SCOTSGAY MAGAZINE ================= ScotsGay is a monthly magazine for lesbians, gay men and bisexuals. Edited, printed and published in Scotland ScotsGay 80/- Heavy - Issue 37 - December 2000 ELECTRONIC EDITION ***Now available on the Web: http://www.scotsgay.co.uk/ How to Subscribe and Unsubscribe information is now at the END of the magazine. All Material Copyright (c) Pageprint Limited 2000. Permission is hereby given to distribute this material provided that this copyright notice is included and that distribution is specifically for non-profitmaking reasons. Distribution for profit must be done only with prior written consent of the magazine any deviation from this will be seen as an infringement of copyright. Hardcopies are limited to one per person for personal use only and such hard copies are subject to the same copyright restrictions as laid out above. The printed edition of ScotsGay is available by post at the following rates: 6 issue sub (UK & EC) 6ukp 6 issue sub (Overseas) 12ukp 12 issue sub (UK & EC) 12ukp 12 issue sub (Overseas) 24ukp Make Cheques and POs payable to 'Pageprint'or 'ScotsGay'and send them to: Subscriptions ScotsGay Magazine PO Box 666 Edinburgh Scotland EH7 5YW Inside this issue: Editorial News Alan Joy Interview Letters Nun Sense Klinefelter Syndrome Joy Chart ScotsDyke Scottish Media Monitor looks back over five years Glasgow Edinburgh Aberdeen Bi-Vocal Dundee Inverness Switzerland - Zurich dances in the streets Scottish Media Monitor Films Books International ScotsGay Voice Personals Boxes - the ScotsGay Meet Market Helplines Listings Venues -------------------------------------------------------------------- Editorial ========= So, the buggers are equal at last? Not quite, I'm afraid! You see, although the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act has finally cleared Parliament and has obtained the Royal Assent, it still isn't the law of the land. For that, we have to wait until The Demon Headmaster (Jack Straw, the Home Secretary) gets around to bringing the Act into force. At the moment, the Home Office expects that to happen some time next year but can't say when. In the meantime, it looks as if the old law is unlikely to be enforced in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, we have the last Conservative government to thank for its actions in giving instructions to Procurators Fiscal that prosecutions weren't to be brought in consensual cases involving guys aged 16 and over - something that not only the Tories but also New Labour refused to extend to the DPP in the rest of the UK. The current delay seems largely to be due to the time it is taking the Home Office to prepare the ancillary bits of paper which define what is meant by "a position of trust". The Act states that it shall be an offence for a person aged 18 or over to have sex with somebody aged 16 or 17 if they are in a "position of trust" and defines a number of such positions but allows the Home Secretary to define the matter further. You'd think that, with the time it has taken to get the Act into place, they'd have had the rest of the paperwork ready - but it obviously isn't important enough. As the principal legislation stands, there are potential problems of which everyone should be aware. For example, take a 16 year old 1st year University student (not unheard of in Scotland) who gets off with a 21 year old postgrad student at the same University. Now, say that the 16 year old is studying music and the 21 year old is studying chemistry. It's not uncommon for science postgrads to do some teaching work with students in their own department. Which means that the older guy is in a "position of trust" in terms of the act - without either of them teaching each other, being educated in the same building or even the same site. Welcome to the Sex Offenders' Register, honey! The "abuse of trust" provisions, badly drafted as they are, apply to both heterosexual and homosexual sex. So, everyone will suffer equally. And that's what makes me fume: is it really beyond the wit and wisdom of our law makers to devise laws that don't hurt people? Nevertheless, as we head into the next millennium (and ScotsGay's 7th year) let me be the first to wish you all (and our law makers) a very Happy New Year - when it comes! John Hein ---------------------------------------------------------------- News ==== Age of consent equality at last On St Andrew's Day, November 30th, the Westminster Parliament finally passed the Bill to set the age of consent for men having sex with men at 16 across Britain (and 17 in Northern Ireland), bringing it into line with the minimum age for heterosexual and lesbian sex. The age of consent for gay sex was previously 18, having been reduced from 21 in 1994. Baroness Young, the Tory peer who successfully blocked repeal of section 28 in England and Wales earlier this year, had spent three years trying to stop the age of consent change, with the support of the Christian Institute and other conservative religious groups. The House of Commons however voted overwhelmingly for age of consent equality three times, in 1998, 1999 and 2000, and eventually was able to invoke the rules in the Parliament Acts, which stop the House of Lords blocking legislation indefinitely. The age of consent is devolved to the Scottish Parliament. Holyrood had debated the issue back in January, and agreed to let Westminster change this law. If the Scottish changes had been removed from the Westminster Bill, the Parliament Acts could not have been used to override the Lords until next year or later. At the Scottish Parliament debate, the vote was 90 to 16 in favour of reducing the age to 16, with five of the six political parties in favour, and only Tories voting against. The new Bill also changes the rules where a person over the age of consent has sex with a person under it. In future, only the older person will commit an offence in such a case. In the past, a person under the age of consent was also a criminal if they had sex with an older person, leading to fears that young people might not report cases of exploitation, for fear of themselves being prosecuted. The Bill also introduces a new criminal offence of "abuse of position of trust", making it illegal for a teacher, health worker or residential care worker to have sex with any person under 18 looked after at their place of work. This new law is gender and sexual orientation neutral. Helen Chambers of the Equality Network said, "2000 has seen two of our biggest priorities acheived: repeal of section 28 and an equal age of consent. Now we must work to end all the other discrimination LGBT people face: in public services, at work and as partners and families." Tim Hopkins tmh@dcs.ed.ac.uk Cybersquatter Outright Scotland are considering legal action against former Gay Scotland publisher, Dominic D'Angelo, after he attempted to charge them for handing over the magazine's old website. Outright claim that they have a right to all derivatives of the Gay Scotland title which was licensed to the Glasgow based civil servant and former arts publicist in 1995 for a period of five years. D'Angelo was granted the licence in exchange for clearing off the magazine's debts of GBP16,000 - much of which was owed to him for his previous period editing the magazine. The licence lapsed last year following the collapse of the magazine after D'Angelo sub-licenced it to bankrupt businessman Paul Bryan-Ivison. The website (http://www.gayscotland. co.uk/), which had been moribund since the departure of "Mrs Tubby Bear" Ivison was recently updated with a teaser indicating that it is likely to spring back into life any moment. But, as D'Angelo's contract with the DFID is believed to prevent him from undertaking any publishing outwith his current employment, it looks as if he is intending to franchise this out to somebody else. D'Angelo told Outright, "I had great fun running 'Gay Scotland' as Editor and Publisher, even if it did take five years out of my life (and possibly off it) and continues to cost me money. I'd be happy to transfer title to Outright Scotland for GBP1,000, which will cover both the set-up costs for the site and the maintenance on it since 1996, and would be about the only profitable trade in relation to the title that I've ever made". Outright's Andrew Wilson told ScotsGay, "I can't feel anything but anger at the moment. As for any rational thought on the subject, every time it comes to mind I am unable to get past the word 'cunt'". SYP Every year World Aids day is an important date on the SYP (Stonewall Youth Project) calendar. This year our objective was to produce a sexual resource for all young people. A group of young people supported by a member of the project's staff (me) got together and decided on a leaflet that mapped out young person friendly sexual health services in Edinburgh & the Lothians. When choosing the services to be included, we looked particularly at their equal opportunities. How accessible they were to young people, LGBT people, people of ethnic & religious minorities and people who were differently able. The young people designed a groovy cover for the leaflet and threw in the services and some information that we had collated about each service. On World Aids Day, I and some young folk trooped round various service providers and cafes to distribute the leaflet. We took some pics of the people we met along the way and joined the other project poppets at Cafe Nexus for post vigil hospitality. The over 18's joined me for the scene/non-scene pub part of the leaflet drop. We chatted to lots of people, and got some good feedback about the leaflet. Jon-Scot Burns Project Worker Don't Take Our Porn Away Most folk find sex is more interesting than politics, as even the most experienced political activist will testify. Another generally agreed point of queer politics is that it is exactly as we have been more successful in winning greater equality, acceptance and liberty for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people that fewer folk feel the need to join, support or take part in any queer-rights group. Well, thankfully some people realise that sex is politics and while there remain many rights to be won, perhaps more importantly, the liberties we have won still need to be defended. So it is that Outright Scotland - Scotland's only democratic LGBT rights organisation has been sticking it to the Home Office over the censorship of sexually-explicit videos and the threat to the future of R18 videos. The liberalisation of regulations by the British Board of Film Censors to allow R18 videos to explicitly show almost all gay and straight sex acts is only recent and has been opposed by Home Secretary Jack Straw at every turn. However, the Demon Headmaster has little direct authority on film censorship (though he still has very wide powers over "Obscene Publications" and to use Customs & Excise to seize any imported material). So, when in May this year Jack's attempt to crack down on R18 videos was thrown out by the High Court Jack decided that he'd just have bring in new legislation to stop people having fun. In the long struggle for LGBT equality we have constantly heard our opponents attempting to justify discrimination on false arguments of "protect our children". This is what Jack has decided to do on the subject of R18 videos. In granting any film video a certificate the BBFC has to have special regard (among other things) to any "harm" that may be caused to potential viewers by the manner in which the videowork deals with criminal behaviour, drugs, violence, sexual activity or horrific behaviour. A 'potential viewer' is defined as "any person (including a child or young person) who is likely to view the video work in question ..". This is one of the reasons the category of R18 - which can only be bought in licensed sex shops - was introduced. Yet still, Jack tries to insist that they must be stopped to "protect" children. In the recent judicial review proceedings, Mr Justice Hooper concluded "... I have no doubt that the conclusion "that the risk of [the videos in question] being viewed by and causing harm to children or young persons is, on present evidence, insignificant" is one that a reasonable decision maker could reach ...". So, as even judges can see R18 videos pose no "harm" to children. The Home Office proposes a number of possible measures to give Jack his own way: 1. amending the Video Recordings Act 1984 to explicitly include children as people likely to view R18 videos; 2. creating new offences of i. showing a video classified as R18 to a child (under 16), or ii. allowing a child to watch an R18 video, and iii. failing to take reasonable care to prevent a child from watching an R18 video; 3. increasing the level of the fine for illegal supply of R18 videos, for example by mail order, to GBP20,000; and 4. "modernising" the existing Video Appeals Committee in such a way that it is appointed directly by the Home Secretary. As Outright Scotland pointed out in its response to the Home Office, option 1, above, is merely censorship by the backdoor which is incompatible with Articles 8 (respect for a private life) and 10 (freedom of expression) of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR). While the proposals under 2, above, at first glance seem to be fair they breach Article 2 of ECHR. Article 2 protects a parent's right to educate their own child and it is conceivable (however uncommon) that in teaching a child about sex, sexuality, or pornography a parent may feel their child should see an R18 video. More importantly, 2i and ii, in addition to being impracticable go too far both in infringing Convention rights and in treating an R18 video as more harmful and thus in greater need of regulation than alcohol, tobacco, prescription medicines or even many toxic household chemicals. As to reform of the existing Video Appeals Committee, Outright Scotland saw further risks to our human rights. We told the Home Office that an effective, independent and accountable appeals system is most welcome - especially if there are any public concerns of how R18 material is regulated. However , an appeals system is neither independent nor accountable if appointed by a Cabinet Minister - whether the Home Secretary or Lord Chancellor. Such a system is far too open to abuse, crony-ism and one persons' discriminatory tastes. The proper process for appointment to such an Appeals Committee must be that of an open and balanced Parliamentary committee. Our rights are precious and were hard won, they must be defended equally strongly. You can do your bit to defend our rights - join Outright Scotland today! Outright Scotland, PO Box 23253, Edinburgh EH1 3XD http://www.outright-scotland.org/ Andrew Wilson It's A Con! Following the success of YouthCon 2000, the first weekend gathering for LGBT people under 25 in Scotland, YouthCon 2001 aims to be bigger, better, and still more fun! YouthCon 2001 will take place from 2nd-4th March at the Pleasance Societies Centre, Edinburgh. It will kick off on Friday with a cabaret night, and carry on through two days of creative sessions, political workshops and parties. All LGBT people under 25 and their friends are invited to join us. Website: http://www.youthcon.org.uk/ E-mail: info@youthcon.org.uk Write to: YouthCon, 58a Broughton St, Edinburgh. EH1 3SA. Freedom? A homophobic political leaflet has been delivered to homes in Stirlingshire by the Larbert based Scottish Freedom Referendum Party. Entitled "Exposed! Your Festival Of Flesh", it