14/05/16: One of our favourite places to go is Ku Bar for its vibrant atmosphere, sexy as hell bar staff, the gracious owner Gary and the bar’s effervescent and fabulous host, Nieko.

Of course, this time round it was Eurovision night, so take everything I’ve just said and times it by ten! The place was heaving, flags adorned not only the bar but also the bar staff’s firm chests. We couldn’t keep our eyes off of the ‘flags’.

It wasn’t only the main floor that was buzzing, upstairs is one of KU Groups other venues the Light Lounge. Though more relaxed in its plush decor and serving some of the best cocktails in the west end, you could still taste Eurovision in the air.

After sampling a couple of cocktails, we noticed a crowd of people coming in and out of the Klub entrance, so we headed off to see if the Eurovision vibe had taken hold of the entire building. It had. How could it not with the ‘lady’ of house, Lady Lloyd, holding court in the Klub?

A massive screen played the contest to a gleeful crowd, and though it’s not the first time Graham Norton’s voice has been heard down there, people were loving it all the same. We can’t remember the rest of the night after that. Blame Lloyd. It’s always her fault.

[Show as slideshow]

30 Lisle Street WC2H 7BA

Words and Photos by Joel Ryder

I got myself into a bit of a kerfuffle last week when everyone got obsessed with Madonna’s tits and bum ‘bad taste’ party look at the Met Ball. Since when have we been worried about bad taste I ask you. I’m from the school of John Waters (film maker of films starring Divine etc in case you don’t know) bad taste theories… blimey, words like ‘desperate’ popped up on my timeline about the subject, but really shouldn’t we all be allowed to wear whatever we like, wherever we like? 

Every Friday and Saturday night at Savage down at the Metropolis strip club on Cambridge Heath Road, they positively encourage the most glamourous ‘bad taste’ looks all in the name of having FUN! If you haven’t been yet get down there, wear what you like and catch up with DJ’s Jonjo Jury etc.

If you like a bit of live music then may I suggest you make your way down to a Rough Trade in store evening gig. They do them all the time and it’s a great way to keep abreast of new bands and music coming up. On Friday 20th May at 7pm Kate Jackson & The Wrong Moves unveils her debut solo album British Road Movies. Kate was the lead singer with The Long Blondes btw.

Clubbers, I haven’t forgotten you… Shake Yer Dix up at the Dalston Superstore is back on Friday 20th May. Jamie ‘HomoElectric’ Bull heads up the electro-disco-beats with DJs Michael Kelly, Ronika, Tom of Swindon and Ruby Waters. 10-3am! Then on Saturday 21st Meat East return to DSS for the first of two summer sessions… DJ’s Nic Fischer and Dan Beaumont in the basement and the ‘meat’ boys themselves DJ upstairs with special guest Jonathan Henfrey.

Maybe Baby at The Glory can only mean one thing…it’s show time! On Saturday 21st at 7pm grab a seat and witness a ‘whirlwind show’ with Shay Shay, Lasana Shabazz, Robyn Withawhy and Joan Oh! More entertainment at The Glory who are ceaselessly putting on all sorts – Dis Place is an interactive play about the big question of immigration, taking place in The Glory’s basement theatre space, final two nights on Monday 23rd and Tuesday 24th May. theglory.co

New book alert! The Rise The Fall And The Rise by Brix Smith Start is a hefty tome charting the life of post-punk chic Brix and her fascinating life growing up in Hollywood and then becoming part of cult band The Fall in the 80’s. She’s gone on to be part of London’s fashion scene and most recently has picked up her trusty guitar and formed her own band Brix & The Extricated. Gripping read!

You may know bubbly scenester Mitch Marion from his many, many hosting jobs around gay London. But what you may not know is that he’s also a filmmaker! With his film G O’Clock now officially being distributed by Peccadillo, we took a look at the process of making it over the last 1.5 years.

10/01/2015 

Fuck it. It’s my last year of uni and it’s time to pitch for our final projects. 40 people are pitching and only 10 dramas will get chosen but I’m going to pitch a film about chemsex. I’m probably partying too much and maybe if I express my fears creatively I’ll be able to conquer them. Plus, no one has shown how gay men are really partying in London on screen yet so if I move fast I could be the first drama out the gate, which would help me get into festivals. I have this idea about a paramedic who also takes drugs and goes to chillouts, there’s an inherent paradox there that I think could work…

03/02/2015

So the moment my pitch got chosen the pressure of actually writing a film about an LGBT socio-political topic nearly broke me. How the fuck am I actually going to do this? The gays are gonna rip me to shreds! My first attempt was terrible. Just a story of a paramedic who lets the chillout scene destroy him. We’ve all seen that film. Boring. But also I don’t want to demonise drugs like that. I do think, that when educated on safe usage, people can incorporate partying into a healthy and balanced lifestyle. It’s just easier said than done. That’s what I want to make the film about. Drugs are fun! And sex on drugs can be even more fun! But know your limits. Experimenting with any drug is always going to be dangerous.

31/03/2015

Holy shit, what a shoot! There was literally a cyclone while we shot in Burgess Park, two ambulances broke down, there were porn stars making out with my friends and somehow we managed to shoot everything on schedule and run that set tighter than RuPaul’s tuck! BAM! I think we might have made something that’s really going to work!

