 020 7608 6305

Senior Sales Account Manager MARCUS JAMES [email protected] 020 7608 6364

Senior Sales Account Manager JAMIE BOYLE [email protected] 020 7608 6351

Digital Account Manager HYWEL KENNEDY [email protected] 020 7608 6398

Events Director ANNE-MARIE BRACKEN

ATTITUDE MEDIA LTD

ON THE COVER

Managing Director MIKE BUCKLEY

[email protected]

Editorial Director MATTHEW TODD Chairman JUSTIN SANDERS Finance Director VINCE NICHOLLS Web Development ADAM OSBORN

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Next issue available to download May 22 In shops May 27

Subscriptions Enquiries [email protected]

01778 392005

Warners Subscription Department Freepost, PE211, Bourne, Lincolnshire PE10 9BR

Attitude Magazine 33

freddie wears top by dior homme, photography: mark cant, fashion: joseph kocharian

Pear Tree Street, London EC1V 3AG [email protected]

Copyright © Attitude Media Ltd 2015 all rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced in whole or in part without the written permission of the publishers. Unsolicited contributions must be accompanied by a stamped addressed envelope if they are to be returned. We cannot accept responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts and photographs or for material lost or damaged in the post. Letters submitted to Attitude or its editors are assumed to be intended for publication in whole or in part. The mention or appearance or likeness of any person or organisation in articles or advertising in this publication is not to be taken as any indication of sexual, social or political orientation of such persons or organisations. Newstrade distribution by Seymour Distribution Limited, 2 East Poultry Avenue, London EC1A 9PT. Tel 020 7429 4000. Published by Attitude Media Ltd. Printed by Benham Goodhead Print Limited

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C O N TA C T THE MAG

T I N Y U R L . C O M / FA C E B O O K A T T I T U D E T W I T T E R . C O M /AT T I T U D E M A G AT T I T U D E@ AT T I T U D E . C O . U K 3 3 P E A R T R E E S T R E E T, F I N S B U R Y, L O N D O N E C 1 V 3 A G

TheHeatedDebate

AS ELECTRO VELVET HEAD TO VIENNA, WE ASK: WILL THE UK EVER WIN EUROVISION AGAIN?

READERS’ TWEETS @OblaKickinIn WARNING: @adamlambert cover shoot on @AttitudeMag will self-combust in your hands from pure hotness! #GhostTown

@TaysunBerry Reading @MarkusFeehily interview in @AttitudeMag made me feel a little less alone in my #depression. Kudos, Markus, for speaking honestly.

@Fiskitoo @MarkusFeehily The more I read @AttitudeMag’s interview the more I feel I want to hug you and the more I admire that inner-strength.

@BarbP11 @AttitudeMag LOVED Adam’s interview and the Mad Men article too!

No because they keep putting in rubbish acts! Not like in the 60s when chart topping acts did the job – Lulu and Sandie Shaw to name just two iconic voices. But do we really care enough? PAUL, BELFAST We can if we send a decent act, we just need a selection show! Internal selection does not really seem to work for us. ANTHONY, NORWICH Tony Blair put an end to Europe liking us when he illegally invaded Iraq. The Blue song from a couple of years ago was great, but it’s so political. Even if we sent Adele we still wouldn’t win as they would all just vote for their neighbours or the novelty act. JOHN, HARROGATE We will win Eurovision again when we send a great song with a strong performance. We also need to put in more effort. The ‘it’s all political/nobody likes us’ argument is wrong – we send mediocre entries and get mediocre results. Europe can’t be that anti-UK, considering British artists dominate most European charts. I refuse to believe that ‘Still In Love With You’ was the BBC’s best option. JAKE, GENEVA

In a word, yes. Lena’s Satellite in 2010 showed the right song can win it for a Western European act. JAMES, LONDON I think that ship sailed for us a long time ago... FILIP, NOTTINGHAM Yes, it might be a while though. In the meantime Sweden will have regular victories, and quite rightly so. It’s lazy to blame it on politics – Conchita didn’t win because of politics, nor did Loreen. In 2009 we had a public selection process, Europe gave us plenty of points and we came fifth. With the right song we can do well. ED, LONDON Nope. Still enjoy watching the show but it’s not likely that we will win again. NATHAN, BRIGHTON Yes! 14 different countries won in the last 14 years. What did they have in common? Impactful, visual, anthemic songs, not politics. COINNEACH, LONDON That’s not the question we should be asking! We should be asking, ‘Who gives a shit!’ DAMIAN, HUCKNALL

@Sudipta_Sharmin Whooooaaaaa @MarkusFeehily & @adamlambert are in the same issue! Loving it @AttitudeMag!!

@glamberlicious @AttitudeMag are pretty fucking awesome. Gonna get me an annual subscription because they’re so nice!

@barbls23 @AttitudeMag @adamlambert looks so gorgeous and what a great, insightful interview! Mega talent and realness! Winning combination!

@VillyKassiou @AttitudeMag Thank you so much for having the one & only @MarkusFeehily. Such an honest interview. He’s an inspiration.

THE ARCHIVE I S S U E 1 3 5, J U LY 2 0 0 5

ROCK HARD We got down with Razorlight frontman Johnny Borrell in our Rock Special ten years (!) ago, as we prepared for the onslaught of inoffensive indie pop that was extinguished with the rise of Gaga circa 2008. We also chatted to then-Eastenders star Jake Maskall about coming out. The former Mr Danny Moon can currently be seen playing bisexual Prince Cyrus in E!’s The Royals, FYI.

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Film / TV / Music Opinion / news Performance Books / Boys

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PG.22>>

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WORDS: WILL STROUDE & JOSEPH KOCHARIAN

THE THINGS WE LOVE THIS MONTH

LIST

↑EVENTS ↓THEATRE

IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT

Playwright Claudio Macor has brought the classic dark, steamy atmosphere of 1930 & 40s Hollywood noir to the stage – without the social prudery and censorship of the era. It’s all murder, power and sexually-liberated eroticism in this tale of a shady South American town which flirts with scandal and destruction at the end of World War II.

PRIDE SEASON STARTS

The window of acceptability for feather boas, morning drinking and crushing regrets officially opens this month as pride season kicks off, with events in Exeter, Birmingham and Bradford finally heralding the start of summer (and, like, politics and stuff. We’re being ironic, double bluff etc.) Birmingham Pride takes place Spring Bank Holiday weekend, May 23-24. birminghampride.com

In the Dead of Night is at the Landor Theatre, London, from April 22 – May 17. Call the box office on 020 7737 7276. landortheatre.co.uk

↑FILM

PITCH PLEASE

The sequel to 2012’s hilarious sleeper hit Pitch Perfect promises to be every bit as riotous and ridiculous as the original, with all the cast returning for more acapella fracas as the Barden Bellas fight to save the group from dissolution. In cinemas from May 15. pitchperfectmovie.com

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EDIT_A LIST ←fashion

ad i das x y-3 re ad y for re d cl a y

The French Open is upon us (May 19 – June 7) and French pro Jo Wilfried Tsonga will be wearing the new adidas tennis x Y-3 collaboration in his bid to win the red clay Grandslam. The collection is a perfect fusion between performance and fashion. #ImpactTheGame. adidas.com and Y-3.com ←fashion

Diesel Zipproundd trainers

Whether it’s a stud, a rip, or a clothing patch, Diesel love a bit of detailing, and this time they’ve focused their attention on the biker zip on their restyled ‘zipproundd’ sneaker boot. The zip runs all the way around the shoe, fitting in perfectly with Diesel DNA’s biker concept.

←tour

An evening with D avid Seda ris

Available in red, black and white from mid-May. diesel.com

Don’t miss your chance to see gay bestselling author David Sedaris bring his self-deprecating autobiographical tales to life in front of a live audience this month, as the literary funnyman and BBC Radio 4 star takes his brand of sharp, warm humour up and down the country with a 17-date UK and Ireland book tour. An evening with David Sedaris tours the UK May 30 – June 15. davidsedaristickets.co.uk ↓dvd

O r a nge Is the N ew Bl a ck

Litchfield Penitentiary’s finest females will be returning to Netflix for an eagerly-anticipated third outing in June, but if you’re still to get aboard the OITNB bandwagon there’s just enough time to get up to date with the release of the season two box set this month. Orange Is the New Black Season 2 is released on DVD and Blu-Ray on May 18

↑fashion

R ework I t

M&S’s popular menswear brand Autograph has been reworked to fuse tailoring with casual-wear. The collection sees bold blue tailor-fitted suits mixed with trainers, geometric print knits and jogging bottoms. So much more than just a suit. All styles will be available in store and online at marksandspencer.com

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EDIT_OPINION YEARS AND YEARS So nice. :-)

JOKES ABOUT ERECTIONS, SWING VOTES & HUNG PARLIAMENTS It’s what the haters expect of us. AND WHY NOT MO-FOS. (QUADRUPLE BLUFF WITH CHERRIES ON)

PEPPA PIG FOR PM If the media wants it they’ll make ham sure (Ed – damn sure) they’ll get it…

NICK JONAS We were there first, munchkins. Only has the best single in 140,000 years – Jealous. We’re sure he says ‘Fuck me, fuck me’ on one of the remixes. #IfYouInsist

THE HILLARY Something fun to do while the world ends.

DAVID DIMBLEBY Hot. Go on, say ‘hommer-sex-schewell’ like they do in BBC posh land. Go on, we like it. You’re allowed. #Fuzzy

UP DOWN THE MEDIA Brainwashed nation, much? THEY MUST BE STOPPED.

DAVID STARKEY ACTUALLY the gay Katie Hopkins. Button it sister. Let the pain out. It is clearly fucking IMMENSE girrrl. #HectorProjector

PIZZA JOKES Gay people do eat Pizza. Not at weddings, but we do eat pizza. Can we just deal with that. Stop with the ‘Which queen would be seen dead eating a pizza/staying in a B&B/on a bus? lines’. SOOOO0 90s

PEOPLE WITH DOGS That don’t smile when you coo at them. FUCK THAT SHIT.

BRUCE JENNER CHASING Leave her alone.

ARGUING ABOUT POPSTARS ONLINE No point, really. Waste of life. No, really. Open your curtains. Look: Air. Sky. Trees. Birdies. Outsideness. Flapjacks. Feel it, embrace it. You are not a cave bat. Madonna does not care. #TruthHurts

Joe Stone IS ON IT twitter @Joe_Stone_

THE SIX COMMANDMENTS OF GAY SOCIAL NETWORKING Guys, I think it’s high time that we did some housekeeping regarding our communal approach to social networking. I know the whole point is to make celebrities of us all, enabling each other to live in under the mass delusion that the whole world finds us as fascinating as we find ourselves. There’s no point in complaining about something which is, fundamentally, a catalyst for narcissism (anyone who claims they haven’t scrolled through their own pictures, trying to guess what a stranger would make of their life, is lying.) Believe me, I’m just as unbearable as the rest of you... BUT we have to draw the line somewhere. I suggest we start by following these six commandments... THOU SHALT NOT HASHTAG GAY ON INSTAGRAM Look, I’m as thirsty for attention as the next Instagrammer, but every time I see a homosexual captioning his pictures #Gay a part of me withers and dies. It’s embarrassing and reductive, not to mention desperate. Besides, surely any vague prestige associated with potential extra likes is immediately voided when they’ve been harvested from the kind of mouth-breathers who browse the gay hashtag. Unacceptable. Same goes for #Instagay #GayBoy and – obviously – #GayFollow. THOU SHALT NOT BE A GRINDR DOUCHEBAG In case you haven’t already, take the time to visit douchebagsofgrindr.com to see the worst that gay culture has to offer – a stew of racism, body fascism and self-hating homophobia which will be a familiar sight to anyone who’s ever stumbled across a profile insisting on: ‘no femmes, no fatties, no Asians, no blacks, masc only, my age or younger.’ It’s a depressing indicator of how the internet age has helped to replace a culture of sexual freedom with segregation – not to

AS FAR AS I’M CONCERNED, IF YOU HAVE ARMS AND LEGS, EVERY DAY IS AN ARMS/LEGS DAY

mention, terrible manners. Obviously it’s fine to have sexual preferences, we all do, but it’s equally easy not to be a dick about them. It is your social responsibility never to fuck anyone with any of the above on their profile (‘no offence, it’s just not what I’m into’). THOU SHALT NOT DOCUMENT ‘LEG DAYS’ People who bang on about going to the gym are the worst. Actually, they’re the second worst, after people who photograph their progress, alongside #ArmDays and #LegDays captions. As far as I’m concerned, if you have arms and legs, every day is an arms/legs day. THOU SHALT NOT USE CHARITABLE WORKS AS A SMOKE SCREEN It’s interesting isn’t it, how some gay guys become unusually charitably minded when there’s an interconnected opportunity to show off all that aforementioned work in the gym – whether that’s by tipping a bucket of ice water over their naked torso, or putting their cock in a sock. It’s especially interesting when they forget to include the donation text number, or any reference to the relevant charity, or to actually send any money. Almost as if they don’t actually care about cancer, and just wanted everyone to see their pecs. THOU SHALT NOT SAY ‘ICYMI’ In case you didn’t know, ICYMI is an acronym for ‘In case you missed it’, used when re-posting something which didn’t receive the desired traction the first time. Unfortunately, we didn’t miss it, we just weren’t that interested. Life’s hard. THOU SHALT NOT POST INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES Come on guys, we’re better than this. You know we are. (There are rare exceptions to this rule, including Geri Halliwell: ‘I’m famous enough that the paparazzi want to sit outside my house. They don’t sit outside Mel C’s house.’)

