RENÉE

ZELLWEGER
Bringing the joy
and tragedy of
Judy Garland to
ROSS the big screen
MATHEWS
TV’s fabulous
funnyman:
no tears for
this clown

WHEN GUS Shura

Lorna Luft

KENWORTHY Chris Robshaw

Rainbow Riots India

MET LAITH
ASHLEY
QUEER SHAME, TRANS VIOLENCE attitude.co.uk £5.25
AND FIGHTING FOR LGBTQ
VOICES TO BE HEARD
Travis Alabanza
Harry Clayton-Wright
The Gloop Show
Keith Haring x Amy Lamé
and more

FRIDAY 01 – SUNDAY 10
NOVEMBER 2019
@LGBT.festival.liverpool @HomotopiaFest homotopia.net
 This issue
October 2019

Travel
81 JUST THE TICKET
The latest travel tips and news
82 BUDAPEST
From outdoor spas to ruin bars, we
were left Hungary for more...
90 HOT HOTEL
Poseidonion Grand Hotel, Spetses
Gus and Laith both wear
p34 polo shirts, by Fila
Active
p96
Agenda 94 ACTIVATE
The latest fitness news and tech
7 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF’S LETTER 96 BLOND AMBITION
8 ATTITUDE LOVES Former England rugby captain
What we’re thirsty for this month. Chris Robshaw is to dye for...
16 THE BIG ISSUE 100 MATT LISTER
Giving consent Fitness in focus
18 THE RULES 102 A PROBLEM SHARED
For making it in showbusiness
19 RISING STAR Social
Comedian Will Jackson
21 COLUMNIST — OWEN JONES 106 REAL LIFE
Far-Right threat p56 Travelling back in time with period
22 BIG IN A WIG tailor Zack Pinsent
Lydia L’Scabies p46 108 LIFE LESSONS
24 CULTURE CLUB HIV activist and actor Matthew
Queer cartoons Hodson
26 COLUMNIST — MAX WALLIS 110 REAL BODIES
Loss and regret Artist and model Angel Ito spreads
28 CARS his wings
30 HOMES 112 WORD ON THE STREET
114 TABLE FOR TWO
Features 115 BUDDY BRILLIANT
117 REVIEWS
34 GUS & LAITH Books by Uli Lenart, films by Guy
Double trouble with the Olympic Lodge, music by James Barr
skier and trans model trail-blazers 122 HOMO FOMO
46 ROSS MATHEWS Iris Prize and more
The Drag Race fave and Attitude
Awards host gets personal Style
56 RENÉE ZELLWEGER
Travels over the rainbow to play 126 CRUSH
Hollywood legend Judy Garland 128 WARDROBE
64 LORNA LUFT 129 WATCH
Judy’s actress and singer daughter 130 BEAUTY
68 SHURA 131 GROOMING
Why the pop star is feeling the love 132 TAKE ME TO MY BEACH
70 RAINBOW RIOTS The “knit” factor
India’s first openly LGTBQ artists 145 FASHIONLISTA
76 BUSINESS PROFILE Wallets
Saucybitch’s Dean Smith 146 FAVOURITE THINGS
& Dean Cook Designer Edward Crutchley

OCTOBER 2019 5
 Meet
Andy Goddard,
commercial manager
At Attitude’s 10th birthday party I

the
was talking to George Michael for
about 10 minutes (I know). Then

team
he beckoned Elton John over:
“Hey, Elton come over and talk to
my mate from Attitude...” They DEMOCRACY
had both been hanging out with Power of the people
Cilla Black in the corner. I know protesting against
What’s been your the photo of us is a bit blurry but Johnson’s prorogation
most random it was taken by Amy Lamé!
celeb moment? OPTIMISM
Also known as tequila

David McGillivray, journalist GIRL PERSON

After Jacqui Smith left government she did THINGY
a radio programme about porn and for some Jade Jolie/Taylor
reason someone decided she ought to talk to Swift… rather unlike
me. We sat on my couch and the producer said, ladies’ man John Travolta
“Put your arm round her.” I thought, “surely to get them confused
not?” She’d been the Home Secretary! But I did
as I was told. AY PAPI
Maluma and Ricky Martin
team up on No Se Me
Quita and we are
Leigh Keily, photographer
The one that springs to mind is shooting a

UP &
campaign for MTV’s Ex on the Beach with Gaz
Beadle in the morning, then hopping in a cab to
Kensington Palace and shooting Prince William DOWN
for Attitude in the afternoon. Two very different
British celebs in one day

WHAT WE’RE ROCKING

AND BLOCKING
P R I N T / O N LINE / TAB LET / M OBILE

Editor in chief Cliff Joannou Head of partnerships Mike Buckley NOSE HAIR
[email protected] [email protected]
Assistant editor Tim Heap
Subscriptions Enquiries The last thing we need to
[email protected] Commercial manager Andy Goddard [email protected] look up at when we’re on
Features editor Tom Stichbury [email protected] 01778 392005 our knees is a forest
[email protected] 020 3598 6741
Chief sub editor Hugh Sohn Account manager Joanna Hill of boogers
[email protected] [email protected] Warners Subscription Department
01342 872041 Freepost, PE211, Bourne,
Travel editor/staff photographer Account manager Sean Lineker Lincolnshire PE10 9BR ZARA CASHIERS
Markus Bidaux [email protected] Taking disgruntled
[email protected] 020 3598 6743
Sports editor Mark McAdam
Attitude is now available through the employee to new levels
RNIB Newsagent service, which delivers
[email protected] Managing director Darren Styles. OBE the latest news, magazines and stories in a range
Editor at large Matthew Todd Commercial director Craig Lewis of formats to people with sight loss. To subscribe STAR-SIGN
[email protected] Operations director Nigel Russell to RNIB Newsagent, call the helpline on 0303 123
Events manager Lesley Harris 9999, or email them at [email protected]. WARRIORS
Art director Gary Simons Production executive Tom Doyle rnib.org.uk
A celestial entity on
[email protected]
Designer Laurène Pineau your Grindr profile
[email protected] Copyright © Stream Publishing Ltd 2019 all rights reserved. No doesn’t not
part of this magazine may be reproduced in whole or in part
Fashion and grooming director without the written permission of the publishers. Unsolicited make you a dick
Joseph Kocharian contributions must be accompanied by a stamped addressed
envelope if they are to be returned. We cannot accept
[email protected] ELECTION HELL
responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts and photographs or
Junior fashion editor Nick Byam for material lost or damaged in the post. Letters submitted to
[email protected] Attitude or its editors are assumed to be intended for publication Brenda from Bristol said it
Attitude, The Cowshed, Ladycross Farm, in whole or in part. The mention or appearance or likeness of best: “Not another one?”
Web editor Will Stroude Hollow Lane, Dormansland, any person or organisation in articles or advertising in this
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Intern Tamsin Beeby Printed by Wyndeham Bicester

attitude.co.uk @attitude.co.uk @attitudemag @attitudemag

6 OCTOBER 2019
 Editor
in
Chief ’s
Letter
I
n 1993, there was a journalist, an editor and a publisher of a national
newspaper who hated gay people enough to find joy at the prospect
that science could one day give homophobic parents the option to
abort their child, rather than give them life that would mean they would On
go on to become a gay adult.  the
It was with immense glee that the Daily Mail published its article relating covers
to the potential discovery of this holy grail of anti-gay hate, the “gay gene”.
Once the bastion of outing closeted celebrities and homophobic rhetoric,
to be fair, the newspaper has since somewhat shifted its stance on queer
issues. Don’t get me wrong, it is by no means a devout ally, sadly continuing
to publish anti-trans commentary and a number of editorials slamming
LGBTQ-inclusive relationships and sex education in schools.
However, this horrendous article is just one of many examples of
homophobic and transphobic stories that appeared on a frequent basis
across newspapers and in the wider media during my childhood.
The search for the “gay gene” continues. Last month, researchers from
Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology concluded that
genetics could account for between eight and 25 per cent of same-sex
behaviour across the population, when the whole genome is considered. Photography Santiago Bisso
Fashion Joseph Kocharian
To quote the wonderful Paris Lees, “Why are they even looking for a ‘gay Gus & Laith both wear shorts,
gene’? Why don’t they go and investigate people are who really unpleasant by Ron Dorff
to LGBTQ people and find out what their fucking problem is.”
Preach.
I remember when the first “gay gene” story broke. I was barely a teenager
and the reaction from the media made me feel as if my identity was a disease
that needed eradicating. A couple weeks ago, when I saw the newspaper excerpt
doing the rounds on social media, my memories of that time returned like a “The report
grey shadow. I shudder and feel despair even now as I read the words again.  sat alongside
The casual nature of the language with its heinous optimism at the potential stories saying
erasure of an unborn child’s life, because one day it won’t conform to a parent’s gay men were
idealised heteronormative standards, is deeply unnerving. 
How many millions of people read that original article and found joy in the
paedophiles”
news? Those opinions don’t just disappear. And neither does the mark it leaves
Photographer Leigh Keily
on all LGBTQ people — younger, older, closeted and out – who had to observe Fashion Joseph Kocharian
silently as the media shared this sinister perspective.  Shot at The Standard,
Downtown, Los Angeles.
The report didn’t exist in isolation. It sat alongside stories that gay men were paedophiles, threats Ross wears sleeveless leather
to family, society and “traditional moral values”. Despite huge recent strides in equality legislation, is jacket, by Diesel, shorts, by
Versace at Matches Fashion,
it any wonder that our community faces higher levels of mental-health issues and suicide rates as we shoes and scarf, stylist’s own
continue to find our way out of the years of shame that have burdened us.
This is why we at Attitude believe it’s important that we continue to share our stories, to talk with
others from the queer world, and understand their perspectives. This issue we bring together Gus
Kenworthy and Laith Ashley, who both graced the magazine’s cover three years ago — after coming
out as gay and trans respectively — to see where their journey has taken them since, and why it’s so
important that we reach out and listen to others in the LGBTQ community whose voices remain too
often unheard.

@CliffJoannou

OCTOBER 2019 7
 L VES

SONOS X IKEA SYMFONISK

A home with plenty of space is a luxury many of us
can’t afford — as is keeping that home up to date with
all the latest mod cons. But trust IKEA to come up
with a way to make staying on trend a little easier. The
Swedish giant has teamed up with Sonos to create the
Symfonisk range, the star of which is this table lamp
with a built-in Wi-Fi speaker. Available in black and
white, the sleek lamp emits a warm glow while filling a
room with rich sound — all for an affordable £150.

ikea.com

8 OCTOBER 2019
L VES

JOHN LEWIS
Autumn-winter ‘19 marks a new
direction for John Lewis & Partners,
with two collections given a
makeover. The store’s eponymous
label, consisting of 280-pieces,
now blends modern design with
reconsidered fits, fabrics and
quality. Meanwhile, Kin embodies
the sports-luxe trend across
tailoring and casual wear. Both
arrive throughout the year, as does
new brands It’s All Good, Folk, and
Albam Utility.

johnlewis.com

OCTOBER 2019 9
 L VES

MR P
Mr P, the own-label brand from
online retailer MR PORTER,
launches its 10th capsule collection
in September. Mr P stocks every-
day essentials all year round,
alongside seasonal items delivered
five times a year. This latest drop is
the largest collection to date, with
112 pieces for the coming colder
weather across ready-to-wear,
footwear and accessories. The navy
belted alpaca-blend coat, pictured
left, offers a new shape for the
season, and, at £595, is the pick
of the crop.

mrporter.com

10 OCTOBER 2019
 L VES

HOMOTOPIA
Liverpool’s annual festival of LGBTQ arts and culture
is back, back, back again from 1-10 November, with a
programme of events that span — and, in some cases,
defy — genres and disciplines. Take The Gloop Show
(pictured), on 8 November, in which “leading green
autistic drag queen” Oozing Gloop promises to take you
on a trip through the vowels of the alphabet, wielding a
7ft mascara wand as she does so. Gender and genre-
bending. This year’s theme of Resist! Resist! was chosen
to emphasise the power of protest in a world that feels
MANUEL VASON

angrier, smaller and less tolerant with each passing day.

homotopia.net

OCTOBER 2019 11
 L VES
TIM WALKER RADHIKA NAIR, FASHION: HALPERN AND DOLCE & GABBANA, PERSHORE, WORCESTERSHIRE, 2018, © TIM WALKER STUDIO

TIM WALKER:
WONDERFUL THINGS
The fantastic work of fashion
photographer Tim Walker is being
celebrated at London’s V&A
museum this autumn. The gay
auteur shot his first fashion story
for Vogue at the age of 25, not
long after graduating from Exeter
College of Art and Design, and
Tim Walker: Wonderful Things is
his third solo exhibition in London.
Among the 150-plus works on
display from 21 September, will
be 10 new pieces. Walker calls the
museum a “palace of dreams”, and
it just got even dreamier.

vam.ac.uk

12 OCTOBER 2019
 L VES

TED BAKER AW19

If your underwear is looking a bit
tired, check out Ted Baker’s new
collection. The AW19 range uses
silky modal and organic cotton
to ensure lasting comfort, and a
mix of floral patterns and subtle
geometric prints mean they look
good too — on you, or on your
bedroom floor… Prices from £15.

tedbaker.com

OCTOBER 2019 13
 L VESmore

The Shorty in Mustard Pepsi Sweatshirt Toppik Hair Thickener Versace Eros Flame
The perfect bedside cabinet Add a little Nineties nostalgia Achieve fuller-looking hair in Smell great with citrus, spicy
or under-desk locker. Just big with this white, vintage just a few quick and easy sprays, and woody accords. Just the
enough to hold all your secrets dropped-shoulder sweatshirt thanks to Toppik bottle should attract you a bloke
mustardmade.com rokit.co.uk toppik.co.uk notino.co.uk

Jacamo Suede Jacket Gold Scultping Bar Body Cleanser Nike Joyride Trainers
Freddie Flintoff’s latest Instantly make your skin feel A brand inspired by the Thousands of tiny beads in the
collection with Jacamo is our and appear toned and revived adventures of explorer Heinrich bottom of these trainers make
favourite one yet with this 24K gold sculpting bar Barth using natural ingredients them oh-so-comfortable
jacamo.co.uk jilliandempsey.com heinrich-barth.com nike.com

Converse Trainers Knit Pullover River Island Cushion Fleece-Check Shorts

The classic Chuck Taylor-style Ease into knitwear with this This embroidered, tassled Soft, fluffy and cosy are three
trainers with a contemorpary wool blend jumper with Diesel cushion will have you words to describe these teddy
monochrome twist slogans and logo wagging your tail bear Burberry-check shorts
urbanoutfitters.com diesel.com riverisland.com brownsfashion.com

14 OCTOBER 2019
 Zahira Fine Cufflinks Vilebrequin Shorts Tod’s Rucksack Harry’s of London
Black onyx and 18k white gold Stand out on the beach for all Italian style and craftsmanship Sneakers
make these cufflinks a must- the right reasons with these make this rucksack a cut Your new go-to shoe, available
have, if large, purchase marble-print shorts above the rest in six other colours
zahirafinejewellery.com matchesfashion.com tods.com harrysoflondon.com

Temp Radio by Linley Nanu Hot & Not Duvet Gucci Velvet Blazer Aries Trousers.
Tune in as Ruark Audio team Sleep soundly with this duvet, Blue velvet and double- Two-tone trousers were all the
up with furniture-maker which boasts a different tog breasted, what’s not to rage this summer — keep the
David Linley rating on each side love about this trend alive with these
ruarkaudio.com nanusleep.co.uk matchesfashion.com matchesfashion.com

Cheek Tint Aldo Trainers Bolt & Star Candles Gold Block Ring
Handy little cheek blushes in a These red trainers are part of Add a bit of romance to your life The unisex brutalist collection
number of colours — all vegan the brand’s first sustainable with vegan soy candles — orange, is the first under control of new
and organic collection cinnamon and clove... mmm creative director Dominic Jones
jilliandempsey.com aldoshoes.com boltandstar.com linksoflondon.com

OCTOBER 2019 15
 BIG I S S U E

R Gropers
emember your first LGBTQ education in schools is still lacking,
nightclub? How about your and, like me, most of you reading this
first Pride? Now try to cast your were probably not given specific LGBTQ

are out of
mind back to the first time you were information. Luckily, the notion of
touched within these spaces — did you consent is universal.
consent to it? In short: yes means yes, no means no.

touch
The LGBTQ community is filled with However, too regularly it is suggested
vibrant, resilient and proud individuals that the absence of a “no”, means yes.
who have rallied together to fight for the In a loud, often dark, space
rights we have today. So why do some communication is difficult, but adults
people think that those strobe lights who are legally able to enter nightclubs
and sticky floors make it OK to take away Not saying “no” does not amount have experienced at least 18 years to
someone’s right to bodily integrity? ascertain what is and isn’t acceptable.
LGBTQ spaces were set up as safe to consent, says SurvivorsUK It is common to be stunned into
havens for people to express themselves Outreach & Engagement Officer silence after being inappropriately
where they may feel otherwise oppressed
by a heteronormative society.
Sam Thomson touched but this lack of refusal doesn’t
mean that it was desired and does not
The sense of community, trust and warrant further attempts to violate
security allows people to let their guard doesn’t necessarily match how someone’s personal space.
down, which, unfortunately, can make someone may react or feel. You can There are steps for social interaction
it easier for someone to abuse that never be sure what another person is that gauge what people are looking
environment when it comes to consent. experiencing and what impact actions for, such as talking, smiling and other
Some people go to clubs exclusively can have. non-verbal communication: the basics.
to pull, but a lot go without this Although it might be a fleeting But sometimes it seems that in LGBTQ
intention. Many simply go to be in moment for the groper, it could be one spaces, one person’s expression of
a venue surrounded by like-minded of several times it has happened to the
people within their community. individual which can make them feel “It is common to be
However, some people make an unsafe in our safe space.
assumption that everyone there is Of course, I am not trying to stunned into silence
looking for sex and automatically condemn consensual physical touching after being touched”
consents to being touched. -— healthy sexual expression and
Whether the slap on the bum or sexual violence are two different things. sexual identity trumps someone else’s
attempt to kiss someone was meant to But this is where we need to go back to right to not be groped. When did people
be fun and flirtatious, that intention the drawing board. Unfortunately, sex getting cheap thrills at the expense of
others’ autonomy become normalised?
The actions of these few people
can have an impact on how we see
our community and how others
from the outside see us. A society
where inappropriate touching is
met with silence does not discourage
inappropriate touching, but it does
encourage normalisation.
I stress that the only people to blame
are the perpetrators and it is not our job
to call someone out but we can, and with
this we are able to create change within
our community. For those creating an
unsafe atmosphere, we can also begin to
question the impact that our behaviour
has on others within our community.
We have been fighting for so long
for everybody who identifies as LGBTQ
to be treated with respect. The fight is
still going for every body to be treated
with that same respect.

SurvivorsUK is a London-based rape

and sexual abuse service that supports
men, non-binary people and anyone
who feels the service fits them. If
you have been affected by anything
mentioned, call 020 3598 389 or email
[email protected]

16 OCTOBER 2019
Get married with a difference
Add a meaningful touch to your wedding day by raising money
for Cancer Research UK and help bring forward the day when
all cancers are cured.

1 Ask for donations instead of gifts 3 Add us to your John Lewis Gift List
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Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464) and Scotland (SCO416663). ©Cancer Research UK 2019.
 HAVE PUSHY PARENTS who live their

…for making it in showbusiness disappointing lives through your tortured

childhood. Then divorce their money-
milking arses, signing on the dotted line
with the teardrops of your lost youth

POSSESS AN ACTUAL DISCERNIBLE TALENT

(although that’s not an absolute necessity)

MAKE A SEX TAPE. It did Kim K and

Paris no harm. Only relevant, of course,
if you’re not already on OnlyFans.
Everyone’s seen your bleached hole, hun

SIGN UP FOR A REALITY SHOW. Plump your lips, pump

up your pecs and nail that vacant look. You’re this close
to snaring that dream Boohoo sponsorship deal and
a spot on Celebs Go Dating

BE A CHAMELEON. You’re a triple threat, baby. Look

at Lindz. She can act, sing and, of course, dance…

WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, curl into

a ball, and rock back and forth, muttering:
“There’s no business like showbusiness”

WORK SCANDAL TO YOUR ADVANTAGE. Drink?

Drugs? Adultery? All forgivable. Get creative...

BE NICE TO PEOPLE ON YOUR WAY UP because

you’ll meet them on the way down. Or show’em
you’re the high bitch of showbiz with the help of
an airborne phone

NEVER FORGET THAT YOU’RE A STAR,

whether you’re shooting a big-budget film,
or an advert for fruit wine. Say it
with us: “Bingo ling fucker”

18 OCTOBER 2019
 R IS ING STAR

Where
there’s
When did you first realise you were
funny?
I always did very well with older
female relatives — I know, shocking
a Will…
for a young gay man. When I was
11, I played Mr Toad in a school
performance of Wind in the Willows. It
went down a storm and from then on,
I was hooked. Comedian Will
Who were your comedy heroes
growing up?
Jackson, 24, receives
Catherine Tate, Billy Eichner, Josh our stamp of approval
Thomas, French and Saunders… but as he talks about his
Tina Fey is my number one. I love how
slick, surreal and brilliant her worlds meat-free stand-up
are, and I’ve always aspired to make show, finding light in
my work as punchy and richly detailed
as hers.
darkness and fighting
How would you describe your comedy? homophobia
Suitable for vegetarians.
How has having a sense of humour
helped you in life?
I went through quite a serious cancer As told to communication. It’s a tough world out of support from people who were
Thomas Stitchbury
scare last year, but it turned out I there and it’s important to check in clearly living for it.
just had a really saggy vein in my left with each other. You never know what How have you found navigating the
testicle. It’s impossible not to see the other people might be going through. comedy circuit, a typically straight
lighter side in stuff like that. What is your pet peeve when it comes “masc” world, as a queer performer?
Your stand-up show, Yours Sincerely, is to 21st-century life? I used to find it quite difficult
inspired by your “criminal” past, when Slowly realising that you’re getting doing open mics. Other acts
you accidentally “stole” 300 second- out of touch with what the trendy would sometimes slip something
class stamps from a post office. How young teenagers are up to. What the homophobic into their sets and I’d get
did that happen? hell is Tiktok? angry and try to call them out during
After I graduated from the University What are your top three survival tips? my slot, which never went down well.
of Birmingham, I did an unpaid Be kind, be present and try to eat a But the comedy scene is getting better.
internship for a very small arts vegetable that isn’t battered. More queer artists are setting up their
company. One day, I had to go and buy You posted on social media that own events, which is brilliant.
a whole load of stamps for them to you faced homophobic abuse in the What is the worst thing that has
send out some brochures and, due to Scottish capital while appearing at the happened to you on stage?
a clerical error, I ended up with Edinburgh Fringe. Do you I broke three lamps during my Yours
double the number I should “I was handing out experience that often? Sincerely previews. This included an
have been given. There has definitely been a incredibly expensive glass one which
You recover the lost art of letter-
flyers in full drag as spike in queer-phobic attacks shattered across the Derby Theatre
writing in the show. Who did Queen Elizabeth II” across the UK in the past stage. We had to stop the show to tidy
you reconnect with? year. Whether that’s a large it up, and I had to stand in a cardboard
I wrote to a few lost loves, some increase, or the attacks are now visible box so I wouldn’t get in the way.
former employers and my gran, but because more people are calling them You’re also the artistic director of
as the project went on I got bolder. out, it’s difficult to tell. I think it’s a Quick Duck Theatre. What projects do
I wrote to the NHS about how queer combination of the two. I was handing you have coming up?
men still have to wait three months out flyers for the show in full drag as We’re developing a show for next
after sex before donating blood, and Queen Elizabeth II as she appears year called Fashion Spies, which is an
to Cadbury’s — as a nine-year-old boy on her second-class stamp — we’re interactive chose-your-own-adventure
called Sam – and managed to get quite talking white and blue make-up, a comedy where the audience members
ELAFRIS PHOTOGRAPHY

a bit of free swag out of that. crown, pearls, earrings, the whole take on the roles of undercover spies.
What do you want audiences to take package. Although there were a few
away from Yours Sincerely? bad days it was more than made up Will Jackson’s Yours Sincerely goes
The importance of human for by the overwhelming amount on tour next year

OCTOBER 2019 19
 In my opinion

#INSTAMAN AMROU AL-KADHI MOBEEN AZHAR

THIS
ISSUE

OWEN JONES DEAN ATTA

@riccardoferranti

PHOTOGRAPHER RICCARDO We have no choice but to

oppose Far-Right terrorism
FERRANTI SAYS HE IS FOND
OF MEMES, CATS AND PIZZA
— AND WE’D LOVE A SLICE OF
HIM. DON’T SUPPOSE YOU DO
As I stood on a platform in Trafalgar Square minorities, whether they be Muslims, Jews,
DELIVERIES, RICCARDO?
on a chilly January afternoon earlier this year, migrants, refugees, or gays.
I saw them: hundreds of red-faced, middle- Fascism, in all of its forms, calls for a
aged white men marching towards us, down violent purging from society of anyone
The Strand, pincer-movement style. deviating from a supposedly pure norm, and
I was speaking at an anti-austerity protest, destroying the allies of those minorities.
and they soon surrounded us: spotting me, That’s what inspired Anders Breivik,
they screamed “rent boy”, followed by a chant the Norwegian fascist terrorist, when he
of a “Jonesy is a homo.” Say murdered dozens of
what you see, lads.
Although not frightened,
“Fascism doesn’t young socialists in 2011.
He believed they wished
I remembered that my bike appear out of to destroy Christian
was on the other side of the nowhere” civilisation, in alliance
square, and had a right- with Muslims, deeming
so-what-do-I-do-about-this moment. The them culturally hostile because of their anti-
Higher... higher... higher
protest’s stewards formed a protective huddle racism and support for multi-culturalism.
around me, but the Far Right activists ran Since then, it has driven Far Right terrorists
towards us. The air was thick with a heady to murder Muslims in Christchurch, Jews in
mix of body odour and real ale, and their Pittsburgh and black people in Charleston. It
fists – thankfully with f tilit d f i tt i t t murder Labour MP
towards my head. One attempt to kill her
gobbed in my face. er with a machete.
I had to wait until I e same as a weather
before I experienced si out of nowhere.
homophobia: since th am politicians, and
has been a deluge — m whip up hatred
—mostly about being igrants, refugees
(fellatio features a lot) s.
faggot skull beaten in hese fanatics with
OK, we’ve seen people wear sunnies
indoors. But in bed? Really, hun? It’s not just being ga n their step, feeling
enamour me to the gr able, legitimised
Far Right: being a socia tronger. And we
anti-racist, an anti-fas to remember
unapologetic about al : whenever the
things, doesn’t exactly Right are strong,
As you might have r ey seek to persecute
the news, three men h nd destroy our own
arrested in connectio ople — gay, lesbian,
an attack on me outsi sexual and trans.
where I had been cele Dark times are
my birthday last mon oming, and we
this isn’t about me, it’s don’t have any
the rise of a Far Right w hoice but to do
Of course he has a boyfriend. We’re very existence is based hat we did to win
happy for you, Riccardo (not ) hatred towards — and e rights we have
a desire to destroy — ay: fight.