Graduation day! G O’Clock has earned me a First Class Distinction and I couldn’t be happier. The edit came together so well and the music we are using is just perfect, I hope we get the rights! The artist in question is still being elusive but I have a good feeling. Casting Leon Lopez has proven to be a blessing too; he doesn’t just give an amazing performance, he’s connected me with Peccadillo Pictures who distributed his feature film Soft Lad. They might be keen to distribute G O’Clock as part of Boys On Film 14. Imagine!

26/01/2016 

We’ve been officially selected to screen at the BFI Flare Film Festival! It’s been a long 6 months of sweat and tears. We didn’t get the rights to the music we used in the montage sequence so we had to completely re-edit. Getting studio time and the team back together was tough but we finally did it and the new beat, “Look At Me” by DSPC, is sick. When I was making the film, my dream was to get into BFI Flare. To have reached that goal feels indescribable.

24/04/2016

I’m in Miami, bitch! G O’Clock was screened today before the documentary Chemsex at the MiFo Film Festival, and during the post-screening Q&A someone tried to make the argument that PrEP only encourages gay men into a life of chemsex. I find this line of thinking incredibly dangerous. We have a real opportunity here to halt the spread of HIV in our community and you’re making that argument? I don’t think anyone would ever think “Oh, I’m on PrEP now so let’s try crystal meth! Why not?” Take several seats.

10/05/2016

I just dropped off the contract for G O’Clock to be distributed by Peccadillo Pictures. We’re going to be on the Boys On Film 15 Compilation as well as touring screens around the UK in their film festival PoutFest. I can’t believe how well received this little film has been.  Working on the film, as well as talking on numerous chemsex panels and open Q&A’s, has really helped me gain control of my party habits so I want to spread that feeling as far as I can. If you feel like the party is getting too much, or that you aren’t making the best decisions while high, then don’t be afraid to ask for help. Or channel your energy into something creative… it worked for me!

• G’OCLOCK is part of BOYS ON FILM 15 TIME & TIED and will be touring as part of POUTfest 2016 with the DVD release in August. 

Heels of Glory is an all-original show that brings various aspects of the cabaret community together for one big action packed drag musical, with names such as Topsie Redfern, Kiki Lovechild, Sarah Louise Young and many more involved. After years in the pipeline, the show is finally set to go ahead at the upcoming London Pride Festival. Jason Reid spoke to writer Tricity Vogue, and Topsie to get the lowdown. 

Hey Tricity, tell us the brief premise of Heels of Glory. 

Drag is a metaphor for lots of other things – finding your identity, being who you are and overcoming the forces trying to control you.

Heel’s of Glory is a coming-of-age story. Its heroes come from the LGBT+ world, but the show has universal themes of acceptance, courage and identity, underneath all the larking about. It’s very funny as well. How could it not be, with that cast?

I could give them a parking ticket to read aloud and it’d still be funny. And it’s not too rude, so it’s got a 16+ age limit, which means a whole new audience of baby drag queens can be welcomed into the fold.

Where did the idea/inspiration come from? 

When I first created the cabaret persona of Tricity Vogue, I worked with a very talented and larger-than-life dress designer called Stephane St Jaymes, AKA Hollywood, who had a former life as a drag queen.

Stephane created my debut gown, and when I’d go over to his place for a fitting, he’d tell me the stories he and his drag queen friend Darcy liked to make up together about a pair of drag queens on the run, who used their drag accoutrements to make their escape; they could descend buildings by a rope concealed inside their wigs, and when they jumped through a pane of glass, they’d always leave a stylishly posed silhouette behind.

Richard Link was my singing teacher back in 2007, and one lesson I told him about Stephane’s fantasy drag spies. “That would make an amazing musical,” Richard said. “Ask Stephane what the rest of the story is, and whether he’ll let us use it.”

Stephane said there was no more story than that – they didn’t have a story, just a series of really fabulous scenes in their heads – and he said we were welcome to do what we wanted with the idea.

He came to watch our first rehearsed reading of the show in April 2012, and gave us his blessing. He said what we’d done was nothing like his old stories with Darcy, but he loved it.

There’s a real mix of performers in the show, from all genres of cabaret. Was it intentionally cast that way? 

The mix of cabaret genres in the show has happened organically over the years, because Richard and I were both working in cabaret, so we got our cabaret friends and colleagues on board to help us out from the start.

It seemed to work, unleashing cabaret performers on a scripted story and letting them play fast and loose with the material, so we ran with it. We’ve now got cabaret, drag, musical theatre, comedy, burlesque and clowning all playing together.

As for the storyline, there’s a lot of mixing it up there too. That must be fun to play around with? 

The ideas always been about mixing it up from the start, and the fun that offers up – what if drag queens were secret agents? It’s the incongruity of the two things that makes it fun.

Finally, why should people totter along to see Heels of Glory? 

I talked this question over with Richard this evening while we were working on a new song for our villainess, Allura Supreme (played to the hilt by Sarah-Louise Young). He said, “It’s funny and touching.

It’s a laugh but it also speaks about the human condition. It has so much heart.” It also has great songs – glorious, full-fat singalong tunes, tongue-in-cheek naughty numbers, big ballads, and an all-singing, all-dancing finale.