contains a heady selection of homophobic, racist and generally populist policies which will, no doubt, appeal to the more unthinking members of Scottish society. Meanwhile, the rest of us can take note of the party's objectionable website at http://www.scottishfreedom.com/ No Degree The Principal's Office at Glasgow University has issued a categorical assurance that Brian Souter is not being considered for an Honorary Degree. Don't Forget This January, for the first time, Holocaust Memorial Day will commemorate the lives and deaths of those persecuted by the Nazis. As part of the LGBT community's marking of the day, there will be an exhibition of images and writing from the Holocaust itself, and art by members of our communities inspired by the persecution of LGBT people then and now. The exhibition will be launched by an evening of poetry, prose and music at Nexus cafe in the LGB centre on Wednesday, January 24th, 2001, beginning at 7.30 pm, with some big names lined up to perform. The exhibition will run until the 3rd February at the LGB centre. Sexy Things Intercourse is planning future events including a discussion group focusing on issues of sex, a multimedia club night, and the production of further leaflets to accompany their infamous introduction to masturbation (http://www.intercourse.org.uk/projects.html). So if you ever fancied being a sex activist, or just want to meet interesting people who are interested in changing the ways we think and talk about sex, come along to the pub, write to them for more information or check out their website: http://www.intercourse.org.uk/ People of all ages, genders, sexualities, ethnicities etc are welcome. E-mail: info@intercourse.org.uk Write: Intercourse, 60 The Pleasance, Edinburgh. EH8 9TJ. Songs Of Praise Edinburgh's Third Annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Carol Service, organised by Holy Trinity Metropolitan Community Church, will take place at 6pm on Sunday 17th December in the Quaker Meeting House, Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh. All are welcome to the Carol Service irrespective of sexuality or religion (or lack of religion!) and, as in past years, the Service will provide an opportunity for the LGBT communities and their friends to celebrate the Christmas season together. There will be a collection at the service to support the work of Parents Enquiry Scotland - an organisation which supports the parents and friends of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered Scots. It is hoped that enough will be raised to allow them to install a dedicated telephone line for their vital support work. Thin Ice Diversitay LGBT Group are planning an Icebreakers meeting for early 2001. This meeting will be open to all LGBTs who have NEVER been out before to a gay venue or who have never been part of a LGBT social group before. Diversitay are keen to point out that this is very much intended to be a social occasion and not really an occasion for counselling. If you live in or near to the Diversitay area contact them on Dundee (01382) 202620 on a Monday night (except 25th Dec and 1st Jan when the phonelines will operate on a Wednesday night) between 7 and 10pm, by writing to PO Box 53, Dundee. DD1 3YG. or E-mail: diversitay@hotmail.com --------------------------------------------------------------- "A COMBINATION OF THINGS..." ============================ Alan JOY! talks exclusively to Martin Walker about the new JOY!, the old Blue Moon and his love of music. Alan JOY!, aka Alan Nichols is not what you might expect from a guy who runs a gay night. In fact, he is unlike any other businessperson on the gay scene. Tall with black hair and old-fashioned black moustache and beard, he is no sharp dressed wheeler-dealer. Rather modest, he says he is shy, but is certainly dynamic. He is extremely charismatic; he generates enthusiasm easily and naturally. Football managers call it self-belief, something that Alan's team Hibernian have displayed in abundance this season. And JOY!, his gay one-nighter has become so successful, many assume that a commercial corporation or limited company is in charge. "No, it's just Maggie and Alan like it was in the beginning." It all started when Alan worked as a volunteer on Gay Scotland magazine in the basement of the Lesbian and Gay Centre on Broughton Street. Finding the cafe space vacant upstairs, he and a group of friends decided to run a wee gay coffee bar so queer folk might drop into the Centre during the day. They called it the Blue Moon and it was Scotland's first gay cafe, and a massive success. He ended up running it for seven years. Alan remembers cafe ownership with mixed feelings. "It was a lot of hard work, but there was a moderately large team of us. We had the time to sit and talk to people. We built up a huge following, our customers quickly became friends, and these friends followed us to JOY!" There was more than a hint of the old-fashioned community feel to the old Blue Moon. "That was quite deliberate. We would get quite busy, so we'd end up sitting a young gay man next to an old dyke and watch them become best friends." The Edinburgh Bisexual Group, Scottish Aids Monitor, and The Lantern group all used to use the Gay Centre, and so frequent the Blue Moon. The Scottish Homosexual Rights Group (now Outright Scotland) which ran the Centre had a huge hit on its hands. "When we opened the Blue Moon we were told that it would never work. We went to Fire Island, The Laughing Duck; the whole gay scene revolved around UV lights and alcohol. At the time the Blue Moon was unlicensed, brightly lit and just open during the day... people had to talk to each other." The successful growth of the Blue Moon meant an eventual move to bigger premises and coincided with the growing confidence of gay people within wider society, but Alan knows that as lesbians, gays and bisexuals, we are not all equal yet. "It worries me that young gays think there is no gay oppression anymore. Think of Clause 28, partnership rights, and the unequal age of consent. People are confident, but can also be complacent." About a year before selling the Blue Moon, Alan, with long-time sidekick Maggie launched JOY!. "We used to have private Blue Moon parties, which started as small affairs in the cafe, just staff and regulars having a laugh. Then we had to start hiring venues because each party was almost twice as big as the last. So we decided to start a club night called JOY!" That was back in July 1993. Now it has become Edinburgh's longest running club night, gay or straight. When asked about to what he attributes the success of JOY!, Alan fidgets and sighs, "Err, I don't really know, a combination of things..." You get the sense that he is reluctant to blow his own trumpet, suddenly silent, as if lost for words, but rallies when I mention JOY!'s music policy. He all but erupts with infectious enthusiasm. "I love music, and I've always been a music collector. I used to keep every record I'd buy, be they good or bad. You should see my flat. When I started DJing I had that mentality. Now I only keep the stuff I play. Plus the thousands of records from my early teens upwards that I just don't have the heart to throw out. I enjoy shopping for new tunes, but I feel guilty if I've been in a record shop for a long time and I leave without getting anything new" You wonder if Alan isn't a little like a character from Nick Hornby's book, 'High Fidelity'. But he is no pretentious music bore. "My records aren't in any order, err, they're in boxes!" Alan has an ear for quality club music. "You play a really good tune for 6 or 7 minutes and the crowd are really up for it, experiencing every subtle sound." He waves his head and arms around in circles, as if moving to this imaginary beat, "Then when you start to mix into the next track the crowd collectively almost audibly groan. Then 30 seconds in, that new tune becomes the best track they have ever heard and they are more up for it than ever!" If he loves good music, he hates crap. "I used to call the music we played Trance. But now it's can't be Trance, because the likes of Alice DeeJay gave Trance a really bad name. 'The Best Trance Album in the World Ever!'" he mocks, "That's just commercial shite." JOY! was launched at the Calton Studios (now Studio 24), "For many JOY!'s spiritual home, although we've been at Wilkie House longer..." It's early success meant that too many straight people would turn up at the door, "...we didn't know any better but to let them in." All of a sudden the venue was filled to capacity, and the club's gay customer base felt threatened, sometimes physically. I suggested that maybe he and Maggie took their eye off the ball. "All we wanted to do was play the music that we wanted to hear. Music that no other gay venue or club night was playing. We didn't know about crowd control or health and safety. We were just victims of our own success. But JOY! was always, and will continue to be, a gay club. And we quickly learned how to deal with dodgy characters." But its current location in the Cowgate still puts many people off. "The area can get quite scary. Sometimes drunken straight men like to fight. And it's miles away from the rest of the gay scene... I think we have got our door policy about right. There hasn't been a major incident at JOY! for years and years, but we can't legislate for those outside..." There are other problems with Wilkie House too; the space occupied by regular DJs Sally and Wendy is far from adequate. "Sally and Trendy Wendy DJ the second room, with a totally different style of music. We all know that they can do better than 50 people in an non-air-conditioned box." The freshness of JOY! also appears to be at the forefront of Alan's mind. "Must keep it fresh!" he needs to keep himself and the punters happy. He feels that four years at Wilkie House is a long time, and so "...lying in bed one night... you know when you can't get to sleep and you have a great idea? ...4am and I had to stay awake until I had told someone!" He had decided to move JOY! on again. And now it's all you can do to stop Alan dancing around the room. The news he's wanted to tell me all evening... "SCOTSGAY! is the first to hear this! JOY! will launch a totally revamped club in April, in a brand new location." He has a twinkle in his eyes. A grin the size of the Central Belt. He wants me to ask... "Where?" I ask. He yells, "THE VENUE" The new JOY! will be launching in Edinburgh's most successful independent club space, secure in a monthly Saturday night spot. "Finding a host for a gay night on a Saturday is difficult. Why should gay nights be on in the week, or when people have to work the next day? Saturday night at the Venue is a real coup... a brilliant space for JOY! The best yet." This seems to have solved all of JOY!'s problems in one go. The Venue is close to the rest of the gay scene, there are no straight wankers hanging around (it would be all right if they just stuck to wanking), and Sally and Wendy have much more space for their own brand of music. "The new-look Venue will be visually stunning. The new owner has some great ideas. I'm very pleased to be in at the start. He is taking his time in delivering the changes. That can only be a good thing." This leaves the niggling little problem of what to do with the club between now and April. Ego (formerly Eden) was the logical choice. "We are hiring our own sound system. Lovely location. Great for the rest of the gay scene - just opposite CC Blooms. And we shall be returning to Studio 24 for a very special JOY! versus MINGIN' night!" I ask Alan if he feels he has answered his critics. "You have to believe in what you are doing." Alan smiles, "You can't follow every whim of the gay scene, but you do have to listen to people. I am first and foremost a clubber." OH JOYS! Christmas Eve 2000 Unofficial Farewell Party at Wilkie House Saturday 30th December 2000 JOY! versus MINGIN' at Studio 24 Saturday 6th January 2001 JOY! of the new Millennium at Ego ------------------------------------------------------------------- LETTERS ======= Dear All As a dyke living in Glasgow, I wanted to write and say how sick I am of the shit service in certain gay pubs and clubs in this city. For me, Delmonicas has got to be the worst of all. My girlfriend and I decided to put Dels to the Shite Service Test the other week. We dropped in at lunchtime, midweek. We were greeted by the butch dyke serving behind the bar. She glared at us as though we had just shat in her best Docs!! It didn't improve when we ordered our drinks. She pulled the pints with the attitude of someone who had been asked for two pints of her own blood!! Seething, but thirsty, we made our way to the booths to drink our pints and recover from such a God awful welcome, only to be stared and sneered at by the male member of staff who came swanning in and out of what seemed like an office. My handsome butch girlfriend was seriously considering laying one or both of 'em out, but instead we left the said Hell hole, and vowed never to return! We are not the only ones. Contrary to the opinion of some, it is not the dogs bollocks and until we stop going to these bloody bars, nothing will change. They will still serve ok beer, with a shit attitude and we will continue to look desperate. Come on you lot!! We don't NEED these bars, there are others. Best bar of all has to be the one on the GGLC. You will always be greeted with a smile and the food is fab. Not to mention the cheeky boy in Clone Zone. Check it out. Lou Colvin Dear John In response to recent correspondence from Kate Dykes regarding ageism, and in particular to her references to students receiving concessionary prices at the Townhouse sauna, may I remind readers that students are of all ages and not restricted to being of a young age as her letter suggests! Yours sincerely Tony Stamp ------------------------------------------------------------- NUN SENSE ========= The Order has had a busy month. So busy, that we've had to bribe the Trypesetter into "accidently" giving us more space. The focus has, of course, been World AIDS Day which was on December 1st. In the run up, we handed out 1100 of our special condom packs. We do hope you made good use of them. Our special blessings go to our minions friends Claudio and Jan who spent many hours helping us stuff the packs so that they were ready on time. They were available in a number of venues. While we were out and about, Novice Brother Bimbo del Doppio Senso was delighted to note that the Newtown Bar now has real ale, although our schedule was too hectic to allow extended enjoyment thereof. On the day itself, we were honoured to lead the procession, although the windy conditions made both controlling the banner and keeping our lanterns lit a challenge. Sister Athletica de la Bain and Novice Cornelia took the ends while Novice Brother Bimbo del Doppio Senso hid in the middle. Alas, Sister Bobby had to remain in Moravia tending to her animals but she did send us a delightful epistle. When we reached the Ross Bandstand, we were most surprised by the first perfomance - a group of acrobats dressed as nuns! Well, except Sister Pronuptia of the Splattered Veil, who could not be said to be dressed as a nun seeing as she is one! After several perfomances, St. Tim lead the reading out of names of those lost to AIDS-related illnesses, and a huge red ribbon made of fire was lit as the lone piper piped. We laid our candles down in the shape of an awareness ribbon, then watched as it promptly blew away, reminding us