OCTOBER 2019 21
 Lydia
bg
L’Scabies
It’s a bug’s life for this self- a monstrous Lydia coming
from the depths to prey on
proclaimed Queen Flea.
an unsuspecting ginger boy
Tick-ing all the right boxes, swimming in the sea.
the Brighton-based What would your own
bombshell is a force to fragrance be called, and what
be reckoned with – not ingredients would it contain?
even pest control La Poubelle, which is French
can handle her! for “trash can”. It would be
made with fermented fruits,
hops, tequila and tobacco.
What’s your life motto?
Always take an Imodium on a
What were your rejected drag first date.
names? Your house is on fire: what one
Lydia Bitters — bitter by name, thing would you save?
bitter by nature. My pet cockroaches’ tank. I
Describe yourself in three have three gals, called Mildred,
emojis. Mavis and Nervous.
Let’s play Cluedo. You’ve
Describe your drag style in five been murdered: who did it,
words. where and with what?
Glamorous. Gross. Slaggy. Rococo Chanel. In the girls’
Infectious. Incurable. toilet, with a poisoned shot
Worst pick-up line someone of gold tequila.
has said to you? You’re dead (sorry). What
“So… fingers?” would the epitaph on your
How would (or does) your headstone say?
Grindr profile read? Well, now what?
Not just a little bit of a slag. What does heaven look like?
What’s the worst thing someone I won’t be let in.
could say to you in bed? And hell?
Someone repeatedly saying “shit”. The middle of Soho during
What is your biggest turn-on? Pride in London, and I have five
Someone saying “hi” back. suitcases.
And turn-off? What makes you smile?
Odd socks. Seeing children burst into
What is your safe word? tears over dropping ice cream.
Usually just an audible “nuh- “A monstrous Lydia coming What is your biggest fear?
uh”, paired with a gentle kick. The zombie apocalypse.
Where is the strangest place from the depths to prey on an What advice would you give
you’ve had sex? unsuspecting ginger swimmer” your younger self?
These days a bed is such a novelty. Stop biting your nails, and
Love is… listen to your bloody mother.
… all around me and so the You’re our reigning Queen
feeling grows. Which cocktail best suits your object in the world, what would Flea. If you could rule the
What is the secret to unlocking personality? you be? world for a day, what would
your heart? A cheap-ass margarita. A lipstick-stained cigarette. you do?
A troubled creative who doesn’t What’s your spirit animal? What would a film of your life Make Nigel Farage and company
get on with their parents, and A Persian cat that looks furious be called? clean LGBTQ venues.
who looks as if they’re about to to be alive. Flaws – and the movie poster
drop dead. If you could be any inanimate would be Jaws-inspired, with @lydialscabies

22 OCTOBER 2019
 CU LT U R E C LU B

Culture
Club
Times are exciting in
by Juno Dawson queer cartoon land

Over
to you...
Your fave queer
cartoon characters

I love Bow’s dads

in She-Ra. They are

I
adorable and so
mean, it really couldn’t be more and Bow’s two dads are, well, gay, wedding, between Crystal Gems Ruby prefectly evoke his
innocuous. Long-running PBS obviously. Bow himself is a fan and Sapphire. core traits. Mind you,
cartoon Arthur started its 22nd of belly tops and swarthy pirates, But all this glorious representation it feels as if half the
season earlier this year with the although his sexuality remains doesn’t come free. Shamefully, cast is queer!
episode Mr Ratburn and the Someone undefined for now. Cartoon Network UK edited out a @Hooraydilation
Special, which saw Arthur’s teacher Moreover, the simmering 2016 kiss between characters Rose
(a rat) marry boyfriend Patrick (an chemistry between Adora and Catra Quartz and Pearl but let a straight I feel Arthur’s Muffy
aardvark and chocolatier). is very much at the core of the entire smootch remain, saying they wanted and Francine count
Whack jobs in Alabama and series and the most recent episodes to make the show “more comfortable - even if it isn’t
the not-nearly-one-million One go some way to confirm that Adora is for local kids and their parents”. Go intentional.
Million Moms protested, resulting in bisexual if not gay. fuck yourself, Cartoon Network UK. @saucepanonhead
Alabama Public Television pulling Elsewhere, in Adventure Time, That action is further proof of the
the episode from its schedule, Princess Bubblegum and Marceline two-steps-forward-one-step-back Korra and Asami,
showing a repeat instead. dance with which LGBTQ people are from The Legend
Nonetheless, it seems something only too familiar. It sometimes feels as of Korra.
exciting is happening in cartoon “It’s our two-steps- if we can’t achieve anything culturally @Ally_Nuttall
land. Over the past few years, forward-one-step- without being slapped backwards by
representation of LGBTQ characters back dance” homophobes or transphobes. Marceline and
has gradually increased. This rise has Arthur author Marc Brown speaks Bubblegum, in
felt organic rather than stunt-driven, of a desire to present children with Adventure Time.
and borne out of a desire for children the vampire queen finally got to images that reflect their realities. Gay @Ally_Nuttall
to see their families on screen. snog in the 2018 season finale, and dads, lesbian mums, trans kids… all
This wasn’t even the first time Steven Universe continues its trippy these things are the mundane reality All these queer
Arthur’s world has featured gay queer adventure. The Cartoon for families in the UK. cartoons give me
characters: a lesbian couple Network show is the brainchild of Love is love, life is life. hope for the future
appeared in a 2005 episode of former Adventure Time writer Rebecca But there’s no doubt in my of queer kids.
spin-off show Postcards from Buster, Sugar who identifies as non-binary. mind that the unpleasant scenes @SeeMeCCKat
although PBS chose not to distribute The series, now in its sixth season, outside Birmingham schools (and
the episode after complaints. Sigh. is about half-human, half-gem elsewhere) are driven by the deep-
And in She-Ra and the Princesses Steven, who lives with his dad and seated bigotry that LGBTQ people Get involved
of Power, we’re spoilt for choice. a group of Crystal Gems: powerful are “coming for the kids”. Next month, we look
The excellent Noelle (Lumberjanes) female aliens who protect the Well, these cartoons and their at Right Said Fred.
Stevenson is at the helm of Netflix’s world from all manner of threats wonderfully diverse casts are Tweet your thoughts
reboot which features a lesbian and monsters. It’s believed that the coming for the kids. @junodawson
couple, Netossa and Spinnerella, show depicted animation’s first gay And it’s long overdue.

24 OCTOBER 2019
#KUBAR

Proudly Independent.
www.ku-bar.co.uk
 In my opinion

THIS
ISSUE
I
ANTHONY GILET GARETH JOYNER MAX WALLIS JONNY WOO

GUILLOTINA MUNTER,
Glasgow’s first lady of
drag, spills the tea on the
All I’m left with are memories
queens’ latest exploits and painful, lasting regret
The cast of Drag Race UK The reason we didn’t meet much towards your on the sofa to awake with vice-grip hangovers
was finally announced last years was that I agonised each and every crushing us.
last month and, as you’d time we had sex. Neither of us could have I remember you playing Final Fantasy
expect, it wasn’t without known how few years you had left. We didn’t XV and you saying how much you wanted
a wee bit of drama. know how few the days we had together. to get it soon. I remember your breath, how
The casting of London’s I was selfish and coarse. To see you was to it smelled of something awful. It turned
very own BAGA CHIPZ got people’s succumb to the most base desire, to yield to out it was the cancer you didn’t know you
backs up in some quarters, many the inevitable. I came up had. Within three weeks
objecting to her supposedly being with excuses not to see you were in hospital.
a Tory supporter. Snowflakes you – to only see you
“I wasn’t there to hold Lymphoma, or a swollen
not recognising a masterclass in in the glare of a cinema your hand and now spleen, like an inflated
committed satire: Baga released an screen, watching Marvel my cowardice is baby, you told me on
official statement saying that she is
in fact a life-long Labour supporter
films, where we would
drink too much, and
like a pall” WhatsApp. I asked to
visit, you told me your
but preferred May to Corbyn, yet fumble, smirk and kiss family and friends were
would never vote for Boris but no more. We could blame there, that the prognosis wasn’t good.
Johnson. She’s already the kiss on the drink. Then... nothing. Two WhatsApp
living up to being Queen We first met online eight messages, ticks for ever consigned to the
of the Tabloids! Very years before. You were a couple empty ether between mobile phones that
’arsh dear! of years older than me, I was at no longer connect.
Other fans criticised Manchester University and you This absence, this sudden cutting off,
the perceived lack of were in London. It was a time haunts me even now, my dear friend.
racial diversity (there are when I had few gay friends and Partly for what could have been. And in
only two queens of colour in the you represented so much more part, because I wasn’t there for
cast) and made a right stooshie than a muscley blond geek you when you needed me
that there was zero Scottish in London. You were a most. I was not there to
representation. The star of repository of knowledge, hold your hand in the
BBC’s The Social, LAWRENCE of fandom, of kindness. hospital. And worst,
CHANEY, gave an interview to I’m not sure I ever told because I actively
the press, stating that she had you how grateful I did not see you, all
applied but didn’t hear back, and was for your words because I thought we
that overlooking Scottish gals of wisdom: what lube would fuck.
was denying them money, honey. to buy, what kink lit But now I cannot
Fellow unsuccessful your fire. You would send even tell you how
applicant REBA me comics to read and much you meant
MARTELL, crowned I devoured them. When to me because
Scotland’s Best Drag you died, your mum sent you’re gone, and I
Queen 2018, also felt me four of your books to know that I ought
it was a poor show. keep for ever. to have made time, or
Hopefully this is just a We do not appreciate to have taken the risk.
taster. I’ll certainly be tuning people — not truly — Because now you are
into the first episode on 3 October until they are gone. gone and my cowardice
for a full meal! We met one night in the is like a pall. Never will I let
summer of 2015. We kissed, something so trivial as sex get
@ladymunter
drunk as skunks, and slept in the way again. I miss you.

26 OCTOBER 2019
 INVESTMENTS
MORTGAGES
PENSIONS
LIFE INSURANCE

STRAIGHT
ADVICE
ATTITUDEFS.CO.UK
01342 850 432

Attitude Financial Services Limited is an appointed representative of Intrinsic Financial Planning Limited and Intrinsic Mortgage Planning Limited, who are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Intrinsic Financial and Mortgage Planning Limited is entered on
the FCA register under reference 440703 and 440718. Guidance and/or advice offered is subject to the UK regulatory regime, and is therefore targeted at consumers based in the UK. Enterprise Investment schemes (EIS) and Venture Capital Trusts (VCT) invest in assets that are high
risk and can be difficult to sell such as shares in unlisted companies. The value of the investment and the income from it can fall as well as rise and investors may not get back what they originally invested, even taking into account the tax benefi ts. Your home may be repossessed
if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage. The value of pensions and investments and the income they produce can fall as well as rise. You may get back less than you invested. Tax planning is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Tax treatment varies
according to individual circumstances and is subject to change. Registered company name: Attitude Financial Services Limited. Registered as a Limited Company in England and Wales No 11695594. Registered Address: Woodlands House, Beeches Lane, Cowden, Kent TN8 7LA
 CA R S
Words Darren Styles

Jaguar F-Pace SVR as gangster as it sounds and has an unerring

ability to shrink distances imperiously and
very, very swiftly. Jumping between two legal
Whatever you believe, in general, about the saying “size matters”, limits, 30-70mph, takes 5.6 seconds, and that
there is no doubt it does when it comes to this supercar surprises people, the driver included on
occasions. Thankfully, there’s plenty of agility

T
beneath the brute force.
here are those who promote and said: “Well, we could stick a five-litre V8 engine The interior is a step-up from lesser
subscribe to the notion that size doesn’t in the nose and see how that goes.” brethren, too, and while the infotainment
matter. Proof here that it does. Size From 0-60mph in a nick over four seconds and secondary switchgear isn’t a match
matters. For sure, bigger is not always better, and on to 176mph, is the answer. for newer Jaguar models — I-Pace and XE,
and small can be perfectly formed. And there’s Clearly, in a car of this type, that’s specifically — the bolstered “performance”
a reason a “happy medium” is happy, no borderline ridiculous, Supercar fast in a seats, culled from the F-Type sports car,
doubt. Less chafing, probably, at the very least. five-seater that offers a panoramic view over enrobed in distinctive quilted leather, deliver
But size always matters. hedges. But holy moly it’s beguiling. The a luxe passenger environment of the kind
The Jaguar F-Pace SVR (above) is a case in all-wheel-drive that makes the F-Pace handy you’d hope to find in a premium motor with
point. This mid-sized SUV’s sales success these in a wet field at the gymkhana also delivers a price tag north of £75k.
past couple of years has led a transformation prodigious levels of grip to enable the SVR’s We all know that hybrids and all-out
– actual, and in terms of perception – of the slingshot acceleration. And it does so with electric are the automotive future and that
whole Jaguar brand. It’s modern, relevant, a soundtrack ripped clean from the it’s likely that we are seeing the last
good-looking, versatile, capable and great heavens — a deep, barrel-chested, days of big-bore V8 engine that
value. What aspiring school-run parent could sonorous bellow from the consumes petrol at the (not
ask for more? And the F-Pace spawned a baby fist-sized pipes out back as entirely unimpressive)
brother E-Pace and an all-electric sister I-Pace, 542bhp is deployed with Jaguar F-Pace SVR. rate of 22.6mpg. But as
the latter currently World and European Car the ferocity of a fighter 5.0-litre // twin-turbocharged a car enthusiast, you
of the Year. The revolution started here. jet leaving the deck of an V8 // 542bhp // 509lb/ft torque have to applaud and
But transformed or not, Jaguar is a sporting aircraft carrier. // 0-60mph in 4.1 seconds // salute in equal measure
brand at heart – and while practicality and By any rational top speed 176mph // 22.6mpg this anachronistic
the ability to carry people in comfort and measure it shouldn’t combined // 272g/km CO2 // combination of power
safety is a noble cause, this moment was work, but it does, and From £75,335 // jaguar.co.uk and consumption while
always going to come. The moment a bunch gloriously so. On optional it lasts.
of engineers, happy they’d built a taller Jaguar 22in rims (21in are standard) It is big and it is clever. See:
that could grip and handle like a lower Jaguar, the F-Pace SVR looks every bit size matters.

28 OCTOBER 2019
 INVESTMENTS
MORTGAGES
PENSIONS
LIFE INSURANCE

We’ll
cover
it
ATTITUDEFS.CO.UK
01342 850 432

Attitude Financial Services Limited is an appointed representative of Intrinsic Financial Planning Limited and Intrinsic Mortgage Planning Limited, who are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Intrinsic Financial and Mortgage Planning Limited is entered on
the FCA register under reference 440703 and 440718. Guidance and/or advice offered is subject to the UK regulatory regime, and is therefore targeted at consumers based in the UK. Enterprise Investment schemes (EIS) and Venture Capital Trusts (VCT) invest in assets that are high
risk and can be difficult to sell such as shares in unlisted companies. The value of the investment and the income from it can fall as well as rise and investors may not get back what they originally invested, even taking into account the tax benefi ts. Your home may be repossessed
if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage. The value of pensions and investments and the income they produce can fall as well as rise. You may get back less than you invested. Tax planning is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Tax treatment varies
according to individual circumstances and is subject to change. Registered company name: Attitude Financial Services Limited. Registered as a Limited Company in England and Wales No 11695594. Registered Address: Woodlands House, Beeches Lane, Cowden, Kent TN8 7LA
 HOMES

(DINO)SOAR TO NEW HEIGHTS

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Remind guests that dinosaurs once ruled the world by
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WEST SUSSEX

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30 OCTOBER 2019
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WHEN
GUS
MET
LAITH
 Gus Kenworthy & Laith Ashley

Cliff Joannou brings Gus wears shorts, by Versace at

together two former Matches Fashion, socks, by Nike,
trainers, by Kurt Geiger
Attitude cover stars Laith wears shorts, by Versace
at Matches Fashion, socks, by
to talk about trans Sockshop, trainers, by Fila

rights, and violence

in the community
Photography Santiago Bisso
Fashion Joseph Kocharian

>
 lympic skier turned actor Gus Kenworthy was
passing through a London airport in the spring
of 2016 when an issue of Attitude caught his
eye. On the cover was model Laith Ashley, who
had recently spoken out about his identity as
a trans man. Just two months earlier, Gus had
featured on the cover of the magazine himself,
after coming out as gay in an interview with
ESPN. “I thought: ‘Oh this guy’s so hot’,” Gus tells
me as we chat post-shoot on the eighth floor
of a Downtown LA office block in the sweltering Californian heat. “I was
honestly surprised that Laith was out. A lot of time, especially when you’re
in the public eye and you’d think that in this day and age that more people
would be out and open and accepting, a lot of folks are still in the closet.
“There’s fear that coming out might be detrimental to your career, so I was
surprised that he was so out and vocal. I thought that was pretty cool.”
The pair struck up a friendship via social media, engaging in discussions on
topics as varied as queer culture and issues around violence against trans people.
When Gus’ role in the new season of American Horror Story: 1984 was announced,
Attitude approached him for a follow-up cover shoot. Gus had one request: to use
the opportunity to highlight an issue that’s becoming increasingly pervasive in
society, namely the violence and prejudice that the trans community faces as it Cliff: As LGBTQ people, we all share common
becomes increasingly visible. ground in our journey to finding a place in
It made perfect sense to finally bring Gus and Laith together for their a heteronormative world.
respective second cover stories, this time in conversation on the importance of Laith: The thing that’s so special about the
using their voice to help elevate those in the LGBTQ community who are often LGBTQ community as a whole is that there
overlooked and too often left behind. is a commonality. We’ve all had a shared
struggle, even though the struggles are
unique to each person’s own experience
and no two people’s are the same. Some
people’s are much more traumatic than
that of others, but we all still struggle with
an identity crisis early in our life, and at
some point feel shame and have to figure
out how to move around that and figure
out how to sort of manifest the most
real, authentic version of yourself, then
get to the point where you’re confident
enough to showcase that. When you meet
someone else in the community, whether
a trans person, a lesbian, or a gay man, you
have that common thread. I feel it bonds

“Black trans women

us immediately.
C: What issues would you say the LGBTQ
community is facing now?

are constantly being

L: Our political climate can be really
frightening. We need to remain aware of
what is going on with our government

attacked” Laith and the policing that’s happening of trans

women’s bodies, specifically black trans >

36 OCTOBER 2019
 Gus Kenworthy & Laith Ashley

Gus wears tank top, by

Sunspel, shorts, by Fila,
socks, by Nike, trainers, by
Kurt Geiger
Laith wears shorts,
by Versace at
Matches Fashion
 Gus Kenworthy & Laith Ashley

women, who are constantly being attacked G: When I first came out, I talked so much didn’t get that credit, they didn’t get that
or murdered. The rate is astonishing and about my struggle as a gay man and about recognition.
it’s so sad that it continues to happen. As a being in the closet, and how it was so C: Do gay men still find it difficult to relate to
trans masculine person, if I didn’t say that difficult in sport and I’m not discrediting those who don’t share their privilege?
I was trans, I can kind of walk around and that. It was really difficult and there are so G: I think it’s easy to forget. And it’s
no one would necessarily know or bother many people in similar situations in sports sometimes difficult to comprehend other
me, but I have the privilege of being able or small towns, or religious communities, people’s struggles. You think about your
to be out and feel safe in doing so. Because where it’s scary to be themselves. But own struggle and if the people you are
of that privilege, it’s my responsibility, or I then I also think about the fact that I am, hanging out with are also people who are
take it upon myself to advocate on behalf for lack of better way to say it, a good- similar in the way they identify, and even
of those who may not have a voice. looking, cis gender, white, gay man. I though the community is this incredible,
Gus: I feel the same way. People talk about have the easiest path to walk of anybody beautiful, melting pot of people, it can
how far we’ve come as a community with in this community and I think it’s about also be segregated in a way where gay
this year being the 50th anniversary of the remembering and recognising that, then people don’t hang out with lesbians and
Stonewall uprising, 50 years of New York trying to figure out how to make it so the trans people. It just feels as if everyone
Pride, and everyone talking about how we path is easier for people who are in more gets separated a little bit, and it happens
are finally where we need to be — saying marginalised parts of the community. through different expressions of sexuality
that comes from a place of privilege. For People with more disenfranchised voices, or race. I don’t think it’s even intentional a
me, as a cis gender, white, gay man, yeah people who don’t feel safe leaving their lot of the time, it just happens. But because
it’s pretty great to be gay right now. It’s house, who aren’t able to have a lot of of that, sometimes it takes someone
not too bad but we’re really only as safe the luxuries that I’m afforded. I’ve tried actually thinking about it and realising
and secure as every single part of our to do what I can whether it’s with the they have to step up and look out for
community because we are a community Aids/LifeCycle or my work with The Trevor everyone else. I’m often put in positions
and the fact that black trans women are Project. With marriage equality, it felt as if where I could just as easily do my own
being murdered means that we are not it was a huge step forward in the US and thing and focus on me and not really
where we need to be. It does not mean our in so many countries that are legalising worry. There hadn’t really been anyone
community is safe, that we’ve gone to hell it, but in something like 43 states it’s still who was out in any action sports and I
and back and now we’re all good. We are legal to fire someone because they’re gay, think a big part of the reason that I came
not in the clear yet and we still have a long to not offer them housing. That’s not out was that I thought: “Fuck it, this is so
way to go, and we can’t turn our backs on equality. It’s bullshit. selfish of me to stay in the closet. It shows
other people in our community. C: Do you feel gay men need to step up more? that I’m ashamed. There are so many other
L: Yeah, in terms of rights, in the US there G: Absolutely. I feel “gay” and Gay Pride kids in sports that would benefit from me
are still many states that can discriminate sort of become this umbrella term for stepping up.” When I came out, a lot of
against people for being LGBT, there isn’t everyone in the community, but when really wonderful things came to me. I feel
equitable treatment among all people you think back to what happened at like, for a while, I took and took and took,
in the United States, or anywhere in the Stonewall and even before that in San then after enough time you sort of realise,
world for that matter, so the fight is going Francisco, there were trans people at the fuck I can’t go on doing that. At a certain
to continue. I want to be at the forefront forefront, trans people fighting for our point I have to be like, “Wow, why am I
of that battle. liberation alongside gay men, and they getting a lot of these things?” And I think
it goes back to the fact that I am privileged,
and I should be trying to do right by the
rest of the community and recognise my

“Trans people fought

place in that fucked-up social hierarchy.
C: What about you, Laith? What prejudices
have you had to face during the past few years

for our rights and

since you came out as trans?
L: When I started my medical transition
and my physical body started to change,

don’t get the credit” Gus I noticed a lot of other things changing,
too. The way people treated me, the way I >

OCTOBER 2019 39
 was respected more by people on a daily men are visible, the same is happening. is assigned to what people are going to
basis, depending where I was. If I was on Since I am being transparent, I get tons of ascribe solely as male, masculine or men,
my way to work and I was dressed in a solicitations from gay men online. For our you’re going to be expected to be treated
button-up shirt and I looked like what can community, physicality is something that as such throughout your entire life. So,
be perceived as a non-threatening person we have used for a long time to validate a lot of people look at trans women and
riding the subway, I wasn’t harassed, ourselves and I think that’s where it comes although their presentation may be
no one bothered me, I was respected, I from. Our community can be hyper-sexual feminine and their identity is that of a
could go to work no problem. Now, if I for many reasons, and the fetishising of woman, and they are women, in other
was wearing maybe shorts, a t-shirt, and trans men is definitely on the rise. But people’s minds they’re still male, and are
a baseball cap, on my way to the gym, the along with that is an increase of trans- expected to behave the way they believe
police would start treating me differently amorous individuals coming out as well, people assigned male at birth should
and with more aggression than I was which is a positive thing. At the end of the behave.
treated prior to my transition. That’s a day, I think we all want love, validation C: Have you experienced violence?
little bit scary and it took some time for and respect. L: I haven’t personally experienced
me to get used to navigating the world as a G: Not that I can speak on the trans physical violence, but I have been
male person of colour. My brother told me experience at all, but I have a lot of trans disrespected and mis-gendered by people
that he would be harassed by the police a female friends who tell me that they feel both within and outside our community.
lot because of his complexion, and I was overly fetishised, to the point where it’s There was one situation about 18 months
like, “Really?” Until it started happening impossible to date. They feel that when ago in West Hollywood where a guy was
to me. This is the reality of the world that they’re with someone, the only reason just really disrespectful. I was with a
we live in. I always feel I have to mention they’re with you is they’re over-sexualising friend, waiting for an Uber and I looked
that because I can now see things from a you and like putting you in this specific over and noticed a group of three gay men
different perspective. box. Then I have friends who are trans talking and they kept whispering to each
C: One of the central things to gay, bi or queer women who’ll be dating someone but other, looking over at me. I just figured,
male identity is sexual attraction. Do you feel never get introduced to their friends “OK, they recognise who I am, whatever.”
attracted or fetishised by gay men? because of the “shame and stigma” that And one of the guys gets up and I notice
L: It’s definitely changing as trans men surround it. I saw a video the other day of him coming towards me and he says, “Oh,
gain more visibility and are coming out. people harassing this cis gender man on so those guys over there said that you’re a
For a long time, trans masculine folks the street who was with a trans woman, woman. Is that true?” I thought: “What did
have lived stealth lives for safety. Trans and it’s horrible, awful. He hanged himself you say to me?” And he was like, “Oh, it is
men tend to isolate themselves, and the shortly afterwards. true. Yeah, that’s a woman.” I was enraged
only folks that would know that they’re C: Why do you think trans women are targetted but I knew I couldn’t react. However,
trans are the people intimately involved so often? violence does happen and because there
with them. As people started becoming L: It has to do with the way the world is, at times, a need to be viewed as hyper-
more open and people felt safer to come views men and women in general. People masculine, as male, and to be respected as
out, that’s when it started changing. view women as secondary to men, that a man, a lot of trans men tend to stay silent
Trans women have been fetishised for is a horrible truth. If you were assigned when they do experience violence from
decades and I feel now that more trans male at birth or you have genitalia that a partner, because it’s something that is
expected to happen only to women. And if
it does happen to a man, they “should be
able to handle it”. That way of thinking is a
product of toxic masculinity.