It sends up all the action adventure clichés, but instead of violence and guns, there’s all the attitude, cheekiness and sauce of drag. It’s a comic book world come alive – a glamorous, larger-than-life world of goodies and baddies and sequins.

TOPSIE REDFERN 

“When I first started on the cabaret circuit circuit, Tricity, one of the writers, asked me to audition for a development workshop of the show. I was lucky enough to be able join the team at that point and the rest is herstory.

I’m a total show girl at heart. My training and professional background is in Musical Theatre. This production is extra special because the writers and performers are all top notch cabaret artists.

My character is Splendorella – the most fabulous Drag Queen in the world. Gotta be typecasting, no?!  Honey – a young drag wannabe – ends up onstage at the drag club ‘La Douche’ with Splendorella. Honey gets dragged (excuse the pun) into Splendorella’s dark world of addiction and dependency, a world where malevolent forces are working to annihilate every single Drag Queen in the world. No spoilers. Come and watch the show!”

• Heels of Glory runs at the Chelsea Theatre from 9-26th June

Just from the EVENT TITLE there’s already multiple double entrendres. Well actually, Shake Yer Dix isn’t really a double entendre, it’s just…y’know…an entendre. 

It’s two of our fave fag nights returning to one of our fave gay venues! Yes, Dalston Superstore is a paradise, a paragon. It’s like Alan Cumming’s living room, but what the fuck would you know, you’ve never been to Alan Cumming’s living room. We have, and it’s like Dalston Superstore.

On Friday 20th you get Shake Yer Dix, which is super cute and super sexy. One of their DJs is pop starlet Ronika, who’s like Madonna but thirty years younger and with cheaper sunglasses.

We LOOOVE Ronika, she makes gorgeous shoe-gazy surf pop, and when she’s not doing that, she DJs at Shake Yer Dix! It’s all stuff like Peaches and Charli XCX. Yer got yer Peaches. Yer got yer Charli XCX. All yer fuckin faves.

Then on Saturday 21st it’s meat East. Another maaaajjje club night. It’s the brainchild of meat magazine (lowercase, dontchano), who are all about hairy, alternative-looking men with their cocks out. Sounds like a Wednesday afternoon at the QX office!

Anyway they do club nights every so often, with DJs The Meat Boys, who play masc electropop! Wait, is “masc electropop” a contradiction in terms? Probs. Oh well. THIS ISN’T THE FUCKING GUARDIAN.

So yeah, get down to Shake Yer Dix and meat East at Dalston Superstore. It’s only five quid entry too. Bargain! That’s less than a packet of cigs! Less than a packet of crisps if you’re in Hampstead! Get. Down. There.

• Shake Yer Dix is on Friday 20th May, 10pm-3am. Meat is on Saturday 21st May, 10pm-3am. £5 entry. Dalston Superstore, 117 Kingsland High Street, E8 2PB.

Next week it’s ANOTHER Bank Holiday! Yes, another one! Aren’t we lucky! But it is not to be spent under a duvet watching reruns of Come Dine With Me. If you do that, we’re confiscating your gay card. 

No, it’s yet another opportunity to get out and PARTY. Party, party, party! And Orange Nation’s notorious club night Matinee provides the perfect means to do so. They’ve got two massive events on Bank Holiday Sunday: A daytime terraces party at Ministry from midday, which will be gorgeously debauched if the weather holds up. Then it’s over to the cavernous, labyrinthine Coronet Theatre in Elephant & Caste, for fetish erotica fun at Matinee Pervert.

It’s gonna be a right blast! So, in true QX style, we’ve decided to prepare you with a survival guide! It’s basically all the ESSENTIALS you’ll need for a bank holiday circuit party bash! And we’ve divided it into Day/Night sections so you know what to use at which party. Hooray! Rip this page out and stuff it down your pants.

DAY

Kunty aviator shades

So you can walk around and pout and be kunty to people in the smoking area. FEELIN’ LIKE PUSSY FEELIN’ LIKE KUNT.

A banana

Can be used to replenish electrolytes and demonstrate how good you are at fellatio.

A bandana

Similar to a banana, but with a “d”. Also, it goes on your head. Bandanas are BACK IN this summer, and it’s great for if your hair gets ruined by too much dancing or an errant vodka coke.

A portable charger

Facebook! Instagram! Twitter! Grindr! Scruff! 4% battery! SCREEEAAAAMMMM! Oh wait, you have a portable charger! Hooray!

A pair of denim cut-offs

We shouldn’t even have to tell you this, it’s obvious summer bank holiday gay clubbing fare. They have to be a bit frayed for extra sluttiness.

A pair of Speedos

In case the denim cut-offs aren’t slutty enough.

NIGHT

A glowstick

For when you’re feeling your Queer As Folk fantasy at 5am.

A WKD

WKD’s give you energy and don’t get you too pissed, great for stamina!

A metallic gold bumbag

For all your clubbing bits! It HAS to be metallic gold, otherwise you might as well not have one.

A harness

You can’t go wrong with a harness! Well, unless you put it on wrong. Get a drag queen to help you put it on, they’re good with straps. And then dance the night away!

• The Matinee Daytime Terrace Party is on Sunday 29th May from midday, at Ministry of Sound, 103 Gaunt Street, SE1 6DP. Tickets £11.

