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TROPICAL FRUITS A VERY KOOKY NEW YEAR! #182
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LEO IN BARCELONA BY JP SANTAMARIA
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DNA (ISSN 1443-1122) is published monthly in Australia and the UK by DNA Men Nexus Pty Ltd, PO Box 127 Lidcombe, NSW 1825, Australia, and in the USA and Canada under license to DNA Men Nexus Pty Ltd (Aust). DNA and Made That Way are registered trademarks in both Australia and the USA. Trademark pending in the UK. Registered by Australia Post (PP243459/00169). Copyright © DNA Men Nexus. All rights reserved. No part of DNA may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher. The appearance, mention or likeness of any person or organisation in editorial or advertising in no way suggests sexual or political orientation. Photographs
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CONTENT 182 #
28 Regulars 10 FROM THE EDITOR Dogma attack!
12 BURNTOAST
44
52
Your say on all things DNA.
Samples
14 LOVING Boys, lotion and donuts.
16 MONTH IN A MINUTE All the print that’s fit to news.
30 MUSIC REVIEWS
62
76
32 BOYS TOYS
Has she got her groove back?
26 DIVINE KNIGHTS Outrageous popaganda.
36 DEAR DIVA Solve my goddamn problems!
40 STRAIGHT MATE
20 MADONNA
His retro film photography.
34 BOOK REVIEWS
Than a squirrel turd.
Open season for straight furries.
22 ALEX KING
Whiz and definately bang!
38 NUTTIER…
18 THE TWO BEARS
28 DROWN
90
Aussie lifesavers go all the way under.
94 THE DNA POOL PARTY Sydney’s hottest day of summer.
Travis Jeffery.
New York truths.
Photography
96 GROOMING
44 MELTING HOT
42 COMMON MORTALS
The best hand job.
98 DNA PT Bringing sexy back.
94
102
Rhys and Kirk by Rod Spark.
62 RED HOT Gareth Wiecko by Thomas Knights.
112 THE BACK PASSAGE
76 LEO
Condoms: a seminal history.
Leo Rico by JP Santamaria.
114 URBAN HOMO
102 NICELY DOES IT
#curatinganimage.
Carson Nicely by Ethan James.
6 DNA
CONTENT 182 #
Features 52 WILLING AND ABLE They are some of the most gifted, engaged and engaging gays in the village. They also happen to be living with disabilities. Meet three of the world’s most inspirational.
74 TWINK, TWINK, LITTLE STAR Youth is highly prized on the scene. Like celebrity, it opens A-list doors, brings adulation and advantage – but it can easily be seduced into the web of a waiting spider.
86 “SAVE ME FROM MY FAMILY!” Hakan is young, gay and Turkish. His mother wants Allah to beat the gay out of him; his father wants to kill him. His story is a prescient reminder that gay rights are still a matter of life and death in many parts of the world.
90 FRESH FRUITS! Camping, all-night dancing, parades, cabaret and costumes galore. Welcome to Tropical Fruits, where Mardi Gras meets the State Fair!
Leo wears Teamm8 swimwear. Photography JP Santamaria. Story starts page 76. 8 DNA
FROM THE EDITOR /Andrew Creagh
Dogma Attack! THE DAY AFTER ISLAMIC fundamentalists murdered twelve people at the Charlie Hebdo office in Paris, a friend of mine ran into some trouble at a train station in Sydney. It was morning peak hour, and the station entrance was partially blocked by two people, an older man and a young girl, who were talking. As my friend drew closer, he overheard their conversation. The man was a Christian fundamentalist explaining to the girl why gay people were unnatural and would be punished in the afterlife. In the mind of the Christian, he was doing something good – spreading the word of God, as the Bible tells Christians to do. But if you ask me, he was doing a whole lot of bad. Blocking the train station entrance for a start – bad! Preaching hate and intolerance to an impressionable young person – bad! The worst thing, though, was that he was perpetuating the idea that people with religious beliefs have the right to impose them on others. That belief
had been expressed in the most extreme way possible just the day before in Paris. The journalists and artists who were killed were judged to be guilty of blasphemy – the act of ridiculing or expressing contempt for God. But if you don’t believe in God, is that even possible? It’s like being told you’ve broken the rules of a game you aren’t playing. If you don’t have religious beliefs, why should religious rules apply to you? This is why I’m constantly annoyed that churches are invited into the debate on gay marriage. If I’m not a member of your church or your belief system, why should you be entitled to an opinion on my life or my marital status? Marriage doesn’t belong to the church. Long before it was hijacked by religion, marriage was an agreement between individuals, families and communities about property – which it still is. It is not a “gift from God”. It is not a “sacred bond”. Yet, in the Western World, churches tell us we can’t “redefine” their version of marriage. Worse, they claim that by not adhering to their rules, we are the oppressors. In the US, church groups are claiming the right to discriminate
Their argument for ‘freedom of religion’ is really an argument for ‘the freedom to oppress’, and taken to its most extreme, it’s deadly.
An anti-gay marriage protestor in the US. What next – witch burnings?
10 DNA
against gays and lesbians because unless they can refuse service to us in restaurants or hospitals, we are depriving them of their religious freedom. Something similar already exists in Australia, where churches, church schools and universities, and religious organisations are exempt from the Anti-Discrimination Act. Why? Because they want the right to impose their values on people who don’t share those values. It’s moral totalitarianism. Their argument for “freedom of religion” is really an argument for “the freedom to oppress”. And taken to its most extreme, it’s deadly. The Paris massacre, for example. If you’re squeamish don’t look online at the videos of ISIS throwing gay men to their deaths from towers. The massacre of 132 school children in Pakistan last December, the enslaving of women and children in Iraq and Syria by ISIS, the abduction of 300 school girls by Boko Haram in Nigeria – this is not just terrorism, it’s the violent expression of religion. The man at the Sydney train station was not an extremist or a murderer – but he is not harmless. Religious extremists only exist because religious moderates exist first. Like that man, the terrorists in Paris also thought they were doing something good. It would now be hypocritical of me to suggest that religion and spirituality are a personal thing and should be kept private, because I have no business telling anyone how to practice their religion. In return, I ask that religion respects the right of others to live their lives on their own terms. Founding Editor, Andrew Creagh
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BRENT WILSON MENSWEAR STAR BARES IT ALL! ››
10 HOTTEST PARTIES IN THE GAY WORLD
ASYLUM HORROR
HOW AUSTRALIA BETRAYS THE GAYS
COUCH SURFERS
SEX ON THE SOFA!
MYKONOS
BACK ON THE MAP
#180
THE 69 JOYS OF GAY SEX DNA #180 COVER MODEL, BRENT WILSON
Brent, let me know when you’re in Georgia! – Christopher Jones I’ve admired his clothes but what’s beneath is even better! – Raj Patel Why the beards all of a sudden? All I see on good looking men is beards. – Mark Schuster HELLO MR EDITOR
You might not remember, but you helped me with references for my Masters thesis, AFL And The Closet. Given how hard it was to find any academic information on the topic, mine is probably the first academic work on the subject. Anyway, it is now freely available via the Edith Cowan University library digital collection. (Needless to say, various DNA articles are referenced.) Naturally, I noticed an item in The DNA Awards 2014 [DNA #180]. Under the title “Most Likely To Come Out Eventually”, you wrote, “Let’s hope that we soon see an openly gay READERS’ POLL
I’m fine with it It’s none of my business
12 DNA
12% 15%
26%
#TEAMHUMANITY
Asylum seekers being denied their rights in indefinite off-shore detention is appalling [Australian Horror Story: Asylum, DNA #180] and even more so when I learned how nations like Italy are acting in a legal, humane way despite a much bigger burden of refugees. Our government’s policy shames all Australians. Thanks for taking on this important story. – Brett Alder, Melbourne. If you grab the latest copy of @DNAmagazine, you’ll find an amazingly well written and nuanced article about Australia’s asylum policy. Samuel Walker, @SCGWalker DNA, please help spread the word: www. nogoingback.org.uk is charity that helps LGBT people fleeing persecution and seeking asylum in the UK. @NoGoingBack1 READERS’ POLL
What's your view on the 30-year age gap between Stephen Fry and Elliot Spencer? It’s too much of an age gap
Australian Football Leaguer.” Well, I suppose it is bound to happen… eventually. However, my research suggests there is a tacit ‘block’ to this, not least of which is media silence. AFL is the only exclusively male, mainstream institution of our society where gays apparently don’t exist. Nearly 15 years ago, a play was produced in Perth on this very topic for the Pride festival. The buzz was, then, that an AFL player was about to come out. It still hasn’t happened. It’s been more than four decades since gay liberation reached this country, however, its effects have yet to reach the AFL. I’d like to think it will by the end of this year, but I don’t think we should hold our breath. Keep up the good work at DNA. – Andrew Douglas AFL: tight shorts, bulging pecs and biceps, full body contact, hugs, kisses and the pats on the bum… It’s hard to imagine that any of them are actually straight.
47%
I wouldn’t care if it was more or less, as long as they’re happy
Yes
That’s how I came out 0%
ST L AT E L L O P
15%
79%
CrossFit guys have the hottest bodies! How has Bernardo Velasquez not got more comments? Can you guys post more CrossFit athletes like Khan Porter, Kurt Foggo, Keegan Wolfenden, CJ Walker, Brendan Clarke, Matt Healey and Denis Hamann? Plenty of candidates for Instastuds in that lot! – Sean C, Brisbane. Thanks Sean. We love this kind of homework!
SWEET TWEETS @JoshThomas87 I don’t drunk tweet. I wouldn’t waste wine on Twitter. @TheTweetOfGod It’s times like this I really wish I existed. @maybemick You know you’re in the gayburbs when a @DNAmagazine poster is on the local newsagent’s window. @thomasward I hate when you’re having a nice night then randomly remember you haven’t fed your Tamigotchi for eighteen years.
@Hat_Man_Doo What did the number 3 say when number 4 was acting odd? “I can’t even.”
No
6%
GIMME MORE CROSSFIT
@nathvalvo If Sam Smith’s new relationship goes balls up does he listen to the Sam Smith album?
Would you come out in a YouTube video? Only if I got paid to do it
BERNARDO VELASQUEZ BY FELIPE PILOTTO
Send your feedback to
[email protected] Or post your burnttoast letters on our website. Go to DNAmagazine.com.au. Letters will be edited for length, clarity and hilarity!
@TTMSonair My next drag name is Amanda. Because I’m a man, duh. @KhrisWarhol I feel like 2015 will be the year Robin Thicke will blur the lines between his music career and working at Taco Bell. @rhysnicholson I was going to start a website called himself.com featuring nude men talking candidly about sex, but I realised that’s Tinder.
The restuff we’
“Celebrating gender discombobulation!”
Loving… Our Own Budgie Smugglers
DNA swimmers (they’re aussieBum with our logo) are very exclusive! We only give them away at parties to certified hotties, like Marty Pappas, shot here by Joel Devereux.