instantly of Pride Scotland a couple of years back! Several venues offered hosptality after the vigil, and we visited as many as we could fit in. Delicious soup was consumed at Corner-stone Cafe and St. George's Church West, while all sorts of goodies were enjoyed at Hot Stuff. The New-town Bar held a Hawaiian Night, and we also visited Cafe Habana and Planet Out, where we finally ran out of condoms. We also ran into Sister Oral Climax that night. She's been hiding on the other side of the convent wall for far too long. The following evening we graced the ScotsGay staff party with our presence. As you can see from the picture, Sister Athletica duly blessed the real ale specially provided for the occasion. Our website is beginning to take shape. You can find our virtual convent at http://www.thesisters. org.uk/, where you will find a small amount of information about the Order and our work, plus details of how to obtain one of Sister Bobby's Safety Packs for the Gathered Faithful in the North East of Scotland. We also want to hear from you if you got one of our condom packs-especially if you have anything constructive to say! Details of where to find the feedback form are in the ad to the left. (Did you get one of our World AIDS Day Sister Condom Packs? If so, please take a few moments to tell us what you thought of it, at http://www.thesisters.org.uk/feedback.html. Bless You * Play Safe) While we're talking about the net, that bastion of equal rights Baroness Young has set up a web site giving you the opportunity to express your opinion on the recent equalisation of the age of consent. The site, at http://www.ageofconsent.org.uk/, allows you to vote "yes" or "no" on a vague question which has something to do with buggery. After much examination, we've concluded that the "No" option is the one for people who support an equal age of consent at 16. The nosy parkers do want rather a lot of information about you though, enough to identify you individually, where you live and even your sexuality (although the options for this aren't very imaginative), and there's no Data Protection statement about what they plan to do with this personal information. Novice Brother Bimbo del Doppio Senso has contacted mail@dataprotection.gov.uk for clarification of the law on this important matter. We'd like to wish Beti Hutton drop dead get well soon. It seems she has a heart after all. And "au revoir" to Rabbi Bent, who is leaving the Holyrood Tavern and plans to indulge herself for a while. The Amanuensis ----------------------------------------------------------------------- What is Klinefelter Syndrome? ============================ Klinefelter Syndrome like any other syndrome, is a collective of disabilities arising from being born with the Karyotype 47,xxy. Ordinary males have the karyotype46, xy and ordinary females, 46, xx. Those born with this condition have an extra set of chromosomes and so have the chromosomal signature 47,xxy. I was diagnosed with Klinefelter Syndrome in 1988 and was informed at that time of the symptoms: _ Small Testes _ Obesity _ Infertility The treatment is Tesosterone Replacement Therapy, either in the form of sub-cutanaeous implants, Intra muscular injection or, more recently, Androderm patches. All through my childhood, I never "fitted in", I was excrutiatingly shy, introverted, always suffered from fatigue, was picked on mercilessly, had no real friends. It was just a nightmare which led to an attempted suicide at age 12. I also had a violent temper, and raging outbursts were not uncommon. These petered out by the age of 17. I have suffered losses of consciousness from the age of 12 'til I was about 27, and since then have suffered from a mild form of epileptic type seizures. It must have been about 5 or 6 years after diagnosis that I began to find the courage to ask questions about this condition, because there were many features about me that I thought might be related to this condition. I was told at the time of diagnosis that it affected 1 in 10,000 male births. I have the genitalia of a 14 year old, suffer from semi-impotence, I have an extremely bad memory, I have mild mental dyslexia and a degree of physical dyslexia. I have small features, Hands, fingers etc. I asked my GP and subsequently my endocrinologist if it was possible that my small penis and impotency could be related to Klinefelter syndrome, an astounding NO from both parties was the answer. I asked if my memory loss could be connected, NO was the answer to that question too. And all the times I asked a question I believed the answers. In mid 1996, I asked my endo if he could put me in touch with anyone, anywhere who had the same condition. Several days later he wrote to me, telling me that he had searched and searched, including the World Wide Web, and all he could come up with was a PO Box address in England. I wrote off to this organisation, but never received a reply. In the early part of this year, I had the opportunity, of not only using a computer for the first time in my life, but also access to the Internet. At a routine appointment in April of this year, I asked my endo if there was any way possible of me being affected by Down's Syndrome, as I have an elder sibling with Down's. My endo somehow thought this to be quite humourous, and while giving me his favourite answer to any of my questions, ie., NO, he was chuckling. I stormed out of his office and later the same day, I surfed the web for information on xxy. I found lots of information, and discovered that many of the "professionals" providing my health care had been telling lies or didn't know. In my search I found the organisation to which I had written, but discovered they had had problems with that address and had moved. I found another UK based organisation and a host of organisations worldwide, including an e-mail community of which I am a member now. In that community, which is Canadian based, but has members in USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and me in the UK, there is a member called Tom, who asked me way back in June, if I was going to the forthcoming conference of the Klinefelter Syndrome and Associates in Baltimore. I replied that I would love to be there, but finances just wouldn't allow me to even consider it. Well it seems I made some kind of impression on Tom, because he financed the whole trip, KS&A waived the fee of $200, and another guy called Guy, allowed me to share his room at the Omni Inner Harbour Hotel in Baltimore. At first I turned Tom down, but one of my friends said it would be a good opportunity to get some real answers. And so from the 1st - 5th July, I was in Baltimore. An experience that will stay with me forever. Klinefelter Syndrome seen through the eyes of an xxy'r! The temper tantrums that had blighted my childhood and early teens are common among those with the xxy karyotype. Lack of, or sparse body hair is common among adult males with xxy. (1) Attention Deficit Disorder is common. (2) Dyslexia is common. (3) Lack of upper body strength is common. (4) Small penis is common. (5) 50% of those with the karyotype will be gay, bisexual or transexual. (6) Currently on a global scale only 25% will be diagnosed through lack of research. The actual percentage of those born with the karyotype is between 1 in 500 and 1 in 700 male births. Downs is 1 in 1,000. (7) Many xxy'rs have difficulty in sustaining long-term friendships and relationships. (8) Many xxy'rs are of above average intelligence. (9) We are androgynous in many respects. (10) Gynacomastia (breast development) is common. (11) Many have a restless sleep pattern. (12) Depressive like illness is common. (13) Sexual confusion is common. (14) Taurodontism (literally "bull teeth") is common. This leads to an increased risk of tooth decay (15) Diabetes is common Other disabilities not so common include: (16) Osteoporosis (17) Enochoidal stature (18) Cardio-vascular problems (19) Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia Some xxy'rs may have all or some of these, but which the majority of doctors world-wide treat individually and not collectively. Personally I am or have been affected by: 1-5, 7-12, 14, 15 and 17. Further information can be had via the web from the Klinefelter Organisation (formerly the KSCUK) at http://members.aol.com/kscuk/ or http://tmoon.com/ks/, or e-mail stephen.tonner@getreal.co.uk. Off the net, you can contact the Klinefelter Organisation, PO Box 60, Orpington BR6 8ZQ. Even with treatment, life has been far from been a bed of roses and many of the problems associated with the syndrome will be a part of my life, (and the lives of other xxy'rs) forever, but the shyness has waned a lot and I am much tougher than say 10 years ago. We, those of us who have been diagnosed and know more than most doctors, are determined to bring this out into the public arena. By doing so, we may reach others who are still in the wilderness, and by raising the profile of xxy or its mosaic patterns - 48,xxy, 48,xxxy etc. etc. etc. (The more x's the more severity of disability). Thankyou for your time and patience. Steph 47xxy stephen.tonner@getreal.co.uk ------------------------------------------------------------------- JOY Dance Chart =============== 1 Aquilla Earthbound (Pappa & Gilbey Remix) Inversus 2 Santos Camels (Saints & Sinners Full Length Remix) Incentive 3 Junkie XL Bon Voyage Manifesto 4 Halo Varga Future (Original Mix/Three 'N One presnts 16C+ Remix) Hooj Choons 5 Unknown Celebrate Or Love (Solid Sessions Remix / Pronti & Kalmani Remix) Positiva 6 Billy Hendrix presents Crazy Fish California Roll Highball 7 Drax Blue Sun INCtraxx 8 DJ Nukem vs Chab Shaćva (Original Mix / Heavy Duty Mix) Cyber 9 The Party Freakz Uprising EP TPF 10 The Orb Once More... (Bedrock Dub)/ Little Fluffy Clouds (Danny Tenaglia's Detour Mix) Island 11 Natious Digital Hymn (Jarrod & Gilbey Remix) Triple XXX 12 Sourmash Pilgrimage to Paradise (Timo Maas Remix)/ Mescalisto (Pablo Gargano Beatbox Remix) Hooj Choons 13 Dumonde Tomorrow (DJ Jamx & De Leon Mix) :VC: 14 Darren Christian Uni-fiktion (Corvin Dalek Mix/Original Mix) Duty Free 15 A Man Posessed Show Me (Blue Harvest Mix) Prognosis 16 Andy Moor Violent City (Capitol City Mix/ Vicious Tabla Dub) Baroque 17 David Morales presents The Face featuring Juliet Roberts Needin' U II (Stero Dub) Manifesto 18 Groovezone Eisbaer (Jark Prongo Remix) Additive 19 Meeker Mountains (Darren Emerson Underwater Vocal Mix) Underwater 20 Safri Duo Played-A-Live (The Bongo Song) (Nick Sentience Remix) AM:PM ------------------------------------------------------------------------- SCOTSDYKE: A DAY FOR THE FAMILY OR A FAMILY DAY? ================================================ Christmas is supposed to be the time for families getting together, having fun, eating lots, drinking lots and being sick together and most people get to do this. Every year it's either my mother's or your mother's or even alternate years to do the family thing, but more and more in this accepting world I am hearing people tell of their dread of the up and coming festivities, not because they are skint and the kids all want the latest in computer gear or designer clothes but because they are not out to their parents, friends and collegues. It's the simplest things that get blown way out of proportion, like the office Xmas night out. You really want to be with your partner, but the boss wants you all to be there so there's headache No1. Who do you upset-your boss or your burd? Unless, like my partner, you have a very understanding girlfriend, this could be like going for a walk on eggshells. No matter who you pick, you will be wrong. You could take your partner along as a "friend" but personally I don't fancy going out for an evening where I have to be conscious of every word I say. I don't want to give the game away by simply saying "pass the salt darling", or spend the whole night at arms' length unable to kiss, touch or hold her. So, I just stay at home and look after the pussies and she has to take me for a night out to compensate. Headache No2 comes when you have to decide what you are doing on Christmas Day. Is your girl going to spend it with you or her family? This is a particuarly hard one and you have to be reasonable. It's only natural that she wants to see her family on Christmas Day but she really wants to be with you. Her family will be pressurising her to spend the day with them as they wouldn't want her sitting alone (as far as they know she's single). She can try to say she's going to friends but we all know what mothers are like-"its Christmas Day it's for families. You're coming over. Your dad will pick you up". End of argument. She starts to panic and wonders what you'll say when you find out she's going to her parents after all. And when she gets back, she doesn't want to tell you that she had a fab time, because you doesn't want to rub the salt in! I always tell her I want to wake up with her in my arms on Christmas Morning and go to bed with her on Christmas Night. If that means she has to drive the 80 miles round trip to see her parents for dinner then so be it. For us it actually works out well because, by the time it would have been time to eat, our son's already had five boxes of sweets and doesn't want to be moved from the TV or his new computer game. I get to spend the whole day relaxing then, when my partner comes back, a few drinks finish the day off. I can look forward to having my Boxing Day dinner made for me as I spend the morning shopping in the sales. So, although Christmas can be really stressful and comes with a few headaches, if you can sort out some sort of compromise everyone's happy in the end. Love to all and a very Merry Christmas. To our georgeous Betty get well soon-I'll have a wee sherry for you. To my partner and son,thank you for another great year and all of you be good have fun and I'll see you in the new millennium. xxx Snippets If you read the rest of the mag, you'll know that the Stag & Turret has been taken over by Mo and Anne. They have decorated both upstairs and down and I'm told it took 6 coats of industrial paint to cover the cartoons on the walls upstairs. It's now looking very cosy so, if you haven't been up for a while, why not pop in and see the changes? I wish them both good luck for the future. I also took myself down to Glasgow for a look at the Candle Bar that our Goldilocks keeps raving about. I found myself in a cool wee pub with big sofas and a coal fire. It's a very relaxed bar and the music isn't blasted in your ears so you don't have to scream your order to the bar staff (who are all very nice and courteous. There's also an excellent promo on drinks, so if you're over in the West, check it out Have you noticed the bottled beer going round at the moment called Pseudo Bavarian Poof Juice? Well, I'm not impressed-why should it just be the boys that get one? Us girlies should have our own, called "Lip Smacker" or "Tongue Teaser". I'll hassle the distributors. In the meantime, if you can come up with a better name, let me know it at the usual address. And on a final note, ScotsGay had its Christmas night out last weekend and I'd like to thank Fiona at Nexus for feeding us some scrummy grub. I hope all who came enjoyed themselves. Love to all Heather heather@drink.demon.co.uk ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FIVE YEARS OF THE SCOTTISH MEDIA MONITOR ======================================== Garry Otton is no stranger to the media. Fifteen years ago, in a former incarnation, his London agents were distributing his