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EDIT_GADGETS

Gadgets FESTIVALS

FROM PORTABLE CHARGERS TO CASES THAT TURN YOUR PHONE INTO AN INSTANT CAMERA, GET READY FOR A SUMMER OF LOVE... WORDS BY STUART MILES, FOUNDER OF POCKET-LINT.COM PRYNT

Prynt (pronounced print) is a case that allows you to turn your smartphone into an instant camera just like a Polaroid. Perfect for sharing festival photos with new friends, it doesn’t need WiFi or Bluetooth to work so perfect for when you’re standing in the middle of a muddy field. PRE-ORDER FOR £90, PRYNTCASES.COM

SOULRA RUGGED RUKUS

A Bear Grylls-esque, all-terrain solar-powered, splash proof, knock proof, lightweight, wireless Bluetooth travel speaker that sounds superb - but does so much more than just play music. It also features a USB output to charge your smartphone on the go with a simple onetouch Bluetooth pairing, while just five hours of sunlight will provide eight hours of music playtime. £89.99, SOULRACORP.COM

LOMO’INSTANT BOSTON EDITION

If you want to ditch battery-powered tech altogether, this 35mm camera package from Lomography comes with three lenses and loads of features to make even Instagram photos look dull. Setting options include unlimited multiple exposures, four colour flash gels, B setting for infinite long exposures and much more. £129, LOMOGRAPHY.COM

TYLT ENERGI TRAVEL 6K

This 6,000mAh capacity portable battery gives you enough to charge your phone around three times from a single charge of its battery, and comes with a built in micro-USB cable and the ability to quickly swap the plug for when you go abroad. £29.99, TYLT.COM

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EDIT_THE RULES

YOU’LL ALWAYS ARRIVE FEELING LIKE THIS…

THE RULES: FESTIVALS

BUT YOU’LL ALWAYS LEAVE FEELING LIKE THIS

AND IT’S A LONG WAY TO A SHOWER, SO GET DOWN AND DIRTY AT YOUR PERIL

IT AIN’T OVER TILL THE BIG TITTED LADY PLAYS THE BENNY HILL THEME!

THREE DAYS IN AND YOU ARE DEFINITELY TOO SMELLY FOR SEX

SAME APPLIES FOR BEING MEGA ORGANISED AND EQUIPPED #HATRED

ACCEPT NOTHING LESS THAN DIAMOND ENCRUSTED WELLIES

BEING SUNBURNED AND HUNGOVER AT THE SAME TIME IS THE WORST

IF YOU’RE THAT DICK ON SOMEONE’S SHOULDERS, EVERYONE HATES YOU

WORDS: BEN KELLY

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Paris BURNING EDIT_OPINION

PETTY HOMOPHOBES OF THE WORLD, LET US EAT CAKE!

FRANCOFILES THIS MONTH: JAMES HUNG OUT WITH ELTON. GO JAMES!

MERYL TO PLAY MERCURY

After plans for Sacha Baron Cohen to play Freddie Mercury fell through for the fifth time, the production team have decided enough is enough, and released a statement saying, “we’ll just have to get Meryl Streep.” The 65-year-old appears set to play the showman in a movie spanning his life. She has already been measured up for a crown and is learning about the infamous hanky codes. An inside source said, “She’s played fierce queens many times now, from The Devil Wears Prada to The Iron Lady, but this will be her biggest challenge yet.” As her star turn in Mamma Mia showed, Meryl will be more than capable of doing all her own vocals too, in addition to yet another legendary accent. When asked for a comment, Meryl simply said, “Ayyyyy-oh, darling!”

A little quiz for you: what fourletter word, starting with ‘C’, is the thing I most enjoy putting in my mouth? A clue you say? It’s got a ‘K’ in it. Oh for goodness sake, it’s cake you filthy pups. The sticky stuff has become an unlikely political weapon, and bakeries political battleground. Not just any cake though: seditious, homosexual, blasphemous cake, like the Bert and Ernie confection that’s been causing a commotion in Northern Ireland for over a year now – perhaps the most ridiculous controversy around baked goods since Marie Antoinette told all those poor old French paupers to just suck it up. It all started when a man called Gareth Lee asked for a cake to be decorated with the Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie alongside the logo for ‘Queerspace’ group and the slogan ‘Support Gay Marriage’, in honour of Andrew Muir – Northern Ireland’s first openly gay mayor. For who could complain about Bert and Ernie and a bit of fondant icing, eh? Ashers, the bakers. That’s who. Turns out it’s run by evangelical Christians. Nightmare! The situation has now gone all the way to the courts with the bakers saying it’s an infringement of their religious beliefs – and the guys still wanting their cake! I’ve no idea if the powers that be will decide that Christian bakers are compelled to ice pro-gay propaganda onto Victoria sponges from now on, but the icing aficionado in me prays they’ll be forced to with gritted teeth. This all feeds in to a much bigger debate raging in the States right now about so-called ‘religious freedom’ exemptions from equality laws. The American state of Indiana is seeking to allow religious people to discriminate against gay people if they want to because

homosexuality is an affront to their religious beliefs. Famously a Pizza joint said it would refuse to cater a same sex wedding. What else are the bigots trying to spoil for us? Well, if you’re transgender and happen to live in a handful of States in the US, they don’t even want you to take a pee in peace. Lawmakers in Kentucky, Florida and – yes – Texas are currently considering legislation that will punish trans people who use the ‘wrong’ bathroom. They could get a fine or, worst-case scenario, arrested. It’s all based on that old lie that trans people are somehow sexually deviant, a threat to lovely non-trans people, from which women and children must be protected. And doesn’t it just seem really, really mean? It’s like being back at school and having the bullies think up ways that they can exclude the queer kids. No, you can’t have any cake! No, you’re not coming in these toilets! No, we’re not playing with you! I don’t mean to detract from all the truly serious crap that’s still happening to gay people, but in the West, bigots are starting to look increasingly pathetic. Good. In the past, the enemies of gay and trans people were just as mean and petty, but the difference was that they had much more power over us. Back then they could throw us in mental hospitals and prisons and stop us from finding work, marrying or having children. In Britain, at least, we’ve won every major ideological argument and secured our human rights. As inspiring veteran activist Maureen Duffy told the crowd at last year’s Attitude Awards, though, we can’t hang our boots up just yet. When we finally win the right to have whatever icing we want on our cakes, well, that’ll be the icing on the cake.

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EDIT_OPINION

TOP TV

this month

Paul Flynn IS OVER IT

■ TERRESTRIAL: CHANNEL 4’S ALTERNATIVE ELECTION NIGHT If Dimbleby nods off over on BBC, and Kay Burley has run out of venom on Sky, you’ll be in for a few laughs at least as the holy trinity of Jimmy Carr, David Mitchell and Charlie Brooker lead up the Channel 4 coverage. There’s even an Election Come Dine With Me with Edwina Currie and Brian Paddick.

■ CABLE: GAME OF THRONES Season 5 of everyone’s favourite fantasy drama is arriving on Sky Atlantic this month, with the plot devised from George R. R. Martin’s fourth and fifth novels. Look out for cameos from Jonathan Pryce, Mark Gatiss and Hannah Waddingham.

■ ONLINE: GRACE AND FRANKIE So you gorged on Kimmy Schmidt all at once? So did we. Luckily Netflix’s latest original comedy Grace and Frankie is premiering in full on May 8, with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin starring as two rivals brought together after their husbands elope with each other. Made by the creators of Friends, this is definitely one for us!

■ BOX SET: CUCUMBER/BANANA Russell T Davies’ Channel 4 dramas can now be enjoyed together, in a box set for less than £20, so you can relive the story of Henry and Lance, mull over your favourite Banana subplot, and freeze frame that Freddie Fox kitchen sex scene.

CUCUMBER EXPLORED GAY LIFE IN A WAY THAT'S NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE About halfway into its run, I came to a conclusion of sorts about Cucumber, the divisive gay sex drama that Russell T Davies persuaded onto national primetime TV. There were lots of loud, unsettled rants about the show from its target audience. Because it was a programme covering an area that isn’t usually covered anywhere in the mainstream, this was to be expected. But the vitriol started to bother me. I despise that gay male voice that slashes the windpipe of every interesting, blossoming conversation as it opens up. Now this was becoming collective. So that was my conclusion: Are we really this stupid? In some convoluted way, the initial reaction to Cucumber echoed exactly what it was saying – that there is a gaping chasm between the told gay male experience and the felt one. As a conceptual broadside, that wins for me. Then Russell began to really pile the layers on, talking in brutal, stark new language. That gay men who see themselves as the good ones can be petty, mean, vitriolic and disloyal. That copping off with someone who identifies as straight isn’t a victory lap taken for the team but just another deeply-rooted anxiety action. That a new generation may emerge for whom ‘gay’ is not interesting. That gay sex, in and of itself, is not all that sexy and might look less like the shadowy silhouette of Heath Ledger rogering Jake Gyllenhaal in a tepee on a picturesque Texan mountaintop and more like a bald man with weak shoulders getting a wank off somebody he’s not even bothered to work out whether he particularly likes or not. That stuff. These are dismal subjects to stare at. But that doesn’t mean gay audiences should turn away, having hissy fits on

GAY SEX MIGHT LOOK LESS LIKE THE SHADOWY SILHOUETTE OF HEATH LEDGER ROGERING JAKE GYLENHAAL IN A TEPEE

our laptops when someone puts their specs on to do so. Once the dream-state that our lives were going to carouse around with the hot bounce of Michael Tolliver’s in Tales of the City took root, the feel-good, comfy gay fairy-tale felt set in stone. But that was a story that needed to be told in the 70s. It’s almost half a century later now and Russell T Davies is the closest Britain has got to unearthing an Armistead Maupin of its own; a chronicler of gay life exactly in tune with his moment, telling stories from the inside. Once the uncurious wall of complainants disappears, I suspect Cucumber will be regarded as something of a minor-key classic. Then we will wow at the fact that Davies got half a million Britons in front of their telly to watch a gay man get clobbered to death with a golf club in his search to feel desirable one Thursday night in early 2015. How many of the screeching Facebook massive have done that? There’s that fantastic line from the Shelagh Delaney play, A Taste of Honey. “Whatever people say I am. That’s exactly what I’m not.” For 20 years now, Russell Davies has been at the coalface of brilliant storytelling. For me, with Cucumber he joins the ranks of Delaney. This was provocative, hard and provincial. It dared to say we are not as sexy as we think we are. We are not as metropolitan as we say we are. Sometimes, anchorless, we get scared and we are right to be scared. Before Cucumber, I thought of Russell as a gay Richard Curtis figure, a full-hearted romantic with an enviable habit for finding circuitously happy endings. Cucumber finishes all that. His dark side is even more thrilling still.

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words: Joe Passmore and joseph kocharian

EDIT_film reviews

4/5

Far from the Madding Crowd

C arey M ulligan , M ichael S heen , T om S turridge Thomas Vinterberg’s Far From the Madding Crowd takes us back to Victorian England, where Carey Mulligan’s Bathsheba Everdene stands strong against the lure of three different suitors and the threat of relinquished independence. This adaptation of a Thomas Hardy classic has been given the dark romantic treatment, with grand sweeping shots of rolling landscapes and formidable weather, with themes of love bubbling lustily throughout, all bathed in a golden light. Vintergberg has assembled a platinum cast, too: Mulligan is stoic and strong-willed as Everdene; Matthias Schoenaerts’ Gabriel Oak is a silent yet robust beast; Michael Sheen draws out audience pity as the rich but lonely Boldwood and Sturridge’s recklessly charismatic soldier charms his way into your affections. Each are solid components of a beautiful piece of cinema, with grit and power in equal measure. jk R eleased on M ay 1 st

4/5

The Falling M asie W illiams , M axine P eake , F lorence P ugh In a British girls school in the late 60s, a mysterious sickness epidemic seemingly takes control of its students; yet the school’s authorities put it down to the behaviour of the intelligent yet disturbed Lydia (Maisie Williams). While there’s something deeply troubling bubbling at the surface, it remains an entrancing and alluring watch throughout. This is a film with perhaps too many ideas, rather than too few, but the ambience of this drama is entirely unique. Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones) gives a chilling performance as Lydia. While, director Morley shows great promise in his sophomore feature film. jp R eleased on A pril 24 th

3/5

The New Girlfriend R omain D uris , A naïs D emoustier , I sild L e B esco After losing her childhood best friend, Claire (Anaïs Demoustier) goes to check in on Laura’s (Isild Le Besco) widowed husband (Romain Duris). Upon this impromtu visit Claire finds David dressed in his late wife’s clothes. Though making a confident move at observing common LGBT ideologies, the drama here plays out too much like a frivolous soap opera. There are still moments of poignancy and humour, as well as interesting commentaries on gender, sexuality and labelling, but The New Girlfriend just misses the mark. jp R eleased on M ay 22 nd

Avengers: Age of Ultron

4/5

S carlett J ohansson , A aron T aylor -J ohnson , C hris E vans , C hris H emsworth , R obert D owney J r The gang are back together, but not for very long, as Iron Man/Tony Stark's A.I creation turns on the team and humanity. Add in a rather buff Aaron Taylor Johnson (minus points for his dyed blonde weave) and Elizabeth Olsen as Quicksilver, complete with her best Russian accent for a robust action thriller with all the trimmings we've come to expect from the Marvel franchise formula. This film gets a little more personal, but keeps all your favourite touches, including Scarlet Johansson (who has not been given her own stand alone film in the franchise, which looks set to keep going until 2018) grabbing the scenes she is given. jk R eleased on M ay 1 st

Reese Witherspoon, Arnold Oceng, Ger Duany Three Sudanese men escape the horrors of the ongoing civil war in their homeland, taking refuge in Kansas. Employment agency worker – Carrie, played by an irritable Reese Weatherspoon, takes on the difficult task of finding them jobs. Performances here are solid throughout and there is plenty of substance for a great drama, with the opening sequences in Sudan being especially poignant and provoking. However, an overly American and often too syrupy script act as a hindrance to what could almost have been a powerful, honest and gritty drama. jp R eleased on A pril 24 th

The Good Lie

3/5

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EDIT_MUSIC REVIEWS

9/10

7/10

5/10

JERMAIN JACKMAN

BRANDON FLOWERS

WILL YOUNG

The second solo album from The Killers’ frontman is one of the best pop albums of 2015 so far, and has inspired levels of approval in the Attitude office not seen since Swifty’s 1989; Flowers too has stuck to straight-up, easily accessible pop harking back to music of the 80s. The Haim-inspired, bass-pulsing single Can’t Deny My Love is a good indicator for the rest of the album – big anthemic tracks which are lyrically flippant but serious on pop. On big epic sing-a-longs like Come True and Digging Up The Heat, Flowers is undeniably channelling Springsteen; singing about highways and money trouble over acoustic drum beats, piano and pop horns. On Between Me And You he even sounds like The Boss as he sings “These hours I’m working aren’t nearly enough/ Chasing every dollar, girl is this what I was born to do?” Tribute is also paid to the camp electro-pop on which Flowers was raised, with backing vocals from Neil Tennant, and a sample of Bronski Beat’s Smalltown Boy on I Can Change. Easily remembered melodies and lyrics make for a glorious run of perfect pop songs, on a ten-track album, the likes of which we never thought we’d see again (you can listen to it twice over and Rebel Heart would still be going): A further breakthrough solo moment for a man who we can safely say is not just a pretty face.