Sock Unity
Never let one sock lose touch with with its other half, with Barnaby’s new range of socks that button up together. Bless! Barnabyshop.com
SEE MORE
14 DNA
Gays in ads
Are we so desperate for validation that we celebrate gay characters appearing in advertising campaigns? Or, are we pleased to see international brands acknowledging that we are among their target demographics? Lynx, Nikon, Tiffany and Tide – we salute you.
Daily Male by CR Formulations This luxury skincare range has the highest percentage of proven active ingredients for a fabulous face. It’s the superfood of skincare!
Tony The Chew Toy
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has finally become popular with Australians. Australian dogs that is! “He’s our best-selling chew toy,” says the manager at Darlinghurst’s Pup N Pussy pet boutique. Pupnpussy.com.au
Donuts
If you’ve seen the “donuts” clip from reality show My Husband’s Not Gay, you’ll know exactly what we’re talking about. We love donuts and so do you Mr In-Denial-Not-Gay-Married-Mormon.
Aussie Boardies Legendary Aussie swimwear label aussieBum (their spelling, not ours!) made the “budgie smuggler” popular worldwide. Now, radically, they’re having a go at making the “boardie” (Australian for board shorts) sexy – and doing a mighty fine job. Aussiebum.com
DNA 15
/ MONTH IN A MINUTE The family is threatened by growing efforts on the part of some to redefine the very institution of marriage. These realities are increasingly under attack from powerful forces which threaten to disfigure God’s plan for creation.
– Pope Francis addressing millions in Manila. » THE US SUPREME Court decides finally to weigh in on the matter of marriage in the nation. The high court announces it will hear freedom to marry cases from four states this year. The decision, expected in June, is likely to have farreaching consequence.
» AHEAD OF A NATIONWIDE referendum
on same-sex marriage, Ireland’s Health Minister, Leo Varadkar, 36, comes out. “I’m a gay man,” he says. “It’s not a secret, but it’s not something that everyone would necessarily know.” He is the first government minister to come out in the traditionally conservative Catholic country. The referendum, scheduled for May, also has the support of fellow countryman Colin Farrell. The actor, who has a gay brother, says, “I support this vote with every fibre of my being.”
» STAR OF THE UK’S gay drama Cucumber, Freddie Fox, 25, plays the field with his sexuality in an interview with the Daily Telegraph. “I’ve had girlfriends but I wouldn’t wish to say ‘I’m this or that’ because at some point in my life I might fall in love with a man.” 16 DNA
» ANDREW BARR becomes Chief Minister of the ACT and the first openly gay head of state in Australia. Barr is openly gay with a long-term partner, Anthony. In a press conference, Barr says, “It is quite ironic that you can be elected Chief Minister but can’t marry your partner of 15 years. It’s time that this discrimination is ended in this country and I will continue to be a loud and passionate voice for that change.” » BILLY CRYSTAL, WHO played one of TV’s first openly gay men (Jodie Dallas, in the 1970s sitcom, Soap) tells the audience at a press event that some TV shows today are pushing gay storylines too far for his taste. “I hope people don’t abuse it and shove it in our face… to the point where it feels like an everyday kind of thing.”
On Twitter, ISIS celebrate their medieval barbarism by posting images of gay men being tossed to their deaths from a rooftop in Mosul.
» CELIBATE? THE FDA PLANS to ease the ban on gay and bisexual men from donating blood, but only if they abstain from gay sex for at least one year.
Two weeks after announcing his engagement to 27-yearold Elliot Spencer, Stephen Fry, 57, announces that the two have married in Dereham, England. His tweet reads, “Gosh. @ElliotGSpencer and I go into a room as two people, sign a book and leave as one. Amazing.”
» IN SYDNEY’S Martin Place, Islamic radical Man Haron Monis enters the Lindt Café and takes 18 people hostage in a 16-hour standoff. In the final moments of the siege, two hostages, barrister Katrina Dawson and café manager Tori Johnson (pictured), are killed. Johnson is hailed a hero as he allegedly lost his life while attempting to wrestle for the gun. Johnson’s partner of 14 years, Thomas Zinn, calls him, “the most positive human being I ever met”. A formal inquest into the siege is underway, while surviving hostages are reportedly earning six figure sums to tell their story to news outlets.
A Virginian ex-gay group puts up a billboard featuring identical twins of different sexualities to make the claim “Nobody is born gay”. The only problem is that the model pictured is not a twin and is an “out and proud” gay! South Africa’s Kyle Roux posed for the stock images nearly a decade ago.
/ SAMPLES Horse Meat Disco. We’re big friends of theirs and we’ll get a gig in there sooner or later.
VI
DE
O
If you go down in the woods today… you might meet Raf Rundell of The 2 Bears.
Bust A Hairy Bear Nut! ›› They’re straight, furry, make music and sometimes get assaulted by lipstick. Marc Andrews tracks down Raf Rundell of UK dance act, The 2 Bears.
DNA: We’re very intrigued to know more about a band called The 2 Bears! Has the bear community embraced you? Raf Rundell: Not just yet. Despite the name I’m
not that plugged into the bear scene. Are you more otter than bear? I guess so, yeah. We were kind of given that name by a friend of ours. Joe [Goddard] and I were hanging out a lot making tracks and we were all amused by the name. Everyone likes bears, as well. It’s also a fairytale.
You already won the gay audience over with your name! Yes, that helps [laughs]. Joe is also a full-time member of [electronic band] Hot Chip and an in-demand remixer, so do you just become The 2 Bears whenever you get the chance? Yeah. Making the music 18 DNA
we fit in around his schedule and mine. We just get on with it. He is very prolific and a very impressive creative force. So you DJ the rest of the time? I DJ and have some record labels which release soul and house stuff. I am also raising a young family. I’m a bear with a few little cubs at home [laughs]. Your latest album, The Night Is Young, could turn you into bona fide pop stars! I don’t
know what that entails, to be honest. We’re not unambitious, but very realistic. Joe has made a lot of albums with Hot Chip and I have worked in the music business since I was 19. We are not cynical or jaded, but you have to allow these things to grow naturally and it’s a creative endeavour as much as anything. Is it fair to call The 2 Bears’ style of music “house”? House is what we became known for
initially and it’s a framework for everything we do. On this record we just wanted to try a few different musical hats on for our own sanity in the studio as we are lovers of all types of music. House has a long heritage in gay clubs. As a DJ, I play at a gay night in London called Handsome. I’m always very happy about that because on the flyer when it says who is playing it always calls them handsome. Everyone likes being called handsome. We aspire to play at the
Does this mean we’ll see you in sequins or spandex on stage? Well, we are kind of
involved with this transvestite collective called Sink The Pink in London. They are the guys in our video for Not This Time. They are an incredible hot mess of lycra and moustaches. They run a monthly party and it’s fantastic. Everyone gets so dressed up, even us. I don’t have the figure for spandex, though. I usually get assaulted with a feather boa and a bit of lipstick. I get in the spirit.
“We are involved with this transvestite collective called Sink The Pink in London. They are an incredible hot mess of lycra and moustaches.” We love you straight guys for that! There’s
something about the atmosphere at those parties. It kind of de-sexualises everything because everyone is so dressed up that you can’t tell who’s who, or what’s what. From my perspective as a straight guy it’s like a lot of kids with a dressing up box.
And there’s no fights outside the club afterwards either! Exactly. There’s a lot of
people getting together and getting off with each other, which is what you want at a party. I’ve been playing at their party a lot and we are involving them a lot in our live show. Even Madonna saw our video.
She probably wants to steal all your ideas for her next video! Well, there you go! She was
in touch with them and they were obviously beyond delighted with that, so everybody is profiting in some way from this hook-up.
Which leads us to ask: speedos or board shorts at the beach? Board shorts, I’m afraid.
If I wore budgie smugglers I would be busting a hairy bear nut. Some people like that! Okay, alright. I am a big fan of the cricket and my mate sent me a set of Shane Warne underwear from Target. They are absolutely disgusting. Maybe I could wear them down the beach. Nobody wants to see anyone wearing Shane Warne’s underpants! Send me some speedos
then! Sweet.
MORE: Visit The2bears.co.uk or find them on Facebook or Twitter. The Night Is Young is out through Liberator Music/Southern Fried
stonemen.com / 02 9337 3112
/ SAMPLES
BUT IS IT ICONIC?