Matinee Pervert is on Sunday 29th May from 9pm – 7am at the Coronet Theatre, 28 New Kent Road, SE1 6TJ. £11 tickets.

Joint ticket available for £16.50. For more tickets and info go to orangenation.com

Are you Latino? Gay? Trans? Latino Seguro is an innovative new HIV prevention programme created and run by Latin Americans, for Latin Americans right here in London. The group was created for MSM (men who have sex with men) from the Spanish and Portuguese speaking Latino communities in London. We spoke to METRO’s Tony Furlong to find out more.

Hi Tony, so how did Latino Seguro start? 

About a year ago we had a meeting about the possibility of doing something innovative around HIV prevention. We wanted to do something ground-breaking, timely and targeted at a community lacking sufficient support. It was important too that the project was bottom-up and rooted in the community it supports. Since I had lived, worked and volunteered in Brazil and researched gender and sexuality in Latin America, I was aware of some of the cultural issues that drive HIV transmission with this group. This, combined with my experience doing outreach work in the bars, clubs, saunas and at events in south London, where there is a huge Latin American community, made the lack of Latino specific support in London seem surprising at best, and at worst, alarming. We decided that a community-based Latino HIV prevention programme was crucial and planned a programme based on our experience providing effective HIV prevention here at METRO.

How did you become involved?

In 2008-2009 I was completing my PhD research in Brazil looking at tolerance, gender and sexuality. As part of this work I volunteered for two great HIV and LGBT organisations based in Rio de Janeiro – ABIA and Arco-Iris, and completed over 80 in-depth interviews with gay, bisexual and trans men. This gave me a good grounding by helping me understand some of the cultural specific factors that increase risk. When I came back to the UK and continued working in HIV prevention for METRO on a peer-mentoring, and then a research project, which allowed me to get to grips with the specific benefits and challenges to doing this sort of work in London One thing that was striking was the limited support for gay and bisexual Latinos in the capital. It almost felt selfish not to apply my work experience, research and language skills to working on the project.

How long has it been running?

We started running workshops in March this year, but of course there was a lot of background work that had to be done before we got to that stage. Most importantly, we recruited a team of 9 amazing volunteers who have helped put together effective workshops, which they now facilitate in Spanish and Portuguese. We also had to promote the programme and this involved lots of visiting LGBT, sexual health and Latino organisations across London, and handing out leaflets and visiting Latino community centres, cafes and shops in key ‘Latin American hubs’, like Seven Sisters El Pueblito Paisa market, Elephant and Castle shopping centre and the LGBT Latino night Exilio. Also, we have just received the green-light to extend the project into 2017!

Why is a project like this necessary in London now?

The London Latin American community has exploded in the last decade – it is estimated to be the same size as the Chinese or Polish communities in the city, incredible when you think about it! It is a new community, since most of the Latino immigrants have recently arrived from Spain, Portugal and Italy. Here they were amongst the worst affected by the severe economic problems over the last few years and they came to the UK looking for work. Other immigrants have come directly from Latin America– where increasing wealth and educational opportunities have meant coming to London is possible in a way it wasn’t for their parents or grandparents.

One attraction of the capital is that it is one of the most tolerant places on the planet in terms of LGBT rights and freedom of expression. The huge LGBT community and gay scene mean the ‘bright lights’ of the city combined with job opportunities have resulted in the city attracting thousands of queer Latinos. Once arriving here immigrants are suddenly in a new city full of partying, sex, drugs and men. This cocktail combined with cultural factors is the driving force behind the HIV epidemic affecting the Latino community in the city.

What are some specific challenges faced by the London LGBT Latin community?

Whilst everyone has their own story, there are cultural factors that increase the risk of HIV transmission. Central to this is the migration component. Push factors, such as discrimination, familismo (family honour and importance), conservative religious friends and relatives, silence of gender and sexuality, lack of gay rights, and pull factors, such as freedom of expression, large gay community and gay scene, the availability of drugs and sex all play a role. In addition, migrating involves the severing of social ties with family or friends and this combined with language barriers, and unfamiliarity with British culture can lead to loneliness or isolation. In turn this can increase risky behaviour. On top of this many LGBT Latinos are coming from places where being LGBT is less socially accepted and many individuals have faced discrimination in key social spheres – at school, at home, at work , at church. This is related to machismo, which, although increasingly challenged, is still the framework to understanding gender and sexuality in the region. On a personal level, low self-esteem can be the result of growing up in a culture where homosexuality (and/or certain expressions of masculinity) is viewed negatively or where your family, church or community don’t accept who you are. A low sense of self-worth can also increase the likelihood of risk-taking behaviour.

For all these reasons HIV rates are much higher amongst LGBT Latin Americans than the general population, but at the same time LGBT Latinos are faced with a lack of community specific HIV prevention approaches. Services in Spanish and Portuguese are few and far between, as are those that allow LGBT Latinos to explore some of the cultural factors behind HIV transmission. That’s where this programme comes in!

Do you feel there are unhelpful stereotypes of the Latin community in London?

Many Latin Americans who come to workshops are frustrated by stereotypes that they are highly sexual and overtly masculine. These stereotypes are particularly damaging for people that don’t feel they fit into these boxes and can perpetuate damage done by having grown up in a machista society where these values are already strongly privileged. Another, related, stereotype, is that Latin Americans are prostitutes. Most Latin Americans aren’t, and negative judgements about prostitution can be extremely detrimental to self-image, and can also force sex-workers to remain closeted about their profession and related issues they might need support for.