We’re always keen for the success of a Will Young album, since he and we go back a long time, but we were a tad thrown upon first hearing his comeback single Love Revolution. It’s a foot-stomping, Motown-esque track built on Tomcraft’s 2002 hit Loneliness, which finds Will in much the same territory as he himself was in that same year. Reader, we fretted. But the rest of the album tells a different story. Elsewhere, he’s writing more honestly, about his own life and loves, following on the same musical path as his previous album Echoes, with that album’s producer Jim Eliot – whose work with Ellie Goulding also hints through. Will channels the epic synth-pop of Hurts on Brave Man and Like A River, without sounding try-hard, and both songs are among the most personal lyrically. Joy is a track that recalls Kylie’s All The Lovers – and with about as much lyrical content – but it’s a fun pop song all the same. Thank You is a track that’s got the feel of a modern Take That doing some old school Beatles, and it’s on point for Will. The album hangs together well, and is a good solid offering from Will after a couple of years away, but it doesn’t smash the mould from which we’re used to hearing his music cast. Nevertheless, it’s become a regular fixture on the Attitude iPod, and we’re very happy to see this great British male back on the scene alongside newbies like Sheeran and Smith.

T HE D ESIRED E FFECT / V ERTIGO

WORDS: BEN KELLY

J ERMAIN J ACKMAN / P OLYDOR

85% P ROOF / I SLAND R ECORDS

It’s third time lucky at giving a winner of The Voice a winning career, and Jermain has delivered an album that’s both middle-aged and middle of the road, falling somewhere between late-teen Jacksons and Luther Vandross; with a few attempts to line up alongside Sam Smith. To his credit, he’s co-written most of it and the vocals melt like a bar of Galaxy chocolate, but there’s little evidence this will do any better than the past two forgotten winners.

8/10 FRANKIE KNUCKLES H OUSE M ASTERS F RANKIE K NUCKLES / D EFECTED R ECORDS

This album is the culmination of a project that began in February 2014, with Frankie hand-selecting what he wanted to include on a retrospective release of his career. Following his untimely death, it’s going out as planned, filled with the classic songs he put his hands to, plus his various remixes. It’s a collection of some of the best house music of the late 80s and early 90s. Better still, all proceeds go to the Frankie Knuckles Fund and the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

WHAT SHOULD ZAYN MALIK DO NEXT?

WHO IS TIDAL FOR?

%

%

▀ 5% MOODY R&B-TINGED SOLO ALBUM ▀ 10% (HOMO)EROTICALLY-CHARGED TELL-ALL AUTOBIOGRAPHY ▀ 85% PORN

▀ 5% EMERGING ARTISTS ▀ 5% #FORALL ▀ 90% BLUE IVY’S COLLEGE

FUND

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ANDY Shirt by Burton

COHEN

America’s only gay late night talk show host pays a fleeting visit to see Attitude in London Photography: Leon Csernohlavek / Styling: Nick Byam / Words: Ben Kelly

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andy cohen_ATTITUDE

S

tripping from tuxedo to dressing gown in a suite at London’s Andaz Hotel, I suggest that Andy Cohen may like some privacy. “Relax,” he says brashly, “I’m not shy, I’m American!” And indeed it’s in his USA homeland where TV mogul Andy Cohen can consider himself a huge star. He hosts his own late night talk show Watch What Happens: Live, he’s the creator, executive producer and all round ringmaster of the popular Real Housewives franchise, and his high flying New York socialite ways are well documented on his social media accounts as well as his book The Andy Cohen Diaries: A Deep Look at a Shallow Year. But here in London – where he’s come to see ‘friend’ Ralph Fiennes on the stage, to dine with Joan Collins, and crucially, to talk to Attitude – he still enjoys some levels of anonymity. “I went out last night and it was interesting being in London. Some people knew who I was, some people didn’t, and it was very fun, it was very... refreshing,” he grins. Bubbly and chatty with everyone on set, and happy to take well positioned selfies, Andy is clearly someone who delights in his work, and every aspect of it. As we sit down for a chat he asks me gleefully, “Are you a ginge?!” expressing his preference for red tops. Sadly Andy, I’m not, but there’s a copy of RED HOT in the post with your name on it.

Do you know London well? I love London. I came out of the closet in London. I was studying abroad here when I was in college. Our flat was in Earls Court, and I thought there’s no way I’m going to be able to stay in the closet if I’m here, and I came out. It was a great time. Who did you tell? I told my friend Amanda, who’s still one of my best friends to this day. She’s a shrink now, which makes sense. Your show, ‘Watch What Happens: Live’, is a lot more fun than most other U.S. talk shows right? Way more fun! It’s the only live show on late night in America, it’s totally spontaneous, and there’s something really dangerous about it. These huge stars come on and feel like they’re not really on TV because it’s in this teeny little room and we just get them to reveal crazy shit about themselves. A lot of them are your friends, too. It started with my friends doing me favours and coming on the show to get it established – like Sarah Jessica Parker, Liam Neeson, Anderson Cooper – and now it’s really legitimately famous people who I’ve never met before. Who’s been your favourite guest? Maybe Oprah or Cher. It’s weird when you see Oprah as a guest isn’t it? Yeah it is, but she’s a great guest. She’s very engaging. Talk show hosts make great guests. Always. You’re also behind ‘The Real Housewives’ franchise, which is hugely popular here. How

did that come about as an initial idea? Someone came to us at Bravo, which was the channel I was in charge of programming, and said “I have these neighbours and their boobs are bigger and their hair is blonder and they have huge houses, and they’re unlike anything you’ve ever seen before,” and we said well that sounds intriguing, and we just shot some footage of them and then tried to figure out what to do with them. It was the beginning of The Real Housewives of Orange County, and in my mind I thought, ‘Well this could be like a modern soap opera,’ and that’s really what it’s become. It’s become a water cooler churn in the United States, and around the world, and it’s really become this kind of, cultural lightning rod. How much of it is staged? It’s real. We cast very highly volatile, emotional, driven, opinionated women, and because of that, they go to town! And you sit down with them at the end of the season and they all have it out with each other. Yes, I do, exactly. It’s really fun. What’s the most vicious you’ve ever seen them get? You know sometimes it just gets really personal about their family. The show works so well because it’s all people who have long histories with each other. So it’s not just throwing people together in a Big Brother house and seeing what happens. And it kind of led to your cameo in Lady Gaga’s video for G.U.Y. didn’t it? What were you meant to be, God? Yes, I was Zeus! God of everything. She

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ANDY COHEN_ATTITUDE directed me, it was fun. She’s a huge Real Housewives fan, and she was great, she’s been a guest on my show. That was a big video, and she kind of did it off her own back didn’t she? She did, it was a huge video, and she put The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills in that video too. But you didn’t shoot on set at the Hearst mansion did you? No, she set up a set for me, because I wasn’t able to make the actual shoot, and I did it in a sound stage in Los Angeles. It was cool, she was very cool. So although you’re a TV host, you’re also running the business behind the scenes. Yes, I have been a TV producer for 25 years, it’s only been the last seven or eight that I’ve been in front of the camera, so it’s been a crazy transition for me. My life has totally changed over the last few years. And I guess as a producer you have the power and control that you don’t get being just a presenter?

Yes, and I’m executive producer of my own show too, so the buck stops with me. I love it. In the UK Graham Norton is similar in that respect, he has his production company too. Absolutely. And he’s an influence on me because he has an ‘anything goes’ attitude on his show, and I always admired him for years. Though our gay TV hosts in this country still tend to be quite flamboyant... Well I’m not exactly Clint Eastwood! No, but guys like you and Anderson Cooper, you’re seen to be a bit more butch. I can be caught in a dainty moment! Almost every episode! Don’t get me wrong, you know, it’s a great honour being the only gay late night TV host in America, but being gay doesn’t define me, it’s just part of who I am. That being said I hide nothing on my show, and if you watch my show regularly, I drool over guys and talk about men and dating and I objectify them, so there’s an honesty and an authenticity with the way I present who I am on the show that I think is certainly different from anything that is on TV in America.

‘WHEN I WAS YOUNGER IF I WANTED TO GET A DRINK I WOULD GO TO A GAY BAR ALONE, BUT NOW I DON’T DO THAT BECAUSE I FEEL SELF CONSCIOUS ABOUT IT’

Dressing gown by Zimmerelli at MR PORTER

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Shirt by Burton; bow tie by M&S

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And how does America respond to it? Really well. You know, the people who I think have a weird response to me are gay people. Some gay people. Whenever there’s something about me on a gay website, they love to comment on it, “Oh he’s such a queen, he’s a bottom, he’s this, he’s that.” Is any of that true? What? Am I a queen? Am I a bottom? I can be queeny... I’m a top! The response has been great though. I’ve actually had a really nice response. I’ve gone on these big book tours and it’s cool to meet young gay guys who live in America and watch me and say, “Oh it’s cool watching another gay guy just being himself on TV”, that means a lot to me. Let’s talk about your books, ‘The Andy Cohen Diaries’. It’s kind of an homage to ‘The Andy Warhol Diaries’, right? Right, I have two books. You’re a young fella so I’m glad you know about The Warhol Diaries, and that was the inspiration for my book, I thought, ‘Wow here I am living in New York, going to these parties, and travelling around the world, and meeting these people that I never dreamed I would and hanging out with them,’ and I thought, ‘This could be cool to do a year in my life,’ and it’s a little Bridget Jones’ Diary, I date, I fall in love with the dog, I kind of hob nob, and it’s fun, I love the book. It’s funny because with social media, people are following your lifestyle in real time, but there’s still a missing art of letter and diary writing nowadays. Totally, and it’s great. You know, you can put down what you were really thinking. Look, I’m highly active on social media, but I’m also highly edited. And part of the reason is that people are just waiting to jump on everything you say. I keep telling my bosses, “I am one tweet away from getting fired.” Isn’t everyone? Yes! Everyone is. Because I’m going to be in the back of a cab drunk some night and I’m going to tweet something horribly inappropriate, and it’s all going to come crashing down on me. You share a lot about your dog on social media. Yes, Wacha, he’s two and half. And you rescued him? I did, I found him online, I fell in love with him. It was like Grindr for a guy and a puppy. But I didn’t fuck the dog of course! He’s great, he’s so cute, I love him. He’s a mix between a beagle and a foxhound. He’s got great disposition, and he’s a good guy. He sleeps with me, we cuddle, it’s lovely. And he’s actually famous in his own right.

Suit by M&S Collection; shirt by Burton; bow tie by M&S

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He is, he’s famous. He has 120,000 Instagram followers! He’s got a great Instagram. It’s my hobby! I follow lots of dog Instagrams, but they’re not as prolific as his. Well thank you, he has a big platform. I bring him out at the end of all my shows too. So he’s the man in your life? He is the man in my life, I’m single. What’s it like dating as Andy Cohen – because it must be hard when you’re a big name, especially in the gay world. Well, when I was younger if I wanted to get a drink I would go to a gay bar alone, but now I don’t do that because I feel self conscious about it. Other than that, for me it’s normal. I don’t think of myself in terms of, ‘Oh I’m famous’. I mean, I’m not Madonna! Do you like Rebel Heart? I do, I listened to it like 20 times on the plane over here yesterday and I love it. It’s a difficult one isn’t it... It is a difficult one, but like everything, the more you listen to it, the more you understand it, and there is some really melodic beautiful stuff on there that I’m connecting to. Living For Love is not my favourite. How did you feel about her fall at the BRIT Awards? I just feel like there is a crazy ageism thing going on with Madonna, where if she falls people are making fun of her, ‘she’s a grandma,’ ‘she’s an old lady,’ but she’s Madonna. You know? I find it gross the way people are saying she shouldn’t dress this way, or she shouldn’t be putting out this kind of music. She’s Madonna. You can’t tell Madonna not to be Madonna. She is the one who is redefining what it means to be a

56-year-old woman. So it’s everyone else’s problem with that, it’s not hers. Do you think there’s ageism in the gay community? I do, although... I don’t know, because I think people like a daddy a little bit. Are you a daddy? I might be. Yeah, I think I am. [laughs] I’ve got no problem with it. What were your thoughts on Russell Tovey’s comments about masculinity? My thoughts are that people in this world are just waiting to be offended, and this is a proudly out gay actor who is talking about his experience of feeling – for whatever reason or another – as we’ve all felt, that we had to fit in, and that was his experience, and I don’t think it was him saying that he didn’t welcome all kinds of people, I think that it was grossly overblown. You don’t accept this implied notion that there’s a ‘right way to be gay’? No I don’t. What I gathered from it was he was talking about his own experience, feeling for whatever reason, that he had to butch it up to fit in. You’re always someone’s type in the gay community aren’t you? Yeah, you are. Look, it’s a cruel little pond we all swim in, but everyone has a type. Some gay people like really skinny guys, some people like twinks, some people like bears, fat guys. There’s something for everyone. You and Anderson are one and the same in that respect. What? We’re both daddies? We’re both silver guys? We are! He’s my good mate. We have a great time. He and I are going on tour together, starting this month, in Boston. We travel extensively together actually. We’re doing a speaking tour soon. But yes, we’re both daddies. Who gets more attention, you or him? Well when he takes his hat off, it looks like he’s Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, because his hair is so silver. He is very hard to miss. You’re very well put together now, but I’ve seen some old pictures with little afros, long curly hair... I know, terrible. I thought I looked good! Do you feel you’ve got better looking with age? I think I look better now than I ever did, thankfully. I’d rather have it be that than the opposite. I can’t believe what I looked like when I look at old pictures. Yeah, I looked pretty bad. Now I have great suits, I love my suits, that’s my style. You gotta keep it tight if you’re on TV every night!