sensitive illustrations of teen romance to magazines in nine countries. Dundee's DC Thomson, publishers of Jackie magazine, was a regular buyer. Despite such success, his first love has been his work for gay magazines, which began as a young student freelancing for Gay News before its demise after the famous blasphemy trial led by Mary Whitehouse. Entitled the Scottish Media Monitor, over a period of five years, starting in January 1996, this monthly gay magazine column by Garry Otton has examined the treatment of sexuality in the Scottish media. It was sparked by what was widely seen as inadequate reporting of the violent murder of 35-year-old Michael Doran in Queens Park in Glasgow in the summer of 1995. Here, a gang of three lads and a 14-year-old girl went on a queerbashing rampage putting a hammer through one guy's head, beating another so badly, he was unable to walk and finally murdering Michael Doran. Michael received 83 blows to his body. They stabbed him several times in the groin, stamped on his face until they had broken every bone in his head and left him in the bushes, choking to death in his own blood. With their clothes still bloodstained, they joined their friends at a nearby party bragging about what they had just done. Within weeks of Michael's tragic murder - a copycat of the Queen's Park murder that led to the last hanging at Barlinnie Prison in the sixties - Thomas Hamilton gunned down a classroom of kiddies and their teacher in a school in Dunblane. Despite no evidence Hamilton sexually molested children in his care, or was himself gay, the Dunblane tragedy became sexualised. Gays were soon swept up in a tidal wave of moral panic. Scoutmasters and gym teachers, boys' club managers and priests were dragged across the pages of the Scottish press in frenzy. One 'sex beast' after another was 'caged.' A 24-year-old was gaoled for three months after being found on school grounds in Paisley. A 77-year-old man was sentenced to four years for taking pictures of kids at the seaside in Ayrshire, a drunken 37-year-old priest faced shame and retribution after allegedly groping a 16-year-old and Iain Macdonald was gaoled for 18 years for the rape of Charles Kumar. Charles denied he was gay, but later went on to win a heat in the Mr Gay UK contest and work in a gay sauna. Iain still languishes in prison. Public toilets, saunas, parks and swimming-pool changing areas throughout Scotland became flash points of moral warfare. A 29-year-old man was sentenced for peeking at two 14-year-old boys in one swimming-pool changing area, and at another, a 34-year-old scoutmaster faced indecency charges after filming boys with a video camera. A swimming-pool attendant warned parents 'all their children are at risk', and was reported in a tabloid begging more staff to patrol open changing-rooms. 'The only way to clampdown on this kind of thing is by fitting screens to the top and bottom of cubicles and security guards watching at all times', he said. Five years at the end of the 20th Century was a period of unusual sexual repression particularly felt by gay men. The failure to equalise the Age of Consent, the obstruction of the repeal of Section 28 by militant religionists, the rounding-up of gay men in police operations across Scotland and a string of subsequent suicides. It was a time when Scots actor Robert Carlisle joined a band of unemployed men to strip for The Full Monty and radio stations banned the Bloodhound Gang from doing it like they do on the Discovery Channel. Much of the Scottish media both protects and excludes readers in a process of restraint, contraction and limitation on sexual issues. A perceived threat to children from 'perverts' was trumpeted by tabloid campaigns such as the Record's 'PervertWatch' and the News of the World's 'Name and Shame'. The press attach a sense of shame and fuel moral outrage to any legitimate means of sexual expression. Most prominent amongst these campaigns has been the attack on 'Channel Filth' on Channel 5's late night depiction of erotica and the Daily Record's 'SmutWatch' campaign. An increasingly politicised Church, fearful of moral decay and advances in liberty and expression, succoured these campaigns. A major victory for the Church and their media crony's was the banning of an exhibition of erotica in Glasgow. Such a campaign, however, paled into insignificance to what the fledgling Scottish Parliament faced when they were caught unawares by the longest political debate in its history, the bankrolling of a campaign to prevent the repeal of Section 2a, (Clause 28), which forbade the so-called 'promotion' of homosexuality in schools, by Scottish business tycoon, Brian Souter. When any issue of sexuality has appeared in the Scottish media - as it does on an almost daily basis - it is rarely academics the journalists turn to, but a string of religious and conservative 'spokespeople'. In Scotland it has been Mrs Ann Allen or the Rev Bill Wallace of the Kirk's ridiculously named Board of Social Responsibility, the notorious 'Sexfinder General', the late Monsignor Tom Connelly for the Catholic Church, Phil Gallie, a deposed Tory MP and any number of partisan organisations like the Christian Institute and Family and Youth Concern. This laziness on the part of journalists to latch onto sound bites or PR machines attached to religious organisations has both distorted and misrepresented Scotland's sexuality. In colluding with moral conservatives; serving a regular diet of propaganda and misinformation on sexual issues, the Scottish press have failed the public they are supposed to serve; contributing to Scotland's appalling record of sexual repression. Scotland has Europe's highest rate of teenage pregnancy (some seven times higher than Holland) whilst sexual pathology, crime, ignorance and disease are rife. In Holland, sex education begins at Primary level and the age of consent is 12. Nonetheless, children start having sex later than their Scottish counterparts and don't wait for years before crying foul when the sex is wrong! In support of the morally conservative sexual propaganda issued by Churches, there is an abundance of equally conservative columnists operating within almost every major newspaper in Scotland. The most well known of these was Jack Irvine, a former editor of Scottish editions of the Sun whose column in the Scottish Mirror regularly carried his rabid homophobia, inspiring Brian Souter to enlist his support for a GBP2million campaign to have the Church influence sex education in schools. One of Irvine's most controversial remarks was his reference to "slobbering queers". There are plenty more of his ilk. Jim Sillars, a former SNP MP writes weekly in the Scottish Sun and has advised readers that homosexuals need to get the homosexual age of consent "as low as possible to ensure a continuous supply of sexual partners". In the Daily Record, they have Tom Brown whose comments on gay's "sad, seedy perversions" border frequently on obsession. The 'Brigadier' has since been promoted to the First Minister's speechwriter. It is his expressed opinion that "only sexually inadequate adults buy dirty magazines", an opinion apparently shared by the Daily Record's matronly agony aunt Joan Burnie - or 'Old Mother Burnie' as she is now widely known - who has evoked the ire of many of her readers by describing erotic videos as "filthy". She once advised a woman whose husband enjoyed erotica to "burn anything you find". She has written: "If my sons grew up to think porn was harmless, then I'd know I'd failed as a mum..." The Sunday Mail used to have Gary Keown. Never mind the "pansies", his opinion of women was equally suspect. "The drunker they are, the better... Give me two slappers pulling at each other's cheap perms... Mini skirts riding up flabby thighs..." The Scottish Daily Mail is the most favoured tabloid of the morally conservative. It once ran anatomical drawings showing how to distinguish gay people from straight and reported what was a benign group of a dozen protesters from the Scottish Socialist Party handing out leaflets to the congregation outside multi-millionaire Brian Souter's church in Perth as a "50 strong... gay law mob" with their "leaders". No such gay 'leaders' attended. Katie Grant is also paid by the Scottish Daily Mail to support the role of its Scottish Political Editor, Hamish MacDonnell to spout a morally conservative agenda behind the benign persona of a 'concerned parent'. Before Section 28 was repealed she was busy sending siren calls to readers, warning them how the government was about to remove legislation that would ensure schools would be awash with gay propaganda. The Scotsman, once a liberal broadsheet, boasts Linda Watson-Brown who believes all men are potential rapists and is a virulent anti-porn campaigner. The Daily Telegraph has Alan Cochrane who led this paper's campaign against the repeal of Section 28 in Scotland. Even The Herald, despite its support for repeal of this Tory-backed legislation, rode with one foot on the brake and a string of religionists in the back seat. Stewart Lamont wrote of his disgust of gay men's apparent love of public conveniences, Michael Fry thought the repeal of Section 28 would give children AIDS and 'wee free' John Macleod who - before he was 'outed' himself - used to think gays "simply not equipped to live". Scotland on Sunday, gives the Mail's Katie Grant and Gerald Warner a Sunday voice. Warner, a speechwriter to the former Tory Scottish Secretary, Michael Forsyth once wrote that condoms offer little protection against AIDS and continually propagates the myth there is a powerful gay clique undermining Government. (With such powerful friends in Government, it's surprising how it has not managed to pass laws guaranteeing gay equality). Warner - or 'Geraldine' as he has become known in the Monitor - believes teenage mothers create a "social blight" and giving council houses to them is simply a "reward for promiscuity". He once begged in his column: "We cannot sit idly by and watch minority pressure groups and their allies secure an absurdly disproportionate profile in the media..." Without one 'out' gay columnist batting against this surfeit of sexually regulating writers, what Scottish newspapers does he read? Even the Big Issue in Scotland, which accepts free pictures from the Daily Record is not exactly generous with features on gay human rights. The feature on Daily Record columnist, Tom Brown's promotion in the Scottish Executive was rejected by the editor. BBC Scotland has consistently refused a programme for gays while catering for religionists on a daily basis. With just one per cent attending Church, many now agree Scotland's sexual liberals deserve a better voice. But whatever you think of sexual politics in the new Scotland: Lesbians, gays, bisexuals and people of transgender are on their own. Each day, individuals work to regulate and control the definition of sexuality within a narrow boundary defined by a personal morality fed by the Church. This forest of deadwood has taken many years to grow. But not until a former editor, a right-wing Cardinal and a multi-millionaire Christian fundamentalist set the forest ablaze were the people of Scotland so exposed and so divided in a moral debate that almost spilled out into the 21st century. A new book cataloguing five years of the Scottish Media Monitor is almost completed and a major Glasgow-based website design company, Alienation Design http://www.alienationdesign.co.uk/ is about to launch a new website for the Scottish Media Monitor at http://www.scottishmediamonitor.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ GLASGOW/GLASCHU =============== Arse Bandit with Attitude! BC: 1 Hiya Scumbagz!! Well here goes with the second attempt at getting this month's pile of shite into print!! I think Ms Hutton, my Small Bald Ginger Editor and myself all must be unlucky with computers this month, or maybe Windoze is just a load of crap! So, the festive season is fast approaching, which means it's that time of year when certain establishments will reward your patronage for the past year by fucking you over for as much as they can in the shape of exorbitant entry prices, suspended drinks promos and cancelled guest lists. You'll hear the predictable bullshit about staffing costs, but anyone who actually works in the licensed trade will tell you it's nonsense, and Christmas and New Year are always seen as a good excuse to jack up the prices. As you may be aware, the Polo couldn't shift all their tickets for last year's Hogmanay bash, and were forced to drop the prices on the night, or face the prospect of an empty club. If you want to save some money this year, don't buy a ticket in advance - wait until Hogmanay, go down to the club and if it's dead enough ask to get in cheap. If The Poo refuse to drop their prices, remind them of last year and tell them you're off to Bennets! That should get you a few quid off! The tickets for the festive bashes at the GLGBTC are now on sale. There is a party on Christmas Eve from 8pm onwards for GBP5, and you can celebrate Hogmanay for only a tenner from 8pm til 3am. Ticket prices include a buffet, and are likely to sell out fast, so get yours now. Everyone who attended the Hogmany party last year had a great time, so hopefully it will be as packed this year, and remember that most of the ticket money goes towards the Centre's fundraising, so it's all in a good cause. Remember also, that there are various free street parties going on, and the pubs and clubs will be open later than normal. Most of the pubs will be laying on extra entertainment etc, and no doubt the Waterloo will be doing their usual Hogmanay Party with all the usual entertainment laid on for free. I said a few months ago that although both Bennets and The Poo had now revamped their webshites, it would only be a matter of time before they couldn't be arsed in keeping them up to date. I was right of course. Bennets is still advertising their Halloween Party, and we are still waiting for the new additions to the Poo website. Don't hold your breath waiting for updates - the Goldilocks website gets way more traffic than either of these wannabes ever will. And while we're on the subject, the other gay and lesbian website which was supposed to be opening in a blaze of glory seems to have fizzled out. Face it guys, you simply can't be bothered working on your websites because nobody bothers to visit them, and it would be far better if you got rid of them all together, instead of leaving your few visitors with a poor impression of Glasgow. There have been some major changes over at Centurion recently. Many of the staff have now been replaced, and acting manager Paul tells me that he has some new plans for the business. The rest room will be getting redecorated, and they also intend to completely upgrade and refurbish the shower area. Watch out for another party weekend, when the entry price will be greatly reduced, with free food and wine like last time. For all you arty types, there's a good exhibition by Greer Ralston on at the GLGBTC down in Dixon Street. The exhibit which seems to be attracting most attention is the mega huge painting of a naked mannie in the main stairwell, and predictably the girlies are complaining that they don't want to see a picture of a naked guy every time they go to the bog, and the guys are moaning that his knob isn't big enough. There were a few exhibits nicked off the wall recently, but I can't imagine anything going missing from this display, as they are