“Trans masculine folks

C: What do you think about the way gay men
are so forward with each other around sex?
G: You have to take context into

have lived stealth lives

consideration. If you’re at a party and
someone grabs your ass that’s different
to someone doing it in the office. It’s

for their safety” Laith flattering to have someone come up to

you even if you’re not interested. But it’s >

40 OCTOBER 2019
 Gus Kenworthy & Laith Ashley

Gus wears crop

top, by ASOS
Laith wears crop top, by
ASOS, shorts, by Ron
Dorff, socks, by Sockshop,
trainers, by Fila
 Gus Kenworthy & Laith Ashley

all about the approach. Someone can anybody else because I’m afraid. I don’t was kind of when the relationship was
come up and say something nice or flirty want to be hurt. A lot of folks can relate to already sort of too far gone and on the
and if you’re not interested an exchange that, so I’m just going to focus on myself rocks. I still have so much love for that
that’s cordial and polite can happen. But and my career. person, he’s wonderful and special, but
the assumption that someone wants to C: Is it difficult to open up emotionally? it would have never worked out because
have their ass or dick grabbed when you’re L: My ideas and insecurities about my where it started, when it started, where
walking by is gross and dated and not OK. physical body keep me from getting too I was in my life, was never a point that
L: I think there is a double standard. If it close to other people because I’m not was going to allow me to grow into a
happens to a woman anywhere, whether comfortable, so there’s still a lot of self- person who was able to love someone else
it’s the workplace, out and about, in a work that needs to be done. I can easily because I didn’t truly love myself. I’ve just
club, you don’t fucking do that. With a guy open up emotionally though. After all, I come out of another long relationship
it’s almost like the way that men are less am a Cancerian. and I don’t even really want to totally get
likely to talk about being raped. There is C: It’s similar to the issues other LGBTQ people into it, but it’s sort of still that same thing.
a certain stigma and you can be viewed face in getting past the shame, allowing After a bunch of years together, realising
as weak if you talk about it. I think that themselves to be loved by another person and that I’m not necessarily ready to truly love
carries over into the community because not just be treated as a sexual object. and value and appreciate someone else
it’s just expected to be part of the culture L: Right. because I don’t know if I truly love, value
and also you’re expected to “man up” if C: That’s another thing that connects us all and appreciate myself. I’m getting there,
someone grabs you, as if to say: “who cares, as a community, our sense of self-worth. We but it’s a work in progress.
you’re a dude, it doesn’t matter”. learn to bury our emotions for so long. L: It’s always going to be [that way]. I think
C: What obstacles have you faced in G: It’s the Velvet Rage. We have this shame we all have trauma, especially folks in
relationships? inside, whether you’ve accepted the fact the LGBT community. We all want love,
L: Dating is tricky for anybody. It can be that you are gay. For the most part, lots of we all want happiness, we all want to
particularly difficult for trans people us haven’t completely resolved that shame be successful. But a lot of times we are
because of the things that we talked about: and it manifests itself in insecurities and ostracised from our own families and
fetishising, or maybe it’s an experiment can make it difficult to date. So you could that’s the first place that we experience
for someone, and the trans person falls be seemingly on top of the world, on top trauma or rejection — from the people
in love, then they’re like, “I don’t need you, of your shit, got everything together, we love the most and who are supposed
we can’t have babies.” Or we are simply not out, proud, but there’s still residual to love us unconditionally: our parents,
viewed as desirable partners. I don’t have a shame. There are cobwebs from all those siblings and relatives. So we look outside
lot of dating experience and that’s because years that you endured basically hating of our immediate family for that love and
I’ve been transitioning for five years and yourself. That makes it difficult. validation and sometimes we don’t find it
there’s been a lot of self-discovery. I’ve only C: Do you relate to that yourself? and it ends up being problematic.
dated one person since my transition and G: For sure. My first relationship was for G: I know so many people who have
she was also trans, a trans woman, and it almost five years and was completely in friends whose parents are so accepting
was a tough relationship. I still love her, the closet. I never told anyone we were and loving, but I also have lots of friends
there’s still a lot of love, but I haven’t been together while we were together. Towards who have no relationship with their
able to really open myself up to dating the end, we started telling people and it family any more because coming out
severed that relationship for religious
reasons or whatever. And when you
think about that same thing happening
to someone who’s not yet equipped to

“The homeless rate of

take on the world, it’s scary to be coming
to terms with your sexuality, coming to
terms with yourself, trying to find your

the LGBTQ population

place in the world, then suddenly being
cut out of your family and everything
you’ve ever known. The homeless [rate

is mind-boggling” Gus among] the LGBTQ population is mind-

boggling, and the suicide rate of LGBTQ >

OCTOBER 2019 43
 folks is so much higher than their straight necessary, especially now, for me to make C: What kind of stereotyping do you both
counterparts. Especially for trans people, a difference in our community and shed experience?
it’s staggeringly higher. For me, it’s about light on trans masculine people who I L: I’m expected to always be this tough
trying to figure out how to help. think have very little visibility. guy bro because I’m trans and because
C: How have you grown since your previous C: Has anything you’ve experienced left you my gender expression is pretty masculine,
Attitude cover when you had just come out? really unhappy? and I think people are surprised when I
L: I was so young and insecure. I wanted L: There was a time I didn’t want to live. queen out at a club. Because I’m just like
to be this perfect idea of what masculinity I was so unhappy and unsure of myself. whatever, I’m having fun and I’m dancing.
and being a man was and that was all I My mom is Pentecostal Christian. I know If I go out with my queer or gay friends,
could think about. When we shot that, I she had an idea of what she wanted her I’m twirling around and feeling really free.
didn’t want to do it. I wanted to cancel the daughter to be and I wasn’t any of that. When I go to straight bars with straight
shoot because I felt that my body wasn’t I’ve always wanted to make my parents friends, I do feel the pressure to be more
there yet. I got through it and it ended up proud so I just felt that no matter what butch because I don’t want to be clocked
being one of my favourite shoots ever. In I accomplished in school or through by the straight guys and feel unsafe. So a
terms of personal growth, I am a lot more sport or whatever, it was never going bit of that does happen.
secure in myself and my skin. Obviously, to be enough because who I was at my G: I don’t really see myself either way. I
there are still a lot of things that I’m core wasn’t pleasing to them or to God. I certainly can see how I present pretty
working through. There weren’t a lot of was like: “Why am I here? I don’t want to masculine. I don’t know, I feel I’m just me.
images of trans masculine people, if any be here any more. I don’t want to be an I kind of hate the masculine/feminine
really, prior to my coming out. There were abomination, I just want to die.” thing. I feel I’m both of those things and
a couple of other guys who had a following C: Did you ever harm yourself? everything and everyone has parts of all of
on YouTube who I admired but, in terms of L: I had a lot of thoughts but I never it. I’m very compassionate, very sensitive,
mainstream media, not many. actually hurt myself. I would just wish very caring and emotional and romantic
C: You’ve said before that sometimes you want that I would go to bed and not wake up. and a lot of things that don’t necessarily
to remove the trans label from your identity. But I’m so happy not to be in that space get attributed to being masculine.
L: I didn’t mean I wanted to actually remove any more. It’s so liberating to just be me, C: What does gender mean to you?
the label. I am a trans man. It just felt as if and my parents eventually came round L: You mentioned that even in the gay
it was kind of a scapegoat, or something and they are very supportive. They brag to community there is this division between
used for click bait. It made me feel cheap their friends about my accomplishments, what’s viewed as masculine and feminine
— as if being trans was the reason why I which is pretty cool, and the love has and overall that has to do with the way
was getting attention, not because of my always been there. It’s the fear that people that we view femininity and women
talent, not because of what I had to say, or are going to judge your child, or ostracise in general. It’s why trans women, and
the work I had done in the community, you for supporting a kid who’s queer. feminine gay men, experience violence.
but solely because I was trans and was a There are a lot of layers, I am a person of It’s because the world views women
gimmick. What I meant by “removing the colour, Latino, there’s the idea of a family and femininity as secondary and weak.
trans label” is maybe making it secondary name that we need to uphold, so I felt that Until there’s real gender equality, there
to my job title, not part of it. I never pressure. But I think that everything is will be that imbalance between what is
wanted to remove it because it’s definitely OK now. masculine and feminine. Even though we
are kind of trying to break that and just
describe what we see.
G: It has to do with expressions. We
perform our gender every day whether

“I didn’t want to be
you identify as a man or a woman or
anywhere in between, and it’s usually
based on what we were taught, what

an abomination. I just
society tells us is one or the other in the
gender binary. We attribute masculine to
male, and feminine to female but I think

wanted to die” Laith any gender can have both the attributes.
That’s the most beautiful thing.

44 OCTOBER 2019
 Gus Kenworthy & Laith Ashley

Gus wears shorts,

by Versace at
Matches Fashion

GROOMING
Garret Gervais,
at MCH Global
AN
N
I TE RN
Drag show stalwart Ross Mathews tells

P
Attitude about his life on screen, feeling

U F R
lucky, being the “wrong sort of gay” and
his plans for love and retirement

O
THE Words Tim Heap & Cliff Joannou
Photographer Leigh Keily
Fashion Joseph Kocharian

BOOKS
Shot at The Standard, Downtown Los Angeles
 Ross Mathews

Ross wears shirt, by

Versace at Matches
Fashion, sunglasses,
by H&M, hat,
photographer’s own
 Ross wears sleeveless
leather jacket, by Diesel,
shorts, by Versace at
Matches Fashion, shoes
and scarf, stylist’s own
 Ross Mathews

t’s difficult to remember a time when RuPaul’s Drag Race wasn’t a mainstay of
gay — and now wider — culture, and within that, it’s tricky to recall a time when
one of Ru’s judging panel squirrel-friends wasn’t the adorable Ross Mathews.
The TV personality, who turns 40 in September, joined the show in 2015,
sharing a spot with Carson Kressley, but his big break came on ratings
juggernaut The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in 2001, when he was working as an
intern while studying at college. Showbiz-obsessed from a young age (he cites
talk-show host Rosie O’Donnell as an influence), his ambition was always to
interview celebrities, the comedy side of things just happened. “People were
laughing whenever I talked and I thought: ‘Oh, that’s what I’m doing now? OK’.”
Embracing his unintentional humour, Ross was given the opportunity to
appear in front of the camera with Leno — as Ross the Intern — reporting from
star-studded events such as the Oscars and Grammys (and once shadowing zoo-
keepers at Santa Barbara Zoo).
“I went from delivering the mail, working for free one day, to being put on TV
the next,” he recalls as we chat post-shoot in a hotel lush suite at The Standard
DTLA, Los Angeles. “Everyone thought it would be a one-time gimmick but in my
head, it was the start of my decades-long career.
“It was a weird transition because I was only 20, and there I was getting to
interview the people I’d dreamt of interviewing my entire life and doing it on
the biggest late-night talk show in America.
“That was 18 years ago and it never stopped,” Ross adds.
Despite never intending to be seen as a comic, he recognised his talent early
on, after discovering he could make his dad — himself the comedian among
friends — laugh.
Growing up in a small farm town as “a gay cartoon version of a human
being”, his aptitude for being funny was an important defence mechanism for
dealing with bullies. “If people picked on me, I could really chop their dicks off
pretty easily,” he says. “I felt like Zorro, ‘swish, slash, boom’.”
But as a professional, his brand of comedy steers clear of any meanness. “I’ve
never had any interest in having a victim at the end of my jokes,” he explains.
“I just try to be funny and tell the truth.”
And his natural flamboyance and distinctive voice have never held him
back. A supportive family and easy self-confidence allowed Ross to embrace his
differences early on. “I’m a pretty simple-minded person. I remember being in
elementary or middle school and thinking, ‘OK, I can either hate my differences
— my voice or whatever — or I can be all in’.
“I’m pretty lazy, and it would take way more energy to hate myself than to just
shrug my shoulders and go, ‘Oh, that’s me, let’s go’.”
Next for Ross is a new book, at least two more series of Drag Race, and, to top
it all off, an evening hosting the Attitude Awards 2019… >

OCTOBER 2019 49
50 OCTOBER 2019
 Ross Mathews

How do you think your flamboyance and as an idea rather than a tangible place. I
campness have affected your career? couldn’t wrap my head around the fact
Hollywood has been a wonderful and that it literally existed, that these people
accepting place; California is a great place existed, that it wasn’t some make-believe
to live if you are a flamboyant gay person. place. And I always knew I wanted to be
But I do think that TV executives are still a part of it, to touch it, even if just for a
a little wary of putting really flamboyant moment. So, everything in my adolescence
gay men on television; we’ve still got a was about how I was going to get there. I
long way to go. Just look at the landscape would’ve settled for seeing Hollywood
of TV. If I were able to tone it down a bit, Boulevard from a bus! I never really
maybe I’d be more successful than I am. thought it would go this far.
But I just am not equipped with that Your upcoming book is called Name Drop
ability [laughs]. and it’s all about those celebrity encounters
When you first appeared on TV, the landscape — have you been storing all those stories
and society were quite different in terms through the years?
of attitudes towards a camp, obviously gay Well, when I was an intern, there were rules
person. about not interacting with the guests on
In the States, there weren’t people like me the show, so I started in the industry with
on TV in 2001. Will & Grace had just started, a big separation between me and the stars.
and that would be it. When I was going on It’s taken about two decades for me to not
the Tonight Show, I remember thinking,
“The audience is going to laugh at you, so
prepare yourself for that because they’ve
never seen this before. But just get them
to laugh with you by the end.” For the first
few years, that was the struggle every time
I had a piece air on the show.
The perception of the comedy world is that “I always knew I
it’s dominated largely by straight, white men.
What’s it been like as a gay man?
wanted to be part of
I always thought that it was positive for Hollywood, even if
me. I’ve been on shows where people just for a moment”
would compete to be the funniest, and
that was a waste of time. I thought that if I
could bring my point of view to whatever be really nervous around celebs. This book
stage I was on, nobody could compete and is about when I have been able to go past
no one else would have the same joke as the velvet rope and been invited into their
me. That made it easier. natural habitats and what’s happened:
It also seems less of an act for you — that good and bad. I say no celebrities have
you’re as happy in real life as you appear on been harmed in the making of this book,
stage or screen. but we go there. The truth is there, and
I’ve been lucky to have some amazing some people may not be thrilled.
comic friends and you do see with some What’s your most embarrassing story?
of them that there’s this happiness when I interviewed Elizabeth Taylor and
they’re on stage and real darkness behind accidentally called her Dame Edna
the scenes. I don’t have that. I always land because they told me beforehand to call
just above happy, that’s my baseline. I’m her “dame”! There she was, and her dog was
not one of those people who goes dark barking, and I go: “Dame Edn... Elizabeth
when they’re not in the limelight. When Taylor!” It didn’t go well.
people meet me, they’re surprised that I’m And a good one?
more soulful and deep than they expected. When Lady Gaga was on Drag Race, I was
I don’t have a strong core — I like a back to so nervous because I had made intense
my stool — but I have strong core values. eye contact with her at the Golden
Was your fascination with showbiz a kind of Globes a few years earlier, when she
escapism, as a child? won for American Horror Story. When she
Absolutely. I would think about Hollywood came on set, she walked out on stage and >

OCTOBER 2019 51
 said hi to everybody, and then she said, golden ticket and got to be here. So, when How different are you finding the world of
“Ross, I need to talk to you.” She went on I talk about them and us, I still feel like us, dating in 2019?
to tell me a story — that people won’t the fans. I have been on TV now for almost Well, I was in a 10-year relationship and
believe — of her seeing me on TV just 20 years, so sometimes I get treated like “a I had been famous for about 10 years.
before that Golden Globes red carpet, them”. But I’ve never held anything back So, I never got to do the online dating or
and what it meant to her. She said she in my personal life, on social media, in my anything like that, and I always said I
was very nervous because she felt that books, or anything. Just recently though, would never get on the apps because I was
as a singer, she didn’t belong there I was in a 10-year relationship and went so embarrassed, my face didn’t fit. Then
among all those movie stars. She saw me through a break-up. That was odd to do in when I found myself single and looked
on a screen and apparently I said, “I’m the public eye, then to start dating again, around, I thought, “How come I don’t get to
excited to see Lady Gaga.” And she said and have people write about that was live in the world that everybody else gets
that in that moment, she took a deep really interesting. Suddenly, there were to live in?” I just said fuck it and one day
breath and said: “I’m going to go out articles about my dating life, when I was I made a profile, with my picture. And the
there for Ross, and all the other Rosses just dipping my toe in dating and figuring world kept spinning. Nobody gave a shit.
out there.” It was a real moment for me, myself out. I have to admit that for the Sometimes people message and ask, “Is
realising, “Oh God, when you talk on TV, first time, I kind of got what it was like this really you? Prove it.” And I don’t have
people are listening. Even the people over there, for them, the famous people. It all day to prove it. I mean, if they’re really
you’re talking about are listening. So, made me want to pull back a bit, which is hot, I’ll prove it! So, I am dating a lot and
watch what you say and put something so not who I am, and it’s the antithesis of I’m pretty good at it.
good out into the world.” who I want to be. What makes you say that?
Is it scary, finding yourself single? Because I’m meeting and dating people
Yes. When a relationship ends that could significantly more attractive and
have gone on and on, in that kind of limbo interesting than myself, I’m fascinated by
space, and you’re alone, you start thinking: how many interesting people there are in
“Should I have stayed?” or “I could have the world. I know it sounds stupid but I
just been safe there.” But I’ve always been have never done this active dating thing
a risk taker. What scares me is that 30 or and I’m shocked at the calibre of people
“I’m one of the lucky 40 years from now, I might look back and I’ve been meeting. I think that has to do

fans who won the think, “You had it made and you fucked it
all up.” But I guess that’s the risk you take
with confidence because let’s be frank
here, I do not have a six pack, unless it’s a
golden ticket and to find happiness. six pack of wine coolers.
got to be here” What made you leave the relationship? Where does your confidence come from?
I feel Salvador will always be family, but A lot of people have the mind set, “Why
the intimacy had run its course. It was a me? Why me?” But I’ve always had, “Why
Do you think those rules you had as an intern beautiful 10 years but it had a beginning, not me? Why not me?” I’m just lucky
have been relaxed now, because we’re so used a middle and it had an end. We both kind to be wired that way. Maybe it was my
to seeing celebrities on social media? of felt that if we didn’t wrap it up then, upbringing. I have a lot of self-confidence,
Interns probably have the same rules I it would feel like a steak that had been even in times when I should not. I mean,
had, which is to be respectful and keep a on the grill for too long. It would just get the subtitle of my first book, Man Up, was
clear line between you and the stars. But tough. “Tales of my Delusional Self-Confidence”.
celebrity has changed. Because of social Did you live together? I have no right to be as confident as I
media, we’re pulling back the curtain a Oh, yeah. What’s difficult is that you build am, but I just always have been all in on
lot more on our daily lives, and celebrities a life with people, and we had two homes myself, there’s really no other option. That
are doing that as well. There was such a that were filled with stuff. Then suddenly, has served me well because I’ve saved a lot
mystique around them before. I almost you go through all of it, and you look of time second guessing and doubting.
miss that kind of celebrity when I didn’t around and your house is half empty. I I just leap in and it always works out.
know anything other than what was on still only have four forks in LA because You’ll be 40 by the time you host the Attitude
the red carpet and what was in the pages I haven’t got around to buying new Awards in London, and you’re single again.
of OK! magazine. Now, we’re almost invited silverware yet -— I didn’t get the silverware How have your views shifted over the years on
in, they seem much more human and we [laughs]. But it’s also exciting because, marriage, monogamy and all those big ideas
see the struggle of fame a bit more, but knowing what I know, armed with the that take a while to figure out?
also we lose the allure and mystery. knowledge of adulthood, and confidence, I’ve always known that I would be married
You’re a celebrity in your own right now, so what do I want out in the world? It kind with children by the time I was 35. And
where do you think you sit on that scale of of feels like every day I’m auditioning the here I am turning 40, single and childless,
sharing and keeping things private? world to see if it’s a good fit. I feel I’m the with two chihuahuas [laughs] and I’ve
I’m one of the lucky fans who won the casting director in my own life. never been happier! I’m still figuring it out >

52 OCTOBER 2019
 Ross Mathews

Ross wears jacket, by Gucci at

MR PORTER, jogging bottoms, by
Versace at Selfridges, trainers by
Kurt Geiger, bejewelled helmet,
stylist’s own, ring, Ross’ own
Ross wears blazer and
trousers, both by ASOS,
shirt, by Marks & Spencer

GROOMING Michelle
Harvey, at Opus Beauty,
using Leonor Greyl and
Kate Somerville
 Ross Mathews

and am open to anything. That’s kind of a meant. I just said yes, and there were all types of queens, all different types of
great place to be. these dates booked for me. That’s when people, every letter in the rainbow. Maybe
What do you mean by being “open to I realised it wasn’t just a guest spot. There that has really helped highlight just how
anything”? was no big meeting or negotiation or varied we are within our community.
I want to experience things I’ve never proclamation, it just sort of happened. Do you see yourself in that judging chair for
experienced. I want to be pushed. I want It’s almost an anti-climactic story but I many years to come?
to be challenged. I want to be wrong, love that it was so organic. We really are a I would be there till season 99. I was a big
sometimes. The most valuable lessons family there. Michelle is like a sister to me, fan of the show before I got to be on it, and
I’ve learned are from when somebody has Ru is like the aunt-slash-uncle I’ve always I hope that my contribution has made
held a mirror up to me and made me see wanted. the show better. I’m so proud to be on a
something differently. Does it amaze you how successful the show show that’s so funny, but also shifting the
RuPaul has spoken before about how he’s in has become? culture.
an open relationship. How do you feel about What I love about the show is that, if you Do you think there’s a risk of Drag Race
monogamy? really look — even back at season one — fatigue?
People should do whatever works for it hasn’t changed that much. It’s evolved When you see what we’re going to be doing
them. In a perfect scenario, of course, I but the essence of the show has stayed in the upcoming seasons, you’ll know that
picture a white picket fence and kids and the same. Its voice has maintained an the producers of this show are too good to
happily ever after, holding hands in our authenticity throughout. Culture has not keep it fresh...
death beds and passing away in the same shifted and caught up with it. What makes What’s next for you?
moment. But I also understand how the me most proud is how it’s contributing I have my book coming out and I’m going
world works, and the majority of couples to a culture shift around the world.
I know are not monogamous. Real life gets People are talking about drag culture and
in the way. I don’t know where I land on LGBTQ culture in a welcoming way. It’s
that, I’ll have to take it on a case-by-case not uncommon to be in a straight hub
basis. I mean, never say never but it’s not somewhere around the world and have
as if people are kicking down the door. some macho guy say that he loves Yvie
I’m still a romantic, I still believe that it’s Oddly, or have a big debate about who
possible to find somebody special. should’ve won. “Life’s difficult
When did you come out?
I feel as if I came out at birth. I knew I was
Do you think it’s also helping to dismantle
those ideas within gay men specifically about
enough without
gay early. Watching TV, I wasn’t fantasising presenting masculine, and about embracing being told you’re the
about the women I was seeing, so it was and accepting those who are more camp and wrong kind of gay”
sort of like, “Do the maths, homo.” That flamboyant? Have you experienced much
said, you don’t know you don’t like brussels homophobia from other gay men?
sprouts until you try them. So, I did dip in When I started on TV, on a mainstream to tour the US — maybe the UK, too. My
the lady pool once, which was hilarious, show, of course I got some hate mail from dream is to do a game show, but I plan on
and now I know brussels sprouts are not homophobic straight people but I got a retiring at 50 so it’ll have to be before then!
for me! When I did come out to my family, ton of hate from the gay community too I want to go to my place in Palm Springs
I was very lucky. My dad was a macho man because at the time — and to an extent and wear elastic clothes and slip-on shoes.
and a mechanic and he kind of got it, and now — there was a lot of thinking that I don’t want to be on the road when I’m 90,
my mom wanted to hold a sign and march if you’re flamboyant, you’re setting the singing for my supper. But showbusiness
through our little farm town — she was movement back by not being “passable”. is tough. Just the other day I worked on
very proud. You still see it on dating profiles — “masc set for 12 hours, and the day before I did
Here in the UK, we’re most familiar with you for masc” or “no femmes”. It’s a shaming a photoshoot, and we had just won the
as one of the regular judges on Drag Race. How within our own community. It’s difficult Emmy. I saw someone in the grocery store
did you get the gig? enough to be gay, let alone to have your and they said, “Didn’t you use to be on
I lucked out big time because I’ve loved own people tell you that you are the TV?” And you think: “Fuck me, man!” It’s
the show since season one. They asked wrong kind of gay. That has happened just like, what have you gotta do in this
me to be a guest judge for Snatch Game in throughout my life: not only do I not fit business?
season four, and it was fun. I was thrilled in with the straight community, but then
to be there, then they asked me back, I within my gay community, I need to tone Ross will host the Virgin Atlantic Attitude
think in season six, to be a guest judge it down because I’m the “wrong kind of Awards, powered by Jaguar, at London’s
again. I went back, I flapped my jaw and gay”. We cannot do that as a community. Roundhouse on 9 October
went home happy. Then they called me We need to celebrate each and every one
and said: “Would you want to come back?” of us. RuPaul’s Drag Race has really helped His new book, Name Drop, is published by
I really didn’t understand what they with that because we show all different Simon & Schuster on 4 February 2020

