Letter from the Editor

It’s not often you get two major forces from the world of popular music willing to sit down to talk about drugs, drink, sex, addiction… and wanking

The word on the street

WHAT WOULD BE YOUR QUEER UTOPIA AND WHO WOULD BE ITS LEADER?

BIG IN A WIG

MARGARET THATCHER QUEEN OF SOHO, THE CABARET SUPERSTAR WHO IS NOT FOR TURNING. SHE DOES, HOWEVER, HAVE HER EYE ON A CERTAIN BILLIONAIRE AND ENJOYS A GOOD READ AT BEDTIME

Agenda

THE THINGS WE LOVE THIS MONTH

MAWAAN RIZWAN

Let’s get in touch with our tactile side

HAVING HIS CAKES (AND EATING IT)

UNLIKE A NUMBER OF OTHER RAPPERS, CAKES DA KILLA IS HAPPY TO DECLARE HIS SEXUALITY — AND IS STILL ENJOYING MAINSTREAM SUCCESS

WHY HIV CURE STORIES ARE JUMPING THE GUN

News reports of a successful treatment are misleading — only working to perpetuate stigma, says Kat Smithson, the policy and campaigns manager at National Aids Trust

JOE STONE

“No fem” is fatal to dating chances — and shows real ignorace

THE RULES for surviving winter

You might as well. Bake Off’s toast, so let’s all

PARIS LEES

Shameless politicians give bigots’ private thoughts a voice

SOFA SO GOOD

GOGGLEBOX DUO STEPHEN AND CHRIS GET OFF THE COUCH TO TALK ABOUT THEIR CHILDHOODS, WHY THEIR RELATIONSHIP DIDN’T LAST AND WHY THEY THINK MADONNA IS PAST HER PRIME. THEY’VE ALSO GOT A GREAT IDEA FOR WHO SHOULD BE THE NEXT BAKE OFF PRESENTERS

PAUL FLYNN

Instagram’s Aids memorial is a towering example of social media at its best

LITTLE MIX ENTER THE EX FACTOR

JAMES BARR TAKES TIME OFF FROM HIS NEW HOBBY — STALKING YOUTUBE STARS — TO BRING YOU THE BEST OF THE NEW RELEASES

HAILEE AND HEARTY

POP STAR STEINFELD IS SUPERB IN ONE OF THE BEST COMING-OF-AGE TEEN COMEDIES TO HIT THE SCREEN IN YEARS — EVEN IF YOU THINK YOU’VE SEEN IT ALL BEFORE

A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH

MOVING TALE OF HOW ACTIVISTS BATTLED CONDEMNATION AND HATRED — AS WELL AS AIDS ITSELF — IN A RACE AGAINST TIME

iconic

THE POWERPUFF GIRLS gave us a whole different kind of girl power

BGF: {BIG GAY FOLLOWING}

IT’S TWO DECADES since the Spice Girls stormed the charts

CRUSH

Your monthly fashion need-to-know

PERFECT TIMING

Fantastic Armani Exchange watches that will all stand the test of time

A GREAT PAIR OF DARK BLUES

Diesel are forever evolving their already expansive denim empire and now they’re introducing two new styles to the family: the Jifer and the Thommer, to join their innovative Jogg jeans and Royal Indigo collection

attitude CHRISTMAS GIFT GUIDE

Out of ideas what to buy a friend, family member, loved one or husband? Don't worry, we've got you covered with pressies to suit every budget — from £7 to £1,800

RED BLOODED

Augusta wears jacket, £1,650, shirt, £400, jeans, £540, boots, £630,

just what the doctor ordered

ATTITUDE GOES BACKSTAGE AT THE BBC’S NEWEST SCI-FI SERIES TO EXCLUSIVELY MEET SERIES WRITER PATRICK NESS AND THE HOT YOUNG CAST OF CLASS

CHEWING THE FAT

ARTIST. SOCIAL COMMENTATOR. AVANT-GARDE ANARCHIST, SCOTTEE THE CORNER OF THE OPPRESSED AND DISPOSSESSED… AND REGULARLY CALLS OUT FAT-SHAMING THROUGH HIS BOLD AND BRILLIANT SHOWS

OUT LIVING A DEATH SENTENCE

BEING DIAGNOSED WITH HIV IN THE EIGHTIES AND NINETIES LEFT MOST GAY MEN — USUALLY CORRECTLY — THINKING THEY HAD LITTLE TIME LEFT TO LIVE. INCREDIBLY, SOME BEAT THE ODDS AND ARE HEALTHY TODAY. BUT MANY OF THEM CARRY THE SCARS OF THE PAST AND A STRONG SENSE OF GUILT SIMPLY FOR SURVIVING WHEN SO MANY OF THEIR FRIENDS AND LOVERS DID NOT

A MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE: in graphic detail

ROGER CASEMENT WENT FROM ADMIRED KNIGHT OF THE REALM TO CONDEMNED TRAITOR IN THE SPACE OF JUST FIVE YEARS. HIS STORY IS NOW THE SUBJECT OF A GRAPHIC NOVEL BY FIONNUALA DORAN, WHO THINKS IT WOULD MAKE A GOOD MOVIE. SHE COULD BE RIGHT

WILLIAMS THE CONQUEROR

THEY GREW UP THOUSANDS OF MILES APART BUT THEIR STORIES ECHO EACH OTHER. SO WHEN SOLO SUPERSTAR ROBBIE WILLIAMS MET AMERICAN SINGER-SONGWRITER JOHN GRANT, MAYBE IT WASN’T SURPRISING THEY CLICKED. THE DUO, WHO HAVE CO-WRITTEN A TRACK FOR ROBBIE’S NEW ALBUM, TELL MATTHEW TODD ABOUT THEIR DEMONS AND BATTLES AGAINST ADDICTION

SAY NO MOORE

ATTITUDE CAUGHT UP WITH 31-YEAR-OLD DJ, MODEL AND PERSONAL TRAINER, ANDREW MOORE

FOCUS

THIS MONTH, AS WINTER SETS IN, MATT LISTER HAS SOME TIPS ON WARDING OFF COLDS AND FLU

REAL BODIES

A colleague pointed out that I’d piled on the pounds

LIFE

Your stories, lives, loves and struggles

no longer frozen out

I do believe in fairies. I do, I do, exclaimed Peter Pan. And Disney accepts us too — never more so than when red-shirted LGBT+ people arrive for Gay Days Anaheim. We shall go to the ball!

table for two

James and Brett dined at M Restaurant Victoria Street, London

r u coming out?

We look at how you tackled the whole coming out thing

family guys

His son pulls hair, pokes his face and wakes him at the crack of dawn — but it’s worth it, to be a dad

force of habit

He’s played at Heaven, the Voodoo Lounge and the Velvet Rooms and partied with the likes of Boy George and Naomi Campbell, but for almost 30 years, gay DJ Fat Tony — real name Tony Marnach — was an alcoholic and drug addict. At one stage, things got so bad that he was given the Last Rites