all fairly large exhibits this time! You no doubt noticed a letter of complaint about me in the last issue. Utter nonsense of course! Everyone who's read it seems to have the same opinion as myself. Other e-mail from Kate Dykes makes it quite clear that her problem is really that she is unhappy about competition from the Townhouse Sauna, and rather than make childish, personal and abusive statements about myself, Ms Dykes would be better off taking a long critical look at her own business and taking decisive action to stem the exodus of her clientele to the Townhouse. I've had quite a few of you telling me that the new 24 hour Internet Cafe easyEverything in St Vincent Street is becoming a favourite haunt for the cybersluts. It seems that a lot of you go along after Bennets closes, and cruise the online chatrooms during cheap rate. I've not actually been on Gay.com in the early hours, but I hear that the Scottish chatrooms have quite a few easyEverything customers sitting at separate terminals in the same room trying to pick each other up. I have to laugh at the idea of somebody spending a fortune out clubbing, then going to an Internet chat room for some cybersex with an ugly bastard claiming to be a blond haired blue eyed boy next door! I had hoped to get down to the Candle Bar to see how the Sunday afternoon entertainment with Jason and Angie O is getting along, but was otherwise engaged this weekend. I hear that things have been going really well, which hardly comes as a surprise as Jason is well known on the entertainment circuit. DJ Stu has also now been given the Wednesday slot in addition to his Saturday night, so you now have a variety of entertainment throughout the week with Stu on Wed and Sat, Wendy on Friday, and Karaoke with Craig on Thursday. (Good DJ Stu, but can't tell the difference between the sexes) Remember also that The Candle Bar has got some seriously good drinks promos on , so you can have a cheap night out during the week. The Glasgow Poets and Writers Group will be holding their festive "Poets Grotto" on Wednesday the 20th of December from 8pm onwards. There will be various readings, and you are all free to go along, either just to hear the poetry, or do a reading of your own. SNIPPETS AND WAFFLE I've found this hilarious website for all you sad twats who kid yourself about how "str8 acting" you think you are. Check out http://www.straightacting.com/ and take their quiz to see whether you're a fairy or not. Apparently I'm "somewhat feminine", scoring a rating of 5! I've spent all these years thinking I was SOOO butch, and now it seems I'm as big a screamer as you lot :-( >>> Nice to see that Brian Souter is having financial problems. This is the man who said of the Repeal Section 28 campaign "We didnae vote fer it, and we're nae havin it!" Crap of course - it's gone, you got well and truly fucked, so deal with it and stick to running buses in the future. >>> I see the BOYZ awards are coming up shortly. Now which of our scene venues will be tearing out the entry forms and getting the staff to send them in this year? That's about it for this month. As usual, you can send yer smutty e-mails, death threats, complaints etc to the address at the back of the magazine, or direct to the Wonderful World of Goldilocks by E-mail. And you can get the full unedited, unsanitised version on my own website. I'd better get this sent off to my Ed as he's probably tearing what's left of his hair out as it's so long overdue, but he's been making allowances cos I've been a bit distracted this weekend by the new man in my life! Happy shagging, Merry Christmas and all the other usual festive bollocks, Goldilocks E-mail:- goldilocks@gay-glasgow.co.uk Webshite:- http://www.gay-glasgow.co.uk/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- EDINBURGH/DUN EIDEANN ===================== Hiya peeps, Ali here again with my monthly gossip and info bits. First a warning to us all - The Late Licence starts on the 18th December and doesn't finish until 3rd January - that's an extra 2 hours drinking time - woohoo!! Just get your liver and kidneys sorted now! First stop the Stag and Turret. Sorry to Mo for the Duck thing last month - I had very bad info passed to me, they have been reprimanded in my own way. A big hello to Anne as well (sorry) who is there helping to get the Stag back on it's feet, and from what I've seen it's bound to get even better next year! Planet Out still have the wonderful Trendy Wendy playing her tunes on Mondays and the bar Boys and Girls are planning to have more fun over Xmas, see the pub for more details! The Newtown Bar has, I am realiably informed by my Editor, 'Real Beer'. What that means I don't know but I will investigate. But Colin and his boys are planning some wacky things over Xmas and we know what that means... Hot Stuff is having a Xmas Party on Friday 22nd December from 8pm till late. Rory, JP and Martin will be supplying us with a Disco, a Buffet and fabulous Prizes. Karaoke is still running on Wednesdays with Titty Galore - another fab night! Remember that Hot Stuff will be having a few changes made next year so check it out before it changes! Cafe Habana is having a busy time as a pre-club bar I notice. Ronnie and the gang seem to have got the crowds in at the weekends are from what I gather it's going to get a lot busier over the Xmas period! The Claremont gang have got Liam's Crazy Xmas and Hogmanay Quiz on 20th December and 27th. Both start at 9pm and will run very late and are bound to be very very silly. On the 24th Liam hosts the Xmas Eve party, starting at 9pm and running till 3am, this is by invite only though, so you will have to find an invite, same goes for the Hogmanay Party on the 31st. DJ Yvonne returns to play all your fave party tunes and keep you dancing till the early hours of the morning! And then they re-open on New Year's Day at 12 noon so that we can recover with a pint of whatever we fancy!! CC Blooms are having fun over the festive period by bringing us Sassy Stryker on Boxing Day to help us beat the Xmas Blues and on Hogmanay Georgey Boy and Helen 'Bagpipes' will be bringing fun and games to the upstairs bar and DJ Blondie will be spinning your fave tunes - new and old downstairs. And with Lily Savage rumoured to appear over the Festive fortnight the pub should be fun. Dianne and Brian would like to thank all the customers who paid to get into CC's on Worlds Aids Day and helped raise over GBP350. A fond farewell to David the Barman who is leaving next year. A delicious and very scrummy bloke if I ever saw one! Edinburgh's Townhouse sauna and gym is celebrating its 1st Anniversary since Martin and Brett took over the business twelve months ago. During that time the Townhouse has seen a steady increase in custom, becoming Edinburgh's popular choice with locals and tourists alike. Among its many attractions are the plush surroundings with period furniture and its fully licensed bar, offering something out of the ordinary to many of the other gay saunas in Britain. As a thank you to its many members, the Townhouse is offering an exciting calendar of events and give-aways during December, including: Sat 16th: meet Joshua in the flesh - Joshua is the model featured on all Townhouse advertising - get a photo with him Sun 17th: Josh's underwear party - prizes galore - prizes for most unusual undies presented by Joshua Sat 23rd: Santa stripper performing live from 8pm Sun 24th: free Xmas eve buffet and punch at 6.30pm Nexus celebrates its 3rd birthday this month - Happy Birthday Feeh, Sam and Joe! Pop in and help them celebrate but remember they are closed Xmas Day, Boxing Day and the 27th! Lush will be back on the 7th January at Whynot (part of the Dome). Dale and Craig will be spinning our fave songs as usual - I will try and pop in this time, I promise!!! From what I hear this night is beginning to get busier all the time, go and support them! Tackno is back on 23rd at Club Java in Leith, with the choice of an Xmas dinner (GBP15) or just the club (GBP5) and then appears at Club Mercado on 31st - Tackno 2001 A Space Odyssey. GBP15 in advance or GBP20 on the door! Maggie and Alan Joy return on the 9th December with Queen Maxine at Wilkie House playing all your favourite banging tunes - usual prices for this! Grant @ Queer Sunday will be having his usual fun and games over the festive period at Ego. Although not on nights Tackno is on because, I have been informed, he is not getting the people in the door! Not much in the rumour mill apart from (remember it's all rumours) the new gay club/bar opening in the space across the road from P'out! Hmmm, I'll take bets on that one I think... A Happy Xmas and New Year to everyone and I'll be back with you next year! Remember to send me all your gossip and listing at my usual address cos my website will be up by the end of January, so if you're not sending your listings and info now - you don't get a mention!! Lots of love Ali niniev@yahoo.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ABERDEEN/OBAR DHEADHAINN ======================== Hi sweet things, I'm back!! Have you missed me? really? you didn't like that Plug person? No... Well never mind, I'm here now so just relax and enjoy. Where have I been? I've been out exploring, different people, different places, straight places even. Actually, It's been a lot of fun, I won't bore you with the details except to say that if there's a club in Aberdeen with no homosexuals in it then I've not found it yet! Have you ever heard of the Granite Sisters? Neither had I until the rather nice (and not at all granite like) Julie gave me a phone. The Granite Sisters are a organisation for lesbians over the age of 35. With a membership of 25, the group has been established for eight months and is aimed at lesbians who prefer having fun and enjoying life to politics and campaigning. Regular activities include walks, swimming and going to the cinema. The group meets on the last Monday of each month in Cafe Continental at 8pm and is also involved in arranging monthly women's discos with the Aberdeen Lesbian and Bisexual group. If you are over 35 and would like to know more, you can get information from Switchboard or the Women's Centre. Not old enough to join the Granite Sisters? The Aberdeen Lesbian and Bisexual Group would like to hear from you. Meeting every Wednesday, 8pm at the Women's Centre, the group is non political and intended for women who want to make new friends, support each other and have fun. With a program of events arranged each month by it's members, the group is open to all women. You can find out more by phoning Aberdeen (01224) 625010 on a Wednesday evening. Also in the Women's Centre, the Aberdeen Lesbian Mothers Group meets on the first Saturday of each month. Providing support and social events for mothers and children, the group is a member of the Lesbian Mothers Network Scotland. I'll have to move on now because I can tell that the boys are feeling left out and I don't want to be made an honorary lesbian. What was all that in the "Plug" article about the City Bar and Madisons staff. "not the most fun loving" and "looking more like they're in for a spot of DIY" were some of the quotes. Having been out partying with most of the above mentioned over the course of the year, I can confirm that the first quote is untrue! As for the second, I can think of certain members of staff who can come round and perform their "DIY" on me anytime they like! Castros nightclub, Aberdeen's only gay club at one time, went on to become the notoriously homophobic Monkey Bar which thankfully died a death after only a few months. Now after a GBP15,000 re-fit, the place re-opened on Wednesday 6th December under new management as Castros. I am advised by Dave the manager that it will be a mixed venue opening Wednesday to Sunday from 5pm till 2am with free admission before midnight. Castros will definitely be worth a visit this weekend with a happy hour between 5 and 8, lots of drinks promotions, giveaways and live DJs from 10pm. I spoke to Tracy, owner of the original Castros who wishes the new management all the very best and would like to congratulate them on their good taste and inventiveness in choosing such a good name! Martin from the City Bar will be leaving us soon, he has asked me to mention this so you have time to buy him presents. There is still no information on what the owners are planning for the bar's future. RGU LGB society has just started up again. If you are a student, why not contact them by e-mail lgb@theunionbar.net Some events for your diary this month - Wednesday 13th December, Aberdeen Lesbian and Bisexual group are having a Solstice party in the Women's centre at 8pm, bring a bottle, all women welcome. Friday 15th December, Women's disco at the East Neuk from 8.30 till late. Admission is GBP5.00 and proceeds go to CLAN and Switchboard. Why is it that lesbians seem to be so much better behaved than gay men? Can you imagine what kinds of filth and perversion would be going on if the guys were having a solstice party? Mmm... sounds good! I seem to have to have run out of space now so I'll sign off here. If I was supposed to mention something and forgot, I'm sorry - I'll do it next month. If you would like anything included about your event or group the please send me an e-mail. See you next time! Martin martin.thain@virgin.net ------------------------------------------------------------------------ BI VOCAL ======== Bi - The Plug Got a lovely email from Sarah in Glasgow. She writes the 'Bi the Way' column for CentrePoint magazine and is one of the coordinators for 'Bi Glasgow'. She states, "It's so cool there are *two* bi columns in the Scottish gay press now! I mean, one is tokenism, two's a movement (Sorry, I'm known for my Kiwi optimism!). I really enjoyed your piece on polyamorous relationships last month. Keep pushing those boundaries out m'dear, that's what we're here for, I sometimes think!" Quite write, er, right too. She asked if ScotsGay could announce Bi Glasgow's change of venue and time. We're absolutely happy to do so of course. From Dec. 6th they'll be meeting on the first Wednesday of every month in the Ian Dunn Room at the Glasgow LGBT Centre, 11 Dixon Street, Glasgow, 7.30-9.30pm. A cool Yule to all West Coast bisexuals! EuroBiCon Website At http://www.intbiconf.org/ you can read all about the upcoming First European Bisexual Conference that will be held in Rotterdam from June 22 to June 24 of 2001. The event will coincide with Rotterdam Cultural Capital of Europe and will be on the weekend before the famous Dutch Pink Saturday (their variant of Pride Day / Christopher Street Day / Stonewall). The mission of those hosting the Rotterdam 2001 EuroBiCon1 is to organize the best possible European Bisexual Conference where people from all backgrounds and interests who are interested in the various aspects of bisexuality, will find workshops and/or lectures meeting their needs. The organizing committee works with the support of the Dutch Bisexual Network (LNBi) and consists of several individuals, both from within the Dutch Bisexual Network as well as from other local and regional groups. Telephone: 0031 6-28438124 FAX: 0031 10-2449059 Postal Address: P.O. Box 28210, 3003 KE Rotterdam, The Netherlands Email: ebc1-info@intbiconf.org bi.org Finally a plug for http://bi.org/, the UK's award winning Bisexual Website. A whole wealth on information is available including a Usenet newsgroup "...used for the discussion of any issues related to bisexuality or of interest to bisexual people." Contents