OCTOBER 2019 55
 A
star
is
torn

Renée
Zellweger tells
Attitude what
it was like to
play Hollywood
legend and
gay icon Judy
Garland
Words
Cliff Joannou
Renée Zellweger
 enée Zellweger had a simple solution to tackle the responsibility —
and trepidation — that came with playing Judy Garland. “Denial. Lots
of denial,” she says, eyes squinting as her petite pout curves into a
smile. “I never really thought of it as a formal undertaking or stopped
exploring the possibilities. It was an exploration, and we kept adding
things,” she elaborates of the process that led to her rather impressive
take on one of cinema’s greatest icons.
Garland’s life story is extreme even by Hollywood standards, and
offers the kind of challenge only the most formidable actors could
take on. It’s one that Renée pulls off with convincing aplomb, telling
the story of the acting legend’s famous headlining run at Talk of the
Town, at London’s Hippodrome, just a few months before her death in
1969, at the age of 47.
It’s a dream role for Renée, 50, who effortlessly reminds us that
she’s damn fine at her job, making it impossible to imagine any of her
contemporaries delivering a performance of equal measure. It was a
no-brainer for the woman best known for bringing Bridget Jones to the
big screen, who she says may still return one day. “That would be fun.
But I’m always the last to know,” she laughs.
When it comes to her new project, Judy, there was no question of

58 OCTOBER 2019
 Renée Zellweger

what persuaded her to take the lead role. “She was ferocious barbiturates and excessive drinking, her time
“Everything,” Renée says with glee. “Judy in the capital would see Garland marry her
Garland’s raw talent, the way she connected and
in the way she sang. younger manager, and proceed to dazzle and
reached out to people. The way people related She was not going disappoint on stage in equal measures.
to her and her music, her performances, and to be beaten” In the shadow of Bohemian Rhapsody and
the fact that she was misunderstood.” Rocketman’s critical and commercial success,
Garland’s humanity is what Renée identifies Renée is coy about Judy’s reception.
as most central to her enduring appeal 50 I suggest she should consider preparing
years after her death. “She had a vulnerability her Golden Globe speech for best actress in a
and a tenacity. There was a sense that she was musical or comedy. “You flatter me. You’re very
ferocious in the way that she sang her songs. She wasn’t going to be sweet,” she blushes. “No, I haven’t thought about that stuff yet.”
beaten, she wasn’t going to give up. Not in life, not in love. Not ever. It’s Renée watched hours of footage of Garland’s performances and TV
inspirational.” interviews and met with Rosalyn Wilder — played by Jessie Buckley —
In the past year, we have seen the lives of music superstars Freddie who managed the legend’s London shows.
Mercury and Elton John transformed into big-budget Hollywood “She’s immaculate, even now. Oh my goodness. The jewels, the nails,”
spectacles. Now, Judy tells the story of Garland’s final months. Renée says of Rosalyn, who also commented on how she wished that
Desperate for money, Garland, somewhat reluctantly, headlined a there had been more people around to take care of Garland. The star
run of shows at the popular London nightspot, leaving her children found herself alone in her latter years, facing an uncertain future,
behind in the US, in the care of ex-husband Sidney Luft, played in the effectively homeless and struggling to maintain a roof over her head
film by Rufus Sewell. Racked by nerves, tormented by a dependency to and for her youngest children, Joey and Lorna Luft. >

BELTING OUT A TUNE:

Renée plays Judy at one
of her final concerts

SMILE: Renée with

Michael Gambon (left)
as theatrical impresario
Bernard Delfont, and
John Mackay, as
singer Johnnie Ray

LAST LOVE: Renée with

Finn Wittrock, who plays
Judy’s fifth husband
Mickey Deans

OCTOBER 2019 59
 TORCH SONG: Renée
brings to life Judy
Garland’s highs and lows
 Renée Zellweger

“After having worked and given and performed on that level for “It becomes a necessary tool sometimes. Not quite fitting in. And
such an extensive period of time, you don’t imagine that that person there are certain things about the experiences of living with a public
would find herself in dire circumstances,” Renée says. “Certainly not persona that are really challenging.” Renée could easily be talking
financially, certainly not without a place to live and without legions of about the obstacles LGBTQ people face in coming out, but in this
friends and relationships to support her.” context she’s talking about an experience closer to her own — fame.
Renée didn’t speak to either Lorna and Joey — neither of whom “The normalcy, or the grappling for normalcy. When you walk away
have endorsed the film — or to Garland’s first child Liza Minnelli, from the arena in which people recognise you,” Renée says, perhaps
about playing their mother. The only version Lorna recognises of her self-referentially, having stepped away from the spotlight at the height
mother’s life is the one she tells in her own book, and the TV mini- of her own career, often considered career suicide for any actor, and in
series that followed [see p64]. particular for women. “I recognised that it was necessary. And yeah, the
However, Renée admits she would have liked to have engaged with chaos that was on the inside was terrible. I needed to step away and get
them. “But only to ask what they would hope [for] from this project a new perspective. I was bored with myself and as a performer. I felt I
and to assure them that I had no interest in doing anything that was was just drawing on these same regurgitated emotional experiences.
disrespectful or might lampoon their mother. “I would hear the words coming out of my mouth, when I was
“I feel like at this point, that if they haven’t shared it, then who am saying the dialogue, and it felt as if I was watching myself and giving a
I to ask? It feels as if it belongs to them and it’s their treasure. I hope critique of the disingenuous nature of what I was doing, creatively.
they will be happy with the film,” she adds. “I just felt: ‘Oh, shut up’.”
Aware of a shared responsibility to do justice to the story of a Finding herself stifled, Renée sought to escape the Hollywood
revered Hollywood star, Renée trusted director Rupert Goold’s vision, machine. “I hadn’t learned anything new in ages, except what was
and although the film is sympathetic to Garland’s troubles, Renée relating, or pertaining, to the character I was going to play.
underscores that it doesn’t represent the happiest time in her life. “I needed to learn something for myself, something that I was
“It focuses not on the shining star years of the Judy that most people interested in. Intellectually, I needed to grow, to mature. There were
know and adore. It’s this chapter in her life things I wasn’t comfortable with.”
that accentuates how extraordinary she was. It was a bold move for a person exposed to
When you understand what she was struggling the degree of stardom that Renée had been,
with for so many years and how it came to because there is never a guarantee that those
be that she landed in these circumstances, “Judy Garland was exciting roles will be there when you return.
then it really does shine a spotlight on her
magnificence, that she was able to deliver in
very naughty, she “But I did that. It was a beautiful dream-come-
true chapter in my life,” she enthuses.
spite of the circumstances and that she was had a dark sense of “At that point there was really nothing to
determined to carry on.” humour. I love it” lose because the things I needed at the time
were separate from my profession.”

F
ed pills from a young age to help her Does that in some way echo Garland’s story,
sleep, lose weight and, at other times, becoming a robot wheeled out to perform,
stay awake during unrelenting shoot deliver interviews and do the media circus on
schedules, Garland is one of the greatest performers of Hollywood’s repeat? “Fly there, plug it in, be shiny. On paper, it works, but it doesn’t
golden age, if also one of the greatest victims of an abusive system. But often take into account your humanity. But like any job, it has its
Renée was determined that the film wouldn’t portray Garland as one- challenges. It’s just that sometimes you have to allow for other things
dimensional, despite the darkness of her early years. and I was lucky I didn’t have kids. But I did have a savings account so
“The circumstances that led to her problems are tragic. But she never I could take a minute. I didn’t stop working because you can’t be idle;
quit despite the deck being stacked against her from the time she was just in a different capacity.”
a tiny child,” Renée observes. “And it was what’s between the lines that The time away taught Renée the importance of boundaries. “I can
was so interesting to me, the omissions of her critics, understanding say no and still be responsible in my work. I can hold my end up and
the human experience of trying to navigate those circumstances and keep my professional promises and obligations, and not let people
still delivering on the highest levels. What that must have been like, to down yet still allow myself to be a variable in the equation, where I
have to keep going on, not have the option to stop when your body is hadn’t done that before.”
telling you that you ought to.” A return to the red carpet in 2014 threw Renée back into the
What Judy portrays is its subject’s unmistakeable resilience and an spotlight when people highlighted her very different-looking face. It
unfaltering hope and joy even in despair, through which Renée found must have been somewhat disappointing to experience the personal
empathy. “She was just really naughty. She had a dark sense of humour. growth she desired, only to be once again subjected to people’s
I love it. She was playful. She was so funny, so quick. opinions about her image and the ensuing social-media storm.
“Did you see the Jack Paar Show? Her first TV chat-show appearance? “I don’t seek it out, so it’s rarely something that I have to consider,”
She’s so gorgeous and so witty. And then she gets up and sings. She was she says about the gossip. “On occasion, it’s really bad and someone
a superstar.” asks me if I want to respond.
Garland’s outsider status is as much a part of the appeal to her fan “I usually don’t because what’s the point of that? It just becomes one
base as her acting and singing. “I wonder if that’s a common thread side of an argument that I don’t want to participate in.”
for most of her fans because that is what is so pronounced in her To that effect, Renée takes a rather bold approach of not engaging
performances and what she shares with her audiences.” with any social media platforms. “I would feel so empty if I was feeling
This tremendous resilience in the face of the film studio’s disregard this obligation to feed that. Not to knock it, I see my friends have a lot
for her well-being is a massive part of why so many queer people deify of fun with it, and I see the value of it.
Garland, who was found dead of an accidental overdose during a break “It’s changed the world in many positive ways but I don’t think it
in a concert in Chelsea, West London. suits my personality. And I don’t read anything, so I don’t ever stumble >

OCTOBER 2019 61
Renée Zellweger

on something accidentally that might hurt to look at. It’s just a waste “She didn’t have a choice until her body became so dependent on it
of energy to me, it’s just haemorrhaging energy and why have all these that she had to have it. She’d have seizures if she overslept and didn’t
negative thoughts in your head?” take the medication.”
Has anything really changed in the decades since the end of

T
he release of Judy comes hot on the heels of the 50th Hollywood’s golden age? Eighty years after the release of The Wizard
anniversary of the Stonewall rebellion, in which the star’s of Oz, arguably Garland’s most famous film, the #MeToo movement
funeral played a small part, if somewhat incidentally. The has highlighted how the mistreatment of women continues to this
story goes that the Stonewall Inn was screening Garland films day. “It’s extraordinary that it’s taken such a long time but it’s been
on the night the police descended on the bar. It’s wrong to say pervasive in our society, not just in the entertainment business,” Renée
that the patrons reacted because it was the day of Judy Garland’s says, citing the Access Hollywood video in which Donald Trump made
funeral, but a cocktail of that situation, a hot June night and an his infamous misogynistic comments about women.
overwhelming frustration with decades of political and social “It was really interesting because being a young actress who
oppression all played their part in the fight back against the was sent to be their escort back to the set, she’s an accomplished,
infamous raid that went on to inspire the formation of the Gay professional woman who worked hard to develop her talent, to earn
Liberation Front and the world’s first Pride parade a year later. that part. Everyone talked about what he said, and what the other
Of her own connection to the LGBTQ community, Renée is cautious gentleman [TV host Billy Bush] said. It went back and forth about
not to sound condescending about how queer people have always been who was responsible, ‘he said this, he said that’. Nobody talked about
a part of her life. “I never know how to answer that because I don’t what she said and how graceful she was in getting herself out of an
really sub-divide my friends. I don’t think: ‘Those are the gay ones’. uncomfortable situation without offending him, because he was the
When I talk about my parents’ best friends, Mark and Jerry, everyone important guest at the show. And what was going to happen if the guy
thinks that Jerry’s a lady, he’s not. I don’t gets upset because she said, ‘Keep your
clarify they’re gay when I talk about them. hands off, don’t talk to me like that’.
They’re just Mark and Jerry.” Nobody talked about how quickly she
Of the many LGBTQ people she has deflected the situation and continued
known, she remembers how in 12th grade to do that all the way down the hall
she had a friend who had a difficult and into the studio. And that didn’t
relationship with his dad who wasn’t come from nowhere. It wasn’t an
willing to accept who his son was. “He improvised skill that just arrived when
changed his name and everything, which it was necessary. That was something
I guess in the late Eighties was quite that she would have honed over years
brave. I don’t remember a time where of improvised experience. It made me
I didn’t have friendships [with LGBTQ think, ‘Wow, that’s just something boys
people]. It’s difficult to say because again, do. That’s something that we have not
I’m separating them... in some way, it GOOLD STANDARD: required that they not do’. So instead
Renée with director
feels uncomfortable. I like originals, I like Rupert Goold of requiring that they not do it, we’ve
people who are authentically themselves.” developed a defence mechanism to
Is this authenticity perhaps what gay get us out of potentially dangerous
men identify most with Garland, who won a Golden Globe for her situations. It made me think about every woman and what their
performance in the 1954 version of A Star is Born? first experience was and at what age did they start practising that.
“A friend said perhaps it was that she was misunderstood but I was seven. It’s years, a lifetime. I would be interested to know
she refused to be made to feel defeated,” explains Renée. [about] your sister, your mother. My mom talked about it as if
“I don’t know. It’s hard to talk about without going back again [women] didn’t see it as harassment.”
to that same worry that you’re sub-dividing based on sexual As women began to speak out against other incidences of
preference or identity,” she continues. “But to watch my friends be inappropriate behaviour and more high-profile men were
kicked out of their homes or lose family members because they implicated, Renée found herself the subject of salacious comments
came out, or to be disenfranchised because of who they are, or to from Harvey Weinstein who alleged how she and other female
know people who think in some way that it’s blasphemy in the eyes actors performed sexual favours in exchange for film roles.
of their religion, or somehow that it’s a choice or affliction that Renée brushes off his comments by choosing not to descend to
needs to be righted, I admire that courage. his level. “I guess you react as you would with any other unbelievable
“To overcome that and choose to live authentically, despite the revelation, there’s nothing to really say.”
difficulty that you will face, even today when there are a million- While Garland, who has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame,
and-a-half people at Pride, you must be of extraordinary character.” struck a lonely figure in an old movie system that devalued a woman’s
It’s no spoiler to say that the film features a scene in which rights over her body and treated her abilities as a commodity, Renée
Garland is welcomed into the lives of two gay admirers. believes that the world is gradually moving on. “I hope that it would
Although the scene is fictional, Renée says the director added it as a be different today, especially for a child. That there would be more
representation of how she interacted with her LGBTQ fans. protections in place than back in Judy’s day.
“It’s a sad moment but at the same time, it’s quite uplifting. It’s “And we know more about the dangers of medicating unnecessarily,
emotionally complicated. It was just a mutual understanding and about addiction and disordered eating and all of the things that Judy
support and acceptance.” stumbled into because of being made to feel that she didn’t deserve
The intense isolation and subsequent fall into addiction that what came from her talent.”
Garland experienced is something Renée sees can be easily exasperated
by fame. “Yes, certainly. But with Judy, she didn’t even fall into it. Judy is due open in the UK on 2 October. See p119

62 OCTOBER 2019
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 “Aids came along and
it hit us that the fun
and the innocence
were gone”

64 OCTOBER 2019
 Lorna Luft

Sister act
Lorna Luft — Judy Garland’s daughter and Liza
Minnelli’s younger (half) sister — tells David It would be nice to separate fact from fiction
McGillivray about her life-long love affair with because the press tells lies about you.
When you go into the entertainment
the UK, fighting addiction, and her affinity with business, people have a tendency to make
the LGBTQ community. All in time for a new film, up stories about you. Maybe it’s because
they want to feel better about themselves.

W
chronicling her mother’s final days… It’s up to you, the person who is in the
limelight, to let it roll off you.
It’s difficult when talking about you not to
discuss your family.
hen the brief is to interview a singer and It’s part of who I am. I’m sometimes
actress whose family is more famous than she perplexed because people want to know
is, it’s as well to tread carefully. But all credit to what it was like and I don’t have anything
Lorna Luft. She doesn’t seem to mind talking to compare it to. They can be a little
yet again about her mother: Judy Garland, one disappointed because they want me to
of the biggest stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age, come out with stories I can’t provide them
whose film The Wizard of Oz introduced a song, with because I didn’t know any different.
Over the Rainbow, that became a gay anthem. Do you mind answering the same questions
Lorna’s sister, Liza Minnelli, also comes up again and again?
in conversation — her most famous film, I’m used to it. I never want to make anyone
Cabaret, became iconic to a new generation feel they’ve done something wrong so I try
of gay men. Perhaps inevitably because of her to answer them as honestly as possible.
relatives, Lorna has never missed an opportunity to support the LGBTQ community A strap line of your memoir Me and My Shadows
and she has been involved in a number of gay-friendly projects. is “living with the legacy” and you’ve spoken
In the short-lived animated TV series Rick and Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the about that legacy being overwhelming. When
World, she voiced the character of Joanna, Steve’s homophobic mother. Even A Tale of Two were you most overwhelmed by being Judy
Sisters, in which Lorna and Liza sobbed as they recalled their misfortunes, aired on a Garland’s daughter?
British TV station as part of its so-called Big Gay Weekend. Gosh, if you grow up where someone
Lorna has spoken often about her family’s addictions. in your household is really famous
Famously, the MGM studio fed young Judy pills to keep her working and hold and you’re the child of that person,
her weight down. She felt she needed artificial stimulants throughout her life and something’s going to walk into the room
died of an overdose aged 47 in 1969. Meanwhile, no documentary about Studio 54, before you do. It’s difficult because you’re
the hedonistic disco that was at the heart of New York City night life at the end of trying to make your own footsteps in life.
the 1970s, is complete without both sisters wide-eyed on the banquettes. Both were There’s no one to ask, no one to tell you
heading for rehab (and both now say they are clean and sober). how to handle all of that, so you have to
Lorna is due back in London for a new show at the intimate cabaret venue Crazy Coqs. find it yourself. I’m 66 years old and I’ve
She’s no stranger to the UK. In the past, she’s said that she spent half her childhood had a long time to deal with it.
here, accompanying her mother on tour. She’s an extra in I Could Go On Singing, Judy’s The impression we get is that you and your
last film, shot in London in 1963. Later, Lorna played the London Palladium and the sister feud like Joan Crawford and Bette Davis.
Royal Albert Hall and for a while she was a fixture on TV’s Loose Women. Is that true?
But her most unhappy memory of London occurred only last year. Having come My sister and I used to call each other and
through two bouts of cancer, she was performing at the Pizza Express Jazz Club I’d say, “Do you know we’re not talking?”
when she collapsed from what was later diagnosed as a brain tumour, which she And she’d say: “We aren’t?” and I’d say, “No.”
says has been successfully treated. Considering what she’s been through, Lorna Luft So we’d laugh at it because we knew the
comes across as level-headed and unusually honest. people who wrote it weren’t there.
You might think that at 66 she’d have had enough of the press sniffing around for So, you and Liza are friends?
gossip. But she certainly doesn’t give that impression. “What would I be doing if I weren’t Yes. I talked to her yesterday.
talking to you?” she asks from sunny Palm Springs, California. “Probably just wondering You and your family have had tumultuous
what time I could go out of this house because it’s going to be 117F today, that’s 47C!” lives that involved a lot of addiction. Do you
believe you inherited it?
I think it’s a lot of things. I always want
to focus on my mom’s career and her
legacy. But I can talk about the addiction
situation because I went through it in
the Seventies, and we all went out to
have a good time. We got wrapped up in
the whole cyclone of that era. I’ve always >
Lorna Luft

said we didn’t realise what we were doing HAPPY TIMES: Lorna, right, with
her mum Judy Garland, brother
to ourselves. Then Aids came along and Joey and half sister Liza Minnelli
it hit us that the fun and the innocence at JFK airport in 1964
were gone. We had to say, “How do we help
one another?” I got sober 37 years ago.
Do I regret Studio 54 and all that? Hell,
no. We had a great time. Then I started to
learn about the disease of addiction. It
answered a lot of questions for me. Why
I thought the way I thought, why I did
the things I did. I’m grateful that I went
through rehab. With my mom there wasn’t
anything like that and no education. Now
it’s not such a stigma.
Your connections with the UK go way back.
Yeah, we first visited in 1960 so I know the
UK really well.
Do you remember appearing in your mother’s
film I Could Go on Singing?
Yeah, I remember being on the boat and
having the cameras and going up the
Thames with my mom and the young guy
who played her son [Gregory Phillips]. In a
weird way I was going to my mom’s office.
Your husband Colin Freeman is British. How
did you meet? mom’s funeral took place, everybody was and she was like a sponge. So when she got
We met 26 years ago. He was the musical grieving. The police went in, and [the on a stage she knew how much those songs
director of a show I was doing. I’d been patrons] said, “No more, not tonight.” They meant to people. But it was after she [died]
separated from my first husband and stood up for themselves, then the entire that the gay community picked up the
had two kids. I was looking to have a neighbourhood stood up and they rioted torch and said, “We’ll never let this go out.”
relationship like I was looking for a third for three days. It was the beginning of Have you seen the film Judy, which is about
eye. But when it’s meant to be, it’s meant Gay Pride. It’s a responsibility that I carry your mother late in life?
to be. He’s an extraordinary musician and with me to make sure that people are No. I’m so protective of my mother’s
human being. I am eternally grateful for treated decently. I’ve just been to New York legacy. I feel I lived it so I know it. The-
the way he has taken care of me in the past and took part in Pride. I’ve never been in powers-that-be of that film never came to
seven years because I was diagnosed with anything like that. There were 4.2 million any of us for input.
cancer. Colin jumped right in and has been people in the streets. I was on the Stonewall But you feel differently about the TV mini-
through hell and high water with me. float with my friend Randy Rainbow and series that was based on your book?
We’re going to have to talk about gay stuff. Donatella Versace and, when it passed by Well, I produced that, we used my mom’s
I should hope so. the Stonewall, hundreds of thousands of recordings and I’m proud of that movie. I got
Rumour has it there’s a connection between people burst into Over the Rainbow. I cried. five Emmy awards for it and Judy Davis was

“H u nd re d s o f t h ou s a n ds of p eo ple st ar t in g si n g in g O ver th e R ainb o w ”

your mother’s funeral and the Stonewall riots. I didn’t expect everybody, including the extraordinary. To this day people tell me that
Is that true? Were you aware of this at the time? police, to start singing that. It took my it’s the greatest thing they’ve ever seen.
No, I wasn’t aware that it was going on. I breath away. It was extraordinary to hear You’re returning to London to play at Crazy Coqs.
was 16. I didn’t know about Stonewall for the police commissioner apologise for I like that room because it’s so intimate.
many years. I was doing an interview with how the police treated everyone. It took 50 There used to be rooms like that all over
a gay publication and the journalist said, years but he did it. That’s a big deal. America but they died. There’s no place to
“We’d like to talk to you about Stonewall” Did you ever meet Gilbert Baker, who was try out new material any more.
and I said, “Jackson?” [the American Civil inspired by your mother’s song to design the What new material will you be trying out?
War general]. He burst out laughing and rainbow flag? I want to speak about being 12 years old
said: “No, the riot.” I replied, “I don’t know Yes. When I told my children about it they and the first time I saw The Beatles. I went
about that.” Then he told me. I’ve talked to looked at the flag and said, “This is cool.” to the Hollywood Bowl with my best friend
people who were there that night. In 1969 Why did your mother become a gay icon? and her mother [the actress] Lauren
UNDERWOOD ARCHIVES/UIG/SHUTTERSTOCK

being gay was against the law [in the US]. I don’t think there’s one definitive answer. Bacall, who said, “You are not allowed to
But [the Stonewall Inn] was owned by the She made characters who were not only scream. You are movie-star children.” We
Mob and, if they didn’t get their payments, likeable but lovable and relatable. You watched 18,000 girls go berserk but we had
they’d call the police who would bust alwaysthoughtthatshewasapproachable. to sit there as movie-star children.
the bar and drag out these wonderful She touched your heart, she made you
men and women. It was awful. When my laugh, she knew how to communicate Lorna Luft Loves London: Go to L! plays Crazy
because she worked with the greatest Coqs at Brasserie Zédel, London, from 30
writers, directors and choreographers, September to 4 October. See p56 and p119

66 OCTOBER 2019
 Always
and
forevher

Having overcome anxiety

and a fear of being
lonely, singer Shura tells
Attitude how she took a
leap for love to be with
her girlfriend in New York
Words Thomas Stichbury
Images Hollie Fernando