›› The leaking of Madonna’s new album has her screaming “artistic rape”. Marc Andrews braves the Queen Of Pop’s wrath and cocks an ear before her Rebel Heart is officially released. JUST A FEW DAYS BEFORE last Christmas an
unexpected little package showed up online in the form of Madonna’s new album. Cunningly labelled Iconic, it appeared to have been re-gifted to fans by someone on Madonna’s team who had leaked, or indeed stolen, the tracks. Madonna herself, as you can well imagine, was utterly unimpressed. “This is artistic rape!” she declared with outrage on Instagram. “These are early leaked demos, half of which won’t even make it on my album the other half have changed and evolved. This is a form of terrorism. WTF!!!! Why do people want to destroy artistic process??? Why steal? Why not give me the opportunity to finish and give you my very best?” Mads also asked fans to be loyal and not listen to the demos. “Thank you for waiting and if you have heard please know they are unfinished demos stolen long ago and not ready to be presented to the world,” she added, just so everyone knew that this was unfinished business. While she might have been rightfully mad about the leak, Mads also saw a true commercial opportunity. No less than 24 hours later, her team officially released six tracks from her new album, titled Rebel Heart, with the complete shebang due on March 10. So what to make of Iconic then? Is it Madonna’s state-of-the-art dance masterpiece, or something more like a messy piece? Plucking your way through the 13 tracks served up there’s plenty of material that sounds, well, sub-standard and barely deserving of a slot on her album, let alone as an extra track on the Japanese deluxe box set edition. Bitch I’m Madonna is her recycling that old “I’m the greatest, you’re the greatest imposter” 20 DNA
vibe with an annoying, cloying electro beat and lyrics along the line of “na na na”. It’s rubbish, in other words, but a finished version with Nicki Minaj appears on the new Rebel Heart album. Hmmm. Things improve when it comes to Living For Love, the official first single. Kicking off with a classic old school house piano and beat, it seems Madonna has been taking some listens to Kiesza’s Hideaway. It’s definitely the catchiest thing on Iconic and, not surprisingly,
“Kicking off with a classic old school house piano and beat, it seems Madonna has been taking some listens to Kiesza’s Hideaway.” hit iTunes in a version not too dissimilar to the one that leaked. It’s definitely hit material, if people could be bothered to buy the proper version, that is. Other Iconic tracks, like the acoustic ballad Joan Of Arc (which haters are gonna hate on with the line “I’m not Joan of Arc… not yet!”), or the heavy piano tearjerker Heartbreak City (where she rhymes city with shitty) seem like song sketches that hopefully will either be more fully-rounded by the time the finished version arrives, or else scrapped altogether. Some may herald Illuminati as Madonna heading back into Vogue territory with a rap
referencing Beyoncé, Obama and Gaga but it’s truly a pale imitation of her biggest selling single. Borrowed Time is Madonna doing Change The World with a big stomping chorus Calvin Harris would kill for, much like album opener Addicted (The One That Got Away) with Madonna meddling thick and fast in EDM territory. Why she didn’t just call David Guetta and have it done with remains unknown. There’s plenty here to delight Madonna fans and when we get to hear the final SEE versions of these songs on E R MO Rebel Heart they may indeed have been worth the wait… and the leaks. What we should not forget is that Madonna has been the victim of early leaks before. Before her last album hit the shelves, 2012’s MDNA, there was a leak of the lead single Give Me All Your Luvin’ some three months before its official release. The only problem was that the leaked version was identical to the finished version, so why would anyone bother buying it when it had been available for three months online for free? It was no surprise that the track, a catchy cheerleader romp you may recall from the hands of Martin Solveig, flopped in the charts and didn’t pave the way for a proper Madonna comeback. Now with Iconic/Rebel Heart leaking all over the net, early demos or not, there are two views on whether this is good or bad for Madonna’s career. The positive brigade gamely believe that all publicity is good publicity and if it means more people will listen to Madonna’s music, 30 years after her prime, then all the better. Perhaps this is the best launchpad that the new official Rebel Heart album could possibly have, “terrorists” or no “terrorists”. The negative view is that people will hear these demos, think Madonna is rubbish and trying to play catch-up with the Rihannas and Katy Perrys and her Queen Of Pop crown will be further tarnished, if not destroyed. Perhaps the final word on Iconic should be left with one of the few women in the world who have more balls than Madonna – RuPaul’s Drag Race winner Bianca Del Rio. “Madonna’s album was ‘leaked’,” Bianca mocked on her Facebook page. She calls it ‘artistic rape’. I blame Bill Cosby.” Bitch, she’s Madonna! MORE: Rebel Heart is released through Universal Music. For more go to www.madonna.com
LINE UP (SO FAR):
ADAM LOVE (AUS) AMANDA LOUISE (AUS) ASTRIX LITTLE (AUS) BENT COLLECTIVE – STEVEN REDANT (SPAIN) + DANNY VERDE (ITALY) DAN MURPHY (AUS) DAVID MORALES: A SALUTE TO FRANKIE KNUCKLES (USA)
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- sat 07 mar, 1 0pm - 8 am -
SPEND THE NIGHT WITH OVER 15,000 INTERNATIONAL AND LOCAL PARTYGOERS AT THE MARDI GRAS PARTY – THE LARGEST GAY AND LESBIAN EVENT IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE.
JD SAMSON (USA) KATE MONROE (AUS) KITTY GLITTER (AUS) MASON ANDREWS (AUS) META ETCETERA (AUS) PAUL MAC (AUS) + SPECIAL GUESTS SAMMY JO (USA) SVETA (AUS) THE CARRY NATION (USA) WAYNE G (UK) YO! MAFIA (AUS) COURTNEY ACT (MG GLOBAL AMBASSADOR) MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED
This is the big one. The LGBTQI annual general meeting. Everyone from everywhere. Every passion and every predilection. All welcome. All night.
ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPH BY ANN-MARIE CALILHANNA
WHOEVER YOU ARE, AND WHEREVER YOU COME FROM, THIS IS YOUR
DJ GRIND (USA)
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KILL YOUR SELFIE
›› What better way to revive the lost art of 35mm photography than with hot guys in their underwear? LA-based photographer Alex King reveals his retro quest to Maxim Boon. DNA: You have a pretty great job: photographing gorgeous guys in their underwear! You’re a lucky man. Alex King: I’m very lucky, but it’s still a job. I
really have to make it a hustle. You have to keep shooting, spending money on printing and developing costs, and it’s a lot of work to find new guys and new faces to photograph. It’s a challenge, but I love it! How did you manage to build this as a career?
I’ve been a fan of [photo-sharing site] Tumblr for years; there’s a huge gay population on there and I really wanted to tap into that. About a year ago I started a small fashion project called Tie-Dye Undies. I started off making about 20 pairs of tie-dyed briefs and I thought they looked great, but I needed to see them on somebody. A buddy offered to be my first model, and I took a bunch of pictures and posted them through Tumblr. The reaction was amazing: lots of reblogs and people asking where they could get a pair. Interest really took off, so I was making maybe 30 new pairs every week and shooting them all on different models. Via Tumblr I was able to see which photos and models were popular, but it’s not 22 DNA
as simple as you’d think. I’d shoot friends who had done no modelling before, and people really seemed to dig that. Sometimes you’d shoot a professional model and think, ‘Wow, these pics are amazing’ and they’d go nowhere. Even though you have a big online following you’ve decided to specialise in 35mm film photography. What attracted you to go old school? I’m kind of a retro person. Tie-
dye is about as retro as you get! I’m a hippy at heart – I’m into vinyl records and vintage cars. Before I used 35mm, I was shooting on digital and I’d take thousands of pics which then needed to be edited down. I thought to myself after one really painful edit, ‘Why am I always overshooting?’ I had this 35mm camera that my grandmother had given me which I hadn’t touched in ten years. The first time I used it was just an experiment, but when I got the pictures back I was like, “Fuck! Why have I been wasting my time on digital?” The colours were all more vibrant, the skin tones were gorgeous. Everything looked just a little bit more authentic. I also love that the model has to trust you just a little bit more to get the right shot. Using 35mm taught me to be decisive and quick. DNA 23
/ SAMPLES Instead of a shoot taking all day, we’d shoot for an hour tops, and that stops the models from looking bored or strained or clichéd.
You haven’t cut all your ties with the digital world, though. Absolutely not. Instagram and
Tumblr have been really important in getting my pictures out there. They’re also really good for finding guys to photograph. I do work with a few professional models, but a lot of the guys I’ve shot I’ve connected with via Instagram. When you’re shooting someone who has 80,000 plus followers, you can get a picture out there immediately on a scale which is pretty mind blowing. Also, honestly, Grindr and Tinder are really good ways to connect with potential models, too, especially as I’m really happy for whomever I photograph to use those pictures
online if they want. Wouldn’t you rather have a professionally shot picture than just another bathroom mirror pic? I have a secret ambition to kill the selfie, but I somehow don’t think that’s going to happen!
If you’re sourcing models on Grindr, are there any shenanigans on shoots? Surprisingly
not, and to be honest I really try to keep the environment professional. Having said that, I think having an element of sexual tension with a model, where something might happen, can produce some really exciting magic in a picture. I’m very lucky to have a boyfriend who is pretty cool with me shooting guys in their underwear, especially since Grindr and Tinder are part of the tools of my trade! Isn’t there a fine line between art and
pornography? I’ve worked in porn before as
a cameraman, but I found that it really wasn’t for me. The reality of it isn’t very sexy. Lots of the guys are straight and just plain not into it, and the second the blue pills come out to “keep them going” it becomes really hard work. It made me realise that what’s important to me is capturing something honest and genuine, like the moment just before something hot happens. I think that’s way sexier.
Light Luster, your first bound collection of pictures, features the beautiful landscapes and men of Los Angeles. Now you’ve been travelling around Australia for a new collection. How was your trip? Amazing!
There are such beautiful things here, and not just the men. There are amazingly different climates from jungle to desert, and stunning
“Fuck! Why have I been wasting my time on digital? Everything looked just a little bit more authentic.” beaches, weird trees and crazy animals. As a photographer the possibilities are endless, but that’s one of the tricky things about shooting on film – you have to choose your shots carefully. Who would be your dream model? Chris Mears, the British diver, would be top of my list. There’s something about his eyebrows! Nick Jonas would also be up there. I love how he flirts with his gay fan base, it really reminds me of Marky Mark’s Calvin Klein ads in the 1990s. One thing that really interests me is how even though a lot of underwear shoots are aimed at the gay market, they connect with a lot of straight guys, too, especially overseas. Andrew Christian’s underwear makes millions in China – it can’t all be gay guys buying it! Why do you think that is? The models are beautiful! Whether you want to be that person, or just fuck them, it’s all about aspiring to something you want. Andrew Christian uses a lot of porn stars to model his stuff because sex really does sell. It’s not my vibe, but I totally respect it and understand why it exists. I did hear a horror story from a friend who had to airbrush a photo of a guy modelling a jock-strap because his butthole was too big! That’s definitely one advantage of digital over film! MORE: visit www.alex-king-35mm.myshopify. com or www.apex35mm.tumblr.com/
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Divine Popaganda ›› “We’re huge in Ukraine!” So say outrageous electro-pop outfit Divine Knights. The unabashedly gay duo, Gerard Searle and Daniel ‘Beef’ Beck, tell Marc Andrews everything!
DNA: When did you form Divine Knights? Gerard Searle: We actually started in London about six years ago. Beef and I had started songwriting in Melbourne and as I was an actor it took me to London. Beef came over and it’s grown since then. We moved back to Australia about five years ago. Daniel ‘Beef’ Beck: We released an album independently in Australia, then we were invited to be part of Australia’s Got Talent. Gerard: They said they really wanted something like Lady Gaga! We thought it could be a terrible idea but they gave us $20,000 worth of production. Beef: They said we could have whatever we wanted and our eyes went – bing!
Divine Knights: Gerard (left) and “Beef” Beck (right).
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In hindsight, was a reality show the launchpad you needed? Gerard: No. In some ways it was a stupid thing to do, but we did get fans in some weird places. Beef: We have people from Russia and Ukraine watching us who thought we were the shit. Gerard: Most Australians probably looked at us and went, “Oh no, what the fuck was that [laughs]!?” How far did you get on the show? Gerard: We were semi-finalists. Beef: We didn’t disgrace ourselves, but our semi-final performance was so over the top. It was based around The Neverending Story and they had to build these huge sets. We got a bit of exposure out of it, toured and then disappeared for two years. We didn’t capitalise on it in the way most people would. Gerard: Since we started Divine Knights it was all about being creative and performing and that was just another way of doing that. And now finally you have your first EP, Popaganda! Gerard: We were in the studio for a year-anda-half. We wanted it to be perfect and we love it. We loved doing the videos and we have started crystalising what we are about and the storytelling is a lot clearer. It’s more fun and less navel-gazing than what we’ve done before. We hope people embrace it and can relate to it.
Is this a full-time occupation for you guys? Beef: You can’t be a musician these days and not work full-time, unfortunately. We do have to work to pay the bills for the recording and the videos. We are self-funding, which is exciting, and we retain the control. Divine Knights also seem unashamedly gay. Gerard: We will always be ourselves. Every time we present ourselves we are going to be openly gay and very much about our work and our creative vision. We are not hiding anything or changing anything. Beef: We always said that it would always be a non-issue for us. We are more than happy to talk about it. We are proud of that and I fucking love being a gay man. Why wouldn’t I want everyone to know that? Gerard: We are pop artists so there is not a lot to read into that except we have the potential to write stories and be people that can change things, or inspire other people, or make young people believe that you can be whatever you want to be.