include: - Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about bisexuality, a hotlist of other web resources and, er, chocolate recipes. Just go to http://www.bi.org/ See you in the next Millennium! Martin Walker mgwuk@hotmail.com ------------------------------------------------------------------- DUNDEE/DUN-DEAGH ================ With the time rapidly ticking away till Christmas Dundee is preparing itself for the festive 'garde de vive'. Charlie's Bar has a few special events planned, which if the tales still circulating from last years event are true then we're all in for a treat (and its usually all free to boot!) So keep your eyes peeled for the info etc. Charlie hopes to have all the details finalised soon, however rumour has it that he's managed to secure Dundee's most flamboyant and avant-garde DJ to host the show! Oooh I wonder who that is? Liberty continues to be Dundee's flagship gay venue and it's never looked so good (oh and remember it opens at 11pm these days). The building work in there seems to be going well and this has led to a nice new bench right next to the main dance floor. Already it's paid for itself in my opinion, by providing a handy place to sit when you've danced yourself to exhaustion to the latest Steps mega-mix! Resident DJ 'BP' continues to provide a varied and interesting programme of tracks, keeping even the more demanding of regulars happy. Although I'm told he does feel in fear of his life sometimes when he declines to play the current 'Steps' track for the 5th time in a night! Come on people! We all know Ricky Martain is the man! Liberty's programme for the festive period is taking shape I'm told and if I know Gavin it'll be well worth a look whatever he's planned, so get those piggy banks open! Manchester had a treat recently when a group of Dundee's own visited its bright lights. Dundee University's LGBT society organised a trip there and by all accounts (and some police reports) everyone had a ball. Episode Two: 'Live and let lie' Well I wish I could have better news, unfortunately 'Billy' has declined to see sense and even now is adding to his mis-deeds. While I'm conscious that to every story there are two sides and opinions can vary, Billy himself is lending considerable credibility to my last story with regard to his license with the truth. Even now he's off making up ridiculous tales regarding my so called exploits which I must say pleases me no end. Indeed if anyone doubted the truth of my story you need only listen to 'Billy's' tales to see what a gifted and imaginative liar he really is. This does fill me with a tinge of sadness. I'm not a vindictive person, so to that end I've decided not to reveal Billy's true identity to those would don't already know. I would like to note that in the last 'episode' I referred to Billy receiving a letter from the STD clinic this was indeed true but I neglected to reveal which condition it referred to. For various reasons I think it fair to say it wasn't a life threatening condition. Regardless of opinion I reveal this sad story for one reason only, that being to place sufficient gravity on 'Billy' in the hope that he would see sense and end his practice of lying and deceit. Well as I noted earlier this has sadly failed and nothing I can do, it seems, will dislodge Billy from his stance that he's done no wrong. Indeed he believes that I'm the villain for not supporting his position. I've know Billy for a short period and I think it fair to say he's not all bad, although no matter what other redeeming features he might have, these in no way detract from the harm and upset he's caused to various others. I'll end this sad story by saying directly that I won't consider 'Billy' to others as a evil and nasty person, but rather a sad and little school boy who seeks to involve others in conflict, to what end other than his own amusement I'm yet to fathom. He knows in his heart of hearts this isn't the way to treat people and if the day dawns that he sees sense by mending his ways, I will be the first person to bring it to everyone's attention in the most fair and favourable light possible. "Without forgiveness we are nothing". Fortunately it's not all doom and gloom in Dundee, some nice things happened this month, Colin B has finally found himself a nice man and this seems to agree with him well. Although I'm glad he's not given up his 'passion for fashion' and those pants he had on the other night were well worth the 5 quid entry fee to Liberty.."you go Colin". Oh and if you're into body art, why not have a word with Liam, he's very good at those temporary tattoo thingys. Birthday Celebrations this month for the Lovely Lynn S, the not so lovely Alan B (only joking according to Benny you're a Darling!), 'Ewan impersonator' Wayne G (or is it the other way round?), oh and some daft person named Perry! (who will be accepting free birthday drinks on behalf of all of the above..hee hee). Kate, who some might remember from times past as the owner of the most marvellous pair of 'Moo' shoes, made me laugh with abandon the other night so I'll include one of her witty comment for you all "sometimes being a bitch... is all a woman's got!" Last line goes to everyone this month "have a nice Xmas" perry x perryj@drink.demon.co.uk -------------------------------------------------------------------------- INVERNESS/INBHIR NIS ==================== Hello readers, Kuddels here, with latest news and gossip from the Inverness area. Well, December has now arrived and all around, there's lots of hustle and bustle as people rush around the town making hectic preparations for Christmas and Hogmanay. The town is very busy as people hit the shops, buying gifts, wrapping paper, cards, tinsel and all the other things associated with the festive season, not forgetting, especially, booze. I know, I've been a regular visitor to my local branch of Safeway where I've been stocking up with ample supplies of wines and spirits just to make sure that I have a "very Merry Christmas" and a "more than happy Hogmanay". With the friends that I expect will "drop in" over the holiday period , I expect I will need to have ample supplies, as they'll "do almost anything" for a free drink... Now, there's food for thought... I wonder??? The run up to Christmas started in Inverness with the switching on of the lights on the evening of Saturday, 25th November. A crowd gathered outside the Townhouse for the event. The switch was pulled and the lights flickered and lit up, illuminating the shopping centre and the town streets, as well as the town's two Christmas trees, one outside the Townhouse and the other on the Castle Esplanade. It all looked very nice, but, it's a great pity that the display has been the same for years and doesn't seem to have changed very much... Time for change, I think... Seriously though, let us not forget that Friday, 1st December was World Aids Day. Reachout Highland held a religious service in the Chapel of Raigmore Hospital, Inverness. Collection boxes towards World Aids Day Charity are still in pubs and clubs throughout Inverness and the Highlands , so, please give generously. Reachout Highland are also busily engaged in promoting an HIV awareness and Aids Prevention Programme, visiting Colleges in Inverness and throughout the Highlands. A Christmas party is scheduled to be held at Reachout Highland on 23rd December, starting at 8pm and will be open to members of the Highland Gay Men's Group, Highland Gay Youth Group, Transgender Group and "friends". I offered to act as "Santa" (I've certainly got the right build for the part) or to be the "Fairy" on top of their Christmas tree (but, I fear that the tree and all its baubles would collapse under my weight). I hope it will be well atended and wish them all the best for the night, when it comes around. Hogmanay events in Inverness look as though they could be full of "festive fun". There are plans for a funfair in Bught Park, street entertainers, firework displays (things could go with a bang, after all, I expect) and "Riverlights" (illuminated trees along the riverbanks). This should encourage lots of latenight revellers and partygoers and everyone could (given the opportunity) have a "gay old time". Hotels are almost fully booked for the Christmas and Hogmanay period, here in Inverness. We can therefore expect to see a huge influx of "festive visitors" to the town, some of whom will be gay (they can't all be straight, can they?) and eager to explore the local sites and cruising areas, to see what they can pick up for a bit of "festive fun and frolics". I'm sure that myself and other "locals" will be very pleased to offer hospitality, make them welcome , and help to "grant their wishes". It all looks as though it's going to be a hectic and very interesting time for all. Well, I guess that's about all for this month. Have lots of safe sex over the holidays. I hope you all "get what you want" over the festive season. Wishing you a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy Hogmanay. Kuddlels kuddels@drink.demon.co.uk ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ZURICH DANCES IN THE STREETS ============================ As the street parade season heads towards the end of another year, Gordon Gosnell headed of to Switzerland to see what makes the Swiss tick apart from watches, good chocolate and beautiful scenery. Zurich provided the base for STREET 2000, a Techno and House carnival for everyone, gay, straight, bisexual or just pure party animal. He sends us this report. "Right Gordon, you're off to Zurich", barked the fat balding ginger one, and who am I to argue. "I know it will be hard but someone has to go", he added with a wry smile. As it turned out, I and other scribes were to be the guests of the Swiss Tourist Board, who were the perfect hosts. Their professional outlook in promoting their annual carnival should be used as a benchmark for other organisations to follow. Although STREET 2000 is in many ways similar to other carnivals, such as Nottinghill, London Pride and of course our very own Pride Scotland. There were three main differences in what the Swiss had to offer compared to our more laid back UK versions: 1) NOISE - STREET 2000 started at about 10 in the morning when most of the bars prepared for the day ahead by pumping out an amazing selection of Techno sounds at a very high level, filling the streets of the city to ensure everyone was well and truly awake. At this point it was earplugs in, and, as the music got louder and louder it was almost impossible to describe the noise. With the last of the party poppers getting home about 10 the next morning from one of the 20 different venues around the city, not a lot of sleep was had by anyone. 2) SIZE - by the time the day got into full swing there were an estimated 700,000 boys and girls aged from 8-80 in full party mode, about 10% of the country's population. Hmmmmmm, I always did like a big one. 3) SETTING - Lake Zurich, what a place to base a carnival. Clear blue waters, boats of all shapes and sizes, cafe bars camped up to tempt you to rest a while, and perfect weather somewhere in the eighties. Our jaunt commenced the day before, with a vist to CRANBERRY'S, one of the city's newer gay cafe bars for pre-dinner drinks where mine host JVAN, the one with the Liberace smile, told us a little of the history of his cafe, treated us to Swiss doughnuts, and some samples from his very popular in-house cocktail list, with such favourites as an Absolutely Fabulous, Goldfinger, Sea Breeze or even Sex on the Beach, each packing a fair punch as we can all testify. So good were they, that I went back for more later, but that's another story, not for your ears I'm afraid. Suffice to say to my aunty Beti Hutton she was wrong about the oriental quota, I'm afraid it's not all hard work my dears. Next it was off to dinner and a very leisurely meal over 3 hours at the restaurant "Daniel H" in what looked the red light district, where some of the party seemed to get lost after dinner, still they were all adults. The main day itself didn't start officially for us 'til 2pm, leaving us time to look around the city and to explore its many beautiful building and cafes, whichever was to your taste. For those of you into cities, buildings, history and so on it is well worth getting Zurich into the diary for a future visit. In general, it is a very clean city, friendly and welcoming, Maybe the next time I am there I will donate more time to the gay scene in general. On to the parade itself. As you can imagine it was long (took about two hours to pass), very noisy and full of youthful exhibitionisim and so colourful. Lots of dancing, noise, bare flesh and then some. It was difficult to separate the queens out from the rest, such was the mix of the flesh in hand, no-one seemed to care a hoot, it was just as it should be, a great mix of enjoyment, self-expression, freedom and a cool way to enjoy the largest techno party in Europe. To let you understand the size of the whole thing, in the evening after the parade, there were events ranging from "Unity at the Kongresshous" where 12 dancefloors catered for all types of music from Trance, House, Techno, Hardcore, Drum'n'base, Progressive House, and UK Garage/2step, to an openair screening of Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window". Chill out time was well served by a Rivercruise with Cocktails and a "Roll and Stroll" - a guided in-line skate tour. One thing I missed out on, but noticed the info on their float - Love Machine in the parade, was "Zoom" a Psychedelic Gathering of the IntergalacticTribes being held in the wood next to the zoo. The imagination boggles as to what the animals thought of it all. This one was supposed to be a sight not to be missed, however with so much to cover, it has to wait 'til next year. I for one intend to be there, why not let's make a party of it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SCOTTISH MEDIA MONITOR ====================== Media Minx Garry Otton is Loose Under the Covers In yet more anti-porn propaganda in The Scotsman, their very own Mary Whitehouse, Linda Watson-Brown came over all tea-and-biscuits at British Board of Film Classification's president, Andreas Whittam Smith wanting more sex shops selling "pornography" for "grown-ups who just happen to get aroused by images of exploitation and degradation". There are only two licensed sex shops - or 'pervert's paradises' as Watson-Brown calls them - in Scotland, and they are both in Edinburgh. She demands to know: "...Do we ignore the problem, or wait until the likes of Andreas Whittam Smith puts a sex shop on every High Street in Scotland?" Watson-Brown's Net Nanny must've crashed as she surfed the Net without the aid of a full box of man-sized, finding downloads "which only take a few seconds to view, but a lifetime to wipe out". Watson-Brown was soon back, boring the pants off readers, fronting The Scotsman's virulent anti-porn campaign. Watson-Brown begged readers to anonymously send their letters of disgust to her. The insufferable bag was "happy" to pass them on to W H Smith. It was to be the newsagent's punishment for re-introducing erotica after only a five-year break. Magazines like GQ and Loaded showing: "Gynaecological illustrations of dehumanised women" enjoyed in what she acerbically labelled the "heterosexual haven of consensual, post-modern relationships". Anyone who disagreed was labelled a "stultifying... intellectually-challenged... pro-pornographer...". (Pity. From all the trot she churns out, week