68 OCTOBER 2019
 Shura

W hen it comes to navigating the

treacherous minefield that we call love, one
either tiptoes with caution, or hurtles headfirst
around missed opportunity, anxiety and
thinking I was going to be alone”.
Shura was in a very different place back then:
“You never have to say, ‘I’m straight!’” she
exclaims.
Part of a rich roster of queer artists
into the explosions of the heart (and other body “I’d had my first panic attack. I didn’t know broadening the horizons of the music business
parts, for that matter…) that await. at that point that I struggled with anxiety. I at the moment, Shura isn’t sure how she feels
British singer Shura falls into the latter thought I was having a heart attack. When it about her sexuality being used as a framing
category. How many of us can say that we have became clear that what I was experiencing was device for her career.
flown across the Atlantic for a first date? Even physical symptoms of anxiety, I began therapy.” “I mean, being labelled a ‘queer artist’, it’s
a Grindr hook-up with a guy more than two Pondering the cause, she adds:, “I think it’s accurate,” she laughs. “I have days where I’m like,
streets away can be too tall an order. a lifetime of not dealing with things. What ‘Yay, that’s great,’ but then I’ll be with my peers,
But the electro-pop star is a true romantic everyone should really do is have a relationship who are also queer, and go, ‘It’d be nice to just be
when it comes to finding “the one”, and happily with worries and fears, rather than put them all called a musician who happens to be queer.’
jetted off to New York to woo a woman she’d in a room somewhere in the back of your brain, “I do think representation is important for
matched with on a dating app. then get to 24 or 25 and go, ‘Fuck, what’s all this people. As a cis white woman who is also queer,
“We met online and had been speaking for shit in here, ARGHHH!’” I come from a place of privilege already, even
a few months. When it reached the point of Since then, she has refused to be stifled by her though I’m also part of a marginalised group.
having five-hour conversations on the phone, I anxiety: “I’m always going to be someone who We’re still in a place where we need those labels
decided we should probably have a 3D date – it’s struggles with anxiety, but I’m also learning that and hopefully one day we won’t.”
the furthest I’ve ever travelled for a date.” that doesn’t have to define me.” Unfortunately, the world remains at times a
And, yes, 28-year-old Shura (aka Alexandra “Falling in love and moving to a different scary place for queer people, and our discussion
Denton) is well aware of the stereotype that country does remind you, I can have fun, I can takes a dark detour to the homophobic attack
lesbians move quickly. on lesbian couple Chris and Melania on a
“There is this long-running [thing] of lesbians London night bus last summer. The pair were
being super intense,” she says (you imagine “I’m always going to seized on by a group of teenage thugs and left
with an accompanying eyeroll). “I remember covered in blood after refusing to kiss in front
seeing this tweet, a gay guy being like, ‘I struggle
struggle with anxiety, but of them.
maintaining a relationship with someone in a that doesn’t define me” “When that picture was circulating of Chris
different postcode,’ and then he posted a picture and Melania on the bus, it was really terrifying.
of a lesbian who’d escaped Russia on a boat to That could have happened to me, maybe seven
marry a woman in Canada.” go out, I can have conversations with strangers, I or eight years ago,” Shura recalls. “I’d been at a
For Shura, the leap of faith paid off and after can have adventures, and it’s fine, I’m actually all bus stop with my girlfriend [before] and had a
giving the long-distance thing a go for a year right at it,” she says. guy go, ‘Right, I want you to kiss.’
and a half, she moved from London to the Big Born in London’s Hammersmith, but having “I [was] like, ‘No,’ and he span me round.
Apple to be with her girlfriend. grown up in Manchester, Shura’s coming-out Luckily, my bus arrived at that point.”
Her transatlantic love story inspired much of story isn’t drenched in drama. In fact, she and She adds: “We [my friends and I] were talking
her eagerly anticipated second album, forevher, her twin brother Nicholas (who is also gay) have about it in my WhatsApp group with all the gays
which quivers with synth-laden jams, including almost the exact same one. and there wasn’t a single person who didn’t have
standout track BKLYNLDN. “When I was 13 or 14, my dad sat me down a story, maybe not as severe as that, but very
“I had never written about being happy and was like, ‘I think Nick might be gay.’ I cried, similar, or [at least] could have become.”
before,” she reveals. “I’ve never experienced because everyone at my school had teased him In the face of prejudice, it can be tempting to
extreme joy, not as an adult. It was foreign to me for being gay, and he had said [to me] that he dial down your sexuality, but a message to take
writing in that way, ‘This is new, I’m rhyming wasn’t. The reason he came out is because my from Shura’s music is that queerness must be
‘together’ with ‘forever’, how hilariously cheesy.’” dad had said to him, ‘Nick, shall I assume you’re worn with a fuck-the-haters pride.
The record may have been made on cloud gay until you tell me you’re straight?’ And he Just check out the genius, Madonna-esque
nine, but Shura insists it isn’t toothache- went ‘Yes.’ video for her single religion (u can lay your hands
inducingly sweet: “I still managed in times of joy “Which is sort of what he did to me about two on me), which features horny lesbian nuns
and excitement to catastrophise, because that’s years later. I had a ‘friend’ from school who was making out and, erm, pear-licking.
part of being a person living and struggling staying over maybe that little bit too much. He “Fruit can be sexy,” she giggles.
with anxiety. I have whacked on a couple of went, ‘Shall I assume this girl is your girlfriend Oh, Shura, you’re preaching to the converted,
songs about the meaning of forever and death until you tell me she’s not?’ we’ve been stocking up on punnets of peaches
for good measure!” “I said ‘Yes.’ I never had to say at a young ever since watching Call Me By Your Name…
Still, thematically speaking, it is a far cry from age, ‘I’m gay’. It slowly became fact without me
her 2016 debut, Nothing’s Real, which “centred having to express it. Shura’s new album forevher is out now

OCTOBER 2019 69
 Rainbow
warriors Art and activism collide as we take a stand with
Rainbow Riots, a musical movement bringing
together some of India’s first openly LGBTQ artists
Words Thomas Stichbury

T
hree years ago, while attending “Police held me and my team hostage Petter had travelled to Uganda for his
Pride Uganda, Swedish musician for two hours while they arrested and passion project, Rainbow Riots, which
and LGBTQ activist Petter beat several [other] people,” Petter recalls, he founded in 2012. The not-for-profit
Wallenberg found himself summoning a memory that is no doubt organisation fuses together art and activism
staring down the barrel of a gun, deeply lodged in his brain. “We weren’t sure if in a bid to improve the lives of queer people
a number of guns, in fact. Not we were going to live or die. in places around the world where their rights
surprisingly, he feared for his life. “Although we had machine guns pointed at are under threat, or not recognised at all.
Armed police had stormed the celebrations us, I didn’t feel scared; I felt sad,” he continues. “My mission is to fight hatred with
as part of a brutal crackdown. Being gay was, “During the raid, I saw rainbow flags being creativity. I envisage a world where no human
and still is, illegal in the African country, and torn down and thrown on the floor, and I will be in danger simply for being who they
the raid polluted the air that had temporarily remember looking into the eyes of a stranger are,” he explains. “Queer people have always
been filled with joy and liberation with the and thinking, ‘Those are the saddest eyes I used creativity and culture to overcome
stink of hate and violence. have ever seen’.” hardship – extremely powerful weapons
because they change the most important
thing: a person’s mind.”
After the incident in Uganda, nobody
would have blamed Petter for retreating from
the front line of his fight.
Instead, the episode served to fortify
and fuel his efforts. “It didn’t stop me. That
night made me [want to] dedicate my life to
activism. I felt even more determined to get
this message of strength and hope out there.”
In 2017, that steely, unshakeable
determination led to the release of an album,
Rainbow Riots, a collection of empowering,
uplifting songs recorded by queer artists
from countries from Uganda to Jamaica,
turning up the volume on voices that for too
long had been silenced.
MAKING THEIR Alongside this, Petter launched Uganda’s
VOICES HEARD: first LGBTQ community centre, and the next
JOHANNES HELJE

Petter Wallenberg and

members of India’s first wave in his campaign for equality, justice and
LGBTQ choir, Rainbow love for all is a new EP.
Voices Mumbai
Petter spent almost two years in the Indian >

70 OCTOBER 2019
RAINBOW RIOTS
 FAMILY SUPPORT:
Sushant Divgikar,
aka Rani-Ko-He-Nur
JOHANNES HELJE

ABUSED: Tropical
Marca

COLOURFUL: Petter
Wallenberg and India’s first
transgender dance group
Dancing Queens, in Mumbai
 RAINBOW RIOTS

city of Mumbai, working with some of the Period.’ Those words still resonate in my ears But Sushant, who lends his vocals to tracks
country’s first openly gay, lesbian and trans and make me emotional. Love is Love and I’m Coming Out on Rainbow
singers, rappers and dancers. “As for my mother, she just said: ‘Oh, I Riots India, is confident his homeland can
Timing his visit perfectly, the songwriter already knew, I gave birth to you, what did right the wrongs of the past.
and producer witnessed the overdue you expect? That I didn’t know? I love you “Now is when we must all come together
crumbling of Section 377. In place for more regardless’. But she did say that house rules and fight for equality,” he urges. “You can
than 150 years, India’s British colonial law still applied to me as much as they did to my see the wheels of change [already] turning

...
criminalising homosexual activity was brother — ‘No boys allowed in your bedroom’,” for the better.”
finally abolished a year ago, a legislative fossil he laughs.
exploding into dust. Sushant, who lives in hip Bandra Queer rapper Tropical Marca paints
“When I arrived, as a gay man, I was a (“the queen of the suburbs in Mumbai”), a much darker, disturbing picture of
criminal. I stepped off the plane, I didn’t know acknowledges that his upbringing won’t have childhood, despite also having the
anyone and had to go out and find people. been the norm for other LGBTQ kids, and that support of his nearest and dearest.
After some detective work, I discovered he was fortunate to have been surrounded by “Being from an educated family and
Mumbai’s underground queer scene. so much acceptance. [having a group of] friends who actually got
“A year into the project, the movement I had “I had a beautiful childhood,” he notes. what being gay is, I consider myself to be
joined achieved the biggest victory for human “My parents and family were so supportive, privileged,” he begins. “However, that privilege
rights in our time. All Indians are now free to and they made it a lot easier [for me]. All I walked out of the door as soon as I did.”
love whoever they want. Suddenly, I was part can say is that I’m blessed.” A colourful fixture on Mumbai’s club scene,
of a revolution,” adds 39-year-old Petter. Pictured left in all his fabulous finery the Tropical Queen singer, who also performs
“In February, I was invited to be one of the as drag alter ego Rani-Ko-He-Nur, Sushant in drag, insists he never felt anything less
speakers at India’s first legally recognised doesn’t go into detail about any hardships than comfortable in his skin. “I always knew
Pride in Mumbai. I shouted, ‘Love is what?’ and I was different. I just didn’t know what the
the crowd replied, ‘Love!’
“The atmosphere was electric.”
“‘We need to undo the word for it was. Society knew exactly what
to call me: gay. I didn’t ever feel ashamed of
That wind of change can be felt at a conditioning that the myself [though]. I was proud of the fact.”
rate of knots while listening to the latest British left us with’” But when asked if he was ever bullied
record – fittingly titled Rainbow Riots India because of his sexuality, Tropical (real name
– which bubbles with bold, bigotry-bursting, he has had to face. His default setting is Marc Mascarenhas) recounts a youth that was
Bollywood-inspired tunes. to brush them aside. “Yes, there have been pockmarked with extreme cases of abuse,
Attitude caught up with four trail-blazing instances of misogyny and homophobia including rape.
talents involved in making the album. in my life, but you tell me one country that “Being molested at the age of three, bullied
Each shared their experiences of growing doesn’t have it?” he asks rhetorically. through[out] high school and college, being
up in India, facing differing degrees of That said, Sushant, 29, does point to the gang-raped at 14…” he says, with a disquieting,
discrimination and prejudice. far-from-rapturous reception he received nonchalance. “Add to that, the nasty
One common thread, though, is that the on being crowned Mr Gay India, in 2014. comments, so, basically, the usual.”
story doesn’t stop with the overturning of “The response was lukewarm as most people Casually shrugging off the trauma as you
Section 377. were still afraid, or apprehensive about would your coat at the end of the day, perhaps
There are still a few chapters to go before mentioning being gay openly. But I’ve always as a coping mechanism, Tropical, now 29,

...
we reach a happy ending. been proud to live as a gay man, and being sought escape in song.
honest and comfortable with who I am has, “I found the stage and church choir at six,
Shooting to fame in the 2014 series of TV for the most part, worked for me.” and I played like a kid at Chuck E Cheese,” he
show Bigg Boss, the Indian equivalent of When talk turns to the scrapping of Section gushes. “My music is [there] to inspire kids
Big Brother, Sushant Divgikar was raised 377, he is keen to hammer home the law’s like me. It doesn’t matter what your story is,
in a liberal household where his sexuality British roots, based as it was on the 1533 only you [can] change it.”
was embraced with open arms. Buggery Act. So he jumped at the chance to appear on
“I came out to my brother, who was so “India was very celebratory about sexuality Rainbow Riots India. “When Petter asked me
protective of me, and he told my dad. My and sexual diversity until the British imposed to be a part of it, to use music as a medium
father asked me: ‘Are you gay?’ this absurd and inhumane law upon us and of love, [I] was above and beyond. It is such a
“And without a bat of an eyelid, I said, ‘Yes’. other Commonwealth countries,” he fumes. beautiful opportunity to let the world have a
“He gave me a huge hug and said: ‘You’re “We need to undo the conditioning that the taste of our art, culture and passion towards
not my gay or straight child. You are my child. British left us with.” making a better tomorrow.” >

OCTOBER 2019 73
RAINBOW RIOTS

BREAKING DOWN
BARRIERS: Paras, left,
and Avika from
Dancing Queens

Although things are moving forward

with the rolling back of India’s anti-gay laws,
Tropical warns that the war has not yet been
won. “More people have the courage to come
out, but that has increased the suicide rates
due to lack of acceptance by families,” he says.
“[Gay] sex has also increased and so has the
risk of HIV. As the brand ambassador for PrEP,
I have made it my personal mission to wipe

...
out HIV [in India] in the next five years.”

Growing up in the slums of Mumbai,

dancer Paras Ramjilal realised from an
early age that poverty wasn’t going to After launching 14 years ago, the troupe now his chosen family. “All of us have stories of
be the only hurdle that she would have has more than 30 members. struggle, and we’re now one another’s support
to overcome. “Since childhood, I [have] had a craving to system, giving shelter and comfort, sharing
“I was 12 when I felt that I was different dance, but there was no platform to show my joys and challenges, whether it’s to do with
from the other kids,” she reflects. “I had talent,” she recalls. tough times at work or with relatives who
feminine behaviours and the feeling of Paras, who features in the music video don’t understand our sexuality.”
[being] a girl.” for Never Look Back on the EP, hopes fans will Pitching in on a number of tracks on
A “totally confused” Paras eventually “understand that trans people are a part of Rainbow Riots India, including Be the Change,
came out as trans to her family and was society, and that we have the same rights [as Vinodh believes the choir’s role is more vital
immediately met with resistance. everybody else].” than ever in striking a chord with the public
“They were in total shock and not In April 2014, India’s Supreme Court made following the dismantling of Section 377.
accepting of it, especially my brothers, who the landmark ruling that transgender people “The LGBTQ community is still looked
were ashamed of me. My mother eventually should be recognised as a third gender. It was down upon in Indian society. Just at the
supported me. a huge sea-change, but Paras calls for more start of this month, a 19-year-old boy
“I hardly had any friends,” she adds. “And committed suicide after he was harassed
those who were so-called friends started to
ignore me.”
“‘The only options and ridiculed for being gay,” he sighs.
“We have a long way to go in terms of civil
Treading water against a tide of left open to me were rights, [namely] medical benefits, housing
transphobia, Paras struggled to find a “proper begging and sex work’” loans, adoption, civil unions and same-sex
job” despite having a post-graduate degree marriage laws.
and plunged to desperate depths just to to be done for her trans brothers and sisters. “But as Rainbow Voices Mumbai, we’ll
survive. “People didn’t regard me as human or “[Hopefully], the government will come up continue to be the musical rainbow warriors

...
as a part of society.” with a bill to take care of all transgender fighting for LGTBQ rights,” Vinodh maintains.
“I faced discrimination at every turn,” she issues, including education, health and equal

...
reveals. “The only options I was left with were job opportunities,” she says. Back in August, Petter invited Sushant,
begging and sex work, like many members of Tropical Marca, Paras, Rainbow Voices Mumbai
my community.” Vinodh Philip formed Rainbow Voices and his other collaborators to his homeland
Paras, 23, continues: “The place of sex Mumbai, India’s premier LGBTQ choir, in to perform at Stockholm Pride, making them
work was usually the highway. Clients were the summer of 2014, and they’ve been the first queer Indian singers and dancers to
[typically] drunk and would abuse me verbally hitting all the right notes ever since. headline an international Pride.
and physically if I didn’t have sex as per their “The choir aims to be an advocate for Hungry to make more history, Petter
needs. Most of them preferred to have sex equality, compassion and inclusion, to spread doesn’t know where the rainbow will take
without a condom, and wouldn’t pay the a message of love and acceptance through him next.
agreed rate, or would demand sex without the transformative power of music, and to “As long as there is hatred to fight, my
[paying] money. provide a safe space and platform for queer work is never done,” he vows.
Catching a break, Paras currently works in musicians and singers to express themselves
a bank, and found a new rhythm in life, quite without fear or prejudice,” he beams. Rainbow Riots India is out now on Spotify,
literally, when she joined Dancing Queens, Made up of singers from “all different walks Apple Music and all other digital platforms
India’s first trans-woman-led dance group. of life”, Vinodh, 41, says they have become rainbowriots.com

74 OCTOBER 2019
 BUSINESS PROFILE

Dean Smith & Steve Cook Owners of Saucybitch

Words and photography Markus Bidaux

oyfriends Dean Smith and Steve And the dog is rather cute. markets are full of tourists seeing the product

B
Cook met 17 years ago at a party. D: It was the designer’s idea to include our for the first time. But it can take up your
They continue to work in PR, dog. We wanted to be able to introduce lots of whole life, so we just do one every other
looking after big fashion brands different flavours but keep the same label and weekend. We sell more through retail, but we
and A-List celebrities, but they are also after it just morphed into Captain in a sweatshirt. earn less per bottle. Stores want the bottles
something hotter. With help from Captain, The colour of the shirt changes but everything at wholesale, so we can make three times as
their French bulldog and company mascot, else remains the same. It is a little pretentious, much per bottle at markets and online. But
they run Saucybitch. Here, we discuss their but we thought it was a bit Andy Warhol and we want to shift volume and we have just got
hot sauces, which are selling like hot cakes. we want to have 20 sauces, with each being a this brilliant deal with LVMH, who own luxury
different colour. brands such as Louis Vuitton. They found us
Why did you decide to launch your business? How many sauces did you launch with? on Instagram and they want us to go into La
Dean: I used to go to Hollywood for work and D: Three and now we have five. And we have Grande Epicerie de Paris, which is arguably
we like going on holiday to America as well. more coming out soon such as an extra hot the finest deli in the world and we’ll be the
When we were there we always used to buy hot sriracha although neither of us like sauces only hot sauce in there. The ultimate for me
sauces and bring them back. We realised that which are so hot they burn your mouth. would be to be on the tables in Soho House so
the taste wasn’t the same as those available in S: They have to be rich and have flavour and it is seen by trend-setters.
the UK. When we did our research, we found those ones that completely blow your brain What sort of people buy Saucybitch?
that the ones in America use fermented out don’t really have a flavour, and it almost D: Seventy per cent of our online customers
chillies mixed with cider vinegar for a more becomes a competition to see who can have are men.
natural heat, whereas the UK’s use chilli the hottest. You have to be able to have it Maybe it’s influenced by Beyoncé’s line from
powder and water so you get [a different] with your pizza, on your eggs or simply with Formation: “I got hot sauce in my bag, swag.”
taste. We saw a gap in the market. your cheese sandwich. D: To be honest we aren’t Beyoncé fans, but
How long have you been collecting hot sauces? recently we went to this private event for
D: About 10 years. You’re offered them in the launch of Madonna’s new album. And
restaurants everywhere in America, whereas “My regret is not wearing everyone was asked to submit a question. I
in England for years all you had was ketchup, a Saucybitch t-shirt on needed to think of something to get me on
brown sauce and maybe Tabasco. And when
you get these little brands of hot sauces that
stage with Madonna” stage with her so I asked her to teach me to
dance the butterfly from Medellín. I got to join
no one has heard of and put them in your her on stage but my one regret is not wearing
kitchen, friends come over and we could say: Were there any problems getting into the a Saucybitch t-shirt because she put the video
“I’ve been to America, I’ve got all these posh industry? of us dancing together on Instagram.
condiments from California and New York.” D: That’s straightforward, it’s just a lot of What food trends do you see emerging?
When did you launch? admin forms. You apply to your local council D: We didn’t set out to make a vegan sauce but
D: Twelve months ago. Initially, the business to get approved. We rent a professional when we started going to the markets we saw
was importing American sauces. kitchen that has already been approved then that 90 per cent of the stalls’ signs had vegan
Steve: A lot of the American ones have biker spend 12 hours making the sauces. on them.
or metal-heads graphics with skulls and What were the biggest challenges starting the S: We realised that we can tap into that.
crossbones. company? D: When we created our honey and mustard
D: The problem with selling imports is it’s a S: Setting up the website. I did it because I sauce we used maple syrup because honey
lot of money to pay when you add shipping work in marketing. It turns out that while I isn’t strictly vegan. I don’t think it is a trend
costs. We were always going to start making can create content for a website, it does not though, I think it’s here to stay.
our own sauces, but we began a bit sooner necessarily mean I can create a good website. And how much time do you dedicate to the
than we might have done. I did it, but we now have a new one which is business?
What’s been the reaction to the name? much better. D: I have Monday and Tuesday off so I can do
S: Really positive. It’s such a talking point What’s it like working together? stuff, which has helped us get going. We’re at
when we are at Spitalfields Market. D: You settle into a groove. I organise orders the stage now where we just can’t fulfil orders.
D: A lot of people have said, “I’m a right saucy and try to get the best deals. It got to the point I was spending two days
bitch,” and have their picture taken with it. If S: Whereas I work on marketing, focusing on a week chopping chillies. So, we’re hiring a
you go into a posh deli, all the brands seem the tone of voice of our creative. We want a supplier who’s going to make the sauces for
a bit twee to me, and have a farmer’s name brand, not just a product. us but we’re still going to make the ones that
attached to it and we didn’t want to go down Where do you sell your sauces? go to the markets.
that route. It turned out to be a good decision D: You can make a lot of money on market
because it stops people in their tracks. stalls and because we are in London the saucybitch.co.uk

76 OCTOBER 2019
 BUSINESS

CV Dean Smith CV Steve Cook

1997 Casualty, EastEnders and Bleak 2001 2012- present
PR account assistant to account House Graduated university with a Heading up brand content and
manager for JCPR, working degree in fashion journalism editorial for one of the UK’s
on Coca-Cola, Red Bull, Sony 2005 biggest high street fashion brands
PlayStation Publicity manager at ITV, working 2002
on drama series including Associate editor and trend 2017
2001 Supernatural forecasting for luxury and Started Saucybitch
PR director for Alexander high street fashion brands
McQueen, working on the Amex 2008-present including Arcadia, Condé
sponsorship deal for fashion Publicist for Miley Cyrus, Zac Nast and Louis Vuitton
shows, and McQ Jeans launch Efron, Jonas Brothers and
Andrew Lloyd Webber 2005
2003 Contributing fashion writer for
Publicity manager at BBC for 2017 numerous fashion magazines
series including Holby City, Started Saucybitch including i-D
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 Travel

VIRGIN BIRTH
Travelling to one of the few LGBTQ-friendly
cities in the Middle East is about to get a
bit more comfortable. From 25 September,
Virgin Atlantic will be flying their Airbus
A330s daily between Heathrow and Tel
Aviv. The city boasts stunning architecture,
beautiful beaches, a vibrant art scene and
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Just the
ON THE CREST OF A WAVE
Iceland Airwaves is one of the most inclusive
music festivals in the world and this year
welcomes LGBTQ acts including John Grant,
Canadian masked country singer Orville Peck,
TICKET Words Markus Bidaux

Irish girl-band Pillow Queens, Icelandic band

Vök, and Iceland’s radical bondage gear-wearing
Eurovision entry Hatari. Will Larnach-Jones,
Iceland Airwaves new managing director,
says: “People love the friendly vibe of Iceland
Airwaves. It’s reflective of [the country’s] open
and progressive nature.” The festival takes place METHOD IN THEIR MADNESS
between 6 and 9 November Brussels club night La Demence will be celebrating its 30th
anniversary with a four-night extravaganza starting on
icelandairwaves.is Halloween. With a name that translates as “the madness” you
better believe the organisers know how to throw a bash. The
Belgian parties attract a happy mix of leather boys, bears,
drag, fashion and muscle
queens, young and old. The
long weekend will see 16
DJs perform at Fuse, while
the main party, at Palais 12
on Saturday 2 November,
will feature 60 dancers
and acrobats.