“I fucking love being a gay man. Why wouldn’t I want everyone to know that?” Your single, Hearts On Fire, was inspired by gay activists of the past, right? Gerard: It was inspired by Australia’s fight for marriage equality. Beef: One of the things I like about Sam Smith is that he writes love songs and sings about men just the way a man sings about a woman, or a woman sings about a man. It’s not garish. He’s just singing what is true to him and that’s awesome. It’s pretty inspirational. He’s probably one of the first artists to do that in the mainstream and that’s pretty cool. Do people assume you guys are a couple? Gerard: Yes, they do. We’ve been best friends for over ten years. We are really comfortable with each other, but I am married to a wonderful man and he is in a relationship with a wonderful man. Beef: We haven’t crossed that line [laughs]. Can two gay men really work so closely together and not be attached? Gerard: Anyone who meets us gets it straight away. You can see there is no sexual attraction, but we’re best buddies. Beef: Well, I am attracted to you… but only on Fridays [laughs]. MORE: Go to www.divineknights.com.au/home. The Popaganda EP is released through Oxygen Music Group.
Belvedere is a quality choice. Drinking responsibly is too.
KNOW THE DIFFERENCE. FA C E B O O K . C O M / B E LV E D E R E V O D K A A U S T R A L I A
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All The Way Under ›› Aussie Surf Lifesavers find their patrol compromised by a champion who will do anything to suppress his gay desires in the gripping drama, Drown. Jesse Archer gets the low down from director Dean Francis ahead of its world premiere at Mardi Gras Film Festival. DNA: Congrats on Drown’s world premiere! How did the film come to you and how long have you been working on it?
Dean Francis: Thanks! Its been almost three years to the day since I read Stephen Davis’ play and approached him about turning it into a film. I was drawn by the strong subtext that the violence perpetrated by these “straight” men on a gay guy was driven by repressed homoerotic desire. A lot of homophobic violence we see in society is the result of repressed desire and it felt like something that needed to be said in the context of fighting homophobia. Give us your three sentence plot pitch. An all-Australian surf lifesaving champion is dethroned by a younger, hotter guy and starts to hate him. But his hate turns into something more confusing which threatens to destabilise his sense of self. During a big night out, the drunken lifesavers find themselves in a gay bar – and what happens next is violent, erotic and absolutely confronting. You didn’t go through the usual system to get it produced, such as through [funding body] Screen Australia. Why not? We wanted
to make the film immediately without suffering a long script development process. The play was already well-developed subtextually and I wanted to make it in an unconventional way where I improvised with actors, shot the film myself 28 DNA
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and filmed over an extended period. So the conventional process of development funding, production funding, doing everything in an industrialised fashion didn’t feel right. Doing the film outside the system on a low budget was a creative choice first and foremost. I wanted the authorship to be direct and I wanted to limit the number of voices chiming in about what would “work” or “sell”. Every film is different and this felt like the best process for the material.
Phil (Jack Matthews) and Len (Matt Levett) return to the beach after a boozy night out.
trapped in an identity which they perform based on how they are expected to behave based on their sexuality. What I wanted to say with this film is that when identity is based on sexuality, it can be limiting and potentially dangerous because so much becomes repressed. The trailer intimates some serious violence. How far will Len go to hide who he is? He goes
virtually all the way. At the risk of spoilers I won’t say too much. But Len needs to purge the
"During a big night out, the drunk lifesavers find themselves in a gay bar – and what happens next is violent, erotic and absolutely confronting." How different is your film version from the play? The play is set entirely on the beach at
night and is large swathes of dialogue between Len and Meat while Phil is unconscious. My adaptation brought in Australian surf lifesaving culture, Kings Cross nightlife, gay nightlife, memory, backstory and, crucially, the relationship between Tom and Phil. Tom is a very stereotypical gay in the way that Len is a stereotypical straight. Both characters are
feelings of attraction from within himself – it’s his last chance at avoiding oblivion. What’s your favourite scene? After Len has bashed Phil, he approaches him with a bottle of rum and offers it to him – it’s a test of sorts. Is Phil man enough to drink with Len even after Len pulverised his face? But there’s a deeper subtext: Len is by this stage completely in love with Phil and Matt Levett plays that internal struggle with great subtlety and power. We cut
between this very typically macho exchange between the two men and images of Phil with his boyfriend Tom at Mardi Gras. In some way I think it shows the similarities between Mardi Gras and competitive sports. Both feature hulking guys with sweaty, exposed bodies and the audience celebrates these expressions of masculinity. But despite their similarities these two cultures are often fundamentally opposed, and threatened by each other. Surf lifesaving is about as Aussie as you can get. Did you cast any actual lifesavers? Yes,
many of the supporting cast are indeed lifesavers! This was incredibly useful as our leads could get coaching and advice from them. The main cast went through rigorous training, diets and workout regimes to beef them up and make them feel authentic as lifesavers. Some of the lifesavers on the beaches we shot at were also really supportive and gave us tips here and there.
Which beaches did you film at? Was it hard to get permission from councils? Beach night is
at Maroubra. The council can’t prevent us from filming by law, but there was a bit of tension as our shoot kept extending because it rained constantly. They tried to shut us down a couple of times but we got through it! How about the surf clubs? Most surf clubs were hostile towards us. Once word spread about the kind of film we were making no one wanted anything to do with us. Except for the amazing people at Mona Vale Surf Lifesaving club where we shot all the interiors. They were very supportive, even if we did get the odd homophobic remark from some of the young suburban club members while we were filming. We hear Surf Lifesaving Australia wasn’t helpful, either. Why not? Was it the content?
Phil and Len in the locker room at Parer Vale Surf Lifesaving Club. Above: Dylan Hare, Daniel Needs, Matt Levett and Matt James are lifesavers racing at the annual Parer Vale Surf Lifesaving competition in Drown.
few years earlier it wouldn’t have been possible to achieve the film on this level with our budget. What was your actual budget? Around 1.4 million [Australian dollars] including deferrals. Drown has truly incredible cinematography, just from the trailer alone. Thank you. The
They were worried that some of their less progressive clubs would be offended by the film and so they refused to offer us assistance. At one point we were told to expect their solicitors at our meeting. We tried to emphasise that our portrayal of a fictional club is actually quite positive. Yes, violence, bullying and homophobia occur but the club in our film tries to take steps to deal with that.
challenge of being the cinematographer and director is you need to balance your attention between these two equally important aspects, trying not to neglect the cast. But there is a fantastic immediacy to operating the camera and directing. You can grab moments very quickly and respond intuitively to the performance like a dance.
another 13 days of second unit. Because we all had to hold down jobs at the same time we shot two or three days most weeks so it stretched out for months. The cast had to maintain their physical fitness as well as linger in challenging emotional territory for a very long time and we all had to get through the shoot without any wage. I’d have to check the bank balance on my phone between takes to make sure we could afford lunch for the crew. Luckily, some angel investors came on board after the shoot which meant we could finish it, but the low budget meant we did all the picture post-production in-house and embraced cutting edge techniques for grading and online. Even a
We had two incredibly talented underwater cinematographers: Dean Cropp, who worked on the ocean underwater shots, and Jon Shaw who worked on the beaches. It was a pretty simple process of going out on a boat, throwing the cast into the water and Dean would dive down to the ocean floor and shoot. I trusted him to find the shots and he came out with stunning work. Jon was equally fantastic in the shallows of Maroubra beach with a huge swell. It was a great collaboration and I was so lucky they believed in the project and offered their help. Are there any sex scenes? There are indeed sex scenes – and scenes that stretch the definition of sex scenes as well! Did you cast any openly gay actors? When we
How long was your actual shoot? What other struggles did you have in getting it made on a tight budget? We shot for ages – 48 days and
How did you go about filming underwater?
cast, the only openly gay actor was Jayr Tinaco who is gorgeous as Dan, a gay club regular who preys on Len. Subsequent to filming, Harry Cook [“Meat”] came out as gay and his announcement attracted international media attention. I’m sure the film played a role in his decision and he draws the comparison between his character standing back and watching the violence without doing anything and his own silence about his sexuality. After your World Premiere in Sydney and its film festival run, do you have a distribution deal? Drown has distribution in major world
territories including the US, UK, Germany and others. No one in Australia has been brave enough to commit yet and we want to avoid what often happens with Aussie films where they last a week at the cinema and are gone before you know it. So we’re considering using a cinemaon-demand model which has been successful in the US, where a groundswell of interest generates ticket pre-sales for special event screenings which can roll out during the entire year across the whole country. We will see what the reaction is at Mardi Gras. If there is interest from an audience then we’ll absolutely make sure they can see it.
MORE: Drown premieres at the Mardi Gras Film Festival March 4th. It also screens at Melbourne Queer Film Festival March 21st. Visit the film’s website for more, including a short featurette with the cast: www.drownthemovie.com.
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Music Compiled by Marc Andrews
PERFUME GENIUS – TOO BRIGHT Seattle’s Mike Hadreas is now up to his third solo album of moody melancholic pop. You might remember him best from the video for Put Your Back N 2 It, featuring gay porn actor Arpad Miklos and Mike canoodling, for want of a better word. To try and put Too Bright into perspective, imagine a more twangy, ’80s-influenced soft pop sound that creeps up on you, rather than hammers you over the head. Fool sounds like the kind of classic Taylor Swift was aiming for on her 1989 album, but missed. Too Bright might be a tad abstract or dense to ever receive any radio play, but this unsettling, disturbingly beautiful music demands your attention.
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JOHN GRANT – LIVE IN CONCERT
Take minimalist electro ice prince John Grant out of his comfort zone into a grander environment and this is just as sweeping, stirring and sumptuous as you would expect. Over 16 tracks he teams up with the BBC’s Philharmonic Orchestra in London to perform songs from his two solo albums. They include Queen Of Denmark, which Sinead O’Connor has covered, and GMF, an ode to one of Berlin’s superclubs (“I am the greatest motherfucker that you’re ever gonna meet”). We also love “I guess I’m just one of those guys who gets better looking as they age” from album opener It Doesn’t Matter To Him. This is gorgeous music by a gay man who deserves as wide an audience as possible.
MARK RONSON – UPTOWN SPECIAL
While others have been looking recently to the 1980s for inspiration, producer whiz Mark Ronson (the clever clogs who gave Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen their tickets to fame) has moved on to the ’90s. Growing up in NYC in that decade, Mark soaked up the Big Apple’s hip-hop, funk, soul and R&B and now he’s morphed it all into one big, beautiful album that has “Grammy winner” written all over it. Already the first single, Uptown Funk, featuring Bruno Mars, has been a global charttopper and there’s plenty more where that came from, including three tracks by Australia’s Kevin Parker from Tame Impala. 30 DNA
Mike Hadreas, the musical mastermind behind Perfume Genius.