in, week out; I've yet to see an intellectually-based argument worth challenging)! I know The Scotsman is strapped for cash, but for Christ's sake...! Linda took her store-card down the Gyle and found: "Marks and Spencer sell bras for girls who should still be wearing vests". Bemoaning the demise of navy-blue knickers and calico breeches, she stood alone in the High Street, stemming a new tidal wave of filth. Asda flogging Loaded next to Twinkle and bondage tape stacked next to Po! I can't imagine why The Scotsman chose to front-page such a bunch of losers! "Pro-life lobby demonises health chief in sex row", ran the headline. This was just anti-abortion group Precious Life Scotland igniting its Parent Truth Campaign in search of a bit of cheap publicity. "A national campaign calculated to reignite the passions left smouldering after the repeal of Section 28 in Scotland is to be launched on Monday with a vitriolic attack on Susan Deacon. The Parent Truth Campaign, which aims to become the UK-wide successor to the Keep the Clause movement, will distribute 20,000 graphic leaflets to homes..." Oh, wow! Cancel the milk! In furtherance of their religious and political objectives, they tore out pages from booklets by the Family Planning Association, the Brook Advisory Centre and PHACE West and made a collage of their fantasies. Instead of being undermined by Parent Truth, thankfully, this time, Scotland appeared better prepared for the forces of sexual repression. The failure of inadequate, just-say-no campaigns has left its mark on Scotland in a catalogue of misery, disease, unwanted pregnancies and crime. Health Minister Susan Deacon must be congratulated in trying to exorcise Scotland of its ghosts of the past, as she swiftly moves to adopt proven, working policies already operating in Europe. Mrs Bernadette Smyth - whom I can picture smiling and pointing at her new Hoover Hotpoint - lives in Northern Ireland where she runs the 4,000-strong organisation, Parent Truth. She wants women to: "Just say no", adding: "If you go back to the 1950s and 1960s, we didn't have a problem..." Those were the days, eh, Mrs Smyth? When all it took was a touch of nail polish to stop a ladder. Nexxxxt! A rather anxious Hugh J Lynch, chairman of the Family Action Movement, 69 Burnhead Road, Larbert, posted his letter into The Herald and implored that Scotland's poor record in sex education was proof explicit sex education hasn't worked. Despite a 75% increase in cases of chlamydia in five years, three-quarters of 16 to 25-year-olds have never even heard of it! So, what prolific sex education was he talking about? Without the oxygen of publicity offered by ex-editor, Martin Clarke on the Daily Record, Mr Lynch, KTC, FAM, PLS, Parent Truth, et al, were all, well... Fucked, basically! Hamish Macdonell, the Scottish Political Editor for the Scottish Daily Mail has been responsible for some nasty, homophobic reports in his time. "About GBP11,000 of taxpayers' money" being spent on the Scottish Executive's Equality Strategy report is standard fair for this reporter. He claimed it had been "derided as 'politically correct nonsense'." Macdonell didn't explain exactly by whom, but we could guess. Gerald Warner was wheeled in from the ward for an "analysis". "This can only be an attempt to classify homosexuality as a disability, similar to physical disadvantages, rather than as a sexual preference", he said before he could be changed. The Mail regurgitated the whole story again the very next day. The Scottish Daily Mail's Ian Smith dabbed his eye with a lace hanky over "claims that the Executive was pursuing a politically correct agenda aimed at undermining the institution of marriage", adding, "the Executive also plans to legalise gay group sex". The Mail just had to include a mention of the fact that the Executive was planning to comply with European rulings and lift the ban on gay men having orgies just like 'straights'! The Mail said the Church of Scotland was calling it "a dilution of Scotland's moral values". Mrs Ann Allen, on behalf of her ridiculously named, Board of Social Responsibility was first to expose her ankles. "We would oppose group sex of any nature", she sniffed rather generously. "It a cheapening of the whole sexual act and to make such activity legal is giving out the signal that it is acceptable to society. I am sure the vast majority of people would not see such activity as moral". Foolish woman! It's the 'immorality' we like! The Mail went on to report how "Christian and family values groups are to demand that Mr McLeish explain his moral views..." Demand? Who do they think they are? A clue appeared the next day in the same paper: "The Christian Institute is contacting 2,000 churches to garner support..." No wonder the public is deserting the Church in their droves! In Scotland, gay church groups have seen membership fall or have closed altogether. Before you could say: 'Blood!' Gerald Warner was sitting up in his coffin, flapping the pages of the Scottish Daily Mail. "With marriage under attack from plans for faster divorce and same sex weddings, is the Scottish Executive out to ruin the traditional family?" What plans for same sex weddings? And what kind of 'family' does this poisonous stick insect speak of? Not the inclusive "traditional family", I'm sure. His is a nasty Christian reconstruction. A sort of neo-family invented by militants to further a political agenda and attack gays. For the umpteenth time readers were awash with 'Geraldine's' propaganda, defending inequality, presenting gays as 'outsiders' and labelling our needs as less important to everyone else's. "A parliament which was supposed to busy itself with improving health, education and other vital services, in close partnership with the Scottish people, has become totally obsessed with a politically correct crusade to alter the moral map of Scotland beyond recognition". Obsession? With gay sex? You'd know all about that, 'Geraldine'. Patricia Kane's story of lesbian couple Sheena Kessack (18) and Andrea Davies (26) was just the sort of homophobia we come to expect in the Scottish Daily Mail. They had a "passionate, lesbian affair which would eventually blight not only their lives but also those of their families and an innocent child". Baby Reece - by all accounts extremely lucky to have two women who cared so deeply for him - was central to Ms Kane's theme in allowing prejudice to overcome reason. "For Andrea, a short-haired, sharp-featured lesbian who dressed in a manly way and preferred to be called Andy, it was a dream come true. She knew she would never have children of her own and this was the ideal chance to play the 'father figure' and share with her girlfriend the experiences of pregnancy, childbirth and parenthood". In fact, "manly" Andy stayed at home and looked after baby Reece while Sheena worked. Of course, it slowly dawned on Sheena that she had made a "dreadful mistake" about her sexuality while Ms Kane gratefully scored down her words of regret and repentance. (Bisexuality never entered the equation). Sheena told the Mail: "I kept thinking of the life I was leading and the effect it was going to have on him as he was growing up. I wasn't really happy. I knew it was wrong and I didn't want him to be hurt because of that. Children can be very cruel and I never wanted him to be laughed at because his mother was living with another woman". In other words, preferring baby Reece to side with those who thought it was OK to make fun of kids who had lesbian mums. Andy grew much attached to baby Reece, caring enough about him to fight for the right to see him when the couple finally split. "...And to everyone's astonishment", including Andy's, but particularly the Daily Mail's, she was granted legal aid to fight for the right to see Reece. "It's perhaps astonishing to some that the situation was ever allowed to go so far..." the Mail opined, "...after running up a legal bill of hundreds of thousands of pounds (of which Andrea will only have to apply GBP300 and Sheena GBP1,200)". The Church of Scotland warned how "it could open the floodgates" for similar claims. Andy fought on, but the Scottish Daily Mail scorned: "While Andrea lapped up the attention in the following months, a horrified Sheena became a shrinking violet..." Andy eventually gave up the fight. Not just, because she wanted to move on, but because after two years, she felt Reece, quite simply, might not remember her anymore. Far from being what the Mail described as "the real victim", Reece was a lucky baby to have someone prepared to fight so hard to see him, and what on earth is wrong with that? It was a "Porn king... Porn merchant... Porn magnate... Peddler of Porn...", even a "Porn magnet" in one case, who had just bought Express Newspapers! "...And added the prestigious titles from a golden age of newspapers to the same stable as Asian Babes, Nude Wives, Big Ones and Women On Top" gasped Jim McBeth in The Scotsman. Oh, how we all laughed! Too mean-spirited for a toast or a word of congratulations, the Scottish media went into shock. Apart from owning gay magazine Attitude, Northern & Shell is also a company "that peddles female nudity..." Richard Desmond had just bought the paper that brought the public stories of the Profumo scandal and became Scotland's top-selling newspaper in the 60s, the Scottish Daily Express. The Scottish Daily Star was also included in the bundle. Over the future of the Express, speculation is rife. It would be nice to see the Scottish Daily Express as Scotland's first truly liberal paper, particularly in the area of sexual politics. There was a general gnawing of teeth over the idea that in seeking out new talent, the showbiz sections were ransacked. I couldn't think of a better editor of the Scottish Daily Express than deputy showbiz editor, Simon Edge who made Boyz such a national hit when he was editor! Let's do what the present incumbent, Kerry Gill, with a legacy of lost opportunities behind him, couldn't do: GET REALLY LIBERAL AND START SELLING PAPERS! Such speculation over a new editor had Jim McBeth picking the editors responsible for Scotland's most sexually conservative newspapers as likely contenders: "Names on offer are Rebecca Hardy, the current editor of The Scotsman, and the former Scottish Daily Mail double act of Martin Clarke and Ramsay Smith as editor and deputy". Hold on! They want editors not church caretakers! The Daily Record has been saturated with sex scandals involving men. On just one day, there were allegations against Jonathan King, responsible for such plastic 45s as 'Everyone's Gone to the Moon' and 'I Don't Want to be Gay'. There was a court case involving another alleged 'pėdophile ring' in a small Ayrshire village. And, in a front-page exclusive, there was the: "SCANDAL OF GAY PORN PRIEST". This was nothing less than torching the Catholic Church in Scotland. But the Record ought to have given some thought to its own hypocrisy before capitalising on a "depraved and sickening story that will shock Scotland". Father Jim Nicol downloaded gay erotica and posted one of himself having sex. The Record attacked the Church for reacting with "blind complacency" and failing "to take obvious measures to protect their flock", although quite what measures and what exactly anyone needed to be protected from, I'm a trifle unsure. This tabloid condemns a man for pursuing unconventional methods of meeting guys, yet, at the same time, discriminates against lesbians, gays, bisexuals and people of transgender from legitimately advertising for partners in its own list of personal ads. "WHY IS PERVERT STILL A PRIEST?" The tabloid begged before trumpeting: "THANK GOD HE'S GONE!" the next day, after Nicol resigned. Cardinal Winning, who had vowed he would set up a 'shop-a-priest' hotline, had apparently failed to contact police when he learned of Nicol's activities. A religious clinic in the States and a special unit in Glasgow both had their hands outstretched to 'help' 46-year-old Jim Nicol in his hour of need. One of the Church's appointed 'counsellors', Alan Draper, was the first to contact the police, believing Nicol was "sexually out of control" and "got police in on the case, fearing some of the men in the pictures might be under age". The material was probably no more shocking than what most gay men or Linda Watson-Brown would download off the Internet, but a pic uploaded of Jim Nicol having sex and wearing a kilt had the Record fidgeting nervously: "...Other material found on the machine was too sordid to be described here". The Record was back in finger-wagging mode: "...Father Nicol's behaviour is beyond contempt... Sordid and sickening... Shamelessly... Habitually carrying out lewd and indecent sex acts with young men". But as hard as the tabloid tried to imply otherwise, the sex was both consensual and performed with young men of a legal age, so what is the problem? The fact he was a Catholic priest? If that's the case, it is hypocrisy and double standards we should be condemning, not sex. The Scottish Daily Express did a lengthy story on multi-millionaire impresario, Cameron Mackintosh's return to see the charred ruin of Torran Albannach, his beloved Scottish home where "Sir Cameron wept openly". The Express made an overly discreet mention of an arson attack, speculated to have been "fuelled by a poster campaign". This was explained more readily in the Scottish Mail on Sunday who was not so faint-hearted about the homophobic posters that appeared shortly before the fire. Five years ago, I noted Cameron Mackintosh's words in the Scottish Media Monitor. He told the Scottish Daily Mail: "Why does one owe it to the gay population to come out? It's nobody's business but mine. And I certainly resent the suggestion that I am any kind of gay rights campaigner. I am the exact opposite. I just want to be as integrated as any human being". If any good comes of this terrible incident I hope it is that Cameron Macintosh learns some humility and finds it within himself to be a wee bit more generous of those who do! Cameron Mackintosh can afford to be smug. He is a multi-millionaire with a long-standing boyfriend and enough money to rebuild his home several times over. garryotton@bigfoot.com A new book by Garry Otton is under preparation. http://www.scottishmediamonitor.com/ (c) Garry Otton 2000 CUT IT OUT! * Linda Watson-Brown on the Daily Record's report on under-age girls working the streets. It "doesn't justify pages of manipulative soft-porn masquerading as social commentary". * Ex-Record editor, Martin Clarke's infertile imagination in the Scottish Daily Mail sees "bossy barmaid, Wacky Wendy (Alexander)" and "Sloppy Susan, (Deacon) the local sexual health outreach worker..." hopelessly begging: "Can I interest you in some free condoms and a guide to gay Edinburgh...? Homophobe. Take a couple home for the weans then..." Oh, dear! Was that supposed to be funny? * Martin Clarke, in The Scotsman: "Some women are apparently discouraged from breast-feeding by their partner's jealousy at baby hogging the teat. I don't see why, most women have two, don't they?" Eeeuw! Does the idea of Catholic wife, Veronica, breast-feeding Martin Clarke have the 'access denied' message popping up in your brain? * Iain Hector Ross in the Scottish Daily Express on the police's "balanced approach" at the North Kessock gay cruising area also popular for watching dolphins in the Moray Firth. "The police have apparently taken to plain-clothes, undercover observation of the site, disguising themselves on