lademence.com

Escape to the Emerald City

Book flights to Seattle at virginatlantic.com

OCTOBER 2019 81
 Travel

Building
bridges
Travelling to countries that were
under the influence of the Soviet
Union can be daunting for LGBTQ
travellers but there are pockets
of acceptance, and a growing
number of groups are encouraging
us to visit. Standing in contrast to
Hungary’s right-wing government,
the welcome in Budapest is warm
Words and photography Markus Bidaux
I t’s my first morning in Budapest and I am
out of bed ridiculously early. The previous
day, a fellow travel writer convinced me
to set a pre-dawn alarm so I could catch the
sunrise. Soon we’re in a taxi to Fisherman’s
Orbán’s party. Articles were printed claiming
the story “could turn children gay” – even
though the only LGBTQ character had already
been written out of the Hungarian run.
More recently, in August, the ruling party
in Hungary, saying that most LGBTQ people
from Hungary’s rural areas and smaller cities
move to Budapest, Hungary’s “gay bubble”.
The capital has held a Pride march every
year since 1997, but in 2007, anti-Pride
Bastion, a 19th-century, stone look-out tower was outraged by a series of Coca-Cola ads demonstrations began, and after that Pride
whose arches and seven turrets bring to mind connected to the popular Hungarian music marchers walked within fences for their own
a Disney castle. Although it’s one of the city’s festival, Sziget. Featuring same-sex couples protection, sometimes even escorted by police
most popular sights, at this early hour we have and the tagline: “loveislove zero sugar, zero in riot gear. This year, however, the tables
it to ourselves. prejudice”, the ads were labelled provocative were turned and the fences were put around
Known for its panoramic views, it’s set on a by the government’s deputy speaker, who the anti-Pride demonstrators instead of the
hill in Buda, overlooking Pest, the two former called for a boycott of Coca-Cola products. marchers, and for the first time in a decade,
cities divided by the Danube River which Against this background, we’re pleased to Pride took place relatively peacefully. Matyas
merged over a hundred years ago to create the meet a friendly face in the form of Matyas, our tells us that the biggest anti-demonstration
Hungarian capital. As the golden hour begins, guide for the day, who’s wearing a brimmed group was only 25 people, and when some
the UNESCO-protected cityscape is bathed in hat with a feather – an homage to his rural neo-Nazis showed up to one of the Pride
warm light, and of the grand buildings across childhood, he tells us. Matyas takes us on events, the police helped to get rid of them.
the river it is church and state that stand high a walking tour of the Pest side of the city, It’s sobering to hear of this anti-LGBTQ
above the rest – St Stephen’s Basilica and the past monuments, through parks and to the sentiment, but Matyas reminds us that
Neo-Gothic Parliament building. beautiful Parliament building just in time for Hungary has plenty of legal protection for
Now fully awake, I continue exploring the changing of the guard. During our walk, LGBTQ people and in Budapest it is not
Buda’s Castle District on my own. The he tells us about his experiences as a gay man uncommon to see same-sex couples holding
Fisherman’s Bastion surrounds Matthias hands. Homosexuality was decriminalised
Church, which has to be one of the most almost 60 years ago, and since 2018
beautiful Gothic churches in Europe with its transgender people have been able to change
colourful and ornate roof tiles. Beyond the “The current Hungarian their legal gender. But despite being part
church, the cobbled streets are lined with government is no friend of of a nation with one of the most unique
pastel-painted houses that look like a scene
straight out of Wes Anderson’s The Grand
the LGBTQ community” languages in Europe, which does not even
have gender pronouns, Hungary’s LGBTQ
Budapest Hotel. I wander through the gardens population is still fighting for equal adoption
CONNECT TWO:
of Buda Castle, which is now home to the The Chain Bridge and marriage laws.
Hungarian National Gallery and Budapest linked Buda with After showing us many of the city’s sights,
Pest in 1849
History Museum, before walking along the Matyas drops us off at the Gellért Thermal
Chain Bridge, one of eight in Budapest that Baths – Budapest is famous for being blessed
crisscross the Danube. with 19 medicinal springs. We spend a couple
After a power nap in my hotel room, I meet of hours exploring the 13 indoor and outdoor
up with the other journalists. We have come pools of the complex, which has been visited
to Budapest for the country’s first LGBTQ by bathers since opening in 1918.
press trip organised by Pink Budapest, a free In the evening, we pay a quick visit to the
monthly LGBTQ magazine established in 2018 Széchenyi Baths, Europe’s largest natural
by Humen Media Group. hot spring bath, with 18 pools. Normally,
Our trip is significant given that the the venue closes at 6pm, but tonight it’s the
current Hungarian government is no weekly SPArty. The shallow outdoor pools are
friend of the LGBTQ community. Last year, full of people dancing to the poolside DJ, and
the Hungarian State Opera House had to a fantastic light show is being projected onto
cancel 15 performances of the musical Billy the Neo-Baroque setting. A concentration of
Elliot following a smear campaign run by stag parties means it doesn’t feel particularly
newspapers close to Prime Minister Viktor queer-friendly, so we don’t take a dip. But >

84 OCTOBER 2019
 v

ARISE: Wake up
early to enjoy the
epic views from
Fisherman’s Bastion

WELL-BUILT: Buda’s
Castle District has
eye-catching
architecture around
every corner

TRENDSETTER:
Budapest has plenty
of ruin bars, but
Szimpla was the first

OCTOBER 2019 85
 BLUE HEAVEN:
Gellert Baths has
indoor pools and an
outdoor pool

86 OCTOBER 2019
 v

GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT:

before we leave, we tell the promoter the clockwise from left, the
event looks amazing and that if he created an imposing New York Cafe,
Baltazár and Hilda
LGBTQ evening it would be an instant sell-out.
After a quick drink at the Why Not Café, a
cosy gay bar with regular karaoke nights, we Where to eat and indulge
head to another gay club, Alterego, just in time
for the midnight drag show hosted by Lady Baltazár Kiosk Budapest
Dömper. Her five-minute comedy routine is The family-owned Baltazár restaurant, Kiosk is a very hip restaurant with a big patio
loved by the audience, but as it’s in Hungarian located within the Baltazár Hotel in Buda’s space and an interior that is flooded with
it’s sadly lost on us. Thankfully, this is Castle District, is cosy inside but we sat light by the two-storey-high windows, and a
followed by a series of queens taking the stage at one of their tables on the cobbled patio leafy tree growing behind the bright yellow
to lip-sync to mostly familiar songs – one and ordered from the menu specialising in bar. Expect large portions prepared using
dressed like Dana International performs Josper charcoal-grilled dishes. freshly sourced Hungarian ingredients. They
Diva, while another, an Eastern European baltazarbudapest.com also make their own cakes and ice cream.
version of Miz Cracker, sings Katy Perry’s Hot kiosk-budapest.com
N Cold. After several more lip-sync tributes, Beefbar & Leo Budapest
the DJ starts spinning the turntables and we Beefbar, born in Monte-Carlo, is now open in New York Café
dance into the small hours. Budapest. The brand-new culinary addition Outside the New York Café, gargoyles
The following evening, the party continues to the city has a stunning interior, but the hold up lamps on the side of the building,
at Pink Budapest’s one-year anniversary star of the show is the beef. Although the but inside the vibe is practically angelic.
celebration at Ankli’s, a brand-new apartment restaurant is located on the ground floor The interiors look like the lobby of one
restaurant. We arrive at Ankli David’s seventh- of the Hotel Clark, you can visit the Leo of the world’s finest opera houses with
floor penthouse apartment and are greeted Budapest bar on the top floor for fantastic gold accents and mouldings on the white
by Ankli, his boyfriend Nagy Marton, and a cocktails and views over the Chain Bridge. columns and walls and frescoes on the
large group of Pink Budapest’s supporters. budapest.beefbar.com & leo-budapest.hu ceiling. Come for classic Hungarian dishes
Over a buffet of delicious Hungarian dishes such as Wiener schnitzel or beef goulash,
beautifully laid out on a long table on the Costes or indulge your sweet tooth with a fancy
large balcony, Ankli explains one of the Portuguese chef Miguel Rocha Vieira was afternoon tea.
reasons he is launching his restaurant in awarded a Michelin star in 2010, the first ever newyorkcafe.hu
his home, “Hungary doesn’t take care of gay in Hungary, and has maintained this status
tourists and that is something I would like to ever since. We ate in his sister restaurant, Spíler Original
do, so that is why I created this place, to put Costes Downtown, which won him another If you are looking for a mix of classic
on a show for the LGBTQ community. Just to Michelin star in 2016. The bistro restaurant Hungarian and American dishes, head
be together and not to have to go down into serves international cuisine. to Spíler Original, a laidback place with
the cellar to party. Be raised up, come to the costesdowntown.hu exposed brickwork located in the Gozsdu
seventh floor.” Courtyard, an arcade of restaurants and
Ankli is a brilliant host and being in his Hilda bars. At weekends, DJs bring a dance vibe.
home adds that personal connection you This intimate restaurant is set within a historic spilerbp.hu/original
don’t often get as a tourist. Plus, it’s an all-you- building built in 1840 and is named after its
can-drink venue, so between the draft beer on designer, Hungarian architect József Hild. The Szamos
tap we discover in his kitchen and numerous interior has a fresh look with colourful glass Szamos is the famous Hungarian family
shots of the national drink, pálinka, a rural mosaics on the walls and table tops. That’s confectionery company which has been
fruity brandy, we are soon dancing in his not to say that the food does not stand on its producing mouthwatering cakes, pastries
lounge as the sun sets over the city. own merits – the kitchen uses produce from and chocolates since 1935. During the trip,
Worse for wear the following morning, we local organic farms to create impeccably we visited their small chocolate museum
are surprised to discover two East German presented, hearty dishes. It also offers (tastings included!) and took a class at the
Trabant 601 cars parked outside our hotel. We gluten-free options. Szamos Chocolate School.
squeeze into the small vehicles, and our driver > hildapest.hu szamos.hu

OCTOBER 2019 87
Where to stay
Estilo Fashion Hotel
Check into the Estilo Fashion Hotel (above)
for a cheap and cheerful stay. It’s located
on Váci Street, a touristy high street that’s
well placed for some of the city’s best explains that the car is nicknamed the “paper On our final day in Budapest, we go for a
attractions, including the Central Market Jaguar” – because it is literally made of paper guided bicycle ride to Margaret Island on the
Hall and Liberty Bridge. Rooms in the and plastic. Danube River. I’m not usually a fan of cycling
six-floor hotel are decorated in a bright, The Communist “people’s car” is the perfect in cities, but the streets are relatively easy to
nautical theme. vehicle for travelling to our destination navigate and the car drivers are refreshingly
estilohotelbudapest.com on the outskirts of the city, Memento Park. accommodating. After crossing a bridge onto
Here, we find 42 statues dating from the the island, we discover a lush, green oasis
Casati Budapest Hotel Communist era between 1945 and the early with a little open-air zoo, an Art Nouveau-
The Casati Budapest Hotel has 25 Nineties, when Hungary was under the thumb style water tower to climb, manicured rose
spacious rooms that are decorated in one of the Soviet Union. and Japanese gardens and elaborate water
of four themes depending on which floor The well-crafted, but haunting statues fountains that play music several times a day.
you stay. Breakfast is eaten in a glass and were removed from the city when the Soviet We park our bikes on the grass and take
ivy-covered inner courtyard, and in the Union fell and placed in Memento, partly as a a break with Greg, our guide. Discussing the
basement there is a small Technogym- celebration of the new democracy. conflict in gay politics in Hungary, he says,
equipped fitness room, a relaxation room In Budapest, there are obvious signs of “Our Prime Minister is quite homophobic,
with hammocks and a dry sauna. anti-Russian sentiment, such as a prominent [but] the people in Budapest are very open-
casatibudapesthotel.com statue of former US President Ronald Reagan, minded. Jumping back in time, this city
while the inscription on Gellért Hill’s was very open to LGBT rights; for example,
Párisi Udvar Hotel 30m-tall Liberty Statue, built in honour of the the first use of the terms ‘homosexual’ and
The newly opened Párisi Udvar Hotel “liberating Soviet heroes”, has been changed
(below) is one of the jewels in the Hyatt
hotel group’s crown. The large rooms
to remove any mention of the USSR.
There is an irony in the Hungarian people
“At one time, Budapest was
are beautifully appointed, but the real celebrating the end of their oppression considered the gay capital
showstopping highlight is the restored Art during the Soviet rule, only to have the of Eastern Europe”
Nouveau former shopping arcade that now current government come in a decade ago
acts as the hotel’s central lobby. Even if and actively oppress the LGBTQ community. ‘heterosexual’ appeared in pamphlets here,
you don’t stay, it’s worth stopping by for a That evening, we visit Szimpla Ruin Bar and Budapest was considered the gay capital
coffee to enjoy the setting. in the VII District. Ruin bars are now part of Eastern Europe.”
hyatt.com of the city’s fabric, but this one, opened in The man who coined the term
2004, is the original. Rather than renovate “homosexual” and distributed those
a condemned building complex, a group of pamphlets was Karl-Maria Kertbeny, a
young bohemians took it over and left the Hungarian journalist and human rights
derelict venue as it was, its crumbling plaster campaigner. Although he was not gay, he
and peeling paint like badges of honour. fought for the rights of all men before his
There are numerous rooms and bars across death in Budapest in 1882, and ever since
the two levels, with mismatched furniture 2002, LGBTQ groups have paid their respects
and bric-a-brac laid out in an everything-and- to him by laying a wreath during Pride on his
the-kitchen-sink school of design. I explore grave in Kerepesi Cemetery.
the rooms, reading the graffiti, stickers and This sunny day in the park makes the
art that cover the walls, while overhead, fairy perfect end to the trip. Everyone I’ve met
lights twinkle and a garden gnome sits on a has been frank about Hungary’s current
suspended swing. It is gritty and bohemian, government, but they all believe the people
but it also feels like a bro zone as it is filled of Budapest can see past the bigotry of right-
with lads on holiday. wing politicians, so that LGBTQ visitors can
Several more ruin bars have popped up in expect a welcome that’s as warm as the waters
the city, but to enjoy them like a local, visit in for which the city is famous.
the late afternoon when they’re not so crowded
to take in all the details of the crazy decor. pinkbudapest.com
 v

GOTHIC GRANDEUR: The

Hungarian parliament building
is a landmark of the city

HOME FROM HOME: PAST IMPERFECT: One of

You’ll find a warm Communist-era statues
welcome at Ankli’s at Memento Park
apartment restaurant

A PART OF HISTORY:
Visiting Budapest’s
Communist past in an
original Trabant 601

OCTOBER 2019 89
 Travel

H O T H O T E L
Poseidonion Grand Hotel
SPETS ES, GRE ECE

“ W here are you staying?” asked With our room in the original Part of the Poseidonion experience
Words
Tim Heap
one of the fellow wedding building, we had a view out to the is people-watching from the front
guests as we crossed the azure sea through large sash windows. veranda, which is split into several
short stretch of water separating the Neutrally decorated and a good size, it different food and drink options
small island of Spetses from the port seemed we had everything we needed — with many ingredients sourced
of Kosta on the Greek mainland. for a comfortable stay — and if not, the from the hotel’s organic island farm,
“Right there,” I replied, Poseidonion staff were ready to go the Bostani. On The Verandah offers
pointing sheepishly to the French extra mile. award-winning gourmet dining,
Mediterranean-style Poseidonion After a few days in the stifling heat while the all-day Library Brasserie
Grand Hotel, looking regal in its and bustle of Athens, we quickly made caters to those looking for something
seafront position in the centre of the a beeline for the sun loungers by the more relaxed. And if you’re thirsty,
island’s main town. pool. Soothed by the buzz of cicadas, allow the bartenders at Palms Bar to
The five-star, century-old hotel is it was a welcome change, and the cool mix something up for you from the
the premier address on Spetses, oozing water was an instant refresher. extensive cocktail menu, developed in
turn-of-the-century grandeur, and Just past the pool lies the Asian collaboration with renowned Athens
would be home for a few nights while Spa, with its own plunge pool in front bar, Baba Au Rum.
my boyfriend and I celebrated our of the whitewashed building. The The Island Spritz — made with
friends tying the knot. Poseidonion was the first hotel in Bostani lemon and aloe liqueur, spices
First built in 1914 (old black-and- Greece to offer spa treatments, so of and grapefruit soda — seemed like the
white photos of smartly dressed rich course we scheduled an appointment perfect choice to honour the occasion.
and noble Athenians can be seen in during our stay. Unsurprisingly, like our experience
the lobby), the hotel was refurbished A 25-minute massage on the day staying at the Poseidonion, from our
between 2009 and 2014, with the of the wedding felt like a good way to wide-eyed check-in to our reluctant
opening of a new 17-room wing prepare for what was to come — but departure, it didn’t disappoint.
overlooking the swimming pool, sadly not quite long enough to work
taking the room total to a modest 55. out all of the knots in my back. poseidonion.com

90 OCTOBER 2019
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94 News 96 Chris Robshaw 100 Matt Lister 102 A Problem Shared

OCTOBER 2019 93
ACTIVE

REVIEW

LPG ENDERMOLOGIE how the slightly intimidating-

It’s no secret that we all enjoy a good looking machine worked —
massage, to soothe away those aches and essentially a small hand-held
pains from exercise or bad posture, or vacuum that’s moved across
just as a bit of treat-yo’self self-care. But the target area, sucking
finding a reliable massage therapist, who skin and muscle between
knows what they’re doing and can apply rollers that pinch it. Smaller
the perfect amount of pressure, can be attachments are used for
more than a little tricky. treatments on arms,
Mechanical massage, while legs and the face.
sounding more like a form of Then, I slipped
torture than pleasure, offers a (read: struggled) into a
solution, allowing consistent fetching skin-tight
treatment regardless of the body suit and lay
therapist. French brand on the massage
LPG endermologie is one table. The 45-minute session takes three sessions (all within the
such technology, with fans was to focus primarily on my same week or so) to see a difference
apparently including Cristiano back, with the last 15 minutes aesthetically, with 12 sessions typically
Ronaldo for post-training on my stomach (for aesthetic smoothing the appearance of skin and
recovery. It’s also touted as purposes). It was a slightly reducing stubborn fat and cellulite
a cellulite-buster, although uncomfortable experience by stimulating blood and lymphatic
I can’t attest to that, and to begin with, but the level of circulation.
for use in reducing the intensity can be adjusted to While not offering the versatility of
appearance of scars. each person’s pain threshold, massage technique that a pair of good,
Ahead of my trial session and after the first few minutes strong hands can afford, LPG works
at Dermaesthetics Clinic I started to relax and almost fell muscles in a different and consistent
near London Bridge (LPG is asleep, despite the machine’s fairly way with added fat-fighting benefits.
available worldwide), I tried to give noisy whirring. Perhaps that explains Cristiano’s
my muscles a bit of a workout with Although my muscles felt rippling abs. Review by Tim Heap
sessions of squash and tennis the day soothed immediately afterwards,
before. My therapist, Alex, explained Alex advised me that it usually From £2/minute, endermologie.com

Words Tim Heap

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94 OCTOBER 2019
 discuss the weekend’s game and work
out what we did well and what we
need to fix. Tuesday and Wednesday
tend to be our big days in terms of the
work load: we’ll do heavy leg and big
defensive sessions on Tuesday, and
Wednesday will be an upper body and
power session in the weight room,
plus working out all the tactics and
planning for the upcoming game.
Thursday is our day off but that
doesn’t mean just sitting on the sofa,
most guys will go to a yoga class or
for a swim. On Friday, we have a thing
called a captain’s run, so we go on to
the pitch with our confirmed line ups.
Then we have a final team meeting,
which is like a dress rehearsal. Plus,
we’ll travel that night if we need to.
What’s your regime like during the
off-season?
You have to have a minimum of five
weeks off, but you still have to come
back in reasonable shape. You can’t
just spend that time partying, or
eating and drinking whatever you
want because you might be in a bit of
trouble on your first day back. Before
that break starts, you have a skin
caliper body fat test, and another on
the first day back. If you’ve enjoyed the
break too much, then you have to go
into “fat camp”.
There’s a rugby fat camp?
Yeah, it sounds pretty tough. We have
fitness tests on the first day back and
you have to hit certain levels otherwise
you have an extra day of fitness to
complete. I do a lot of HIIT or boxing
classes — something different to rugby
Chris wears all clothing training — or the gym because you do
throughout, by Nike
also need that mental refresh.

F
Do you prefer those opportunities to
irst, I have to ask about your Any negative reactions? mix it up?
hair. It’s a great new look for There’s been a little bit of stick, mostly Yeah, I do. It almost becomes quite
you, what made you decide from the rest of the Harlequins team, a social thing. I go with my wife and
to dye it? as you can imagine. some friends, then go for
[Laughs] I’ve been wanting to do it for
a while now. It was around Christmas
As a professional rugby
player, what is your average
“My wife told me to brunch afterwards… and put all
the weight back on! But maybe
time I thought about it; I’d seen a lot week like? stop talking about that’s just because I’m getting
of people had bleached their hair, then
Zac Efron did it and a friend of mine
We normally play matches
on Saturdays, so Sundays
it and just do it” a bit older.
As a former England captain,
followed suit. I just thought it looked are for resting. On Monday, you’re quite well known. Does
really good, so I kept saying to myself: we’ll go in for training and if anyone your training schedule have an impact
“I’m gonna do it, I’m gonna do it”, then is injured they’ll see the physios. The on your ability to attend social events
my wife said: “Stop talking about it and rest of us will have massages and do or events that you’d like to go to?
bloody do it!” some light training, then meet to Rugby comes first. It takes a lot >

96 OCTOBER 2019
 ACTIVE

Gentleman
prefers blond

Former England rugby

captain Chris Robshaw, 33,
reveals how he keeps fit, the
importance of backing the
LGBTQ community and why
he has to avoid swimming
pools for a while
Words Chris Jones
Photography LUXXXER
Location The Cut Gym
of training and I don’t want to do
anything that’s going to jeopardise
that. If I go to events while I’m training,
I’ll probably leave about 10pm to get
home and get a good night’s sleep.
I noticed a while back that you were
an ambassador for an initiative called
Restart Rugby. Can you tell us more
about that?
It’s a charity that supports rugby
union players. It’s beneficial because
a lot of professionals can suffer with
depression and other mental-health
issues when they retire, or if they’re
injured for a long period of time and
aren’t able to play. It’s about being
there and looking after one another.
Fingers crossed, most people will never
need it but it’s good to know that if
something does happen, there is an
organisation out there.
As a contact sport, injury is never
too far away in rugby — sometimes
severe enough to force a player to
retire, perhaps at a very young age
and without many qualifications to
pursue another career. Is that a big
issue within the game?
It’s tough because as a rugby player
you do earn well, but not as much
as a footballer so you can’t survive
financially for ever . You have to find
that second career, and when you do
most people within it are well and
truly on their career path. For younger
players who haven’t quite made a
big enough name for themselves, or
haven’t been to university, getting a
foot in the door can be tough. When
you have such a love for the game and
enjoy your job, it’s difficult to find
something else. We have someone at
Harlequins who focuses on off-field
activities, to help the young players
take degrees, or getting the older guys
work experience.
You’re known to Attitude as an LGBTQ
ally — what does that mean to you?
I’ve got a lot of gay friends and one of
them was disowned by his family at 16
for being gay. When you hear stuff like
that, you realise people still struggle
and no one should go through that.
Sure, we’re lucky being in London, we’re
probably a bit more diverse than other
areas of the country. And as someone
in a very male-dominated industry, in
rugby, I want to be able to help people
 ACTIVE

GROOMING Daniella Dumont

LOCATION The Cut Gym,
Austin Friars House, 2-6
Austin Friars, EC2N 2HD

in places where coming out might not especially in rugby it seems. Do they Which other teams should we be
be as easy. Someone messaged me the contact you at all? watching out for?
other day saying it’s brilliant to see Yeah, the Kings Cross Steelers have New Zealand are always good. They’ve
people such as me supporting the gay asked me to march at Pride in London won the last few world cups. The South
community because it gives others the next year, so hopefully I’ll be around African team looks to be coming back
courage to be themselves. to join them which will be good fun. into form too, and Wales won the Six
Former rugby star Israel Folau’s recent [Former England star] James Haskell Nations this year, so must be [seen as]
homophobic posts caused a divide in marched with them this year, and serious contenders.
professional rugby, with a minority of it’s just good for people in different What’s next for you, beside the new
players supporting his right to share industries to support inclusive teams season this autumn with Harlequins?
his beliefs. What are your and show that we’re in this I can’t share everything but I’ve got
thoughts on that?
You saw the backlash, with
“Some gay friends together. The sad thing is
people still get abuse or
a couple of opportunities coming
up. I’m 33 now and I have to think
the majority of the rugby feel they can’t hold attacked for being gay. That is of creating other career possibilities
community wanting to fight
in the LGBTQ community’s
hands in public” such a worrying thing, in this
day and age. Even in London,
soon, whether it’s immediately or just
putting a couple of feelers out there
corner, in this country and some of my gay friends feel and seeing where I want to eventually
in Australia [where Folau played]. You they can’t hold hands [in public]. get to. It could be a big year.
don’t want to see that hatred towards What are England’s chances in the And more importantly, what other
other people — for their sexuality, upcoming rugby World Cup in Japan? hair colours can we expect from you?
skin colour, religion — in sport or They are going to do extremely well. I want to stick with this for now
anywhere else. You just want people to The boys were and are being worked although I’m told if I go in a swimming
have equal opportunities, regardless of pretty hard, especially during the pool, it will come out green!
where they come from or who they are. June heatwave. They’re even having
There’s an increasing number of some Japanese lessons to help them The Rugby World Cup starts in Japan
inclusive sport teams in the UK, fit in with the culture. on 20 September. @chrisrobshawrugby

OCTOBER 2019 99
 FOCUS

BEAT THE MEAT

While many people have made changes to
what they eat, others are worried about lost
protein. There’s no need, says Matt Lister
Photography Markus Bidaux

L
ow-meat, vegetarian and vegan dieting remains on the rise,
for many reasons. I tend to limit my meat intake for a mixture
of reasons. Environmental: Meat is a major contributor to
greenhouse gases, and I have hideous guilt from the amount of
travelling I do, so it’s a small way to counter that. Economical: Put
simply, it’s far cheaper to eat veggies. Health: Too much meat, red in
particular, can increase the risk of certain diseases and conditions.
Challenge: It’s fun finding new recipes that are interesting, taste great
and still hit your macro targets.

Despite all these, a common reason why some people are

reluctant to reduce their meat intake is that they’ll struggle to meet
protein targets. For the most part, these worries are unfounded:
there are plenty of protein-rich veggie or vegan alternatives.

Beans
Grab a bean, any bean! They are rich in fibre, antioxidants, folate and
vitamins. They’re versatile (all the best things are!) and can be slipped
into any pasta sauce or curry, used to beef up a soup, or can be blended
into nutritious dips for those crudité snack packs.

Greens
Spinach and kale have a small amount of protein in them, and are
great sources of other nutrients, such as vitamin A, calcium and iron.
Kale chips are really easy to make and, believe me, taste heavenly.

Nuts and seeds

These go with pretty much everything, are a fab source of protein
nd “healthy fats” — and they are delicious. Quinoa is renowned as
superfood because it contains all nine essential amino acids. Chia
eeds are packed with amino acids and are small enough to lace most
ishes without you even knowing they’re there.

oy
ere is a great testosterone-production reduction myth that comes
th soy — studies have been carried out that found that it does, and
hers that it doesn’t, have an impact on sperm count. I have never
n a huge fan of soy products, but everything in moderation.

s
one for vegans, but eggs are a practical on-the-go, protein-rich
k that come in their own packaging so no horrible plastic. Hard
em and sling them in your bag like your nanna used to do.

ding these things doesn’t have to mean an entire diet

haul; it can be as simple as sprinkling some chia seeds over
breakfast or a salad, or having a peanut butter sandwich to
little extra here and there. Small reductions in eating so
meat can be greatly beneficial for your wallet, your body
and the planet.