CERRONE – BEST OF
Although a pioneers of electrodisco in Europe, French artist Cerrone never found the level of fame he deserved outside of Francophile countries. Having had hits since the 1970s he continues to produce music and remain something of a forgotten genius. Now the grey-haired 60-something star is seeing a revival in his fortunes. Beth Ditto is a fan and decided to lend her voice to a new recording of Cerrone’s biggest hit, Supernature. It’s everything you would hope it would be – an absolute disco stormer with Beth in better voice than ever. Dimitri From Paris also contributes a ’70s-licious remix of another early Cerrone classic, Love In C Minor. Pure boogie-down bliss.
TAKE THAT – III
It’s strange to think that while One Direction attempt to reinvent themselves as the new U2 (or is it Coldplay?) the boy band who still really matter are Britain’s Take That. Now down to a trio (Robbie Williams appears to have finally left the building for good while Jason Orange has decided he’s had enough of fame) they just seem to get better with age. Snappy lead single These Days is as good, if not better, than anything they’ve done and that’s saying something when you remember Back For Good is in their back catalogue. Let In The Sun will be huge in the clubs in Ibiza while Get Ready For It matches, if not surpasses, One Direction at their own boy band game.
GETTING IN THE RING?
GEAR UP #loveyourcondom BCG2 LYC0019_DNA_BOX
BOYS TOYS /with Michael "Bam Bam" Bamford
WHIZ-BANG! This month, Bam Bam throws away the house keys, refocuses with multiple megarays and suggests a sleek upgrade for your back door!
For extra protection, put a high-tech condom on that deadbolt.
DON’T LOOK UNDER THE DOORMAT The modern gay boy always looks for ways to make rent without sacrificing the drinks budget. There’s no better way than AirBnb to boost the cash when there’s more month than money. But with all that fiddling around with getting keys to the overnight guests and whatnot, it’s all a bit of a hassle. Happily, Lockitron has the answer. It’s the perfect way to secure your pad without using your keys. Fit Lockitron over your existing deadbolt, and lock and unlock your front door from its app on your phone. No more keys! Lockitron will allow access to your guest from their phone using your special entry code that you can set to expire. When they’ve finished their stay, Lockitron keeps your place secure and will even text you that they’ve left, letting you know it’s safe to come back from Bali. Perfect! Around $200. http://lockitron.com
“Stunning ergonomic contours and enticing ripples create maximum enjoyment from every pleasurable probe.”
BACKDOORA THE EXPLORA The modern gay man defines style. It’s all surfaces, sleekness and subtlety. Kitchen, living room and bathroom have all been tailored to impress, but the bedside is a disaster. That nasty silicon rubber pleasure device doesn’t complement your feng shui. Replace it with the No. 13 Ribbed Pleaser from the Backdoor Collection. Artistry, simplicity and functionality meet in these sleek anal stimulators. It uses stunning ergonomic contours and enticing 32 DNA
That’s not a bike tire pump. Your new boyfriend is lucky number #13. Right: The Illum, revolutionising photography for the unfocused.
ripples to create maximum enjoyment from every pleasurable probe. This 10-function, powerfully motorised backdoor buddy will prove to be a most vigorous lover. When he’s done with you, your new boyfriend’s aesthetics show off handsomely as an artistic mantlepiece. Suave dinner guests will be most impressed. $110 http://blackdoor.theclosetcollectiontoys. com/ Batteries not included!
MEGARAYS KILLED THE PIXEL STAR Cell phones have killed the compact camera, and clunky DSLR cameras aren’t looking particularly healthy, either. But the Lytro Illum is something completely different. All cameras, no matter their capabilities, have always been point, focus and shoot. The Illum reverses that mundane workflow. Use it to point, then shoot, then take your time to focus. You’ll take a most fabulous photo every time. This camera uses megaray technology to capture the direction, colour and brightness of every ray of light and then allows you to focus later using its included touch screen. The results are amazing, pictures that totally come alive and are entirely up to you. Harness the power of Herb Ritts – and send your social media circles spinning! Around $1900. www.lytro.com MORE: Michael Bamford is a computer programmer, tech geek, North Bondi Surf Lifesaver and depraved circuit boy. Find him hunting and tinkering at any dork computer trade show, or at 3am on a dance floor.
[email protected]
Books Compiled by Graeme Aitken
Beaton raved about Audrey Hepburn: “She is like a portrait by Modigliani where the various distortions are not only interesting in themselves but make a completely satisfying composite.”
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CECIL BEATON: Portraits And Profiles Edited – Hugo Vickers
Cecil Beaton (1904-1980) was renowned for having photographed virtually every prominent person in public life during the course of his long career. And while Cecil photographed his subjects, he conversed with them, questioned them, and after they’d left he’d often write down his impressions. So in effect, he recorded portraits with both lens and pen. However, “Malice In Wonderland” (as Jean Cocteau described him), did not feel in the least obliged to flatter these celebrities and could be utterly scathing. This handsome book contains his portraits and associated texts that were either written to accompany the images or were taken from the openly gay photographer’s personal notes or diaries. Those who receive the sharp edge of his acid tongue include Elizabeth Taylor, who he describes as “this great thick revolving mass of femininity in its rawest”. George Cukor’s house is slammed as “inexcusably lacking in all taste – a mad old trollop’s idea of style”. He claims Evelyn Waugh died of snobbery and goes on to say that “he became pompous at twenty, and developed his pomposity to the point of having a huge stomach and an ear trumpet at forty-five”. Tennessee Williams’ physical attributes are also scorned with his “head the shape of a pineapple, Mr Williams is plump and portly”. Mae West was “rigged up in the highest possible fantasy of taste. She could hardly be considered human”. Of course, Mr Beaton also makes admiring and complimentary remarks about many of his subjects – they’re just not quite so entertaining to read!
A LIFE APART
– Neel Mukherjee Indian-born British novelist Mukherjee gained a new level of fame when his novel The Lives Of Others was shortlisted for the 2014 Man Booker Prize. This sweeping Indian saga set in 1960s Calcutta was widely considered the frontrunner for the prize, yet ultimately lost out to the Australian author Richard Flanagan. However, this new prominence also focused attention back on Mukherjee’s first novel, A Life Apart, which was published back in 2010 but failed to make much impact in Australia. It should have gained attention for the gay reader, at least, as one UK reviewer praised Mukherjee’s frank and exuberant depiction of the main character’s gay life, comparing the novel to Alan Hollinghurst’s groundbreaking The Swimming Pool Library. The main character, Ritwik Ghosh, has been orphaned and having buried both his parents in Calcutta, he arrives in Oxford on a scholarship to study English literature. About 100 pages into the novel his sexuality comes to the fore, as he details compulsively cruising the toilets of Oxford and elaborates on the finer points of “cottaging”. Yet Ritwik also gradually reveals the extreme physical and emotional abuse he suffered at the hands of his tyrannical mother. A Life Apart is structured with dual narratives. Ritwik’s contemporary story is interspersed with a novel he is writing set at the turn of the 20th Century in colonial India.
THE PAYING GUESTS
Beaton’s on/off friend and fellow gay, the writer Truman Capote.
Beaton wasn’t a fan of Liz Taylor: “Her breasts, hanging and huge, were like those of a peasant woman suckling her young in Peru.” Above: Joan Crawford: legendary Mommie Dearest manages to look stiff even with her feet on the couch.
– Sarah Waters The year is 1922 and the widowed Mrs Wray and her daughter Frances are forced to take in lodgers: a married couple, Lilian and Leonard Barber. Once wealthy but now impoverished, Frances and her mother struggle to adjust to their new houseguests. But cracks are soon apparent in the Barbers’ relationship, and Frances and Lilian are drawn closer together. Sarah Waters’ GLBT readers will be very happy with this new novel which has a lesbian relationship front and centre. Yet equally important as the lesbian romance is the crime narrative that develops halfway through the book – a murder is committed, a suspect arrested, and the narrative builds to the climax of a court case and its outcome. Frances and Lilian are caught up in this case and whether their covert and fledgling relationship can survive the rigours of this trial is the other climactic question. As always with Sarah Waters, the historical background and detail is paramount and here she is exploring a period that she hasn’t examined before – the early 1920s. The pain and loss of the war is still paramount, yet the changed world and the declining circumstances of a once genteel family, add a welcome complexity and depth to the narrative. MORE: The Bookshop Darlinghurst specialises in gay and lesbian books. Phone (02) 9331 1103, email
[email protected], go to thebookshop.com.au or visit 207 Oxford Street, Sydney. DNA 35
ADVICE /with Robbyne Kaamil
Dear Diva…
Hoping to play Hump The Host with your married friend? Hop in a cold shower first, cautions DNA’s advice diva. Dear Diva, One of my friends hooked me up on a blind date. This friend has known me for over six years and knows the types of guys I like. This blind date was a disaster! The guy was totally not my type and so unattractive. My friend has been calling me to find out what happened. I have been avoiding her like the plague because she set me up with this dude. I don’t want to say something that will damage our friendship but I am pissed off at her for wasting my time.
Dear Pissed Off, I’m sure that your friend had your best interests in mind when she set you up. Perhaps she has some insight into this guy’s personality and thought he was good enough to meet you? I don’t believe in types. When you are looking for love, be open because it may not come wrapped in the package you expect. And you will never know what’s inside if you throw the package away before opening it. Of course you don’t want to date someone who has bad breath and a head full of dandruff. The Vatican would nominate you for sainthood! Call your friend. Tell her you didn’t make a love connection but thank her for her efforts. Always be gracious. You never know – the next one she introduces you to may be Mr Right.
friend to catch you writhing inflagrante in her sheets with her man? If her husband is gay let him initiate it with someone else, but it’s more likely he just had one too many drinks. Some drunk guys will hump a log if it’s within reach. MORE: Robbyne Kaamil has been featured as a relationship expert on numerous TV and radio shows, including the Howard Stern Show. She is also an actress, comedian and singer. Find her on FB, follow on Twitter @theadvicediva, and email your confidential Dear Diva queries to:
[email protected]
with a man he seems to care. Be happy for him. You can still be a part of his life. It’s normal for you to have feelings of sadness as your relationship has now evolved, but don’t hang on to the jealously and envy. Those emotions generate negative energy. Change often forces us to reflect on our lives and take that proverbial look in the mirror. You may be fearful about doing that, but when you do what you fear the fear goes away. Dear Diva, My boyfriend has several times suggested a menage-a-trois with one of our mutual friends, “Toby”. Toby is super sexy and I hate to disappoint my boyfriend but I’m not sure that I am 100 percent on board with the idea.