What kind of things do you cover in the group workshops?

The programme is made up of five volunteer-led workshops in Spanish and Portuguese. These are interactive, fun and friendly and focus on sexual health and risk taking in a non-judgemental environment. As well as information about HIV/STI transmission, testing we look at the chems scene, immigration to the UK, religion and family, partners and relationships and self-esteem.  The aim is to look at HIV prevention from a holistic perspective, looking at the factors that influence risk-taking and to allow participants to become more self-aware about these. In the summer we are also about to launch HIV support workshops for gay, bisexual and trans Latin Americans that are HIV positive. Again, the focus will be on cultural factors that influence wellbeing.

• The London Latin American community has exploded in the last decade – it is estimated to be the same size as the Chinese or Polish communities in the city

Break out the talcum powder, because it’s that time again! Yes, The Hoist is on the lookout for Mr Hoist Rubber 2016. It’s their 20th year too, so they’ll be pulling out all the stops with two whole arches of utter sleaze to please you.

Proceedings will be presided over by the lovely Larry Latex, who told us; “Mr Hoist Rubber is the hottest rubber contest this side of Chicago. Expect hot rubber sirs, eager latex boys and pups, plus anything in between. It’s gonna rock!”

Hoist head honcho Unkut Kurt added: “This is my favourite party of the year. It’s normally so busy and sexy that I can’t help myself, I usually end up somewhere in the huge wet area doing, well you know…” I think we do know, Kurt, you dirty dog!

“The prizes for the contest this year are bigger and better then ever before! Expectations London, who have by far the best rubber gear selection on the planet, have gone all the way with prizes worth over £500 for the winner alone. Plus, there are prizes for Best Rubber outfit, Best Pup and – my personal favourite – our outrageous piss a pint, get a pint free competition.”

So there you go, get involved! The winner gets the chance to represent the UK in Mister International Rubber in Chicago too, so it’s worth a punt. I mean who can resist the appeal of a Chicago hot dog? Or a hot Chicago pup?

• Mr Hoist Rubber 2016 is on Saturday 21st May at The Hoist (Railway Arch 47c, South Lambeth Road, SW8 1SR). Guests £15/ members £5 before 11pm, £7 after.

Do you know Mikey Pop? If you don’t, you should probably educate yourself. As the name suggests, he’s New York’s hottie King of Pop Culture. He’s a DJ, he’s a one-stop meme shop and most IMPORTANTLY, he’s a bomb-ass t-shirt designer. Have you ever wandered around Topman, looking at the slogan tees that say things like ‘I LOVE BEER’ and ‘TITS ROCK’ and thought to yourself “There must be more than this…”? Well, there is, and Mikey Pop made them! We asked him to take us through a few of his favourite designs and who he’d love to see wearing them… 

Brunch Goals Tee - “Ya know, you don’t see that many paparazzi shots of celebs brunching…but a table full of drunks guys and girls all wearing this in different colors would be amazing. Throw in some mimosa and Bloody Mary stains, a couple of cigarette burns and white powder and it’s brunch COUTURE!”

Catwoman Selfie Tee – “Halle Berry should really pick one of these up and be forced to wear it once a week to remind herself of how awful her version was and use Michelle Pfeiffer’s rendition to remind her of how it is done.”

Death Becomes Her Tee – “I would die if Goldie Hawn was seen wearing this and was like “Yup, that hole is still there and I still have to stay away from two-piece bathing suits! Damn that Meryl!” Siempre Viva!

Sanasa Tee - “Honestly, I’d love to wake up one morning and find out that Paris Hilton and Nicole had a reunion via instagram, where they are both wearing this design and singing the “Sanasa” song! Either that or Curly from season 1 of The Simple Life.”

The Craft/Mean Girls Tee – “Obviously Lindsay Lohan wearing this would be perfect. And I’m sure if I sent her one, she’d wear it. We all know that bitch loves some free gifts. Or to see Fairuza Balk wearing one would be a dream. Especially with the new sequel coming out!”

Versayce Showgirls Tee - “This design was actually approved by Elizabeth Berkely herself! She also posted it on her instagram! She sent me a message saying “Would it be weird for me to wear my own face?”  So OF COURSE she’d be my choice.”

• See all these and more Mikey Pop designs at society6.com/mikeypop

I was in PARIS over the weekend! I visited Oscar Wilde’s grave, ate possibly the best meal I’ve ever eaten (chicken with white wine mushroom risotto, gorgeous!) and went gay clubbing! So instead of writing about Ariana Grande (again), I’ve decided to do my fave French tunes.

All of them are perfect for falling over in Dior, or having dramatic rows with Russian oligarchs in ornate hotel rooms. Just saying.

Inna Modja – French Cancan (Monsieur Sainte Nitouche)

Love Inna Modja! She’s the darling of stylish French summery pop. All she has to do is put on a sarong and saunter down the banks of the Seine, and hundreds of gays fall at her feet. I investigated her back catalogue and she’s got some lovely little ditties, but my favourite is “French Cancan (Monsieur Sainte Nitouche)”. I’m a sucker for a song with a bracketed byline, so that’s always a good omen. Like Britney Spears’ oeuvre of sonorous perfection, “Get Naked (I Got A Plan)”. Or Lindsay Lohan’s upcoming single “Vomit And Viagra (Where’s My Oystercard?)”. That’s not Linday Lohan’s upcoming single, I made it up. She doesn’t have an upcoming single. ANYWAY listen to Inna Modja, she’s gorgey!