100 OCTOBER 2019

 ACTIVE

UPWARD MOBILITY
Drop these mobility exercises into your warm-up ahead of lifting and bar work to keep you fit and healthy

INCHWORMS
> From a standing position, bend from the hips and drop your hands to the
ground, by your toes. Keep your legs as straight as possible.
> Walk your hands out step by step until you’re in a top plank position.
Lower your chest to the floor, then press back up.
> Walk your hands back toward your feet. Try to keep your legs as straight as
possible throughout to feel a stretch along your hamstrings.

COBRA AND DOWN DOG LUNGE WITH

> Start in a top plank position. Keep your arms REACH OVERHEAD
straight, let your hips sink to the ground
> These can be performed as
and look up. This is a cobra.
ard or reverse lunges.
> Then lift your hips to the sky, put your head between
will target your quads
your shoulders and push your chest backwards
more, and reverse will
toward your feet. This is down dog.
hit your glutes.
> Hold each pose for 20-30 seconds and transition
> Start with your feet
between them
her, then step in your
sen direction. As you
t your arms overhead
and reach for the sky.
ush your hips forward
e bottom of the lunge
increase the stretch,
en return to standing
and repeat on the
opposite leg.

SINGLE-LEG DEADLIFTS SINGLE-LEG

> Live your best ballerina life with these balances.
If you want to hold a light bar or stick in your BRIDGES
hands to help with balance, do so. > Lie on your back
From standing, bend at the hip and raise one foot with your feet
ut behind you, and bend forward to feel the stretch tucked up to your
bum. Push your hips
SHOT ON LOCATION AT PURE FITNESS SHOREDITCH (PUREFITNESSSHOREDITCH.COM)
down your planted leg’s hamstring.
> Hold for a few seconds then reverse to the sky so you
the movement. Slow and steady is have a straight line
the key for this move. through your body
from shoulder to
knee, and balance
on your feet.
> Slowly transfer
your weight on
to one foot, and
extend the opposite
foot to continue
the line of the body.
Hold this pose.
> Return that foot
to the ground
and repeat on the
opposite side.

OCTOBER 2019 101

ACTIVE

A PROBLEM
SHARED
Got a problem? Dr Ranj Singh
is here to offer his advice

HEALTH
I’ve been trying to lose some weight for a NEWS
while now, but no matter what I do, I strugg New PrEP treatment
could be on the way
to shift the pounds. I think it might be We all know about the
because I have a slow metabolism. Is there success of PrEP in

anything I can do to try to boost it? reducing the transmission

of HIV. Currently, it has
Andrew, Reading to be taken in tablet
form every day (this can
Despite what you might read in the market that claim to give pose a bit of an issue if
magazines, or on the packaging your metabolism extra oomph, people forget) but a new
of certain misleading products, so to speak, everything from trial of a PrEP implant is
boosting your metabolism is supplements and “special” foods under way. The device,
not easy — it’s even impossible to types of tea. The evidence that which is inserted under
in many cases. The relationship these do anything meaningful the skin and continuously
between weight and metabolism when consumed in normal releases the medication
is quite complex. quantities is lacking, and you’d islatravir, was presented
In very basic terms, a person’s probably just be wasting your at the International Aids
body metabolism consists of the time and money. Society Conference on
calories they burn at rest – this The best way to lose weight is HIV Science, in Mexico
is called your basic metabolic to watch your calorie intake. The City, and has shown some
rate, which just keeps your body average man needs approximately promise, proving to be safe
ticking over – and those they 2,500 calories per day, but if you and easy to use.
burn doing activities. want to shift those pounds aim to
To increase the number of keep your intake below 2,000. Winter flu jab
calories you blitz on a daily basis, As winter approaches, it
you would have to increase one “The relationship is time to start thinking
of these. It follows then that about getting your flu jab.
doing more exercise will cook
between metabolism It’s currently provided
more calories, and that in turn and weight is complex” free of charge for certain
will supercharge your total groups of people (adults
metabolism. At the same time, consider aged 65 and older,
However, when people talk the amount of exercise you pregnant women, some
about giving their metabolism do, including aerobic (jogging, children, front-line health
a boost, they tend to mean their swimming, cycling) and weight and social care workers,
basic metabolic rate. training to build muscle. and those with particular
Altering that is not as You should also make sure that long-term medical
straightforward because it is your diet gives you everything conditions). However, the
determined by lots of different you need. Keep it as balanced as jab can also be obtained
things, such as how much possible and don’t consume too privately for little cost
muscle you have. Muscle is much fat or simple carbohydrates. from various outlets,
metabolically active, so if you If you are still struggling, chat including local pharmacies.
increase muscle mass through with your doctor. They may be able If you have any questions
working out, then you can raise to offer you further advice or do or concerns, speak to
your rate. Bear in mind, though, any necessary tests in the unlikely a health practitioner or
that this would only be minimal. situation that something medical check the NHS website.
There are many products on is underlying your problem.

IF YOU’D LIKE TO SUBMIT A PROBLEM FOR DR RANJ TO ANSWER, TWEET @DRRANJ OR EMAIL [email protected]

102 OCTOBER 2019

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Real Bodies
p110

PEOPLE, PLACES, PERSPECTIVES

106 Real Life 108 Life Lessons 110 Real Bodies 112 Word on the Street 114 Table For Two
115 Buddy Brilliant 117 Books 119 Films 121 Music 122 Iris Festival 123 Homo Fomo

OCTOBER 2019 105

NO DRAMA…
PERIOD!
Although happy living in the present day, Zack Pinsent,
25, prefers to dress in clothes from a bygone age

M
y interest in period dressing Words in centuries gone by, but it’s actually dead by 40.” I’m much happier in
Tim Heap
was all my doing, my parents Photography purely the aesthetics and the artistic general with modern society.
played no part in it. They’d Markus Bidaux endeavours that I admire. I started my business of creating
watch the occasional documentary The materials, the way things were bespoke period-style clothing for
or period drama, as everyone else constructed, and the ethics behind people at my parents’ house, using the
does, but they weren’t especially them — they’re the things that dining table to cut things up. I’ve been
interested in the past. So, it’s not as attract me to period dress, and the in my workshop for about two years
if I come from a house where we all Regency style especially. now and am getting steady work.
listened to Wagner and played the But when people say, “Oh, I would’ve I’m self-taught, which required
piano, or anything like that. loved to have lived back then,” I a lot of hands-on research: looking
My dad is all about his cowboy think that you shouldn’t look back at at original garments and studying
boots, motorbikes and sports cars — history with rose-tinted glasses. It was original texts and tailors’ documents
quite different to me. terrible, absolutely terrible. in museums and private collections.
As a kid, I would dress up because Society wasn’t as advanced as it is There are courses available for TV
I enjoyed it, and I wanted to wear now on issues such as women’s rights, and theatre costuming, that kind of
stuff that I liked. But it was never minority rights and LGBTQ issues. thing, but what I create isn’t costume,
something I could wear every day So, when people talk about how it’s period clothing. It’s designed to be
because it was never promoted as elegant and beautiful it was back worn and used, not for people to wear
such, and it was tricky for a little kid then, I think “No, you’d probably be while they’re on a stage for an hour.
to dress like that all the time. I started off making everything
There are photos of me when I was according to historic methods, but
four or five wearing period costume, then found that people wouldn’t
but it was more theatrical: capes and necessarily pay for that level of
waistcoats. I used to love Christopher intricacy. So now, I sew the main
Lee’s Dracula and things like that, construction seams with a machine,
and would look at the outfits and and the other 90 per cent of the work
think, “That’s really cool, why is that is done by hand — which is what
not still an option?” I’ve pretty much takes the time.
been dressing exclusively in period At the moment, I’ve got far more
clothing since I was 14, when I burnt American clients than from the UK.
my last pair of jeans, as a sort of I think people here are scared to
over-the-top teenage statement. make big buys at the moment, I can’t
My parents have always been imagine why...
encouraging and helped me set up Obviously, America offers a much
my tailoring business, but school was larger client base but it also seems
absolute hell. Once a school inspection there’s more of an ethos for rewarding
happened to coincide with a mufti hard work and paying the appropriate
day, and I was taken into the teachers’ price for things, and recognising the
offices because I’d gone in wearing full idea of buy well, buy once.
Victorian garb and a top hat. There are period garments which
I was told to dress in a different way are more than 400 years old which are
and not cause a fuss. still in a wearable condition.
The whole idea was to wear what I’ve connected with all sorts of
you normally wore at weekends, but people through social media, with
they just wouldn’t believe that that’s more than 320,000 followers on
what I wore when I wasn’t in school. Instagram, but most people who wear
Everyone else got to choose what they various period clothing will only do
wore with no scrutiny whatsoever. so for events, or to show off an outfit,
People often assume that because I rather than as a daily thing.
dress the way I do, I long to have lived Apparently, I’ve inspired a few

106 OCTOBER 2019

 Real life social

people to be more assertive in what

they want to wear, and to do so more
regularly, which is amazing.
It takes time to build up the
confidence to wear things that are
outside the norm. I remember putting
on the first outfit I was happy with
and walking around in Brighton.
It takes a lot of guts, I’m not going to
pretend that it’s easy.
But you get used to it, and happy
with it. You may think that suddenly,
all eyes are on you but we always think
there are more eyes on us than there
actually are. Once you’re confident
with it, it’s just part of who you are,
and you don’t have to explain it.
I wouldn’t say that the way I dress is
any form of substitute for personality
or changes who I am because it only
exists as a result of who I am.

“People are scared

to step out of what is
deemed the “norm”
Wearing these clothes gives me huge
confidence because I’m genuinely
happy in it all, and comfortable in
myself. I get stopped in the street a fair
bit, and people always ask if I’m in a
show or play or something.
When I tell them that it’s just how
I am, the majority of the time they’re
really accepting and even admiring.
I’ve been all over the world and have
had no problems. People generally are
far more open and accepting than we
give society credit for.
But I think there are a lot of people
who are scared to step out of what
society dictates as the “norm” in terms
of style and fashion.
However, a lot of people who see me
say things such as: “Oh wow, I’d love to
wear something like that!”
Well, what’s stopping you? If you’re
comfortable in who you are, it doesn’t
matter what you wear.
I’M HAPPIEST WHEN I don’t know how I got HIV.
PERFORMING. WHEN YOU
ARE IN A SHOW, ARMED
life lessons It may have been from sex
— always with condoms
WITH A GREAT SCRIPT — with a long-term
AND SURROUNDED BY partner who had HIV

M AT T H E W
BRILLIANT CREATIVES, in the days before
THAT’S JOY treatment, or it may
have been when I
Health is my most
treasured possession.
I’ve challenged it in
HODSON was depressed and
reckless after that
relationship ended
many ways over the Executive director of badly. Either way, if
years, but I’m trying to N A M /a i d s m a p , a c t o r a n d PrEP had been available,
atone for that now HIV activist I wouldn’t have HIV now

My biggest fear is that the Words and photography MY MOTTO IS “FEEL THE FEAR
Markus Bidaux
urgency of the climate crisis isn’t AND DO IT ANYWAY”
being addressed. If we can’t fix this,
then everything else we fight for is My goal in life is to end HIV
just sorting the furnishings on a As the executive director of stigma. We’re never going to be
ship that’s going down UK-based charity NAM/aidsmap, able to end this epidemic unless we
Matthew Hodson is helping to can do this
My biggest weakness is still change the lives of HIV+ people
wanting to be pretty by providing clear and accurate If I could give my younger self a
information about HIV/Aids to piece of advice, it would be to not
I USED TO BE A SKINNY LITTLE help bring about an end to the give bad reviews more mind than
TWINK. IT STILL COMES AS A stigma surrounding the virus and the good ones
BIT OF A SHOCK WHEN PEOPLE to help more people get access to
REFER TO ME AS A DILF — NOT treatment. In addition to his day I DON’T LIVE OPENLY WITH HIV.
THAT I OBJECT TO THAT. I FACED job, Matthew is an actor and has I LIVE BLATANTLY WITH IT
GETTING FIT OR GETTING FAT — performed in some successful
STAYING THE SAME WAS NEVER theatre productions including Being on stage teaches me
AN OPTION Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap that you need to commit,
in London’s West End and in The absolutely, to every moment
Heartbreak, the death of my father, Chemsex Monologues. He can also
lack of confidence – these things be seen in the recent web series The U=U (when we are HIV undetectable
have hit me hard in the past. Grass Is Always Grindr and Flatshare, we are untransmittable) is central
Staying mentally well is an ongoing which are both available to view to my HIV activism. It challenges
process for me free on YouTube. the fear that so many people have
of those of us living with HIV
@Matthew_Hodson
The best piece of advice I have
aidsmap.com
heard is “work out who you The way I am on Twitter isn’t
are and then start doing it on the same as I am in real life.
purpose” – Dolly Parton In real life I’m not half as nice

108 OCTOBER 2019

 social

A cure for HIV is still a long way

off. I don’t believe I’ll ever be cured
and, to be honest, I don’t really
mind. I care more that we’ve
had effective treatment for 23
years and a third of the global
population of people with HIV
can’t access it

ATTEMPTS TO SLUT-SHAME PREP

USERS, OR ALL PEOPLE LIVING
WITH HIV, ARE MADDENING

An HIV diagnosis can change your

life for the better, because it can give
you focus — as it did for me. But if
I could have had that wisdom and
insight without this incurable virus,
that would have been better still

I believe the NHS is one of

our greatest achievements,
and the prospect of moving
to a profit-based model, as
we see in the US, fills me with
dread and anger. Just look
at the rates of treatment
and care for HIV in the US,
compared to the UK. We’re
miles ahead

The most important thing gay men

can do for their health is to stop
smoking. We are more likely to
smoke than our straight peers and
it causes more deaths than either
HIV or Chemsex
  
THE WORST PART OF HIV
STIGMA IS THAT IT’S BASED
ON OUTDATED INFORMATION.
THE TOMBSTONE FROM THOSE
1980’S ADS HAS CAST A VERY
LONG SHADOW

OCTOBER 2019 109

NO FILTER
Artist and model Angel Ito, 43, is bored
by society’s obsession with perfection,
and says you’ll only soar once you’ve
embraced your body — flaws and all
As told to Thomas Stichbury
Photography Francisco Gomez de Villaboa

110 OCTOBER 2019

 Real bodies social

G
rowing up, I had an amazing mother I have a wavering fascination and
who nurtured my wacky creative revulsion of modern society and the state
impulses and boosted my confidence of the world. The more I look back over my
at every turn – probably because everyone work, the theme that seems to jump out at
always thought I was a girl. It was clear that me is of the individual trying to survive the
she loved having a gay son and her validation noisy pollution of society, and its mile-a-
was everything. She made me feel invincible. minute mixed messages about how you
I first started modelling while training to should be, or how to feel.
be a dancer. People seemed to be intrigued We are all multi-faceted miracles, and we
by my androgyny and gender fluidity, but I can be satisfied, proud even, to be whatever
wasn’t pushing the labels – I was just doing the culmination of all that is. All of our
my thing, being comfortable in my skin. I bodies, our stories and expressions have value
quickly became something of a go-to for and the power to inspire. If I didn’t believe
artists who thought I blurred the lines in that, I couldn’t do what I do.
interesting ways, and developed as an artist I put myself out there with my body and my
in my own right. experience, neither is perfect, but they’re real.
I’m very comfortable posing naked. I didn’t But honestly, I do not give a fuck. I like It’s my deepest truth, my quiet revolution, my
grow up with feelings of shame and negativity imperfections in others and I have learned fascination and gratitude at what it means to
when it came to nudity, so it’s never been an to love my own. Somewhere along the line, be alive, and how life shapes us.
issue for me. That being said, you quickly I started to accept all of me, and in my If nothing else, I hope it communicates
realise how society at large views nudity – as a experience, every time you push past an a common humanity, an honesty in an
secret pleasure or a public shame – and so as insecurity, you end up conquering it. increasingly fake world.
not to offend, you adapt. Expressing yourself We live in a progressive yet polarised time
through art gives you licence to utilise your when it comes to the body. Most people’s @aitoart
body and it came naturally to me. relationships with bodies outside of their
I’m quietly confident with my body. own are consumed via unrealistic fashion
Somehow, at 43, I still have the body and build icons and hyper-sexualised, seemingly
I had at 18. It has been featured on magazine custom-made porn models.
covers and even walked its way into London My body has always been a part of my work
Fashion Week last year. and I run towards any opportunity to share
The thing is, I never fitted the beauty it in the name of art, if only to diversify and
standards the world put before me. Quite
early on, I stopped paying attention to “I like imperfections in
something that obviously didn’t apply and
crafted the person I wanted to be, and worked others and I have learned
with what I had. It was freeing to know that I to love my own”
was different, or that I was seen as an oddity.
Coming from a country of Hollywood correct the balance. I didn’t see people like me
smiles, my biggest insecurity, if anything, is represented, so I wanted to change that.
my smile. I have a gap in between my front Don’t get me started about “Instagram
teeth, an overbite and a chipped tooth. I also bodies”. It’s discouraging. I’d write a book
have a slightly malformed ear and varicose on it but I don’t want to give it any of my
veins are starting to appear. time, and hope our collective social media
society quickly grows past this point in its
evolution. So many filter-laden, catalogue-
curated lives and everyone gets sucked in.
Fakeness is now currency.
I find it boring, but the real danger is
that to many it can be extremely damaging,
because it takes a lot of work to maintain a
healthy perspective of your body as you grow.
This just muddies the water. It’s unfair to let
people feel like they don’t measure up.
There are many social revolutions aiming
for inclusion and equality these days, but I
think we also need to keep examining the
concept of “beauty privilege”. The queer and
wider communities have long grumbled
about the success and quick inclusion of
many simply because they have impeccable
bodies, to-die-for fashion and the wallets for
every nip and tuck. Sadly, we’ve come to accept
it at the expense of a wider, more varied and
more realistic story.
 Finn Love: Sateen,
Gotta Gimme Your Love.
I believe we should
support trans, queer
and lesbian artists!

VAI: Cher! Gypsies, Tramps

and Thieves — it’s a song that,
no matter whether I’m half
comatose or completely
mullered, will always get
me on the dancefloor

STUART: MacArthur Park with

Donna Summer. It’s probably
one of the best gay disco
songs ever

Dan: I’d perform

Overpowered by
Róisín Murphy, with Crystal:
Róisín and Freddie BenDeLaCreme,
Mercury. They’re both Jam: Take It Like performing Rihanna’s JACOB MALLINSON BIRD: Patti LuPone,
gay powerhouses, but A Man, by Michelle Only Girl (in the singing Ladies Who Lunch from Company,
what’s fabulous is that Wright, with Divine. World). The song is
one is a heterosexual She’s the most iconic very girly, and I love
because I’m a lush who loves to drink at
woman, and the other dead drag queen Rihanna! She’s my lunch, and we’d get along really well
a bisexual man there is! spirit animal

112 OCTOBER 2019

 social

GAIL BAIL: Kate Bush and REGIS: Born

Wuthering Heights, for This Way! Lady
the iconic reasons and
audience involvement; it’s
Gaga is such
what the people want. She’s an icon for this
my favourite act; she’s not generation of
overly processed — her
songs are part of her and
LGBTQ people.
part of her life The line “Don’t
be a drag, just
be a queen” is
Sink perfect
The Pink’s
Street Party,

THE
London

WORD
ON THE
STREET Don One: Prince’s
If you could share the Purple Rain. His
musicianship was
stage with any music incredible, and the fact
legend, who would that he visibly didn’t look

it be, and what like a “typical man” and

played with his sexuality
would you sing? and gender was really
important, as well as
being a person of colour
As told to Josh Milton
Photography Khalid Ikram

AMY: Chain Reaction,

by Diana Ross,
because I’m in the
middle of one!

Rodent: I’d love to perform Here Comes

The Rain Again with Annie Lennox. As a
non-binary person, I’ve always identified
with her idea of androgyny, like a real
feminine-masculinity, rather than a
masculine-femininity. And it’s one of the
best songs ever written, categorically

OCTOBER 2019 113

social

Table JONATHAN, 25,

For
CABIN CREW

Two
CURTIS AND JONATHAN
DINED AT M VICTORIA
STREET, LONDON CURTIS, 27,
COMPLAINTS
HANDLER

What were you hoping to get out of

the date?
C: To meet [actor] Ben Platt, or a gay
Childish Gambino. More realistically, a
chatty, good-looking guy to eat with.
J: More self-confidence, a future
boyfriend and a good glass of wine. I a number of different languages. He time which I’ve been wanting to do for
achieved two out of three. has lived and studied around Europe. ages, so that was great.
What were your first impressions? What was his best quality? J: The service, the food and the
C: Handsome, well-dressed, a little C: His warmth. He was very friendly. atmosphere were incredible. I’ll
nervous but rather than being J: He is a people person. definitely eat there again.
awkward about it, he was somehow What did you make of his dress sense? Any awkward moments?
extra friendly. C: He had a beautiful necklace C: Maybe the texting thing. I was also
J: A lovely, laid-back guy. representing something rather poetic possibly a bit forceful in insisting we
How different was he to your usual type? (I forget what exactly) and nice loafers. didn’t have rosé, but Jonathan was very
C: I gravitate towards well-dressed J: They always say you can judge gracious about it.
men, which he was. someone by their dress sense and he J: There were no awkward silences,
J: A few years ago, my type would was well put together. which I was happy about. There’s
RATE
have been tall, slim, handsome Were there any deal-breakers? nothing worse than it being all
THE
and Caucasian. He was shorter, but C: He strongly believes that if you crickets and tumbleweed.
DATE
handsome nonetheless. have time to read a text, you have time How did the night end? CURTIS ON
JONATHAN
Would you have swiped left or right? to text back. My turnaround can be C: We made our way to the Tube and
C: Probably left. It would depend on upwards of two business days… had a little hug. I think he wished me
what his profile said. J: I told him that if he was to message good luck, which felt rather final.
J: Honestly… left.
How was the conversation and what
me, I would reply within three
minutes. He said to expect a text back
J: We walked back to the station
together and said goodbye.
6/10
did you talk about? within three business days. That’s not What would you have changed about
C: We covered the standard stuff – acceptable! the night?
JONATHAN
interests, family, work, travel – as well as What do you think he thought of you? C: I had a lovely time, but I naturally ON CURTIS
our thoughts on romance, the pressure C: He paid me a few compliments so he would have rather met someone I had
to look a certain way in gay culture and can’t have thought I was an absolute a spark with.

8/10
how much we love living in London. munter. J: It was actually a pretty perfect date.
J: Once I had a drink in my hand, the J: We both thought highly of each Snog, marry, avoid?
conversation flowed faster than the other. He was glad that I kept the C: Avoid, but not because I actively
wine going down my neck. We spoke conversation going. disliked him. I just didn’t fancy him
about everything from gay culture to What were you most worried he would enough to want a snog.
Game of Thrones. notice about you? J: I wouldn’t avoid or marry him, so it’d
What was the most interesting thing C: My sweaty back. Thanks Jubilee line. have to be a cheeky snog. IF YOU’D LIKE
about him? J: That I was a little nervous – you Will you meet again? TO BE CONSIDERED
FOR TABLE FOR
C: Travel really seems to be Jonathan’s know, when your hands are sweating, C: No numbers were exchanged. If I do TWO, EMAIL:
THOMAS.STICHBURY
way of life and a part of who he is. I’ve you have a slight stutter, and your happen to bump into him again, I’ll @ATTITUDE.CO.UK
met very few people for whom being mouth is as dry as the Sahara. happily have a little catch-up.
on the move is so integral. How was the food? J: As great as the date was, we agreed
J: I was impressed that he could speak C: I got to try wagyu steak for the first that there was no romantic spark.

114 OCTOBER 2019

 social

BUDDY BRILLIANT
In a celebration of queer friendship, we ask best
mates some telling questions and find out just
how well they really know each other
Best mates Russell and Tom – nicknames Fisté and Prawné – first met a few TOM, 26,
years ago via a dating app, but friendship blossomed instead of romance. MUSICIAN
Shared interests include interpretive dance, chicken, boys and puppies RUSSELL, 28,
OPERATIONS MANAGER

TOM ON RUSSELL RUSSELL ON TOM

1

Beatrice. What’s his Laurent.

WRONG! “Preston” middle name? CORRECT!

Chris. What was the name of Barry.

CORRECT! his first boyfriend? WRONG! “Dean — we’re still good friends”

Bear/jock. Bock! What’s his gay tribe? Jock.

HALF A POINT! “Twunk/jock” CORRECT!
4

Making beds immaculately and leaving pubes What’s his most Eating cottage cheese.
everywhere after trimming. annoying habit? WRONG! “I can play the cello but I can’t multi-task.
WRONG! “Moaning” It’s like nuclear science”
5

Loud eating, which I don’t do — but it’s always fun What’s his biggest Scatty people.
to slurp porridge occasionally. pet hate? WRONG! “Messy kitchen surfaces. God, I sound like
CORRECT! a Desperate Housewife!”
6

Something health and fitness-y, What would his He already has his dream job, a musician in his
a celebrity PT maybe… dream job be? own boy band!
WRONG! “I’ve already done it — Swan Lake” CORRECT!
7

Daddies. Daddies and Cher. What is his secret Eating cottage cheese... in bed.
WRONG! “Eating biscuits with coffee” guilty pleasure? CORRECT! What a catch…
— erm, live a little Russell!
8

Opera singing. He’s amazing. What’s his Belly dancing.