Dear Menage-A-No, Honey, if you don’t want to do something, don’t do it. Nobody likes to disappoint their man but you can’t let anybody disregard your feelings. Threesomes can get messy. If Toby pays you or your boyfriend more attention when you are doing the nasty somebody is bound to get their knickers in a twist and it will all lead to drama. Keep your man, keep your friend and keep your hands off Toby’s dick. Let the choir say amen!
“Keep your man, keep your friend and keep your hands off Toby’s dick. Let the choir say Amen!” Dear Diva, My friend and I used to be the ultimate circuit party boys. It was always sex, drugs and anything else but we were always together until now. He met a great guy and then moved in with him. This is the first serious relationship he’s had in years and I want to be happy for him but I’m not. I feel like I’ve lost my best friend. He invited me over for dinner with his new man who is actually a really nice guy. But I felt like the third wheel.
Dear Lonely Circuit Boy, Your friend has moved on to a different phase in his life. He has decided to settle down and make a home 36 DNA
Dear Diva, My sister and I recently visited one of our childhood friends. She and her husband often invite us over, and this time we all had a little too much to drink and I could swear I picked up a gay vibe from my friend’s husband. He is a super hot guy and since our last visit I’ve been fantasising about seducing him. I don’t know what has come over me and not sure what to do next?
Dear Horny Homewrecker, Do not fuck your friend’s husband! Take a cold shower. Do you know the pain, devastation and betrayal that a move like that would bring? Think of the consequences. Do you really want your
“He just had one too many drinks. Some drunk guys will hump a log if it’s within reach.”
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NUTTIER THAN A SQUIRREL TURD {#8 IN AN ONGOING SERIES ABOUT WHAT THE HATERS HAVE BEEN SAYING.) The Middle-East and Africa are not the only places you’ll find religious fantatics advocating that homosexuals should be killed. Welcome to the USA…
“[Gay activists] believe that the views they want to silence are not worthy of ever being spoken… and so they must be punished, they must be vanquished, and everyone must know it’s going to happen to them as well.” – CONSERVATIVE ERICK ERICKSON, FOLLOWING THE TERRORIST MURDERS AT FRENCH SATIRICAL PAPER, CHARLIE HEDBO.
“All the people who advocate for so-called same-sex marriage ought to have to live in homes in which the plumbers who built them, or the electricians who built them, didn’t understand the difference between the male and female end of piping or plumbing or of electrical, and see how that works for them. It doesn’t work.” – LA MESA, CALIFORNIA PASTOR JIM GARLOW
“I’m going to explain to you why God wants these people to be put to death. The word of God is very clear that God is against the sodomites, that they’re filthy and it says they’re an abomination to God. I love that part of the Bible, and I’m going to preach that part of the Bible until the day I die, and if I ever stop preaching that part of the Bible, I hope my kids tell me, ‘Dad, you’re going soft on sin, you need to get up there and rip on these queers, because it’s only getting worse and worse.’” – FORT WORTH PASTOR, DONNIE ROMERO. HE WAS ORDAINED BY NONE OTHER THAN… STEVEN ANDERSON (AT RIGHT)!
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In the Bible, there are sins that you would think of as worse: you know, murder or mass murder, but what does it come down to? Leviticus 18 tells the Hebrews exactly what it is that God identifies as the most rebellious behavior, the behavior that causes the land to actually vomit out its inhabitants and every item on that list, except for child sacrifice, is sexual perversion, and child sacrifice is often a form of sexual perversion. So that’s where we are. Homosexuality is not just another sin, it is the sin that defines rebellion against God, and it is the harbinger of God’s wrath.” – US CHRISTIAN SCOTT LIVELY, WHO IS BEING SUED FOR CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY AFTER FANNING THE FLAMES OF HATE IN UGANDA WITH ITS ‘KILL THE GAYS’ BILL.
“I’ve had people say, ‘Hey, you know, there’s nothing wrong with gays in the military. Look at the Greeks.’ Well, they did have people come along who they loved that were the same sex and would give them massages before they went into battle. But you know what, it’s a different kind of fighting, it’s a different kind of war and if you’re sitting around getting massages all day ready to go into a big, planned battle, then you’re not going to last very long.” – TEXAS REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN, LOUIE GOHMERT
“Everybody’s talking about ‘let’s have an AIDS-free world by 2020.’ Look, we can have an AIDS-free world by Christmas… 90 percent AIDS free… If a man also lie with mankind as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. And that, my friend, is the cure for AIDS. It was right there in the Bible all along, and they’re out spending billions of dollars in research and testing. It’s curable – right there. Because if you executed the homos like God recommends, you wouldn’t have all this AIDS running rampant.” – ARIZONA PASTOR, STEVEN ANDERSON
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/ STRAIGHT MATE
Soldier Boy ›› From Unbroken to
Gallipoli, actor Travis Jeffery has kept his characters in khaki. He tells Matthew Myers about life in the trenches.
DNA: Tell us about your character in [TV miniseries] Gallipoli. Travis Jeffery: I play a working-class Perth
boy named Stewie who’s a bit of a rough-head looking for adventure. He’s the kind of guy who likes to jump in and have a go, and is disappointed if he misses out on the action. Like a lot of the other guys that join up, he’s a larrikin, which is a big part of the ANZAC image and legend. In your research, did you discover a whole
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new side to the ANZAC soldiers? Yes, I
watched documentaries and read a lot of books such as Gallipoli by Les Carlyon, which the series is loosely based on. I was also lucky enough go to Gallipoli last year and took my mum along, who hadn’t been out of the country in twenty years. I had never been to Turkey myself, so it was fantastic to check out Istanbul and to see where it all happened. It was also incredible to see how respected everything is at Gallipoli now, and how well the graves are
taken care of. That was really lovely to see.
Do you think after watching Gallipoli, young people will see their heritage in a new light?
I think so. I was never really taught about it at school and I think most people get a gist about the war in general, but the great thing about Channel Nine’s Gallipoli is that it shows the individual, which we can sometimes skim over. It shows the poor blokes in a dark trench with nothing but their bare hands left to fight with, and fighting some other poor guy who’s doing it for the same reason: for god and country. That’s why ANZAC Day is so important, because we are not only remembering the war, but also the individuals. Of course television shows embellish, but the writer Christopher Lee did such an incredible job in keeping it realistic. It’s heavy, but it gives a really good insight into what these boys went through. You’ve also played a soldier in ANZAC Girls, the documentary Changed Forever and in Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken. Yeah, Unbroken
was an incredible experience and I was really fortunate to get to work on something of that size and energy, and it was so close after graduating from drama school. It was really good to see how everything worked at that level, and not to mention that it was an absolutely incredible story. It could be quite taxing because we were all playing prisoners of war and tried to drop as much weight as we could, so there was a bit of fatigue and it was quite tiring at times. But it was definitely worth it. The story of Louie Zamperini is so inspirational. What actors have influenced you? Heath Ledger has always been a big hero of mine. I really respect the integrity and work ethic he had, and how fearless he was when he approached roles. It’s such a tragedy that he passed away so young. He inspired me to go to drama school. He rode horses, too, which is a common link. I thought Brokeback Mountain was interesting with the way it was handled. Would you play a gay role? Yes, I played a gay role last year in a film called The Tender Dark, which is a great story, again with integrity and I had no problem playing that. I played the love interest of a young boy. It’s set in the Fifties and tackles issues around repressed homosexuality. I have a very fleeting appearance, but it had such a great script that I wanted to do it. It should be at the gay film festivals this year. If you were gay, who would you go for? It would definitely be between Chris Pratt and Matthew McConaughey. Chris Pratt seems like a lovely big teddy bear and you’d spend most of your time laughing with him. He’s become very ripped and he’s also a great actor. Who is your diva? Does Bette Midler count? Of course! She’s a legendary diva. How does someone as young as you know Bette Midler?
I guess from growing up with her movies. I loved her in Hocus Pocus! I think her song, The Rose, is fantastic and she really nailed I Put A Spell On
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“I’ll probably be out of work until 2039, when they start doing the WW2 centenary stuff!” You in Hocus Pocus. She’s a very versatile and interesting cool lady, though I think sometimes her mouth needs to be washed out with soap! Growing up in Gen Y, have you witnessed homophobia? I know it exists and that’s very
frustrating, but I don’t think I ever witnessed it first hand at school. I grew up in a small town and I only really remember one kid coming out, and he was actually quite well supported. I remember some people making passing comments, but I never saw any physical kind of homophobia. My family have been really supportive in that way. We have gay friends who would spend Christmas with us, and I feel very lucky to have grown up with that. What do you think was the trigger point where your acting career took off? I think
it was getting the role in Unbroken. It’s really handy to now have something with so much credibility behind me. I auditioned for the role of an Aussie character and in the end it didn’t come about, but Angelina [Jolie] really liked the look I had, so they kept me in the loop and I started to lose weight because I knew that if I got the role I’d be playing a prisoner of war. So I wanted to get a head start. A few weeks turned into a few months and then it was all quite hectic and last moment. I was at work one day and I got a call from my agent saying the Aussie role had been given to somebody else, but they
Travis (far right) in Gallipoli. “My high cheek bones make me look sick!”
had me in mind for a Scottish role and could I audition? I had never done a Scottish accent, so it was a little bit intimidating. I had to fly up to Queensland to meet with Angie, so I managed to get in a couple of dialect classes. When I got to the set, I met the other guys who had already been cast and Angie said, “Okay guys, grab some food and we’ll get you into hair and wardrobe.” I was like, “I’m a little confused. Am I up here for an audition?” And she said, “Oh, sorry, you got the role last night and we start shooting Monday.” It was one of the best acting experiences I’ve ever had – so far. You caught the eye of Angelina Jolie! That’s pretty cool. Yeah [laughs] I think it’s because I
have high cheekbones that make me look sick! But it was lovely meeting her after growing up watching her films, and the charity work she does outside of acting is just amazing and so sincere. She’s one of the loveliest people I’ve ever met! The passion she had for this project was nothing short of inspiring. What’s the next project in store for you? I’ve just finished working on an episode of The Doctor Blake Mysteries, which was a lot of fun, and I’m also working on the docu-drama Changed Forever in Adelaide, which is about WW1 as well. You’re not being typecast, are you? [Laughs] No, not at all. In fact, I’ll probably be out of work until 2039, when they start doing the WW2 centenary stuff!
Do you wear Jocks, fitted boxers or freeball?