Mylene Farmer – A Lombre (Offer Nissim Remix)

Now THIS was blasting out of all the Parisian gay clubs over the weekend. It’s proper torso-pumping, vodka-and-coke-swilling, dancefloor-fingering gay techno debauched ridiculousness! Love it!

M. Pokora – A Nos Actes Manques

PHWOOOAR! M Pokora is *Cheryl Cole voice* REET UP MAH STREET! He’s lovely too, all his songs are about saving the world and things. Well Monsieur Pokora, you can save MY world. Actually I’d rather you didn’t save it, I’d rather you PILLAGED it. What am I on about? Soz, back to making sense. I heard this coming from a gaggle of gays’ Boombox in the sun on the grass by the Eiffel Tower. They were throwing their heads back and laughing and drinking champagne. Daahhhhhling *lights cigarette*

So in case you’ve been living under Vauxhall Bridge for the last two weeks and haven’t heard…SEX CIRCUS IS COMING TO LONDON!

Basically, SexCircus is the ultimate in gay hedonism and debauchery. We thought OUR lives were hot and crazy, and then we saw the Sex Circus poster.

Anyway this Bank Holiday weekend, SexCircus is descending on our mad, horny city, and making it even more mad and horny! They’ve got a host of massive events at a host of massive venues over three days.

They’re giving you a big leather-booted kickstart on Friday with their Welcome Party at the dusky burly men’s haunt Comptons in Soho. There’s an A:M at Protocol party at Fire too, then things really get going on Saturday with the Main Event at Fire. After that it’s straight on to Beyond Erotica until early afternoon on Sunday.

THEN (best have a Jägerbomb or two), it’s Matinee Pervert at Elephant & Castle’s iconic Coronet Theatre, promising to be a visual and sexual feast of delights.

This is the party of the season. Rippling muscle-bound adonises, international porn stars, the scene’s best DJs, and a rip-roaring sex-fueled thrill ride across the city’s most well-regarded nightclubs.

We spoke to two of the event’s biggest stars – gay porn couple Logan Moore and Josh Rider – about their plans for the weekend, what it’s like being a couple in porn, and er…Meryl Streep.

Hey guys! So are you excited for the SexCircus weekender?

L&J: Yes we’re both really excited! After talking for so long about SexCircus, we’re itching to get up on the stage. It’s going to be an awesome weekend.

What delicious treats do you have planned?

J: We aren’t going to reveal anything just yet.

L: If you want to find out, then come see us in the VIP room.

What’s it like being a gay porn couple? 

L: It’s so amazing to get to travel with your partner and share the same experiences. We have a lot of adventures and shows coming up this year all over the world, which is so exciting for the both of us.

J: And what’s not horny about seeing your boyfriend getting fucked by a hot guy on camera!

Do you do the same stuff on camera as off, or do you Meryl Streep it up a bit for the cameras? 

L: On film everything is very exaggerated and angled for the camera.

J: Yeah, and when we’re off camera it’s full of passion and it’s a lot more relaxed and natural.

If you guys could do a threesome scene with any celebrity, who would it be? 

L: Jennifer Lopez all day!

J: Ultimate woman Crush for both of us.

Where’s the best location you’ve shot together?

L: in each other’s arses!

J: Haha it’s our favourite location to shoot.

We know what you get up to when you’re feeling naughty, but what about the rest of the time?! Ariana Grande and chill?

L: because we’re so busy it’s nice to relax with each other in bed and watch movies, and see our friends.

J: Yeah, and Logan loves to game on the PlayStation. Soon he’ll probably be playing while we fuck. It’s that hard to tear him away.

What do you make of the London scene?

L & J : it’s fun it’s naughty and we love it .

What part of SexCircus are you looking forward to the most? 

L: Performing with my husband.

J : it’s funny because we actually said that at the same time.

Bless! They’re clearly meant for each other! Like Ross and Rachel. If Ross and Rachel had sex on stage and came in each other’s arses. Friends would have been a very different show.

If you can’t wear it, surround yourself with inspiring things…I love it when people transform spaces. A little bit of bunting goes a long way in creating a mood. I’m thrilled when I go somewhere and it’s like entering a whole new world.

I hear The Pale Blue Door fine dining experience is back this month and it’s on the last weekend of May, Thursday, Friday, Saturday until Sunday 29th. Set designer Tony Hornecker turns his own workspace into a magical cornucopia all set down a back alley off the Kingsland Road.

Cute night I (still) Don’t Know Her at London Loves 104-122 City Road off Old Street on Thursday 26th. It’s a back-to-back Mariah/JLO themed evening from 6pm till 11ish in a bijou bar! Diva indulgence all night with themed cocktails, videos and some kind of voting situation!

Sassitude Vol. V returns to Vogue Fabrics on Friday 27th May. Get with the programme and join in the fun with Emily Rose England and friends! 10-3am.