STYLIST ASSISTED BY YASMIN WALKER AND JOAO ANDRADE / GROOMING AND HAIR BY NIBRAS USING CLARINS AND OJON

ANDY COHEN_ATTITUDE

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BIG GAY FOLLOWING

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KYLIE WAS THE DARLING OF THE LABEL

STOCK AITKEN WATERMAN

WKEN MCKAY/REX

TO CELEBRATE THEIR 30TH ANNIVERSARY, THE HITMAKERS HAVE REMASTERED THE FOUR ALBUMS THEY MADE WITH THEIR MOST SUCCESSFUL ARTIST, KYLIE MINOGUE. WE TAKE A LOOK BACK AT HOW THE LABEL DEFINED THE SOUND OF THE MID-1980S In the 27 years since Kylie Minogue released I Should Be So Lucky, she has performed the track in a myriad of styles, from torch song to techno rave-up to reciting the lyrics at the Poetry Olympics (in trackie bottoms and trainers with a face scrubbed free of make-up, no less). However, it is the moment she climbed into a bubble bath to recreate the now iconic scene from the song’s video on her Kiss Me Once tour that will go down as the definitive live rendition of the song. Remaining faithful to the original version, the performance was an unabashed love letter to Kylie’s apprenticeship at Stock Aitken Waterman’s Hit Factory, where, under the guidance of the chart-topping triumvirate, she was veered to becoming the pop icon we know and love today. To mark the 30th anniversary of the Hit Factory, Kylie’s four

Stock Aitken Waterman-produced albums have been given the deluxe edition treatment, digitally remastered and packed with remixes, B-sides and videos. “These really are the definitive versions of the Kylie albums,” says Pete Waterman. “Everything we did with Kylie is on these reissues, there is nothing else left. We don’t have any unreleased demos of any artist because we never did them – that isn’t how we worked. We wrote the song specifically for them, recorded it, then put it out. We didn’t have time to write songs we weren’t going to use.” As well as the wealth of material contained on the CDs, the reissues feature bonus DVDs featuring scarce TV performances – the ultimate souvenir of the retro-Kylie experience and, says Pete, an integral part of the Stock Aitken Waterman phenomenon.

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William Lovelace/Daily Mail/Rex

“Those performances were hugely important to our success,” says Pete. “That was how people found out about the songs – they heard them on the radio or saw them on Top Of The Pops or the Saturday morning TV shows, then went out and bought the record. The music industry today is vastly different to what it was then. There was no social media – those shows were like the Twitter of their day.” The Stock Aitken Waterman story began in 1984 when Mike Stock and Matt Aitken, a pair of songwriters/musicians who had been touring the working men’s club scene for years, approached Pete Waterman, a DJ/producer who had recently enjoyed success with acts including Musical Youth and Nik Kershaw, to form a writing/production company which would provide songs to a roster of artists. Their business model was loosely based on the legendary Tamla Motown record label of the 1960s. Waterman loved the idea and started to seek out talent to write and produce for. Inspired by the music that Pete was playing in the underground gay clubs, the trio decided that Hi-NRG would form the basis for their sound. After the flop of the first Stock Aitken Waterman

memorablia from the Stock aitken waterman archives

releases, they explored gay subculture further, teaming up with Divine for You Think You’re A Man, which became their first Top 20 hit. Along with Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s seminal anthem, Relax, the song helped to propel the sound of the underground to the top of the charts. They followed Divine with Hazell Dean’s Whatever I Do (Wherever I Go), which became the first song written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman to hit the Top 10 and established their trademark sound. “Most examples of Hi-NRG were short on song,” recalls Mike Stock. “I was keen to bring structured songs into the style. We saw the club scene as a genuine way to reach people who might buy records. We took forward some of the dance elements into the more poppy projects. After Hazell Dean’s song, Dead Or Alive approached us and were really keen to work with us.

“The elements from Hi-NRG that we put into Hazell’s tracks and how we incorporated them into a full-on pop song were what Pete Burns loved. He was keen to do a similar thing.” Dead Or Alive had been working on their second album when Pete Burns heard the Stock Aitken Waterman tracks and decided they were the logical sound choice for the “glittery disco record” he had in mind. He presented them with a demo tape containing four tracks, one of which was the now-infamous You Spin Me Round (Like A Record). “As soon as I heard the demo I knew it was a No.1 hit,” says Pete Waterman. “There was a magic about it. We had been fighting to make a living and make a name for ourselves and Pete Burns walked in with a piece of gold and asked us to shine it for him. Of course we were going to do it!” The song was released in

November 1984 and steadily climbed the charts before hitting No.1 in March 1985, kick-starting a cacophony of smash hits for Stock Aitken Waterman, with each usurping the success of its predecessor, and firmly establishing them as a pop powerhouse. The chartdominating trio would go on to write and produce over 100 Top 40 singles and sell over 60 million records. “Just as had happened with Dead Or Alive, we were approached by Bananarama because they wanted elements from them.” says Mike. “That set the way forward for us. But I was keen not to be too repetitive and Princess, a soul singer, was our next hit. But dance orientation was always going to figure in our records.” Having enjoyed a run of hits in the early 1980s, Bananarama were struggling to maintain their momentum and turned to Stock Aitken Waterman to revitalise their sound. “They were unsure of who they were when they came to us,” Mike recalls. “I had a strong directional sense for them. We got the first album past them without too much debate following the first couple of hits because we were able to point to our records as highly successful, so they couldn’t put up much argument.” The huge success of Venus determined the direction Bananarama were to head in next. Deciding to work exclusively with Stock Aitken Waterman on their subsequent album, Wow!, the sessions were fraught, with the girls frustrated at the lack of control they were being afforded. They were also said to feel that Stock Aitken Waterman were spreading themselves too thinly, thanks to a burgeoning roster of new artists including Mel & Kim, Rick Astley, Sinitta and Samantha Fox. By 1987, Stock Aitken Waterman had become an unstoppable force in pop music with their newly acquired Hit

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Factory Studios the epicentre of Planet Pop. They had developed a sound unique to them – outwardly happy music with songs often addressing doomed relationships and unrequited love, which perfectly struck the balance between chart smash and club classic. The songs were particularly beloved by teen girls and gay men – an audience that has remained loyal to this day. “I think it’s the story in the song the gay fanbase are drawn to, “ says Mike. “I never intend to just catch the gay market as that would be condescending. But the emotional attachment to tunes and storylines is far more powerful than a dance beat on its own. I can seriously be moved by songs, but I can only move my feet to a beat. We worked best when we combined beats, tunes and lyrics. It was, after all, our first principle. Structured songs with dance beats.” “It was Techno Disco – that’s how we saw ourselves,” recalls Pete. “What we were basically doing was playing Motown songs on the latest technology. We realised that if we were serious about competing against Trevor Horn and all his brilliant records, we had to have the latest technology.” Although almost everything they put their names to was a guaranteed hit, Pete was perplexed when labels refused to sign his next protégée, Kylie, on account of her coming from a TV soap. “Every single label we went to passed on Kylie,” says Pete. “No one ever said anything bad about her or the song, it was the fact she was a TV star. Everybody said you couldn’t turn a TV star into a pop star. They flat-out refused.” The snub was the catalyst for the creation of PWL Records, a label founded so they could sign and release any records they liked. I Should Be So Lucky was the label’s first release and the first of 19 Top 20 hit singles and four Top 10 albums,

making her the Hit Factory’s most successful export. What is obvious from the reissue of Kylie’s first four albums is how big the leap was, both musically and stylistically between Enjoy Yourself and Rhythm Of Love. Though it has been claimed this was the result of Kylie’s relationship with Michael Hutchence –and certainly style-wise she had transformed herself from Barbie to Barbarella – Mike is keen to dispel the myth that her private life was dictating her output. “The story that Better The Devil

Stock Aitken Waterman repeated their soap star-topop star transformation with Jason Donovan. With the UK gripped by Neighbours-mania – Kylie and Jason’s characters, Charlene and Scott’s wedding was watched by 21 million viewers – Stock Aitken Waterman were inundated with orders for the Kylie & Jason Christmas duet, despite the fact no such thing had been planned. When store orders exceeded 600,000 copies, they succumbed to public pressure and wrote and

the credentials Date of birth: 15th January 1947 Place of birth: Stoke Heath, Warwickshire worked with: Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Sonia, Donna Summer, Steps Best known for: Producing hits with coProducers Mike Stock and Matt Aitken. Also hosting cult show The Hitman and Her Least known for: His fascination for railways BGF status: Producing such camp classics as Divine’s You Think You’re A Man and Kylie’s Better the Devil You Know

You Know was a direct result of Kylie’s awakened sexuality with Hutchence is nonsense,” laughs Mike. “Matt Aitken and I had Kylie’s transformation all planned. We knew we had to grow her up. We went from I Should Be So Lucky to Shocked and Better The Devil You Know in about 18 months. We knew nothing of her relationship with Michael, and Kylie did not attempt to steer the direction of our output.” Buoyed by Kylie’s success and revelling in the chance to silence their naysayers,

recorded Especially For You in time for Christmas 1988. The song went on to sell over one million copies and catapulted Jason onto the bedroom walls of teenage girls and sexually confused boys across the UK. Although the success of Kylie and Jason had become the biggest thing to hit Stock Aitken Waterman, PWL’s decision to capitalise on the pre-teen market cost them their credibility. By 1989, they were criticised for their production-line approach to pop

music. Taking everyday people and making them overnight sensations was frowned upon and a vitriolic backlash ensued. “It became so predictable,” says Mike. “The music press would hate all our records, but the public still bought them! Sometimes it verged on the hysterical. From our perspective, the songs had passion and belief, but we were slowly being marginalised by an industry which was dismantling itself. In so doing it dismantled the connection the public had with real pop music.” Despite the criticisms leveled at them, Stock Aitken Waterman’s success continued throughout 1989 – their most successful year. As well as new acts such as Sonia and Big Fun and established acts such as Cliff Richard and Donna Summer turned to the trio to revitalise their careers. As the 1990s dawned and music tastes changed with the advent of grunge and hip-hop, Stock Aitken Waterman’s popularity took a major dip. With the exception of Kylie, their songs were no longer the smash hits they had once been. The pressure of maintaining an eight-year stronghold at the top of the charts took its toll and Stock Aitken Waterman split. Following the disbandment of Britain’s most successful songwriting/production team of all time, they all remain active in the music industry. Pete went on to enjoy great success with Steps, while Mike produced hits for Scooch and Robson & Jerome. Although it is 30 years since the Hit Factory opened for business, they remain as passionate about music as they ever have. Mike has recently worked with Attitude favourite Shayne Ward on his comeback album. “It was a dream for me,” he says. “Shayne is great to work with. The more talented the singer, the easier they are to work with. He’s focused and delivers the song. What more could I want?”

Kylie’s four PWL albums are out now from cherryred.co.uk / the live show, A LIFE IN SONG: PETE WATERMAN is on July 29

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THE ALL-SINGING SON OF A R O CK LEG END TALK S S EX

NA T W EL L E R

THIS MONTH

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sex

promote to

C LOTHES O FF

of

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when I feel tempted to be veg out and have a carb-fest, I'm like ‘Noooo Nat, get up! Look at Zac's abs!’ I call it Gymspiration. WHAT KIND OF UNDERWEAR MAKES YOU FEEL SEXY It's sexier to wear none... ASIDE FROM US WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON TO SEE YOU NAKED? Probably my hetro manager Gary who was on this shoot, which would have grossed him out, but I’m sure he'll get me back by over-sharing about his sex life; it's a bit like hearing your dad or brother talk about sex... BULLYING IS STILL AN ISSUE FOR MANY GAY KIDS. WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE THEM? Find support and try to stay strong because I promise that it does get better. You must ultimately live for you. Try to

MAKE UP E L E N A D I A Z

PHOTOGRAPHY K E V I N M C D A I D

WORDS C H R I S T I A N G U I L T E N A N E

remember that those who bully or troll are deeply unhappy, insecure and unfulfilled people. I've learned the hard way by retaliating and 'flying off the handle' at people, but when I look closer I see that those people are projecting their own suffering on other people. DO YOU THINK GAY PEOPLE ARE ADEQUATELY TAUGHT ABOUT SAFE SEX? People see safe sex as a bit of a drag in the heat of the moment – get over it! It is so important. I’d rather fumble around strapping one on than have a lifetime of treating a potentially life-threatening illness. HAVE YOU ALWAYS PRACTISED SAFE SEX? Yes, but I’m human. I’ve had close calls, but the bigger picture always kicks in and I’ve always stayed safe.