Fitted boxers for the support and comfort, and I’m afraid to say that’s also the case under my WWI uniform. I probably should have got some old cotton long johns to be authentic! MORE: Gallipoli is screening on Channel Nine. Follow Matthew Myers on Twitter @ MattMyers1964
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COMMON MORTALS /with Christopher Klimovski
15
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE MOVING TO NYC
Have a stiff drink, take a breath and brace yourself… then go ahead and read the scroll! Christopher pens his top tips for surviving in the city that never sleeps. AS I WALK TOWARDS the subway in SoHo in
the ridiculously cold March weather, I realise that it’s been a whole year since I made the move from Australia to New York. You have all been along for the ride as I’ve attempted to traverse the mean streets of the city that never sleeps. We’ve all learned the importance of developing a network of support with Common Mortals, we’ve learned never to make eye contact with the homeless on the subway, that Craigslist is basically where you put out an ad for the city’s most deranged potential flatmates, and that poly-relationships do, in fact, exist. I like to think of myself as a well prepared person and so I did some reading to prepare for the move. However, what I came to find was that none of the information was relevant or seemed afraid to really ‘go there’, so I’ve compiled a list of things I wish I’d known before moving to New York. I write this final post in hopes that a wide-eyed young Aussie gay is reading this and saying to him or herself, “One day, I’ll move to New York City, and thank fuck Christopher told me all these survival tips.”
1. There’s nowhere safe to walk. In Manhattan
you have one of two options. Walk close to the road and take the risk of being swiped by a rogue car or walk close to a building where you will get dripped on. I thought it was from air conditioning vents but you never really know, so never look up, keep your mouth closed and walk quickly. 2. The subway is a pressure cooker. When it’s summer, underground NYC becomes an oven where you will literally cook in your own juices until an overcrowded subway car comes along. Bring water. 3. If you’re in bed and feel your leg hair settle and think it’s a spider… it’s bed bugs. You
have to literally start all over again. Strip down and boil everything, put the mattress on the street and move house. 4. Drugs are everywhere. And they are recreationally taken by everyone. But this doesn’t mean that you have to indulge or even overindulge. Pace yourself. There are subway advertisements for cocaine addiction for a reason and it’s very easy to end up a statistic. 5. People will want to fuck you, conscious or unconscious. This means you have to either
be drinking your drink, or have a finger in the neck of it to prevent the array of date rape drugs people will attempt to throw into it. 6. People will say you should only spend a third of your pay on rent. They are lying. It
is an impossibility to live in this city and do something like that, especially if you’re a creative type. You’ll be paying at least half. Plan for this.
7. No matter what you eat, you will lose an exorbitant amount of weight because you either can’t afford to eat or because you walk absolutely everywhere. Gym membership is
not necessary. The city is your gym. People will also ask you if you’re sick or addicted to drugs. Please refer to point no. 4.
8. Keep your ears pricked at a Starbucks and some stupid girl ordering a pumpkin spice latte will offer her Netflix password to her friend in an overbearing obnoxious voice.
Use the password for yourself. Also hope she’s 42 DNA
born into money and do the same for her Hulu password and HBO GO password. Then you’ll be sorted for life. 9. You WILL get lonely. Even though you have an extensive group of friends, the one day you have off absolutely everyone is busy. You will be sitting in your room wondering why you’ve left all your beautiful friends and family back at home, but then realise that you have Netflix, Hulu and HBO GO to drown out them negative thoughts and you wake the next day in NYC. 10. Abandoned plastic bags in the subway are always filled with shit. Animal, human, who
knows? But there’s shit in there. Also, if your carriage is packed on the subway and the one next to it isn’t, there’s a reason for that. Don’t switch carriages. Trust me on this.
11. Houston Street is pronounced “Howston,” not “Hew-ston”. Capsicums are bell
peppers. Mobiles are cell phones. Uni is College. Repeat these until cemented into your head. Or don’t. When you get things wrong
Strip down and boil everything, put the mattress on the street and move house. people find it adorable.
12. Seamless and Grubhub are the two best inventions to ever exist. Food in your house, in
a hurry and cheap if you can find good deals. Don’t order the goat curry, ever. Even as a joke.
13. It will take you forever to develop a strong network of friends. The reason for this is that
you need them, they don’t need you. Keep your cool and just be yourself because, I promise you, friends will come. 14. People from out of town will be the bane of your existence. This happens as you slowly
forget that you, too, were once from out of town. 15. You will be inspired by complete strangers. This will lead to you wanting to be
around them 24/7 and then coming off as a psychopath and, finally, them never returning your call. Don’t sweat it, the city is full of incredible, driven people. I could go on spouting infinite points of advice, but the fun is in figuring these things out for yourself. As I face my second year in NYC, I look forward to the hard work it takes to stay here, the things that will shock me and shake me to my very core, and to the time where all of this seems commonplace and I am, in fact, a true New Yorker.
MORE: Find the author on Twitter @KhrisWarhol
/ COOL COUPLES
Interracial, interdisciplinary and interested! Performer Rhys Bobridge and med student Kirk Lee are not your everyday boyfriends. Rhys explains how the two met, what makes them tick, and the differences that keep them together. INTERVIEW JESSE ARCHER PHOTOGRAPHY ROD SPARK
DNA: Hi Rhys. You and Kirk look very sexy and sultry in the wrestling outfits. Do you ever wrestle or are the singlets just a fetish? Rhys Bobridge: [Laughs] That day we were at the
mercy of [photographer] Rod Spark who dressed us up – and down.
You two have been together for three years. How did you first meet? We caught each other’s
eye at the gym and eventually started chatting on Facebook. Our first meet up was after a performance of mine on New Years Day 2012 and we hit it off. So far, so good! Law permitting, do you ever plan on getting married? Marriage isn’t something I’m really
interested in for myself but I will always fight for my right to do so if I choose. >>
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/ COOL COUPLES >> How about kids? We have spoken about having kids, but right now we are looking at adopting a new family member from the local pet rescue.
Kirk is studying podiatry. Does his homework include foot massages for you? He is also a
highly qualified massage therapist so you think that would mean plenty of muscle manipulation for me. Wrong! I’m the one who usually dishes out the back rubs. Kirk has another two years
It has been quite a difficult coming out process and culturally still taboo in the small province where he is from. to complete his Masters so I’ll be happy to play guinea pig. My hooves have copped some abuse over the years as a dancer so I’m keen to improve my own foot health.
You’re a showboy and he studies medicine. What do you do together as a couple? Our
favourite thing to do together is laugh. Funny animal videos are always a winner but making each other giggle is a favourite pasttime.
Kirk is originally from mainland China and now is an Australian citizen. You’ve been to China for work, but do you speak any Chinese? I know a few words and phrases. It
seems like we speak our own strange language sometimes. Have you met his family or vice-versa? Kirk has spent time with me and my family in Adelaide but Kirk has only just come out to his immediate family who are still in China and are quite traditionally conservative. His mother and I will meet for the first time this year! Are you nervous about that? A little bit as it has been quite a difficult coming out process for him and culturally still taboo in the small province where he’s from. The pressure for him to find a girl and get married grew too much and he decided to live honestly and openly. I’ll never understand how difficult it has been for him but I am extremely proud of his big step.
Do you find there are certain cultural barriers or struggles in a multi-cultural relationship?
We have definitely had some clashes of culture when it comes to family values and societal pressures. Kirk speaks English very well but sometimes the language barrier is a benefit as he is unable to mince his words and filter what he really means. In this way, he can be unknowingly harsh sometimes but generally I appreciate the level of 48 DNA
honesty that comes with it. We probably have the most fluid communication of all my relationships. Do you ever get any flack for being a bi-racial couple from other Australians or within the gay community? Not really. Sometimes I clock
the surprise when people find out that my partner is Asian but that’s about it.
You grew up in Adelaide – why does this city get such a bad rap? Maybe it did, but I
think Adelaide is growing up. It’s so much more culturally diverse since I moved away at 20 years old. I was a pretty flamboyant kid when I lived there and copped my fair share of attitude from idiots, but I’d like to think it’s not as narrow minded now as how I perceived it back then.
You’ve since worked all around the world as a dancer and entertainer. What’s one place you’re dying to go back to? Actually, I’ve really
only been through various parts of Asia. I love Singapore and consider it a place where I think I could comfortably live, however I would really love to see more of the USA and I’m yet to visit anywhere in Europe. On my to-do list for 2015!
What’s the most Showgirls experience you’ve ever had working? I’m no diva but I did
butt heads with a cast member in a show while I lived and worked in a Taiwanese theme park. I was only 18 and was placed in charge of the team because of prior experience at the park. He defied me a fair bit, much to my frustration, but karma threw those beads onstage when his foot was crushed in the platform lift that was used to bump in the live caged tiger to stage level. We actually reconnected a while ago and it’s all water under the bridge. You’ve also been part of the cabaret troupe Boylesque – how does Kirk feel about your more risqué work when it’s not posing alongside him? Kirk and I are very different,
obviously, when it comes to what we do for a living. He supports me in everything that I do but doesn’t feel the need to be at every gig or keep tabs on what I’m up to while I’m in show mode. I prefer it that way as I’ve dated guys who are in the industry and I don’t think I would ever [do that] again. Our differences are what makes us compatible. Maybe Kirk does get a little green with all the sexy fellas around that I work with…
So what happens if you get a gig with sexy fellas overseas? Do you guys have an open relationship? We have always been very up front
about sexuality and our relationship. We are in what people would call an open relationship when it comes to casual sex and it’s pretty uncomplicated. We seem to feel pretty similarly about such things and for us it works. Our commitment to each other is about so much more than just sex. Who do you look up to as a choreographer?
I’m a big fan of Ms “Polyswag” Parris Goebel from New Zealand whose range, musicality and vision just astound me. Big shout out to the boys of The Squared Division from Australia who are making such a huge name for themselves around the world.
Do you have a favourite dance number from a film? Typically I hate dance movies. They are
generally lame and predictable but I would have to say that I love the semi-autobiographical musical All That Jazz by Bob Fosse. The Take Off With Us number was way ahead of its time. Honourable mentions go to Lullaby Of Broadway from Gold Diggers Of 1935, an elaborate Busby Berkeley tap dance production with an eerily dark undertone and morbid twist; Cyd Charisse and Gene Kelly in the Broadway Melody Ballet sequence from Singin’ In The Rain, proof that dance is a form of love-making; and the Saga Of Jenny finale of Robert Wise’s 1968 extravaganza STAR! with Julie Andrews doing acrobatics while singing live. You played an elf on TV show The Fairies, were you ever tempted to wear your costume out in public? Aah no. Since it was a kids show, did you feel a responsibility to behave while out and about? When I worked on The Fairies I was
also working as a drag queen in the clubs of Melbourne. The two different aspects of my career at the time would rarely cross paths so I wasn’t really concerned.
How often does your drag alter ego, Regime Dettol, come out to play? I’m more of a drag
king these days. Instead of exploring the feminine aspect of my stage persona, I’m channeling a more masculine aesthetic. In reality, I fall somewhere in the middle.