Catch the final weekend of Arthole installation Gegen Identity at Dalston Superstore on Saturday 28th, 5-7pm. Then carry the evening on with Lazertitz with Violet, Lou Hayter and residents Hannah Holland, Cathal, Bica and Elles DJing ‘til 4am.

Seeing as it’s a bank holigay this weekend, Sunday night is going out night too! Douche Bag Spring Clean takes over The Star of Bethnal Green on Sunday 29th. Playing a selection of trashy pop, synth and guitar Laurence Del Ray and Mickey XCX keep the party going from 10pm-4am.

If you’re still going on Tuesday 31st May then celebrate with Polyester Zine and Bad Vibrations at the Moth Club over in Valette Street E9. Teaming up to present psych-dance band Prince Rama and No Zu from 7:30 onwards, very cool man!

Last week a new arts-based hotel and function space was launched. Green Rooms over in sunny Wood Green is surely a breakthrough for us creative types. All sorts going on here including cheap rooms, exhibitions and shows! Now who’d have thought Wood Green would be a destination point?

• Savage is every Friday and Saturday at Metropolis Gentleman’s Club, 234 Cambridge Heath Road, E2 9NN. 11pm – late, £5 entry.

It’s London’s biggest, hairiest Pride this weekend…BEAR PRIDE! Hooray! We spoke to HBIC (Head Bear In Charge) Mark Ames to get the lowdown.

It’s Bear Pride again! Last year you had the lovely Ben Cohen in attendance. What can we expect from this year?

It’s a full on celebration of everything big, beary and buff. The bear scene is about fun and friendliness and food, and there will be food for all!

What is it about the Bear community that makes it so inclusive? 

It’s unexplainable. It’s like the uncool are cool because when you don’t give a fuck, no one can stop you.

What makes you proud to be a bear?

It’s the one scene you can be honest about who and what you are!

What makes XXL the best bear event in London?

Practice, patience, perfection soon becomes pastime when expecting excellence. And my staff know I really don’t like letting the individual down, let alone the crowd!

Do you have to be a bear to celebrate Bear Pride?

No, but you do need to be able to like being with us or why bother! I’ve barred precious prats making fun of others and will do it again, as the club doesn’t need that type!

Who’s the best bear of them all?

The one who has my heart, but he’s a bad one too. I like a cheeky smile and the devil’s glint in his eye gets me every time he smiles and has done for the last 11 years.

• XXL presents Bear Pride is on Saturday 28th May at Pulse Nightclub, 1 Invicta Plaza, SE1 9UF. 10pm – 7am.
£15 for guests, £8 for members.

Was David Bowie a god? The Second Cumming of a pansexual Jesus, or a fabulously indiscriminate tart shagging any available orifice?

BY SASHA SELAVIE

Whatever your take on Bowie, the hysterical grief provoked by his death made Britain’s mass weeping for Princess Diana seem as insignificant as the Seven Dwarves mourning Snow White!

But let’s get a sense of proportion here. No, one lick of Bowie’s dick wouldn’t make you instantly immortal – though it might, arguably, be a taste of Heaven! – but Bowie, undeniably, had genius. That, however, never stopped him being a ruthless opportunist and backstabbing bitch whenever useful. Sure, many right-on revisionists claim Bowie as a Wilde-style, gay martyr, but let’s never forget both Bowie’s later, gay denials and shameless, fascist flirtation. Remember, every idol, quite simply, remains fallible, and to quote camp classic ‘I Don’t Know How To Love Him’, Bowie was ‘just a man’.

And nobody knew fledgling, boy-genius Bowie – pop’s very own Harry Potter? – better than Lindsay Kemp, England’s most astounding theatre visionary and crucially, Bowie’s mentor. The patron saint of sacramental spunk and shamelessness, Kemp’s string of savagely beautiful shows – Salome, Flowers, The Big Parade and more – permanently gender-f*cked British theatre. Think Jean Genet’s criminally sexual prose gloriously buggered by Grimm’s fairy tales, and, instantly, you’ll get teenage Bowie’s burning need to cruise, use and abuse Lindsay. Like Lady Gaga – another world-famous, cultural vampire – Bowie wanted Lindsay’s bewitching, alien sense of beauty at any price.

Which brings us to tonight’s historically important show – host Marc Almond interviewing Lindsay Kemp on his first trip to London since 2002. The Ace Hotel, understandably, is packed as tight and panting as sex on crack and Viagra, as ginger-gingham-suited Ernesto Tomasini’s falsetto take on ‘Starman’ begins. A show-stopping entrée, certainly, but the mass audience grin as Lindsay enters is radiantly mirrored by an adoring Marc Almond, himself hugely inspired by Kemp.

More instantly seductive than GHB, Lindsay’s immense, saucer-pool eyes and cosseting drawl instantly captivate complete attention. He’s shocked at the changes in London – ‘I ventured into Soho, it’s very dull, they’ve ripped out the wickedness’ – and makes one immediately regret no longer skidding on pools of random spunk. But even nearly fifty years on, he remembers meeting Bowie at Brian Epstein’s studio; ‘The door opened and the archangel Gabriel appeared’. ‘He expressed his desire to study under me immediately’ Lindsay continues, ‘but I didn’t fall on my knees until a couple of days later…’

Lindsay, then, lived in Soho’s Bateman’s Buildings – ‘David came there often’, he smirks – but the artistic bliss soon soured. On tour, Bowie shagged a female, Kemp company member, breaking Lindsay’s heart, before ‘screwing another love of his life –for all of two weeks’. No wonder Lindsay scratched his wrists in mock-suicidal despair and the girl attempted an overdose – ‘she was revived by a fireman, lucky cow!’- but inadvertently, Lindsay inspired Bowie’s greatest, artistic triumph – Ziggy Stardust.