WRONG! “Impersonations” secret talent? CORRECT! Tom didn’t mention belly dancing specifically,
but we’ll take Russell’s word for it
9

I’m not sure. But he’s always taking chocolate to his What’s his Choking.
room and I know that ain’t just getting eaten. secret kink? WRONG! “Underwear and lycra. I feel exposed!” The
WRONG! “Choking” opposite, surely?!
10

Bed! He’s more of a granny than me and Where is he most In bed before 10:30pm.
that’s saying something! likely to be on a WRONG! “Playing a gig, seeing friends
CORRECT! Saturday night? or chilling with Russell”

IF YOU’D LIKE
TOM’S IF TOM SPENT MORE TIME CONCENTRATING RUSSELL’S TO BE CONSIDERED
SCORE: AND LESS GETTING HIS OATS, THE RESULT SCORE: FOR BUDDY
BRILLIANT, EMAIL:

3.5/10 MIGHT HAVE BEEN DIFFERENT 5/10 TIM.HEAP

@ATTITUDE.CO.UK

OCTOBER 2019 115

 Nisha Oza in association with King's Head Theatre presents

AND
R T O F L G BTQ+ IREL
THE HEA

A new play by James Corley

All’s fair in love, war and videogames.

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27 August - 21 September 2019
THURSDAY: THIRSTY THURSDAYS
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 Books social

BOOK
OF THE
MONTH

Words
Uli Lenart

Good call
French best-
seller translated
into English is an
intense, sad and
sensuous read
MR KNOW-IT-ALL
John Waters/Corsair

No one knows more about everything

— especially everything rude, clever and
offensively compelling — than cult filmmaker
LIE WITH ME John Waters. A connoisseur of original
Philippe Besson/Penguin thinking, here he shares his wisdom on how
to fail upward in Hollywood, how to build
Described as stunning and heart-gripping by André Aciman, author of Call Me by Your a home so ugly and trendy that nobody but
Name, this is one of the most exciting and seductive foreign-language gay novels. Just you would dare live in it, how to tell someone
outside a hotel in Bordeaux, famous writer Philippe chances upon a young man who you love them without emotional risk, and
bears a striking resemblance to his first love. Flashback to Philippe’s teenage years, to even how to cheat death itself. Studded
a winter morning in 1984, a small French high school and a carefully timed encounter. with cameos from Waters’ stars, from Divine
It’s the start of a secret, intensely passionate, world-changing love affair between and Mink Stole to Johnny Depp, Kathleen
Philippe and his classmate, Thomas. Moving, intense, sad and sensuous, the French Turner and Tracey Ullman, and illustrated
edition was a number-one best-seller and won the Maison de la Presse prize. This with unseen photos from Waters’ personal
version was translated by Pretty in Pink actress Molly Ringwald. Out now collection, this is the work of a deliciously
entertaining, irreverent genius. Out now

ALSO
THIS
MONTH

RED, WHITE & ROYAL BLUE NIGHT FOR DAY

Casey McQuiston/St. Martin’s Griffin Patrick Flanery/Atlantic Books
The hot young-adult book of the moment A feverish vision of the witch-hunt of gay
that imagines what happens when America’s men in McCarthy-era Hollywood from
First Son falls in love with the Prince of one of the most gifted literary novelists.
Wales. When his mother became president, Los Angeles, 1950: over the course of a
handsome Alex Claremont-Diaz was single day, two friends grapple with the
promptly capitalised upon as millennial- escalating reds-under-the-bed scare in the
marketing gold for the White House. Too US. Director John Marsh races to convince
bad there is bad blood between him and his actress wife not to turn informant for
Prince Henry of England. When the tabloids get hold of a photo of the House Un-American Activities Committee while leftist
the two in an altercation, heads of family, state and other handlers screenwriter Desmond Frank confronts the possibility of exile,
devise a plan for damage control: staging a truce between the two to live and work without fear of being blacklisted. As Marsh
rivals. But what at first begins as a fake, Instagramable friendship and Frank struggle to complete shooting on their film, the
soon develops into a romance neither Alex or Henry could have chaos of their private lives pushes them towards a climactic
imagined. Escapist, absorbing, funny, sexy, romantic and joyful. confrontation with complicity, jealousy and fear. A sizeable,
Maybe love really can save the world after all. Out now meaty, deeply intelligent and compelling read. Out now

OCTOBER 2019 117

A FILM BY TOMER HEYMANN (WHO’S GONNA LOVE ME NOW)
 Films social

FILM
OF THE
Words:
Guy Lodge
MONTH

4/5
THE FAREWELL
Awkwafina, Shuzhen Zhao, Diana Lin,
Tzi Ma, Gil Perez-Abraham
You may only know Awkwafina as an
oddball sideshow in Crazy Rich Asians,
and, if so, American-Chinese director
Lulu Wang’s tender, autobiographical
family drama will surprise you. The
comedienne is credible and deeply
affecting as a second-generation
immigrant out of her element when she

As good as Goold
travels to China to say goodbye to her
dying grandmother – except the old
woman, as per local tradition, doesn’t
know she’s dying. Wang negotiates the Rupert Goold’s snapshot of Judy Garland’s last days
ensuing culture clashes with wry, wise is funny and heart-breaking in equal measures
humour. 20 September
4/5
ALSO JUDY
THIS Renée Zellweger, Jessie Buckley, Finn Wittrock, Michael Gambon, Rufus Sewell
MONTH
5/5 How has it taken Hollywood this long to make a Judy Garland biopic? Judy Davis
FOR SAMA absolutely slayed in the part in a 2001 mini-series, which perhaps put other people off
Hamza Al-Khateab, Waad Al-Khateab trying — but even by then, it was well past due. Stage director Rupert Goold’s film is worth
Steel yourself emotionally for this the wait, but it’s also sensibly small: rather than attempting a vast, cradle-to-grave epic
one — some of its images will stay of Garland’s life story, Judy focuses intimately and poignantly on her final months, when
in your head for ever — and your a last-ditch concert engagement in London displayed both the gifts that had made her
fortitude will pay off. It’s possibly Tinseltown’s greatest show-woman and the personal baggage that had left her career in
the documentary of the year, and a tatters. Zellweger is an unlikely choice for the part, but it’s her best work in years: heart-
major landmark in the chronicling of rending and tartly funny as she channels both the brassiness and fragility that fought
the ongoing war in Syria. The candid each other in Judy’s diminutive, sequin-clad frame. See p56. 2 October
video diary of Hamza Al-Khateab, a
young student turned activist, and
mother, from deep in Aleppo war 4/5
zone, it’s devastating but defiantly AD ASTRA
hopeful. 13 September Brad Pitt, Liv Tyler, Tommy Lee Jones, Ruth Negga, Donald Sutherland, Alyson Reed

4/5 From Gravity to Interstellar and First Man, it feels as if we’ve spent a lot of cinema time in space in
READY OR NOT recent years but it’s worth launching off the planet once more to see the great beyond through
Samara Weaving, Andie MacDowell, the eyes of James Gray. Beloved in France but underrated everywhere else, the American indie
Adam Brody, Henry Czerny master has never had a budget
As wedding nights go, Grace like this to work with before, and
(Weaving) can lay claim to the worst he spends it well: this story of an
— instead of hitting the matrimonial astronaut (Pitt) venturing into
bed with her rich dreamboat hubby, the outer cosmos in search of his
she’s summoned for a games night father (Jones) is a ravishing vision,
with her slightly odd in-laws and balancing all its techy detail with
finds herself marked for human dream-like strangeness and sweep.
sacrifice. A cheerfully grisly horror It’s got something going on on the
romp ensues: more silly than scary, inside too — genuinely thoughtful
but pulled off with real panache and questions as to where we fit in the
wit, plus the undeniable camp joy of grand vastness of it all — and an
watching Andie MacDowell wield a on-form Pitt carries it with weathered
bow and arrow. 27 September every-man warmth. 18 September

OCTOBER 2019 119

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 Music social

SWIFT JUSTICE

Lauv & Anne-Marie

All the
Motivation
Taylor Swift

I decided to ghost my ex-

we need
boyfriend, after he opted to
block me. He’ll never hear from
me again.
So, Taylor Swift’s I Forgot
That You Existed feels pretty
real right now. Thank God Tay is
James Barr finds his top song of t
now an official ally btw — she’s summer as he accidentally — yeh,
out there bashing Trump and right — backs into that hot daddy
giving US charity GLAAD a shout
out. We can safely listen to her It’s always important for our LGBTQ family to features last month’s Attitude cover star
without worrying that she’s a look after one another, and now that amazing Yungblud with a huge anthem for the lost.
Republican. Her new album Lover Pride celebrations across the UK have chilled Die a Little tackles our millennial loneliness
is incredible and probably her out, let’s grab a best friend and turn up some and gives us strength. “All you gotta do is
most genuine song writing since of late summer’s hottest new bops from The cry a little,” he sings, and it’s refreshing to
2012’s Red. In case you missed Gays and our allies. hear such vulnerable song writing.
the controversy around track Normani is giving us The soundtrack also
London Boy, Taylor travels from everything we want: sass, “The 13 Reasons features Lauv and Anne-
Shoreditch to Brixton before
heading to Highgate in one
ass and bass (yeah, that
rhyme doesn’t quite work).
Why season three Marie, and if you’ve ever
been drunk on your phone
night and I don’t care how much Motivation drop-kicked into soundtrack is and unable to resist texting
she loves a London boy, ain’t our play lists last month awesome” your ex, then f *ck, i’m lonely
nobody looking at a 75-minute giving us big femme energy is your tune. Charli XCX
Citymapper journey and feeling and a new tune to reverse-into-a-hot-daddy- is on there too with Miss U, an electronic
OK with that. I once dumped a on-the-dancefloor to. It’s my song of the pop emergency.
guy for living at the opposite end summer, to boot. Our favourite producer has also dropped
of the Victoria line. I’ve been told by friends explicitly never to a new tune with gender-fluid queer
Check out title song Lover, watch 13 Reasons Why in case it triggers me, superhero Christine & The Queens. Gone is an
False God and Cornelia Street but I’m a huge fan of the show’s exec-producer “unstable” bop, questioning our attraction
for old school Tay vibes. Selena Gomez and the curation on the season to relationships that focus on the chase. We
three soundtrack is awesome. The album could all do with taking notes.

OCTOBER 2019 121

 Delivery Boy Thomas Banks’
Quest for Love

Dubs
Renovation

Marco

The Orphan
Eyes on the prize
THE IRIS PRIZE LGBT+ FILM FESTIVAL RETURNS TO CARDIFF FROM 8 TO 13
OCTOBER, WITH 36 SHORT FILMS FROM 19 COUNTRIES COMPETING FOR THE
COVETED AWARD AND £30,000 PRIZE MONEY — THE LARGEST FOR AN LGBTQ SHORT
FILM. HERE ARE SIX GEMS TO LOOK OUT FOR

Words David Llewellyn

DELIVERY BOY THE ORPHAN MARCO

Dir. Hugo Kenzo | Hong Kong/China Dir. Carolina Markowicz | Brazil Dir. Saleem Haddad | UK
Dumpling-delivery boy Chunho (an endearing Brazilian entry The Orphan is more likely to Omar, a successful city banker from the
turn by newcomer Cheuk Piu Champi Lo) shatter your heart into tiny little pieces than Lebanon, calls on the services of a sex
becomes smitten with one of his regular melt it. Jonathas (Kauan Alvarenga) is the worker named Marco. What starts as a fairly
customers, a Welsh expat named Eric. The orphan of the title, a flamboyant young boy conventional “Two Hot Guys in a Swanky
two hit it off but the course of true love whose chances of adoption seem thwarted Apartment” film (practically a sub-genre in
never did run smooth, least of all when it’s by those who can’t accept the way he is. itself) quickly evolves into something more
strewn with Eric’s obnoxious boss and snooty Although up against strong competition, meditative and moving, as Marco’s real
fellow-expat friends. this could be a serious contender for the Iris identity and past are revealed.
Prize, helmed by an astonishing performance
DUBS by its young star. RENOVATION
Dir. Anthony Greyley | UK Dir. Fábio Leal | Brazil
If you’ve ever thought life might be simpler THOMAS BANKS’ QUEST FOR LOVE Writer and director Fábio Leal plays
if there were two of you, Dubs is the strange Dir. Pip Kelly | Australia Francisco, a chubby, hairy man struggling
and unsettling answer to that question. Set Thomas Banks is a young gay man living with to come to terms with his appearance as
in a Black Mirror-esque near-future, it’s the cerebral palsy and — as the title suggests he beds a succession of very hot men, but
story of a young gay couple, Ollie and Justin, — he’s looking for love. Treating its subject without finding love. Francisco’s self-pity
who take in Justin’s clone for a trial period. matter with candour and compassion, this is in turns frustrating and sympathetic, but
What follows is darkly funny and kind of sexy intimate documentary shows some of the always put to comic effect, and the film is
in a way that’s probably a bit wrong. Dubs ups and downs of disabled dating, while charming and very intimate.
is the only film shortlisted for both the Iris challenging many of the perceptions and
Prize and Best British categories. prejudices that surround the issue. irisprize.org

122 OCTOBER 2019

 social

THEATRE THEATRE

WE DIG THE NIGHT WATCH

Carved from Based on author Sarah Waters’ best-selling novel
conversations with trans people all of the same name, this poignant play, set in 1940s
around the world, Emma Frankland’s London, plonks audiences on the frontline of a
project centres on the excavation lesbian romance thrown into turmoil by war. The
of a giant physical hole — if you keep production, starring Izabella Urbanowicz and
digging, you’ll also find a metaphorical Phoebe Pryce, is on tour until 23 November, and
meaning. The show runs at London’s will visit Reading, Guildford and Edinburgh.
Ovalhouse from 4 until 19 October,
and special guests include Travis originaltheatre.com
Alabanza. Remember your hard hats!

ovalhouse.com
MARK DOUET

HOMO
FOMO 3 things
CLUB

to see…
COLOURS
Taste the rainbow at this
new multi-arts bar and club
that’s here for all things Our pick of the LGBTQ
queer, from LGBTQ sober QUEER THEATRE, FESTIVALS, EXHIBITIONS AND MORE must-sees at the BFI
mixers to experimental gay London Film Festival, which
cinema nights. Sashaying returns to the capital,
into London’s Hoxton Square, between 2 and 13 October
Colours gets the party started
with Hungama, Ryan Lanji’s 1// AND THEN WE DANCED
PERFORMANCE
Bollywood hip-hop extravaganza, (Dir. Levan Akin): Georgian dancer
on 14 September. ROCKBOTTOM Merab (Levan Gelbakhiani) finds his
Yes, this is a picture of a toilet. But, world turned upside down when he
colourshoxton.co.uk no, this is not your bog-standard meets rival Irakli (Bachi Valishvili).
one-man show. Diving into his 2// LINGUA FRANCA (Dir. Isabel
personal life, writer and Sandoval): The story of an
performer Stuart Waters undocumented Filipino trans
recounts his journey back woman (played by Sandoval) who
from the brink of addiction works as a carer in Brooklyn.
and depression through the 3// THIS IS NOT BERLIN (Dir. Hari
power of dance. He should Sama): Teenager Carlos (Xabiani
be flushed with success at Ponce de Leon,above) doesn’t fit in
Birmingham Midlands Art anywhere, until he is invited to
Centre on 2 October. a mythical nightclub…
Public booking opens at 10am on
ROSIE POWELL

macbirmingham.co.uk 12 September
bfi.org.uk/lff

OCTOBER 2019 123

Ronan wears knitwear, by
Dunhill, trousers, by Cos

“THAT WASN’T VERY

VERSACE OF YOU”

126 Crush 128 Wardrobe 129 Watch 130 Beauty 131 Grooming
132 Take Me to My Beach 145 Fashionlista 146 Favourite Things

OCTOBER 2019 125

 DEVOTED TO DENIM
Denim is deeply woven into Dsquared2’s Canadian DNA. Over
two decades, the twin brothers behind the brand, Dean and
Dan Caten, have played about with how the blue stuff looks
and feels, focusing on its versatility, from every-day to formal
wear. To celebrate 20 years, Dsquared2 have relaunched
their jean-ius look with a slightly larger red flag, and a
bolder and brighter shade, proving their love
of denim still burns bright.

dsquared2.com

. . . .
c r u s h Words Joseph Kocharian

BREAK FOR THE

BORDERS
Everyone loves a weekend away, and
Burton’s 1904 collection is whisking
you to St Andrews in Scotland, teeing
off with golf-inspired tailoring for the
autumn/winter season. Checked suits
are prominent in the capsule, which
also includes Jacquard-knit polos
and pieces with sporty details and
tipping stripes. There is a nod to the
dandy, too with wetlands, forestry,
migrating duck and fish prints that
feel quintessentially Scottish, while
a set of shirts boast art nouveau and
botanical designs, taking inspiration
from the work of architect Charles
Rennie Mackintosh.

burton.co.uk

126 OCTOBER 2019

 STYLE

FILL YOUR BOOTS

The Australian brand famous for those boots (we’re
yet to find anything comfier, to be honest) has a more
robust offering than what you’re accustomed to.
Ugg’s collaboration with Heron Preston shows off the
innovation and creativity of the brand. The limited-
edition collab, revealed at Paris Fashion Week, is unisex,
coming in the classic mini and Tasmanian styles. As
practical as it is pretty, it comes in a bright palette and
with waterproof technology, and Preston’s signature
fluorescent yellow pull-tabs and orange colour way.

ugg.com/uk

OCTOBER 2019 127

STYLE

w. a . r. d . r. o . b . e 2
SMART WEAR
Smarten up with a flourish, by
pairing your base block colours
with patterns, and pique people’s
interest in your formal wear

Edit & words

Joseph Kocharian

1 // Coat, £50, by Primark

3
2 // Jacket, £179, and trousers, £90,
both by Remus Uomo
3 // Socks, £20, by Mr P at MR PORTER

7
4 // Shirt, £129, by Ted Baker
5 // Chelsea loafer, £149, by Kurt Geiger
6 // Umbrella, £190, by Burberry at Matches Fashion
7 // Silk handkerchief, £110, by Gucci at MR PORTER

6
5 4

128 OCTOBER 2019

 STYLE

. . . .
W A T C H
Words Joseph Kocharian

RUN DEEP
It’s been five years since
Christopher Ward launched their
Calibre SH21, and to celebrate
they’ve launched the C60 Apex
limited-edition dive watch. It’s
water-resistant to a depth of 300m
(980ft), and is in the top six per
cent of all Swiss-made watches for
accuracy. Coming in sleek navy blue
and steel colourings, with a pop of
orange, only 100 have been made.
Price: £3,495

christopherward.co.uk

OCTOBER 2019 129

STYLE

BEAUTY
1
3
4

2
5

1 // Boutique nourishing primer oil, £5, at sainsburys.co.uk

9 8

2 // YSL beauty touche éclat le teint foundation, £35, at yslbeauty.co.uk

7
3 // Nars velvet matte foundation stick, £30, at net-a-porter.com
4 // Glossier boy brow, clear, £14, at glossier.com
5 // MAC extra dimension skin finish, £26, at maccosmetics.co.uk
6 // Chanel Le Vernis longwear nail colour in mystique, £22, at harveynichols.com
7 // Fenty Beauty beauty cheek-hugging bronzer brush, £28, at harveynichols.com
8 // Pat McGrath Labs PermaGel ultra glide eye pencil, £25, at net-a-porter.com
9 // Tom Ford Beauty Prisma Collection eye colour quads, £68, tomford.co.uk Edit Joseph Kocharian

130 OCTOBER 2019

 STYLE

GROOM ING
Words Joseph Kocharian

Baxter of California
cream pomade, 2fl. oz, £19

Redken Brews daily

shampoo, 300ml,
£11.31 at notino.co.uk

KEEP
YOUR
ClarinsMen shampoo &
shower, 200ml, £19.50

HAIR ON
If you want Debbie Harry singing
“Oh, your hair is beautiful” about
your locks, then these products
are for you. There’s everything
from a deep clean, to a quick
Jo Malone London
spritz to keep your hair looking English pear & freesia
and feeling its best. hair mist, 30ml, £38

Kiehl’s creme
with silk groom,
100ml, £20

American Crew
matte clay, 85g,
£12.50

OCTOBER 2019 131

 Photography
James
Anastasi
Fashion
Nick
Byam

THE
BEST
OF
THIS
SEASON’S
KNITWEAR
132 OCTOBER 2019
 Ronan and Iago wear
cardigan, by Loewe

OCTOBER 2019 133

 Iago wears knitwear, by Versace,
trousers, by Louis Vuitton, shoes,
by Dune, scarf, by Acne
Studios at MR PORTER
 Ronan wears scarf,
by Holzweiler

OCTOBER 2019 135

Iago wears, knitwear Ronan wears cardigan,
by Sandro, trousers, by Filippa K, top, by Cos
by Versace

136 OCTOBER 2019

Iago wears knitwear, by Ronan wears knitwear, by
Sandro, vest, by Jockey Samsøe & Samsøe, trousers,
by Marks & Spencer

OCTOBER 2019 137

 Ronan wears top. by
Weekday, shorts and
scarf, both by JW
Anderson, boots, by
Salvatore Ferragamo,
bracelet, model’s own

138 OCTOBER 2019

Iago wears knitwear,
by Maison Margiela at
Selfridges, top, by Fred
Perry, trousers and shoes,
both by Martine Rose
 Ronan wears knitwear,
by Bottega Veneta, Iago,
wears knitwear by Berluti

140 OCTOBER 2019

OCTOBER 2019 141
Iago wears poncho,
by Stella McCartney,
trousers, by Dunhill,
shoes, by Martine Rose
 Ronan wears top, by
All Saints, trousers,
by Acne Studios

OCTOBER 2019 143

 Ronan wears coat,
by Valentino

STO CK I STS
A Acne Studios acnestudios.com
Acne Studios at MR PORTER mrporter.com
Alexander McQueen at Harvey Nichols
harveynichols.com
All Saints allsaints.com
American Crew americancrew.com
ASOS asos.com

B Balenciaga at Selfridges selfridges.com

Baxter of California baxterofcalifornia.com
Berluti berluti.com
Bottega Veneta bottegaveneta.com
Boutique sainsburys.com
Burberry at Matches Fashion
matchesfashion.com
Byredo byredo.com

C CDG at Dover Street Market

doverstreetmarket.com
Chanel chanel.com
Christopher Ward christopherward.com
Clarins clarins.com
Cos cosstores.com

D Diesel diesel.com
Dunhill dunhill.com

F Fenty Beauty fentybeauty.com

Fila fila.co.uk
Filippa K filippa-k.com
Fred Perry fredperry.com

G Glossier glossier.com
Gucci at MR PORTER mrporter.com

H Holzweiler holzweiler.no

J Jo Malone London jomalone.co.uk

Jockey jockey.co.uk
John Lewis johnlewis.com
JW Anderson jwanderson.com

K Kiehl’s kiehls.co.uk
Kurt Geiger kurtgeiger.com

L Loewe loewe.com
Louis Vuitton louisvuitton.com

M Mac maccosmetics.co.uk
Maison Margiela at Selfridges selfridges.com
Marks & Spencer marksandspencer.com
Martine Rose martine-rose.com
Mr P at MR PORTER mrporter.com

N Nars narscosmetics.com
Nike nike.com

P Pat McGrath Labs patmcgrath.com

Polo Ralph Lauren ralphlauren.co.uk
Primark primark.com

R Redken redken.co.uk
Remus Uomo remusuomo.com
Ron Dorff uk.rondorff.com

S Salvatore Ferragamo ferragamo.com

Samsøe & Samsøe samsoe.com
Sandro uk.sandro-paris.com
Sockshop sockshop.co.uk
Stella McCartney stellamccartney.com
Sunspel sunspel.com

T Ted Baker tedbaker.com

Tom Ford Beauty tomford.co.uk

V Valentino valentino.com
Versace at Matches Fashion matchesfashion.com
Versace at Selfridges selfridges.com
MODELS Ronan and Iago at IMG Models
W Weekday weekday.com CASTING Paul Issac
PHOTOGRPAHY ASSISTANT Oscar Yoosefinejad
Y YSL yslbeauty.co.uk FASHION ASSISTANT Tamsin Beeby

144 OCTOBER 2019

 STYLE

Fa s h i o n l i s t a
They say money talks… but it’s your wallet that says more about you
1 Baltimore grained leather wallet, £275, by Balenciaga at Selfridges // 2 Exotic-print card holder, £45,
by Ted Baker // 3 Silver leather card holder, £120, by Alexander McQueen at Harvey Nichols //
4 Huge logo wallet, £119, by CDG Wallets at Dover Street Market //
5 Business-card holder, £200, by Byredo // 6 Leather card holder, £25, by Remus Uomo //
7 Card holder V, £34, by Kurt Geiger // 8 Tan leather bill-fold wallet, £85, by Polo Ralph Lauren

Edit & words Nick Byam

1
3

4
5

6
7

OCTOBER 2019 145

STYLE

The best way FAVOURITE

to unwind? PLACE IN THE
I’m a telly addict WORLD?
Bali… or Yorkshire.
Or maybe Tokyo

GREATEST What’s your

FILM?
Sister Act. I’ve career highlight
seen it at least so far?
50 times Winning two
Woolmark prizes
was amazing
Most memorable collection?
It’s always the most recent one,
otherwise you’re not doing it right
FAVE SPICE GIRL?
Geri — God loves a trier

Favourite T hings

Edward Crutchley
Designer
Favourite singer Top
or group?
Words Nick Byam

Edward Crutchley launched his eponymous label at 2015’s

tipple?
London Fashion East’s menswear show during London Kinnie. It’s
Nicki Minaj, but I’ve Collections Men. Bringing his love and knowledge of fabric and a Maltese
also been listening textiles together with contemporary clothing dripping in culture bitter-orange
to the soundtrack and tradition, Edward has worked with Kanye West, Pringle
drink that
to Bajirao Mastana, and with Kim Jones at both Louis Vuitton
and, most recently, at Dior.
reminds me
an epic Indian of childhood
@edwardcrutchley
romance holidays

146 OCTOBER 2019

 Hombré

Water resistant to 600 metres, the C60 Trident Ombré Limited Edition
is a deeply masculine piece. A brushed steel case and matte black
ceramic ZrO2 bezel encircle a dial that’s been hand-finished for a distressed
ombré look. Starkly monochromatic, it’s both strikingly characterful and
broodingly macho. Only 300 available and each subtly different.
Do your research.

christopherward.co.uk