Lesbian and Gay Foundation (Manchester) lgf.org.uk LGBT Scotland lgbt-helpline-scotland.org.uk LGBT Ireland lgbt.ie LGBT Northern Ireland lgbtni.org Pace Health pacehealth.org.uk If alcohol or drugs are causing you a problem and/or are making it hard to have safe sex: talktofrank.org

H E L P L I N E S The Terrence Higgins Trust tht.org.uk THT Direct 0808 802 1221 10am – 8pm Monday to Friday GMFA gmfa.org.uk London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard llgs.org.uk

DO YOU THINK PEOPLE TAKE SEX TOO SERIOUSLY? Yes! Sex is very important but I find if there is too much emphasis on it, it can be a turn off. WHAT’S THE KINKIEST THING YOU'VE EVER DONE? I’ve dabbled but it's nothing I’m going to be sharing today... I want to do the airplane bathroom thing one day. IS THERE A CELEBRITY BODY YOU ASPIRE TO? Hands down, Brad Pitt in Fight Club! And Zac Efron. Sometimes I set my screensaver to a picture of him topless so

Singer and model Natt is not shy. No sooner has he arrived at our studio has he whipped off his clothes and hit the floor to pump his pecs. Here, the dashing son of mod rock legend Paul Weller shares some of his most intimate thoughts.

HIV FACTS KNOW YOUR STATUS AS HIV F A C T S LEFT UNTREATED HIV TURNS INTO AIDS. HIV CAN ENTER YOUR BLOODSTREAM THROUGH BODILY FLUIDS SUCH AS BLOOD, CUM OR ANAL MUCUS. GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN ARE AT HIGHER RISK OF GETTING HIV. MOST GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN WITH HIV GET IT BY HAVING ANAL SEX WITHOUT A CONDOM. GET TESTED AT LEAST ONCE A YEAR. YOU CANNOT TELL IF SOMEONE IS HIV NEGATIVE FROM HOW THEY LOOK OR JUST BECAUSE THEY SAY THEY ARE. 1/3 OF GAY MEN WITH HIV DON'T KNOW THEY HAVE IT SO ALWAYS USE A CONDOM!

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With

B U L C E R U T CUL

tweets @MattCainWriter

Matt Cain

THE ICONIC GAY FILM WITH UNSIMULATED SEX SCENES WASN’T JUST ABOUT ROMPING, IT ALSO POSED SOME THOUGHT-PROVOKING QUESTIONS STILL RELEVANT AS EVER

SHORTBUS From Basic Instinct to Fifty Shades of Grey, we’ve all grown blasé about the lure of sex at the cinema. But Shortbus takes the graphic representation of sex in film to a whole other level. It opens by intercutting scenes in which a dominatrix abuses her male slave, a straight couple has comically athletic sex, and a gay man films himself sucking his own dick. This is followed by an endless onslaught of sexual activity of all descriptions, most

of it unsimulated. The film’s plot revolves around a group of misfits and outsiders who frequent Shortbus, a New York sex salon named after the American version of the ‘special bus’ that transports disabled children to school. The mistress of the club is drag performance artist Justin Bond and regulars include a sex therapist who’s never had an orgasm, a dominatrix who finds it impossible to emotionally

@innocenteyes26 @jaybrannan is a great actor... and you get to see him naked! ;) @liammachin ShortBus made me disgusted by sexuality & want to jump into the orgy scene all at the same time. I’m cured now. @AlexJCall I made some straight friends watch it at a party once. They were quite shocked! @annatation Some of it’s great, but the main women characters felt really stereotyped/cartoonish compared to the men @ian_mannly I LOVE #shortbus. It’s an incredibly human film that just happens to have actual graphic sex in. @ian_mannly It’s hilarious, it’s beautiful, has great complex characters and someone sings ‘Star Spangled Banner’ up someone else’s bum! What’s not to like?! @adora_boy Jay Brannan. That is all. @Michael_Jon Definitely one of my fave gay films of all time! The unsimulated sex scenes really awoke me sexually...

connect, and a gay couple who are struggling with the challenges of monogamy – but wary of the implications of opening up their relationship. While not all of the characters in Shortbus are gay, the film as a whole is infused with the queer sensibility of writer/director John Cameron Mitchell. Like it or not, a sexual openness is one of the qualities most people associate with gay men, possibly because we’re defined by what we do in bed in the first place. Let’s be honest, lots of us are happy to play up to this by regaling our straight friends with souped-up stories of our wild sexual encounters. And how many of us have gone through with a sexual experience simply because we know it’ll make a good anecdote? As a source of this kind of

book previews I DON’T CARE BY PETE JORDI WOOD I Don’t Care is the first instalment in the Midnight Wonders series, based on Pete Jordi Wood’s Channel 4 drama starring Iwan Rheon and Paloma Faith. Focusing on Luke, a gay carer in Cornwall who receives a day off from caring for his mother as a birthday present with extraordinary consequences. A fairytale inspired by the author’s own experiences.

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EXPOSÉ BY PAUL ILETT Set in the world of Britain’s bestselling tabloid The Daily Ear, Exposé is about a young actor who seems to have it all: Looks, fame and adoration. However, after building up a store of grudges against The Daily Ear, he sets about exposing secrets of the paper’s staff. A timely tale of tabloid culture – sure to appeal to celebrity readers especially.

KISS & MAKE UP BY CARL STANLEY The debut from former nightclub devotee and make-up artist to the stars Carl Stanley is a fascinating coming-of-age memoir focusing on his relationship with his manic-depressive mother, set against 80s New Romantic club culture. Examining the character traits we inherit in our adult lives, this is set to be a gritty and hilarious autobiography. BOOK PREVIEWS BY WILL DAVIS

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outrageous sexual humour, Shortbus really delivers. From its opening scene it’s crammed with jokes about manginas and tops and bottoms, and the lengths the sex therapist goes to in order to experience her first orgasm are hilarious. One of my favourite scenes involves an awkward gay threesome that descends into a performance of The Star Spangled Banner that’s like nothing you’ve ever seen. But the film also has several moving moments, such as when the former mayor of New York shares his story of living through the AIDS crisis. And, as the gay couple evolves into a threeway relationship and a disturbing darkness descends, it becomes obvious that all of the characters are just looking to feel any kind of strong emotions in a city shattered by 9/11. We gradually realise that all of them are broken in some way, just like Clockwise: Attitude’s Shortbus cover in 2006; Paul Dawson; one of the film’s tamer scenes...

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New York’s electrical supply. A sudden blackout like the one that hit the city in 2003 forces the characters to stop and think about what’s been powering them through life and to switch off their systems and start again. Once each of them has done so they emerge with a new insight into their sexuality and are able to use this to access their inner capacity to experience happiness. So Shortbus reveals itself to be a thought-provoking exploration of the intersection between sex and love rather than just a romp of relentless raunch. While it doesn’t leave us with any concrete message or philosophy, it does raise lots of interesting questions along the way. And if, like me, you’ve been guilty of putting sexual activity at the heart of your quest for happiness, you might just find these are questions you’ve already started to ask yourself.

• Released in the UK autumn 2006 • The film was cast through open auditions on a website that attracted 500,000 hits and was written following two years of improvisation workshops • John Cameron Mitchell previously wrote, directed and starred in Hedwig and the Angry Inch • He plays cameo roles in Shortbus having gay sex during an orgy and performing oral sex on a woman

classic read

London Triptych by Jonathon Kemp

The Winner of the Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award in 2011, London Triptych by Jonathon Kemp is a powerhouse of a first novel, and already regarded by many as a gay classic. Paralleling the treatment Michael Cunningham applied to Virginia Woolf and her seminal Mrs Dalloway, Kemp takes as his subject Oscar Wilde and his tragic and epic love letter, De Profundis, written to Lord Alfred Douglas after Wilde was imprisoned for gross indecency. Kemp gives us three compelling narratives in three different ages. First we have Jack Rose, a London rent boy in the 1890s who is just getting to grips with his trade – and who is destined to meet

the incorrigible wit and be involved in his infamous trial; secondly, in the 1950s, there is Colin Read, an artist who loves to depict male nudes, but who is frightened of his own sexuality and struggles to keep it suppressed; thirdly and finally there is David, a prison convict in the modern day, recounting his own latter day De Profundis, revealing the act of betrayal by his lover that led to his lonely incarcerated fate. Beautifully invoking Oscar Wilde and his writing, London Triptych is a highly evocative and stunningly written debut, exploring gay sexuality and its psychological and social demarcations over the course of a century.

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freddie highmore_ATTITUDE

psycho, killer TAKING ON norman IN BATES MOTEL AND EARNING HIS STRIPES AS AN ATTITUDE PIN-UP, THE FREDDIE HIGHMORE OF TODAY IS A FAR CRY FROM INNOCENT LITTLE CHARLIE BUCKET

Freddie wears top and jeans both by Whistles

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Freddie wears sweatshirt by McQ by Alexander McQueen at Harvey Nichols

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Freddie wears jacket by Hardy Amies at MR PORTER; t shirt by Paul Smith

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FREDDIE HIGHMORE_ATTITUDE t the age of 23 and with a slew of blockbuster movies under his belt, you could say Freddie Highmore is something of a Hollywood veteran. Eighteen years in the business, the wavy-haired former child actor has played opposite some of the biggest names in acting, from Kate Winslet and Helena Bonham Carter to Dustin Hoffman, Guy Pearce and Johnny Depp, in films as diverse as Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Finding Neverland and most recently the hit TV series Bates Motel, as the formidable Norman Bates. With this impressive body of work, we’d expected the young British actor to arrive on set masked behind oversized sunglasses and an obscenely large entourage, with an even bigger ego in tow. But when Freddie appears on set (on time, might we add) he’s a far stretch from what you’d imagine a boy with his career to be like. Clad in a baggy jumper and skinny black jeans, he is the epitome of the boy next door. Quietly sweetlooking and bookish – you could walk past him in the street without casting a second look. But that is all about to change. Today is the day Mr Highmore can shake his child actor rep. Today, Freddie will become a cover star pin-up. When we guide him through racks of designer garms, Freddie’s face lights up with excitement and he tells us that he’s happy to let us go to town on him. Music to our ears! So with no further ado, our team gets to work on Freddie, transforming him – Cinderella-like – into the dashing young chap you see on these pages. As it turns out, the transformation isn’t that hard. With our cracking team slicking his wavy locks to one side, Freddie’s babyface becomes mature, masculine and sexy in an instant. And in spite of his general reticence, he gives some incredible face the moment he steps in front of the camera, helped by those dark, penetrating eyes that made him a shoe in to play the young Norman Bates The result? He’s almost unrecognisable. We wager that from this moment on, Hollywood will see Freddie in a totally different way, deluging him with film roles usually reserved for the likes of Zac Efron and Dave Franco. When we sit down to chat, the exquisitely mannered Freddie is as excited as we are to talk all things Bates Motel, as well as the rise and overwhelming power of social media, his reluctance to become a sex symbol and how we can all bring about a bit of social change with education. We’re three seasons in to Bates Motel – you must be so pleased with how it’s being received? Becoming a part of a story so well known and so well loved, you don’t want to mess it up. But having our show set in the present day and going back to see what it was that turned Norman psychotic, we felt free to bring in our own interpretations and not be restricted by the original source material. From my point of view, I never attempted to mimic what Anthony Perkins did in the movie; however he was obviously an amazing source of inspiration upon which to build. It must be hard not to fall into those Anthony Perkins trappings. Did you see the remake? Yes, Gus Van Sant did a shot-by-shot remake, didn’t he? That was bizarre. An interesting project, you could say! Isn’t there only one