Ingratitude, however, never dies, and despite plotting, conceiving and designing the Ziggy shows, Lindsay was barely mentioned in 2013’s landmark David Bowie Is…exhibition. Sure, Bowie donated 500 dollars to Lindsay after Ziggy’s success – ‘Which might have been a lot, back in 1938!’- but also, kept him waiting for three hours when they last met during 1987’s Glass Spider tour.

`Still – speaking charitably – Bowie’s barely a footnote in Lindsay’s incomparably innovative career. Tonight, adored by a glittering host of gay celebrities, Lindsay remains the undisputed Queen of gorgeous excess, stunningly serenaded by Marc Almond’s ‘Amsterdam’ and ‘Starman’. This, darlings, is one night Bowie can’t steal from his master!

•  Got surgically-urgent, arts and theatre news? mistermadam@hotmail.com.

SNAX @ Les Poppeurs

1) Tell us who you are in one juicy sentence. 

I’m Snax. I’m a planet, and you’re my moon.

2) What kind of music do you play? 

Funkpopgroovehousedisco…and stuff from my 45 collection.

3) And what can people expect from your next set? 

Electronic soul, loose disco, vocals, synths and drum machines.

TOP TEN

• SNAX is DJing at Les Poppeurs on Saturday 4th June at Dalston Superstore, 117 Kingsland High Street, E8 2PB. 

The mixed club night of Berlin’s electronic music

Partystarters, nightlife connoisseurs and purveyors of the zeitgeist, Members, are moving to Egg’s Apothecary, Saturday June 4th.

They’ve made a name for themselves as some of Berlin’s most notorious party kids, and since integrated themselves into London equally gritty club scene. Berlin expat Marro started off DJing at some of East London’s coolest, most-sought after events, and now he’s bringing his unique take on tech-house to the Egg.

Marc Miroir (otherwise known as Paso Music) is the musical backbone behind Members and its Berlin routes. He’s all about climatic build-ups, keeping the crowd on tenterhooks with his urgent, building sound.

They’ve also drafted in London scene DJ, gorgeous Spaniard Borja Peña, known for pioneering hot husky nights like Dish and B(e)ast, as well as creative director and resident DJ of Discosodoma, Stathis. He’s the kind of leftfield electronic dance music and has played the infamous NYC Downlow at Glastonbury.

So to summarise, it’ll be absolutely lit, and full of the hottest DJs, hosts, girls and boys in the city. You’ll be there. We’ll be there. EVERYONE will be there.

• MEMBERS is on Saturday June 4th, 11pm – 10am at Apothecary/Egg London, 3 Vale Royal, Kings Cross, London N7 9AP.

Over a hundred acts competed in this year’s Pride’s Got Talent all across London.

The competition has gone from strength to strength in just a few years, priding itself on discovering and showcasing the widest range of cabaret variety possible. This year’s overall winner was vocalist Jack Feureisen. We sent Jason Reid to have a natter with the new voice on the block…

• Jack Feureisen performs at Pride in London in Trafalgar Square on Saturday 25th June

Following the news that Eagle London had secured its lease for the next decade and beyond, they decided to ramp things up with a revamp

They’ve had a lick of paint and they’ve got a brand new look! As the home of Horse Meat Disco and other iconic London gay nights, they’re one of the best-loved establishments around, and we’re totes happy that they’ve cemented themselves safely for years to come.

We spoke to the Eagle’s owner Mark Oakley, and he gave us the lowdown on the best stuff to see and do at  one of South London’s best-known gay watering holes.

10 things you have to see and do at Eagle London

• Eagle London, 349 Kennington Lane, SE11 5QY

This week in our community section…The London Raiders! That sounds like a troupe of masked, sexy bandits doesn’t it. It’s actually a gay softball team. Hooray!

As the name suggests, they’re London-based, and cater to predominantly LGBT members. Their priority is just as much to have fun and socialize, as it is to play softball and get some nice healthy wholesome exercise. Remember what wholesome exercise feels like? Us neither. All the more reason to join!

As well as playing friendly matches at home, they enter into a league and go to tournaments around the UK and abroad. Exciting stuff! They run a development squad for new players too, so don’t worry if you’re inexperienced.

It all sounds great! Apart from anything else they’ve got their own kit, which looks totes cute.

• To find out more and to look into signing up, go to their website at londonraiders.co.uk, or look them up on Facebook.

Where to start? In this case it is probably best to start with Patrick Cash, the writer.

Cash has an incredible knack of taking subject matter that doesn’t on the surface appear to be engaging or worth investing in and turning it into something irresistibly immersive and this is not fluke. He has pulled this off consistently with The Clinic, Queers and now this piece.

• The Chemsex Monologues is at The RVT, 372 Kennington Lane, on Saturday 11th June at 2pm. Tickets £15.

Text by Greg Owen Photos: Dionysis Livanis