alternate shifts as either Black Isle farmers or dolphins-loving environmentalists, just to be fair to both sides". * Ephraim Hardcastle in the Scottish Daily Mail on Elton John's boyf, David Furnish: The "Boy David", his "personable consort". * 'Geraldine' Warner in Scotland on Sunday on the Democrat's election campaign: "...The protagonists of sodomy and infanticides now posture as crusaders". * The Scotsman's Craig McLean on London club, GAY. "...This sticky, few hundred-capacity sweatpit in the rubbish middle of London. All Saints turned out for GAY's braying mixed crowd". * "Let's cover up, girls", invites Tom 'Brigadier' Brown in the Daily Record. "...Burning... semmits and Liberty bodices is going to far... I, for one, don't embrace this new trend". * Jimmy Reid in The Herald: "Trying to escape from this surfeit of sex..." Surfeit? Where? "My gripe is that sex has been blown out of all proportion by today's media". Oh, I'll say! --------------------------------------------------------------------- FILMS ===== Malcom Epstein For several years American audiences have filled cinemas to see girls being slashed with razors and screens full of blood. It cost film companies very little to make Scream with unknown casts grateful to work plus the two sequels which made hundreds of millions profit and there were many imitations. Now American youth seems obsessed to watch someone being humiliated on screen. This year ,Loser had a high school student treated like dirt by bullies at his college. As it is not my idea of entertainment I walked out in the middle of it. Now we have Meet the Parents (12) which has been the top box office movie of the month in the States. Ben Stiller is told by his fiancee, Teri Polo, it will please her father, Robert de Niro, if he formally asks for her hand in marriage before they announce their engagement. Spending a few days at the country family house is called for. Every form of disaster you can imagine happens to Ben. Mr de Niro is a retired FBI employee who insists on giving him a lie detector test. His job as a male nurse is compared with the lifestyle of Teri's previous boyfriend who is a doctor and lives nearby on his luxury estate. When I manage to develop my sadistic tendencies I will get great enjoyment watching someone put through many embarrassing experiences that I don't choose to relate here. American audiences loved it. You might too! Bounce is my type of movie and if you like Gwyneth Paltrow and the delicious Ben Affleck it is quite a treat. Ben is an arrogant, sexually irresistible to many, advertising executive delayed in terrible weather at an airport. Yet another lady traveller finds it essential to spend the night with him at a local hotel so he offers his seat on the last plane leaving to a guy desperate to return to his wife and children. The plane crashes killing all aboard. Ben changes personality realizing if he had died he wouldn't be missed by many, but that he had shattered the lives of a family be giving up that ticket. Without telling her the story he finds a way of coming into the life of the wife - Miss Paltrow - and doing her and her children a lot of good. I cried through much of this. Mr Affleck doesn't have the sensitivity needed to do this kind of part justice. But his considerable sex appeal gets him by. All contact with reality as we know it has to be suspended to appreciate The Sixth Day. We are in a universe free of incurable diseases, world hunger has been eradicated and when your pet dies it can be immediately cloned to avoid family distress. Charter pilot Arnold Schwarzenegger is unfortunate enough to be booked by billionaire businessman Tony Goldwyn who secretly runs a laboratory making human clones. In plot twists too involved to detail Arnold comes home to his wife and daughter to find a clone of himself on the premises. How he copes makes one of the most incredible action movies of our time. And the villain of the piece, Mr Goldwyn, is an extremely pleasing sight. In "Bounce" he has a much smaller part as the husband who dies in the plane crash. He deserves nothing but leads in future. Family Man has a plotline even harder to swallow. To pursue his career as an investment banker his company sends Nicholas Cage to London for a year leaving his fiancee, Tea Leoni, sobbing at the airport. How they lose contact is never explained. Thirteen years later he is single, an executive of his company and living in a luxury skyscraper apartment. One snowy Christmas Eve when he is in a grocery store he finds himself in the middle of a hold-up and disarms the gunman. The script writer ran out of ideas in explaining how the gunman manages to change time. Instead of waking up in his penthouse Nicholas is in a suburban house, married to the lady of the past with two kids. Rushing back to his home and office block he finds that his previous life no longer exists. Cast Away is an interesting curiosity that it pays to have patience with, although it was not a good idea to have Tom Hanks unattractively overweight for two thirds of the film. His plane crashes in the Pacific and a twenty minute cut about his suffering on a tropical island would have helped. However, director Robert Zemeckis made the film in two sections a year apart and did another movie in the interim. Mr Hanks took off a few stone in weight and in the last section of the film he is at his slimmed down magnificent best. Because of enormous film budgets and tight shooting schedules, directors never do that. The Zemeckis style is memorable. State and Main (15) is a comedy written and directed by revered American playwright David Mamet about a film production company trying to shoot a movie in a small town and the troubles involved. It is worth tracking down to see a character actor who plays the nervous script writer, Philip Seymour Hoffman, who is far more impressive as a transvestite in Flawless - covered in out Current Releases section. If there is not enough high drama in your life your must consider Bless the Child (15) in which Kim Basinger is really made to suffer. Her drug addicted sister, Jenna, turns up with her newly born daughter, Cody, and disappears leaving the child with her. Six years later Jenna re-enters her life with a mysterious new husband, Rufus Sewell, and they abduct Cody. FBI agent Jimmy Smits is investigating ritual homicide and occult related crime. He tells Kim that Cody shares the same birth date of several other recently missing children. The little girl is in such demand because it is known she manifests extraordinary powers that forces of evil know they must control. It is for those of us who remember with reverence that classic of the past Rosemary's Baby. Current Releases Gay audiences will find Flawless (15) fascinating viewing even though writer and director Joel Schumacher chooses to bring unnecessary violence into the ploy. Homophobe former security guard Robert de Niro lives in a humble rooming house where a transvestite on the floor above, Philip Seymour Hoffman, annoys him with giving parties full of screaming queens. Robert rushes to the aid of an upstairs hooker in a money dispute with her pimp leading to gunfire. He suffers a stroke and can scarcely articulate a word. His physiotherapist tells him a singing teacher is the best solution to help him talk again and there happens to be the best teacher in town living above him - the transvestite. It is fire and water when they meet, but they eventually get on as the TV needs cash to save for a sex change and de Niro realizes he will be cut off from life forever unless he regains speech. Goodness knows why he agreed to play the part as you can't understand him most of the time. Mr Hoffman walks away with the movie and deserves an Oscar for his performance. State and Main doesn't open till February. See both to realize while watching him play a nervous straight writer in it he is one of the most brilliant actors in the world today. Writer/director Sally Potter completed a mammoth task with The Man who Cried (12) that begins in a Russian village in 1927 where a child, Christina Ricci, escapes Jewish persecution by getting to England. Brought up in Christian foster home she studies dance and ten years later is a chorus girl in Paris befriended by an older Russian dancer, Cate Blanchett, and desired by a gypsy, Johnny Depp. Christina's obsession is getting to America before the German army marches into Paris as her father crossed the Atlantic from Russia when she was a child. Incredible attention to detail marks Sally Potter as a director to watch. The enchanting Sophie Marceau is a photographer in the French Fidelity (15) employed by a nude magazine publisher to raise the profile of his publications. Written for Sophie and directed by Andrzej Zulawski (they have been a couple for 15 years) it is simply a story to show her understandably desired by many and her spectacular shape undressing. If stunning women are your scene Miss Marceau is essential to your life. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Books ===== by Andy Martin Circa 2000 Gay Fiction At The Millennium Edited by Robert Drake and Terry Wolverton Alyson Books GBP9.99 Great writing for the new millennium. Some of these stories are short and sweet, some short and bitter and some just short, some are science fiction and some are novel excerpts. I like them anyway and think that you should give shelf space to this book. Best Of Miami Heatwave Ron Williams Post Card Book Bruno Gmunder GBP5.95 Bel Ami Best Of Johan Paulik Post Card Book Bruno Gmunder GBP5.95 Miami heatwave pics are okay but the guys look to me like they spent lots of time improving bodies and forgot about the brains. Most probably there will be guys who will love this and I must admit they do look ok, but not for me. Photography is excellent and quite stunning. Johan Paulik's Bel Ami contains some beautiful models. One of my fantasies is to snort a line of cocaine off an erect penis. And I would love to try that with the model on the cover of this collection of postcards. Yes I know I'm weird. Hope you have a white Christmas HO! HO! HO!. Clone The Life and Legacy of Al Parker, Gay Superstar. Roger Edmonson Alyson Books GBP9.99 The world has lost an amazing amount of wonderfully wacky weird and incredibly talented people to AIDS. Some of them we will miss like they were our own because they entered your life and changed it somehow, people like Freddie Mercury who blasted into your head when you were young with the music and that look that you thought was Freddie's, but now I find out that the Clone look comes from Al Parker. It is said that Drew (Al Parker) thought that he himself had a weak chin so grew the beard and the look went from there. There is a brilliant spooky bit in the book. It is a great read. Hung like a horse and with a moustache and his weak chin disguise beard he went on to be at the top of the gay elite, here was a person that started the whole clone scene. Where he led people followed. I myself when still a lad was shown one or two of Al Parker's films and was strangely moved (normally in the direction of a bathroom). He was a legend in his own lunchbox. He was movie star, director, porn supremo and all round Gay Superstar. The original has gone. Only the clones are left. Gay Times Book of Short Stories Edited by P P Hartnett Gay Times Books GBP9.95 Great collection of short stories. Powerful searing searching. Nice cover sorry but I really do like the cover). As I approach my 39th year I find that I am asking strange questions of myself and wondering why can't I stay up all night playing computer games anymore and why do I always feel like shit for two or three days after a party when at one time I could go from party to party with no sleep and still feel good. Erm!! All right, maybe not that good but I recovered quicker. Some of these tales are like that, a searching for lost things, a wanting to belong, for things we might never had or wanted but now wished we had good memories of, a changing of values of facing realities and through it all a sense of fun and a wry smile. Tainted Life The Autobiography Marc Almond Pan GBP8.99 Sorry Marc and sorry Pan but I am still reading its mammoth 448 pages. Had to mention this one though as I find it quite a rollercoaster ride. Well written. by Dirk Kriete It's Not Mean If It's True Michael Thomas Ford Alyson Books GBP8.99 This being the follow up to the brilliant book "That's Mr Faggot to You" I was spellbound from the first to the last page. I can't praise this book like it's predecessor too highly, it's got wit, it's got charm, it's hilarious and it's got dark corners only lit by the power of your imagination. When I was a young lad I was always a little at a loss as what word to use to describe myself and my sexuality. By now I don't give a shit any longer but there is an excellent excerpt from this book I'd like to share with you. It follows a letter the author had received from a reader telling him that he should give up his continual use of the word "Queer". "I understand his feelings, but I like queer. I like it precisely because it means "strange and unusual", and also because it implies that the person being referred to in some way causes others to be just the tiniest bit nervous. Things that are queer make people question their perceptions and reevaluate what their definitions of things are. Come across something queer and your worldview is altered, if only for a moment." So lets rejoice in being just that, that little bit strange and that little bit unusual, lets have the guts not to comply with the norm and to be the (although silent) envy of our hetero cousins. Note to MTF: I shall expect a Xmas Card this year... :-) Surfer Sex & WADS Short Stories by Assorted Writers Leyland Publications GBP8.99 & GBP10.99 respectively I'm not a great proponent of the one handed read and these books did not change my mind one bit. True enough you can't help being stimulated, but really I can't see the point. I'd rather be stimulated with an activity where I can use both my hands if you know what I mean... To be perfectly honest these two books gave me the feeling that they were written purely to exploit the pink Pound (or Dollar, or Euro...). Good luck to the authors and 5 out of 10 for enterprise but definitely only 1 out of 10 for literary expertise. Damron Road Atlas 8th Edition/Damron Accomodations Edited by Damron Damron GBP12.99 & 13.99 respectively Do you plan a holiday in Europe or North America? Do you plan to take in all the gay scene over there? Do you plan to spent your hard earned Pink Pounds at Hotels and Guesthouses run by fellow queers? Go out and get these two excellent books. Don't leave home without them. And if you don't, well you can dream... Brilliant roadmaps so you won't get lost, easy to follow coding throughout the books, resources in any town that might come handy, a smidgin of adverts and some gorgious colour photography of the places you might like to stay at. Money well spent. by Feorag NicBhride Journal of Bisexuality Edited by Fritz Klein Harrington Park Press $36.00 (US) I admit it, I expected a meaningful, serious tome full of worthy pronouncements which made sexuality seem, well, boring. I mean, you can find words like "identities", "visibility" and "therapy" in here. But dipping into the articles, I quickly realised that the appearance of a dry, academic journal full of sociowank was deceptive. For example,Lawrence and Queen's "Bisexuals help set the standards for safer sex" actually turned out to be an interesting history of