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freddie highmore_ATTITUDE scene that is different? The one where Norman’s peeking through You appear to be a very sweet, gentle man, do you have a dark the hole and… er... side? Enjoying what he’s seeing. Only when I am watching or playing football, that’s when my dark [laughs] Yes! side comes out. The latter stages of this season for Arsenal have This is a great, meaty role to establish yourself as an adult been a happy time so far. actor. You can’t get more ‘adult’ than a classic serial killer. You’ve been acting for 18 years, has it been an easy transition To be honest, I never thought the transition from child actor to getting to where you are now? We read so much about young adult actor would be problematic. I just assumed as I got older I stars like Lindsay Lohan and Macaulay Culkin who struggle would play older characters. And the great thing about being on a to deal with growing up in the industry… long-running television show like Bates Motel is that you can see the A lot of it is because I had a supportive family growing up. Between development of the characters. At the start, Norman is a normal boy, making films, I would go back to ordinary school in London instead and we watch him grow into the character we know. of home schooling. I didn’t go to school in Los Angeles, where it Did you throw yourself into the world of serial killers when must be harder to maintain that distinction between a normal life you first got the role? and film work. I wasn’t defined as an actor in London. And going to Well, I looked into the life of serial killer Ed Gein, who inspired the uni studying foreign languages rather than drama helped to keep book on which Psycho was based. Max [Thieriot] – who plays my me grounded. brother in the show – and I were both keen to take a close look at Every teen rebels at some point, have you had any tough Ed Gein’s real life. Gein actually had a brother, who wasn’t in the times growing up? Hitchcock film, but it adds an extra layer to Bates Motel. To be honest, there have been no real moments where I was Why do you think we have a incredibly angsty. Especially not on Freddie wears top by Dior Homme fascination with serial killers? a film set. I always felt lucky to do it. What’s interesting with Norman in It was an active choice as opposed to particular is that watching the show, being forced into doing it which would you know from the outset what’s going probably have made me rebel. But I to happen at the end. We all know what enjoyed it and wanted to do it. People Norman is going to turn into, but in often discover their rebellious side when Bates Motel you find out why he does they are fighting against authority, but what he does. There’s a fascination from for me, acting was the opposite. It was speculating on how different life could something that was great and I loved. I have been for someone like Norman in worked very hard but it would be wrong altered circumstances. Would Norman to say it was unpleasantly tough or it have gone down the path of serial killer caused me grief. if his previous life had been happier? Well, you seem very put together. Would he have been able to get past It’s all worked out so far! At the end of his psychological problems and lived school and my second year at Cambridge happily ever after? I didn’t really do any acting except Did you speak to anyone about voice-work. When I was doing GCSEs what makes a serial killer? and A-levels I prioritised my academic I read a lot about people who have work. It was only in my third year at committed murders to understand Cambridge University whilst studying why they did what they did. I recently languages abroad that I was able to fit in watched Louis Theroux’s show about the time to do Bates Motel. inmates on death row, investigating at And your time at Cambridge wasn’t what point these people are culpable for all debauchery like in The Riot Club? what they do. Is Norman responsible for his actions because he’s I wouldn’t say it was crazily wild. I certainly never saw anything as suffering from an illness? And to what extent does that mean we debauched as The Riot Club. Term times were intense and went by should support or even empathise with him? That’s the tragedy of so quickly. You look back and think you wish you could have done Bates Motel; the first two seasons we see a Norman who is lovable more. Every day was crammed. Two eight-week terms, a four-week and redeemable. The interesting shift in season three is that we see term and then exams. Norman become aware of what he is capable of and manipulating You must have done some bad things? others, and them reacting to him now they know that he has these I’m not sure to what extent students do bad things at Cambridge or blackouts. any uni today. Define bad? I’m not sure how far that myth extends. The scary thing about the Norman Bates’ of this world, But I had great, wild times with people. as opposed to the Freddy Krugers, is that Norman could Can you remember them? be living next door to you. Yes I can, well most of them anyway, I think! Yes. Norman’s this normal guy to start with, then various In that case they weren’t that wild! Do you get people making things happen to him. I try to play against what people expect. a beeline for you these days? If everyone could spot who the serial killer was in their town, it In general I am a trusting person but I have never been badly tricked would be incredibly easy to put a halt to it. But it’s usually the case in that way, yet. No one at university saw me as an actor. I guess they that when you look back people say, ‘Yes, they were a bit odd, but may have seen films I’d done but we never made a big deal of it. never that odd.’ Has playing Norman made you more sexy to people?

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Freddie wears top by Whistles

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freddie adam lambert_ATTITUDE highmore_ATTITUDE Freddie wears leather jacket by Fendi; t-shirt by Lyle & Scott by Jonathan Saunders; jeans by Hugo

‘It’s always odd for friends to see you do sex scenes. But it’s odder with your parents’ [laughs] I’m not sure about that, but I’m not the innocent ten year old boy people knew me as anymore. I would hope not. But I can’t imagine anyone wanting to jump into bed with Norman Bates. Certainly not the shower! But everyone loves a bad boy. I would advise people to stay away from Norman. Especially women. As long as people don’t think you’re like Norman in real life. You are quiet and nice. So is Norman! And like him, you’re very close to your mother too [she’s his agent] – though nowhere near as Norman is portrayed to be. No, not at all. It’s actually funny watching the show with my parents. It’s always odd for friends and other people to see you do sex scenes. But it’s odder with your parents because they’re thinking, ‘We really do not want to be watching our son having sex.’ And it’s even worse when your real mother is watching you saying ‘Hello Mother’ to a screen mum in a sexual way! But we just laugh about it. Well, it could be worse. Imagine you were in a Fifty Shades-type film! Poor Melanie Griffith said she didn’t want to see her daughter Dakota Johnson in it.

Freddie in charlie and the chocolate factory (2005)

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adam lambert_ATTITUDE freddie highmore_ATTITUDE Freddie wears jacket by Diesel Black Gold; shirt by Marc Jacobs

‘it’s important to have positive role models in the public so that people can more easily gain confidence to freely express themselves’ [mimicking Melanie Griffith] “I don’t want to see my daughter’s breasts!” Was this the first time you had to shoot sexual scenes? I mean, it’s never been particularly full on with Norman yet. The thing is though, Norman’s not the most attractive person. Maybe in a quirky way, he seems to do remarkably well in White Pine Bay. Maybe they like the sinister glint in your eyes. You also did a TV film in which you played chef Nigel Slater in which we saw you kissing a guy. Yes, it wasn’t different from any other kiss. Kissing a guy is like kissing a girl on camera. You’re playing a role. And anyway there’s the mechanics. Often you’re worrying about doing something at a certain moment to match what you did in the previous take or you’re trying to stay in the right set-light, and of course there’s a whole crew watching only inches from you. Did Nigel tell you any stories about coming out? His book spoke a lot more in depth about that than we did together.

He was such a nice guy. I haven’t seen him for a while but Helena [Bonham Carter], he and I do keep in touch. We’ve said we’re going to get together and cook something for him. He must get sick of cooking for other people. Do you always try to keep in touch with your cast mates? It’s tricky. When a film comes to an end, that’s the worst thing. You get close to people then after four months of being together, it’s a complete rupture and you go off on separate projects. You can’t keep in touch with everyone. I see Helena Bonham Carter more as we live near each other in North London. We have a very jokey relationship. I have worked with her a few times. One of the first things we did was Women Talking Dirty. I was five or six and I played her son in that. So another mother figure! [laughs] You look very different in this shoot – are you ready to become a pin up? I have never thought about it. I think in a way, being judged as a sex symbol and being famous almost go hand in hand but it is not

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freddie highmore_ATTITUDE something I have ever sought. It’s tricky because these days success relies on promoting the film or the show more and more, and promoting the actors via Twitter and social media, which I am not on. There is more and more pressure on actors to try to embrace a public social media presence. But I am still holding out. Jeremy Irvine said recently that at auditions he gets asked how many Twitter followers he has. Yes, social media has become nearly as important as the product itself. It’s all about how many people you can get to tweet and to contact to get them to watch it tonight. It’s a brilliant resource, but it invades your personal life if you do it honestly. If you open that door, it is hard to shut it when you want to. It’s like, if you go to an Arsenal game or have an evening with friends and you tweet a picture then you’re putting your private life out there and you can’t complain when people want to pry further. But social media seems to rule our lives. There’s less interactivity. Would you consider online dating? Well, I do know someone for whom it worked. Again, it’s a brilliant resource. Why knock it? Especially when people are finding love through it. The more you take on these big roles, the more famous you will become. Are you prepared for that? Well, who knows about the future but there are some actors who have managed to be successful and not necessarily be so in the public eye. Take Johnny Depp, he’s a world-wide public figure but manages to remain a relatively private person. Bates Motel has a big gay fanbase. Does that mean you get asked to participate in any LGBT support? In the past I was more often asked to support children’s charities! In some ways, change is best started with yourself. You and your friends not just being aware of what you believe in but standing up for it. If a situation arises that you don’t agree with – like someone making a joke at the expense of the LGBT community – you have to speak up for it: Hopefully remain friendly but don’t let the moment go by. Alongside the headline big actions, it’s those countless smaller choices that we all make that will bring about change. When I was at school, that phrase ‘you’re so gay’ suggesting weakness was commonplace and kind of acceptable – but at uni it was happily not used. Maybe that kind of thing is the real positive education of going off to university! I don’t think people are born homophobic – at least, I hope not. We live in cosmopolitan London, but outside of the capital life might not be as happy. Sadly, I think you’re right that big cities do welcome diversity more. Maybe familiarity has taken away the fear. That’s why it’s important to have positive role models in the public so that people can more easily gain confidence to freely express themselves. Actually, there is a phrase I’m not wholly comfortable with: ‘More tolerant’. Surely, it’s not about tolerating others as if they were a noisy neighbour, or that bloke on the tube with B.O? It’s about accepting that we’re all unique and that the world’s genuinely richer because of it. I’d also like to state that no-one should safely accept a Norman Bates as their motel manager! Bates Motel season 3 is shown Wednesday nights at 9pm on Universal Channel.

Freddie wears top and suit jacket both by Dior Homme

Hair by Tom Berry using Bumble & Bumble Make up by Rhea Le Riche using NARS Fashion Assitant: Nick Byam

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T

American horror writer and blogger Sean Abley looks at the relationship between gay people and film’s darkest genre

he link between homosexuality and horror films has been debated rigorously and endlessly in books, blog posts and film classes for almost as long as gay people have gone to the movies. What is it about a genre filled with sex, violence and heightened performances that appeals so strongly to queer men? There are those who feel the tropes of the horror genre are analogous to the struggles, wants and aspirations of the gay community. And there are those who point to the pure entertainment aspect that appeals to all audiences while pooh-poohing the queer connection with a “Well, who wouldn’t want to be Carrie?” rationale. From an entertainment point of view this affinity makes total sense, especially for certain specific horror genre skews (much like the LGBT community, horror is a rainbow of many colours). For instance, revenge fantasies. Who didn’t feel different in high school? Who didn’t want to burn their bullies to death at the prom? Wouldn’t that have felt great? Wistful late at night scenarios about offing the local A-holes or the cruel captain of the football team (or fucking him, but that’s a different genre…) are made flesh in movies like Carrie, Jennifer’s Body, Tamara (written by out screenwriter Jeffrey Reddick) and, God help us, I Spit On Your Grave. The slashers of the 80s started out as gritty indie grindhouse fare (see the original Friday the 13th, Maniac, etc.) then, courtesy of the major studios, morphed into big menus of people you want to see, which is not necessarily a bad thing. For a community under-represented on screen, and under-appreciated in life, watching those gaggles of guys and gals butchered as they perform those disgusting heterosexual sex acts can be a tonic. And let’s be honest – boobies are kind of fun. The ‘final girl’ phenomenon certainly speaks to our community as well. The final girl isn’t the slut, or the bitch, or the bitch’s best friend, nor is she always the virgin; she’s the survivor. She isn’t magical like Carrie White; she’s an ordinary girl in extraordinary circumstances. Think Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween (1978), or Jennifer Love Hewitt in I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), or in the most meta of meta movies, Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott in Scream (1996); girls using all their smarts to outsmart the masked killer, aka the ultimate bully. When we watch the late Marilyn Burns, covered in blood, escaping in the back of a pick-up truck, maniacally laughing at Leatherface’s attempts to catch up in the final moments of Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), we can’t help but think, ‘Been there, honey.’ As far as identifying with our captors, one could argue the affinity for any genre would be the opportunity to see oneself, yet we’re so infrequently out and proud in horror films, and too frequently in and ashamed, one wonders where the appeal lies. Perhaps it’s comforting to see those coded images, proof that we do exist, albeit in a less than

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scream queens_ATTITUDE spectacular way. Maybe time allows us to enjoy those old films with the gay murderer, the queer victim or the sensitive red herring knowing that we’re allowed to demand more in 2015. As we look to the past, on the far end of the ‘Is he or isn’t he?’ scale we have Psycho (1960). There are those who theorise Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece has a queer element, finely parsing Anthony Perkins’ performance as Norman Bates for any sign of homo tendencies, but in my opinion this is an example of academic overreach. Yes, his sexuality and gender expression could fall somewhere on the queer spectrum – he is driven to adopt the persona (and outfit) of his mother and kill the naked pretty girl the moment he’s sexually attracted to her. In queer director Gus Van Sant’s pointless 1998 remake, Vince Vaughn’s Norman actually masturbates while spying on Marion (Anne Heche) before slaughtering her. But having problems relating to women doesn’t make one gay, nor does struggling with gender issues. Certainly in the wellcrafted Bates Motel TV series, Norman is played more as a garden variety schizophrenic with mommy issues than a teen struggling with sexuality and gender... So far. A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985), on the other hand, takes the sub out of subtext and hands the audience a classroom-ready Queer Film Studies 101 lesson plan. Out star Mark Patton (NOES2’s ‘Jesse’) stood fast with his assertion the film is basically a gay love story, and after years of denials the filmmakers finally admitted he was right. How anyone involved thought a nightmare involving the protagonist picking up his gym teacher in a leather bar, then watching him flogged to death naked in the gym shower by Freddy could be considered anything but gay, gay, gay is beyond this writer. Add the homoerotic relationship between

Jesse and co-star Robert Rusler’s ‘Grady’ (including a sleepover in their underwear) and quotes like, “He’s inside me and he wants to take me again!” and you have a queer horror film for the ages. Eventually, the homo movie audience started demanding more and ‘the gay best friend’ arrived. In the romantic comedy the GBF is a shoulder to cry on while the leading lady figures out she actually is beautiful and attractive to the man of both their dreams; in the drama the GBF lives next door and is very concerned when the leading lady’s baby goes missing; and in the horror film he’s fodder for the body count, while the leading lady (if she’s a final girl) skips away, wiser for the experience, and more importantly, not dead. Sometimes the gay best friend got cut to fabulous ribbons because he was, indeed, gay. Whether implicit in the dialogue, or implied by the film, gay accessories have traditionally been expendable. In The Eyes of Laura Mars (1978), Faye Dunaway literally sends her gay best friend to his death by asking him to dress in her clothes and act as a decoy, even though she knows a killer is stalking her. (Her lesbian model coworkers suffer the same fate). Sorry gay best friend, but you understand, right? Ms. Mars and her heterosexual male colleagues are much more important and the audience can identify with them, whereas your sassy antics make them think uncomfortable thoughts (often about themselves). In a mark of true equality, sometimes the gay best friend dies because he’s equally inconvenient as the straight supporting line-up. In out writer/director Don Mancini’s Bride of Chucky (the fourth instalment of the Child’s Play franchise) the gay best friend is unceremoniously hit by a truck and vaporised. But in this case, the gay best friend wasn’t killed because he was gay – he was killed because he wasn’t Katherine Heigl or Nick Stabile.

Your favourite horror films ■ Rob Caffrey [Facebook] I’ve always loved horror. The genre leaves a much bigger mark on your mind. Carrie was always my favourite. I felt a connection because I too was being bullied. Another favourite has always been Child’s Play, which was the first horror I saw. My grandmother put it on for me because she knew I liked dolls... ■ @anorderlymess House of Wax, because of Paris Hilton’s Oscar-worthy performance. ■ Craig Pearson [Facebook] Love horror films. I obviously love Hellbent purely because it’s a gay slasher film and it was very refreshing to see a different genre for a gay film. ■ @ooooooohmatron 28 Days Later when he has that shave, HELLO! ■ Fred Vermeulen [Facebook] I love the old school slashers. Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Halloween. I think the appeal is a strong female character surviving against all odds. ■ @cabinclassboy Halloween for me. Came out the same year I was born, plus who doesn’t love Jamie Lee Curtis? ■ John Oh Cantos Lanuza [Facebook] I think the creativity and the exaggeration of the characters are some of the things that catch our attention… the possibility that someday the entire community would accept us and that other entities are real and coexist with us in the world. ■ Sherry Mitchell [Facebook] Hellraiser… It was one of the first horror movies I saw with a strong female character that didn’t scream and fail. ■ @betterusername Alien. There’s Queer appeal in the sense that it goes against the gender norm.

Neve Campbell in Scream 4 (2011) October Moon (2005)

■ Richard Healy [Facebook] Glitter…. Mariah’s acting doesn’t get much scarier.

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The Academic’s view Dr Harry M Benshoff, Associate Professor of Media and Arts, University of North Texas and author of Monsters in the Closet: Homosexuality and the Horror Film, on why he thinks horror has such a strong LGBT appeal I think it has to do with the fact that horror films always centre on a battle between what is supposedly normal and that which is allegedly monstrous. The monstrous, to put it in psychoanalytic terms, is the ego’s ‘Other’, i.e. those things – fears, desires, urges, and impulses – routinely repressed from consciousness. Here I am paraphrasing the work of famed horror scholar Robin Wood, who theorised in the 1970s that the horror film is society’s collective nightmare: The things it represses/oppresses in daily life come back to haunt it in the horror genre. Thus, if white Western patriarchal capitalism is figured within culture as normal, then everything that it excludes or represses – children, women and female sexualities, queer sexualities, non-white and noncapitalist ways of being – end up comprising Western culture’s depictions of the monstrous. To put it in accessible terms, I think queer audiences tend to like the horror film because they can and do easily identify with the monster who is out to topple white heteronormative culture. In classical horror films the monster must be destroyed at the end, unlike in more recent horror (and of course in fantasy or sci-fi one can be different in a million ways without necessarily being monstrous). All of these genres create spaces more or less welcoming to queer spectators in ways that more realistic genres do not.

Gay horror Hellbent (2004) Wolves of Kromer (1998) Although homoerotic content can be found peppered throughout the history of the medium, prolific out writer/director David DeCoteau was the first filmmaker brave enough to gay up the indie horror landscape in an ongoing, methodical way. Beginning with Voodoo Academy (2000) and The Brotherhood (2001) (and its five sequels), DeCoteau cast hot, young dudes as his leads, and created scenes that typically involved magic ceremonies requiring them to rub oil on their own – and each others’ – barelyclad bodies. DeCoteau has made dozens of these soft-core extravaganzas over the last 15 years, and continues to do so, but sadly still hedges his bets by labelling them ‘horror movies for girls.’ Real girls, gents. Don’t get too excited. However, during the late 90s someone figured out that gay guys went to movies too and indeed, had a lust for the dark side. True blue gay horror films began popping up in the crowded indie landscape. Although The Wolves of Kromer (1998) presented gay men in wolves clothing, Paul Etheredge-Ouzts’s Hellbent (2004) was the first widely seen film crammed full to bursting with gay characters ready for the slaughter. Set in West Hollywood (naturally) on Halloween night, Hellbent follows four friends (three gay and one bisexual) as they drink, cruise, and fall victim to a hot maniac with a big bulge and a sharp scythe. Finally we were getting cut up just like our straight friends! Hellbent lead to a boom in ultra low-budget gay horror flicks, like October Moon (2005), Creatures from the Pink Lagoon (2006) and Bruce LaBruce’s twisted hardcore zombie opus, Otto; or Up With Dead People (2007). For better or worse, we were finally seeing ourselves murdered on the screen in a context of which we approved. Regardless of the psychological positioning of the films themselves, behind the scenes queer men have contributed to the genre since the inception of the medium. Nosferatu, the Dracula knock-off released in 1922, was

directed by F. W. Murnau, a gay German. From James Whale (Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Invisible Man) up through Clive Barker (Hellraiser) and beyond, gay men have created some of the most iconic, shocking images fed to us via film. And let’s not forget television, where arguably some of the most innovative writing is being presented of late. Hannibal in particular pushes the boundaries of subject matter and is being rewarded with a large gay following. The partnership of the titular cannibal (strangely handsome Danish daddy Mads Mikkelsen) and Hugh Dancy’s Will Graham, is a slow boil of simmering homoerotic tension and delectable side-eye. Out showrunner Bryan Fuller’s take on the popular anti-hero is exquisite in execution, especially in its executions. Hannibal Lecter’s meticulously extravagant lifestyle appeals to those of us who enjoy the finer things in life (or aspire to) and who doesn’t like a man who can cook? Gay comedian Scott Thompson ups the gay ante, although his character’s sexuality is a non-issue. Which brings us to American Horror Story. While there isn’t a lot specifically gay about the show, what the series lacks in gay content it makes up for in gay aesthetic; everything is shiny, sharp, arch, and the suffering is backbreakingly artistic. The show is designed within an inch of its life, and the performances are so purposefully camp they make us pitch a tent. The precision with which gay co-creator Ryan Murphy – whose latest horror series Scream Queens debuts this year – doles out the drama harkens back to the specificity of Italian horror maestro Dario Argento. For years remake rumours have pirouetted around Argento’s ballet school/witches coven masterpiece, Suspiria (1977), and judging by Murphy’s strange predilections, he may be the perfect choice to helm this reimagining and give it even more gay curb appeal than the original.

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ARE we SAFE WITH THe TORIES?

election special_ATTITUDE

Five years ago David Cameron gave his first gay press interview to Attitude in which he said the Conservative party was no longer the party of extreme homophobia, something that defined them for the 25 years previous in which they opposed all efforts to bring about LGBT equality. Prime Minister David Cameron pushed through equal marriage, but what’s the real story about the rest of the party he leads? Are we now safe with the Conservatives? Attitude takes a hard look at the numbers. By Simon Edge

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election special_ATTITUDE

O

n May 7th Britain goes to the polls in a general election different from any in living memory. Five years ago we saw the death of two-party politics when the Lib Dems performed well enough to wield the balance of power between Labour and the Conservatives. This time we are witnessing the death of threeparty politics, as the Greens and UKIP stir things up on the left and right while the Scottish National Party seems poised to make massive gains at the expense of Labour north of the border and Plaid Cymru are giving them a run for their money in Wales. If you support the smaller parties, this makes everything more exciting than usual. If any pundit claims to know the result, they’re probably not much of a pundit. It’s also the first general election for at least 25 years where there isn’t a major equality issue at stake. Stonewall has been doing its best to lay out a stall, calling for LGBT-friendly sex education at primary and secondary level, a new hate crime banning homophobic bullying, the inclusion of LGBT equality as a criterion for international aid and a review on laws affecting trans people. But none of these make for a key battleground splitting the various parties, as happened with rows over the ‘promotion’ of homosexuality in the 80s, the repeal of homophobic laws in the 90s and early Noughties, and same-sex marriage in 2013. So if you’re energised by this election, that may be because you have strong views about the cuts or the deficit; you may be horrified by Nigel Farage or excited by the Green surge; or you may have a lifelong affiliation to one or other of the main two parties. But it seems that many people are less likely than they were at previous elections to be strongly driven by gay issues. With the exception of UKIP, all the national parties are officially pro-equality these days and in any case, there are no legislative battles brewing where it’s likely to matter. When Attitude interviewed the leader of the Conservatives in 2010, David Cameron told us that within the Tory party there was now “a shared consensus bedrock view that this is a party for equal rights whether you are male, female, black,

white, urban rural, straight or gay.” But is that true? Cameron stuck to his word with equal marriage, pushing through the new law despite there being a huge amount of opposition – from within his own party. One yardstick of how much less divisive sexuality is nowadays is the number of out MPs. Twenty years ago it was easy to know who all the gay MPs were because there were so few. Each of them represented a new milestone: first to come out; first Tory to come out after being outed; first Tory to come out with no threat of outing; first to be elected after standing as an out candidate. (Chris Smith, Michael Brown, Alan Duncan and Stephen Twigg/ Ben Bradshaw, since you ask.) Today at my count there are 25 out LGBT MPs, some of them familiar, some so obscure half their constituents wouldn’t be able to name them. (There are even more LGBT people standing as prospective MPs at this election.) Surprisingly by far the largest number are Tories. There are 13 out gay, bisexual or lesbian Conservative MPs, compared with nine for Labour and three for the Lib Dems. That roughly matches the size of the parties, but it’s still a remarkable progression from the era when deeply closeted Tory MPs had ‘lavender marriages’ of convenience and lived in dread of their blue-rinsed party faithful finding them out. Nevertheless, differences endure between the parties, revealed not so much in the attitudes of their leaders but by those of their backbenchers and party members. Pockets of diehard homophobia remain, offering a glimpse of the bigoted traditions they come from and showing that reform still has some way to go. Despite the fact that David Cameron pushed through equal marriage, fewer than half of Tory MPs supported it. This is in direct contrast to both Labour and the Lib Dems whose MPs supported it overwhelmingly. There were three different votes in the House of Commons. A total of 148 Conservative MPs voted in favour on at least one occasion, while 141 voted against – including the future Equalities Secretary Nicky Morgan – and 14 abstained. That means just 49 percent backed gay marriage. So much for detoxifying the Nasty Party. The opponents this time round were reasonably polite in their rhetoric, with most of the stupidest quotes about the end

‘Just 49 percent of Tory MPs backed gay marriage. So much for detoxifying the Nasty Party’

Britain’s first openly gay male MP, Labour’s Chris Smith, speaking at Londons anti-Clause 28 (later Secton 28) rally, February 1988

Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher giving her 1987 Conference speech where she attacked Labour councils’ antihomophobic bullying policies: “Children who need to be taught to respect traditional moral values” she said, “are being taught that they have an inalienable right to be gay… These children are being cheated of a sound start in life, yes cheated!”

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HOW mps VOTED: Equal marriage

Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 dnv- 7% dnv (DID NOT VOTE)

no- 9% Thousands of LGBT people protest in London at the Tory’s hated homophobic Section 28, February 1988 of marriage/the family/civilisation-aswe-know-it coming from church groups and leaders rather than MPs. But it wasn’t always so good-mannered. It’s only 30 years since the horrific homophobia that the Tory party and the right wing press fanned as a way of turning people away from the Labour party. In 1987 Leader of the Tory group on South Staffordshire District Council called for 90 percent of gay men to be sent to the gas chamber to curb the AIDS epidemic. Councillor Bill Brownhill said, “I should shoot them all… We must find a way of stopping these gays going round yet we are making heroes of some of these people and some of them are even being knighted.” And in December 1987, when Labour’s Chris Smith mentioned in Parliament that the offices of the London paper Capital Gay had been firebombed, the Tory backbencher MP Elaine Kellett-Bowman called out, “Quite right too.” She later defended her remark, saying she was “quite prepared to affirm that there should

be an intolerance of evil.” She wasn’t speaking against the firebombing but in support of it. Significantly, nobody in Tory high command sought to rein her in. Quite the opposite: less than a month later, she was made a dame. By that stage, Margaret Thatcher had already played the gay card to win a third term. Her party issued crudely homophobic ads during the 1987 election campaign taunting the ‘Labour Camp’ over their supposed support for gay rights, and in a party conference speech a few months after victory she complained: “Children who need to be taught to respect traditional moral values are being taught that they have an inalienable right to be gay… These children are being cheated of a sound start in life.” That heralded the most vicious legislative attack on gay people since the Labouchère Amendment of 1885, which had criminalised homosexuality in the first place. Responding to reports in the Tory-supporting Sun about a harmless book about gay parenting called Jenny Lives

HOW mps VOTED: equality act

y es - 15% dnv - 42%

n o - 43%

Co n servati v e

yes- 84%

dnv- 13% yes- 42% no- 45% Con servative

dnv- 13% no- 7%

yes- 80%

L ibera l D e mo c r ats

Equality Act 2006 Libera l D em oc r ats

dnv- 26% no- 3%

L a bour

dnv- 48% yes - 46%

yes- 71% L a bour

no- 6%

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election special_ATTITUDE

how mps voted: civil partnerships

y es - 26% dnv - 50%

n o - 24%

Cons ervati v e

L ibera l D em o c r ats

dnv- 26% n o - 1%

Civil Partnership Act 2004

dnv- 25% yes- 73%

L a bour

no- 0%

yes - 75%

how mps voted: Gender recognition

Gender Recognition Act 2004 y es - 12% n o - 24% dnv - 64%

Gay people protest against Section 28 in Amsterdam, 1988 as the Queen visits

Conservati v e ‘In 1987 Leader of the Tory group on South Staffordshire District Council called for 90 percent of gay men to be sent to the gas chamber to curb the AIDS epidemic. Councillor Bill Brownhill said “I should shoot them all…’’’

dnv - 29% y es - 71%

no- 0%

Labour

L ibe ral Dem o cr ats dnv - 35% no- 0%

y es - 65%

With Eric and Martin, David Wilshire, the Tory MP who introduced the notorious Section 28 of the Local Government Act, complained that “homosexuality is being promoted at the ratepayers’ [local taxpayers’] expense, and the traditional family as we know it is under attack.” His new law – passed with governmentbacking – banned local councils from ‘promoting’ homosexuality. Even though no prosecution was ever brought under this measure, its effects included convincing some teachers that they were breaking the law if they stepped in to prevent homophobic bullying. That’s one of the reasons why teachers have not felt able to stamp out the use of the word ‘gay’ as a playground synonym for ‘rubbish’. After Thatcher left there were five more years of Conservativism under

John Major, during which time the gay community waged a massive campaign to equalise the age of consent, winning only a partial victory with a reduction from 21 to 18 due to opposition from Tory MPs. The election of New Labour in 1997 at last enabled the gradual dismantling of Britain’s anti-gay laws. In each case these reforms passed smoothly through the House of Commons, where Labour overhwhelmingly supported gay equality, but faced opposition from Conservatives especially in the House of Lords, where the Tories still outnumbered everyone else. Baroness Thatcher herself returned in her dotage to vote against LGBT equality in votes in November 2000, October 2002, July 2003, November 2004 and January 2008. Markedly, when it came to Labour’s vote to attempt to repeal

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election special_ATTITUDE how mps voted: REPEAL OF SECTION 28

Local Government Act 2003 yes - 14% dnv- 41% n o - 45%

dnv- 25% yes- 74%

n o - 1% l ab o ur

Co n s ervative

dnv- 28% n o - 0%

yes - 72%

liberal dem o crats

how mps voted: SAME-SEX ADOPTION

Adoption and Children Act 2002 William Hague, Conservative Leader of the Commons, who in 2000 when he was party leader opposed the Labour government’s plans to repeal Section 28 and wrote in the Daily Mail ‘The government is showing contempt for the views of most parents and taxpayers. We will oppose them at every stage.’

yes- 5% dnv- 21% n o - 74%

dnv- 17%

dnv- 24% yes- 71%

n o - 5% l abo ur

Co ns ervative

n o - 0%

yes- 83%

liberal demo crats

how mps voted: equal AGE OF CONSENT 1999

Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000 Section 28 in 2000 Baroness Thatcher sat next to the woman leading the Conservatives successful effort to stop it. The Labour leadership put its weight behind gay equality and the vast majority of its MPs did too, though not unanimously. In 1994, 39 Labour MPs voted against an equal age of consent, including leading frontbenchers David Blunkett and Ann Taylor, while a handful voted against any reduction at all, including future speaker Michael Martin. A larger number sat the whole vote out, not actually voting against equality but refusing to vote for any reform of the cruel law. This homophobic rump on the Labour benches continued to oppose equality throughout the Blair and Brown years and plenty of them are still there. While 229 Labour MPs voted in favour of equal marriage on at least one occasion, 24 voted against and five didn’t vote. Senior opponents included former Cabinet ministers Paul Murphy and Stephen Timms, an East London MP who enjoys Labour’s biggest majority. (If you live in his constituency, you may like to know that he is being challenged by an out lesbian Green candidate at this election, Tamsin Omond.) Despite this group it means that 89 percent of the Labour party’s MPs supported the measure as opposed to just 49% of Tory MPs. For the Lib Dems, 52 MPs voted in favour on at least one occasion while four voted against and two didn’t vote at all (although one of these, Jenny Willott, was on maternity leave and is otherwise a strong supporter.) That means 91 percent of the available MPs were in favour.

yes- 5%

libe ral demo crats dnv- 30%

dnv- 30% n o - 65%

n o - 4%

Co ns ervative

It is consistent with the party’s past record, tending to vote more solidly in favour of gay rights measures than Labour. For example no Lib Dem MP voted against repealing Section 28 in 2003, and every Lib Dem MP who voted was in favour of civil partnerships in 2004 – neither of which you can say for the Labour Party. But to get back to where we started, this year we have far more than three parties to choose from and it’s revealing to look at the smaller outfits’ voting record on gay marriage. Plaid Cymru, the Greens, Respect and Northern Ireland’s Alliance and SDLP all had a 100 percent record albeit with a much smaller number of MPs: all three Plaid MPs voting in favour, while the other four parties each have one MP. The outsiders are Sinn Fein, who don’t attend the House of Commons on principle and therefore never vote – although they led the attempts to legalise gay marriage in the Northern Ireland assembly – and the Scottish National Party, whose six Westminster MPs didn’t vote because the measure only affected England and Wales.

yes- 66% l abo ur

dnv- 33%

yes- 60%

n o - 7%

But they too are strongly pro-equality. When the Scottish Assembly legalised same-sex marriage a year later, the measure was backed by 88 percent of SNP members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs), compared with 87 percent Labour, 100 percent Lib Dem and Green, and again, just 47 percent of the Tories (including their lesbian leader Ruth Davidson) supporting gay marriage. And what of the antis? If you want to make sure you’re not voting for an explicitly homophobic party, your main danger of doing so is in Northern Ireland, where the ruling Democratic Unionist Party voted unanimously against marriage, as did the Independent unionist Sylvia Hermon. And finally of course there’s UKIP, whose leader disgusted half the nation by playing politics with the lives of some of the most vulnerable immigrants to this country, those infected with HIV, at the leaders’ debates. Given that UKIP campaigned explicitly against gay marriage while the measure was going through Parliament, taunting the Conservatives for losing touch with the traditional views of their grass-roots

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election special_ATTITUDE supporters and offering a refuge for outspoken homophobes, it’s quite a surprise to look at the voting record of the party’s only two MPs. UKIP byelection winners Douglas Carswell and Mark Reckless didn’t sit for Farage’s party when equal marriage was going through the Commons, but they did take part in the vote in their previous capacity as Conservative backbenchers. While Carswell opposed it, Reckless voted in favour. This is, of course because there is only two of them, but statistically, at 50%, it means they are one point ahead of the Tories. But that’s a rogue result, based on the fact that the sample – two MPs – is tiny. If you polled UKIP’s parliamentary candidates in the 624 (out of 650) seats in which they’re standing, it’s a fair bet that well over 90 percent of them would have opposed gay marriage while it was going through Parliament and a large number would want the measure repealed. The party’s only openly gay MEP, David Coburn, says same-sex marriage is “false bollocks” supported only by “equality Nazis” which “makes a mockery of the holy sacrament of marriage… and is just for some queen who wants to dress up in a bridal frock and in a big moustache and dance up the aisle to the Village People.” Small wonder that Tom Booker, chair of the UKIP LGBT group, resigned from the party in February saying he couldn’t defend it any more. It’s important to be vigilant against this lot. If any party yearns to turn back the clock and undo all the advances we have made in securing equality, it’s UKIP. But the good news is that they have virtually no chance of doing it. Their homophobic pronouncements don’t just disgust gay people: for most heterosexuals too, their bigoted anti-gay utterances are one of the main reasons they are so widely reviled. And that’s really worth celebrating: whereas once homophobia was a vote-winner, now it’s an out-and-out vote-loser. As a final thought, we should remember how that came about. Those of us who have lived through All figures taken from Publicwhip.org.uk *DNV denotes ‘Did not vote’, including registered abstentions and MPs who were not in parliament when the vote was taken.

Above: February 1988: Brookside actor Stifyn Parri, Ian McKellen and Peter Tatchell lead the Manchester demonstration against the Tory party’s proposed Clause 27 amendment which would become the hated Section 28. Right: Conservative Nicky Morgan – current Secretary of State for Education and Equalities Minister who voted against equal marriage. Below: The fight against Tory support of Section 28 continued into the new millennium. Protesters at the 1999 London Pride March

these battles know that politicians didn’t become enlightened of their own accord. Gay rights became a mainstream political concern thanks to the unflinching pressure of LGBT people: a handful of activists at first, building pressure groups on shoestring budgets, gradually maturing into fully fledged lobby groups which employed the smartest people to take their arguments into the corridors of power. Those lobbyists were sustained by donations from ordinary LGBT people, whose own day-today openness – coming out at work, to families, to neighbours, and winning respect and acceptance for doing so – was what really changed the world. So that’s an uplifting message as you head for the ballot box. Politicians may aspire to change the world, but when something really needs changing, it’s people power that actually makes them do it.

Lesbian protesters disrupt the live BBC Six O’clock News in 1988 to protest against the Conservative parties homophobic Section 28 law

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ARE WE SAFE WITH THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY? YES

YES, SAYS IAIN DALE, WRITER, LBC 97.3FM BROADCASTER AND CONSERVATIVE BLOGGER

The suggestion that you’re letting the side down if you’re gay and you vote Conservative is so plainly preposterous that I’m almost embarrassed to even have to address it. How many gay people really decide their vote based purely on a political party’s record on one issue, I wonder. Yes, the Tories historically haven’t exactly been that gay-friendly but unless you’re so blinkered to the fact that parties and individuals can change, then you’ll have noticed how David Cameron has been hugely successful in leading his party to a position where there is scarcely a tissue paper between the position of his party compared to the other two on gay issues. In his first big conference speech after winning his party’s leadership he laid down the gauntlet to his party by making clear his support for gay marriage. I’m not suggesting you should vote for him based on that record of leadership and it’s not my role to urge you to vote for any particular party, but I am saying you should ignore any siren voices who try to persuade you that the Tory Party hasn’t made progress – and fast – on gay issues. In the last Parliament the Tories had more openly gay MPs than any other party. I’m told they also have more openly gay candidates standing at this election than any other party, which ought to tell you something. Cameron took the lead on forcing equal marriage legislation through the Commons. Yes, too many Tory MPs voted against it, but that was more out of religious conviction than anti-gay bigotry. Ask how many Tory MPs would now vote to reverse the law on civil partnerships and I’d like to think the answer would be a big fat zero. In fact, I’m sure it would be. Ah, but what about Section 28 and Thatcher, Tory critics spit. Well, it was 30 years ago, and what few people remember is that there were quite a few Labour MPs who supported it too, not to mention the odd Liberal. That doesn’t make it right, but let’s live for today and celebrate the fact that virtually all Tory candidates at this election would be happy to celebrate gay equality before the law. Whisper this, but many gay people will vote for UKIP. Shock! Horror! A recent poll for Pink News showed that the so-called gay vote has changed a lot since 2010 and the way gay people vote more or less mirrors the rest of the population. I call that progress. Ninety-nine percent of gay people in this country will decide their vote in exactly the same way as their straight counterparts, and isn’t that exactly how it should be? Which party will run the economy best? Which party will do most for me and my family? Which party will best protect the NHS and our schools? Which party will offer a fair policy on immigration? Those are the key issues which will decide this election, not which party did something bad to gay people in 1988.

NO, SAYS ELEANOR MARGOLIS, JOURNALIST, AUTHOR OF LEZ MISERABLE NEW STATESMAN COLUMN

NO

For too many people, both gay and straight, the coalition’s legalisation of same-sex marriage in the UK represents a final victory in the battle for gay rights. It would be unfair to argue that David Cameron didn’t put his fusty Tory bum on the line to secure that legislation. It’s unsurprising that over half the Conservatives voted against the bill, social reform never really having been their thing. And for this exact reason, the Same Sex Couples Act was a complete anomaly. For LGBT people to vote Tory in May based purely on the party’s altogether lukewarm support for equal marriage would be more than a little reckless. I’m not sure if I’ll ever take the Tories up on their kind offer of getting lesbian married. I’m glad it’s there, don’t get me wrong, and I was more than ready to pop a bottle of Moët (Okay, very cheap cava. Okay, Lambrini) when the bill was officially passed in 2013. At the same time, I wasn’t ready to kick back and let the new right-wing saviours of gay people get on with whatever the hell they like. When we trace the history of LGBT rights in the UK, the overwhelming majority of their proponents have been on the Left. It was a Labour government that first decriminalised homosexuality in 1967. Subsequently, Labour governments have repealed the insidious Section 28, matched the age of consent for same-sex couples to that of straight ones and introduced civil partnerships. Meanwhile, equal marriage aside for a second, the Conservatives have done nothing but hinder progress. And it’s vital for us to recognise that this legion of straight, white Etonians isn’t, all of a sudden, gay-friendly. Let’s not forget the real harm that austerity has done. Homelessness and poor mental health, for example, are issues that affect a disproportionate number of non-heteros. Trans people in particular face an elevated risk of becoming homeless. So it wouldn’t be too farfetched to assume that Tory cuts to social housing, benefits and mental health services will have had devastating affects on the more vulnerable members of the LGBT community. It might even be said that equal marriage was, although an important milestone in the gay rights movement, a distraction from real issues. Cameron, in many ways, has quite patronisingly managed to beguile a chunk of the LGBT community by waving about a glittery piece of legislation, while backhandedly doing away with the welfare state. Now we’ve secured equal marriage, we need to focus on the next frontier. A big part of this will be tackling everyday homophobia and addressing the urgent issue of anti-gay bullying in schools. And it’s Labour, not the Conservatives, who are willing to make this happen. It’s Labour who have suggested including same-sex relationships in children’s sex education programmes. This is a policy that could do a great deal to de-stigmatise gay and trans kids to their classmates. The introduction of equal marriage has proven the existence of socially liberal Conservatives. Now that this minority momentarily detoxified the Tory brand and provided gay people with a new right, we need to wave them goodbye before they start dragging us backwards.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> THE GENERAL ELECTION IS ON MAY 7