You play a lead in the upcoming short film,
We are in what people would call an open relationship, and it’s pretty uncomplicated… Our commitment to each other is about more than just sex. Criticism. What’s it about and where can we see it? It’s my first dramatic role and it’s based
on the play by Gary O’Casey and was inspired by the rumours and speculation that surrounded the home invasion assault of a prominent theatre critic. The film is finished and should screen at the majority of Australian short film programs and queer film festivals this year. First, though, it has to screen at the international festivals. As I age, film and acting is a medium I am looking forward to sinking my teeth into more and more. So what’s one role you’re dying to play? I’ve never performed in a major musical theatre production, but I would love to play the Emcee from Cabaret. H
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Costume Diary Of A Showboy Away from partner Kirk Lee (see previous pages) entertainer Rhys Bobridge finds himself wearing some pretty extraordinary outfits. We hope these inspire your next Mardi Gras look! PHOTOGRAPHY HAMID MOUSA
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/ FEATURE They are some of the most gifted, engaged, and engaging gays in the village. They also happen to be living with disabilities. Jesse Archer reports on three of the world’s most inspirational. OUT IN PUBLIC, it’s easy to notice the
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hearing aid, the wheelchair, the seeingeye dog, the little person or the poster of an underwear model who is wearing a prosthetic leg. For many others, their disability is not quite so visible. According to the United Nations, there are an estimated one billion people living with disabilities. They are the world’s largest minority, and yet all too often they are dismissed, ignored – or underestimated. Historically, society has ascribed to this group of people terms that imply helplessness, despair or outright ridicule. Major strides have been made to bridge the gaps in perception, accessibility and opportunity, and much of that is thanks to the hard work and high profile of disability activists themselves. Despite these advances, many consider it bad manners to bring up the obvious or ask prying questions and opt instead to ignore someone who may be deaf, blind, disfigured or in a wheelchair. Others go too far to be accommodating and treat them as precious goods. The late comedian and short-statured activist Stella Young once recalled the time she was at the bank and a well-meaning stranger kept asking if she needed any help. “Yes,” she smarted, “Do you mind giving me a deposit? I’m a bit short this week.” While the gay community is especially critical of perceived flaws, be they physical or mental, real or imagined, we are also some of the first to be inclusive and accepting of others’ differences. Being gay is itself still, in some circles, considered a flaw or limitation, when in fact it is often the key that opens doors to a world of opportunity. The same applies to the gay men featured here; men who have used their differences to break down barriers, foster awareness and redefine what it means to live with purpose.
“I DID IT UNTIL I WENT BLIND” David New relaxes at home in South Beach.
perfect straight black hair. We smoked a joint and he touched my leg. I got very excited. This was what I wanted. It lasted less than a minute and then I pulled up my pants and ran out. I got into my jeep. The top was off and it was raining. I drove home freaking out, crying. I wasn’t sexually active again until I was 21. I didn’t want to be gay in my hometown so I moved to South Beach. I went to the Paragon, a dance club in a huge old theater. The place was packed wall-to-wall with beautiful gay men. I was like “Oh my God, Oh my God, I am not the only one.” I was standing at the bar when I saw this guy. Dark brown hair. Tall. He saw me looking at him. He walked over. He had dimples. He
The doctors asked me if I wanted my parents to leave the room. I said no and then the diagnosis came. I found out I had AIDS and came out to my parents at the same time. An estimated 300 million people in the world are visually impaired. R David New is one of them. But he’s much more than a man who is blind. Industrious, attractive, gay and successful, the Miami Beach local is improving the lives of others. He shares his unbelievable story, and explains how finding his true potential meant losing sight of everything. SEX WAS THE REASON for my downfall. Ever since I was a kid, I knew I was gay. Throughout my teens, I was afraid to act on it because acting on it would mean it was true. But every man who was fit and who had a good head of hair was a fantasy object. I’d see a guy with his chiseled chest showing through a T-shirt and obsess about him when I was alone. In the middle of the night, when no one could see me, I’d drive to the public library to pick up
a gay newspaper to learn about what it meant to be gay. I called the 900 numbers in the back pages, just to talk to gay men. It was 1987. AIDS was all over the news, not just my gay papers. I knew about the transmission of fluids and was afraid to even kiss. Being gay meant dying of AIDS. When I was 17, another 17-year-old-boy invited me over. We worked together at the mall. He was hot. He had a beautiful body and
offered to buy me a drink. I was like “okay.” I was ready. And so nervous. The sex was good. But it wasn’t even the sex itself. It was allowing myself the pleasure for the first time. I was free. I was somewhere new and I was someone new. I was finally me. We were together maybe a month and when it ended, I lost all control. All I wanted was to have the most sex and the best sex. I had two or three different partners every day. Sometimes in a bathroom or in a parking lot. I became addicted. The most thrilling part was the hunt. I’d see a guy. I’d see him see me. It was instant gratification. I fooled myself into thinking I was careful. If my cuticles were cracked, I wouldn’t do anything with that hand. If I flossed my teeth and my gums bled, I would not have oral sex that night. I was so afraid of AIDS I couldn’t even talk about it. I assumed, like most gay men, that I was negative. And I assumed that if the guy I was with didn’t bring it up, then he was negative too. I never got tested. I was living in a >> DNA 53
/ FEATURE >> suspended reality. People were dying of AIDS. I was blind. In October of 2000, I was admitted into the hospital for fevers that could not be controlled. When the blood work came back, the doctors asked me if I wanted my parents to leave the room. I said no and then the diagnosis came. I found out I had AIDS and came out to my parents at the same time. To complete the trifecta, it was also my Dad’s Birthday. Although I was told that if I was diligent about taking my medications, everything would be okay, three months later I was rushed to the ER with severe pain. After three spinal taps, I was diagnosed with spinal meningitis. I had developed a lesion on my spinal cord, which caused me to be paralysed from the waist down. I couldn’t move my legs. They loaded me up with narcotics. All of my basic systems began to fail. I lost my hearing. As I lay in the hospital bed, I noticed that the room was getting darker every day; like a shade was being pulled down over my eyes. In a matter of days I was totally and irreversibly blind. I was scared. But my only choices were fight or die. Sometimes, I didn’t know which was worse. After two years in the hospital my parents brought me home. The doctors said I was terminal and suggested hospice care, but my parents wouldn’t accept that. Slowly I healed. It took six months to regain my hearing all the way, and two years before I learned to walk again. I never regained my eyesight. I lost more than my sight. I lost one of the most pleasurable things to me: the beauty of
a man, the moment I see a man see me. Sex would never be the same. A couple of years later, I heard about a guy who also went blind from AIDS. I contacted him by phone and for a year, we talked every day for hours. He was still vital and so confident. His voice was deep and sexy. And we had this huge thing in common that almost killed us and left us blind. It was like we shared a secret. He understood me like no one ever had. For the first time, I didn’t care what a man looked like. I wanted sex again, and for the first time, I equated sex with love. Finally, we planned to meet. The day came… and went. He never called and I never heard from him again. It took years after that before I felt ready to date. The experience hurt, but it taught me to see things differently. Now, I connect with men mentally first and
Most people have a great fear of blindness. On many occasions I have had strangers say to me that if they were blind they would kill themselves.
then get closer physically. If I feel a bald spot, crazy teeth or a weird body thing, it can be a turn-off, but I’m looking for more than looks. I’m looking for a man who sees me. Really sees me. It’s been 14 years since I got AIDS and went blind. I’m still afraid to have sex. Of course, I’m afraid of contracting other STDs. That would complicate things. But now I’m a person with disabilities. I’m so afraid no one will love me because of them. It’s funny. I see myself as the 17-year-old me. Afraid again, but for different reasons. I used to worry about protecting my body. Now I have my heart to protect.
M M M M DNA: Thanks for sharing your story, David. Varicella zoster, the opportunistic infection which nearly killed you, is most commonly known as chicken pox. We don’t think of it as deadly. How many T-cells did you have?
R David New: I was told I actually had zero T-cells and that my viral load was over 100,000. Many people now consider AIDS a manageable annoyance, like asthma. After nearly having died of AIDS complications, does this kind of attitude upset you? It
bothers me that no one really understands how quickly it can devastate you. People are still dying and getting sick and now they don’t even understand why. They think it’s okay if they miss their medication. You can go blind, deaf and become paralysed from complications. How are you doing now, health-wise? I am doing very well as my T-cells are at an all-time high of 1,426 and my viral load is undetectable. I have residual effects of the spinal cord injury, some hearing loss in my left ear and still totally blind but I’m in good shape for the most part. You were blind, paralysed and deaf at 30 – but you are no longer paralysed or deaf, is there any hope to regain your eyesight? The
top doctors say that there is nothing that can help me, however, they are doing trials now and perhaps in 10 or 20 years I might be a candidate for some new procedures.
What gave you the strength to battle on and not give up when so much was lost? My
family and friends surrounded me. I never really knew how bad it was. My parents never told me the doctors said I was terminal. My 90-year-old grandmother stood at the foot of my hospital bed and massaged my feet and brought me chicken soup and cookies so I would gain weight and get well.
You were a visual artist when you lost your sight – what did you then transition into? I Actor and keynote speaker, Steve Guttenberg poses with David at the Ability Explosion luncheon. In his speech (which can be seen on YouTube), Guttenberg recalled how Hollywood rejected him repeatedly for being too short, too Jewish or not good looking enough. 54 DNA
started to use the other side of my brain like never before. I had skills that I didn’t know I had. I became more focused and wanted to learn new things so I went back to school for law. I still am very creative and recently designed my home to reflect my taste. I still
love working with different mediums such as glass, fabric and technology.
Did you learn Braille? How long did that take? It only took me about a month to learn the
alphabet. It’s only a matter of memorisation for the basics. It takes a great deal of concentration and I would have never been able to learn it unless I was completely blind. The dots are so small and only people congenitally blind can read it fluently. I designed a T-shirt with puffy paint in Braille, which I make everyone feel. It says, “Touch Me”. What about technology, how do you read emails? Is it through a computerised voice?
I use special screen-reading software that reads the text aloud to me. There is a similar program on my iPhone called VoiceOver. Whenever I touch the screen, it tells me what I am touching. Unfortunately, not all websites
There is not the great divide between us that they think there is. If you close your eyes right now, you are having the same experience as me. and apps are accessible with these programs. I spend a lot of time trying to convince people at large companies such as Facebook and Google that all they have to do is label links and buttons with text when they are creating their sites and apps. It seems that they would rather pay their lawyers millions of dollars than do something that has no cost, which would only take a second, and would bring a disenfranchised group of people from all around the world together.
You mention having been obsessed with ogling men previously. You still work out at Crunch gym in Miami, home to some worldclass, body-obsessed beauties. How do you relate to them now? It’s very difficult to find
guys who can get past the disability no matter what I look like. I mostly see people on the inside now before I see them on the outside. Of course, strippers are the exception to that rule! [Laughs]
So what’s the single most annoying thing people do or ask people who are blind?
Most of the time when I go anywhere with a friend such as a store or restaurant, the employee will address my friend and not me directly. It’s as if they think I have some kind of cognitive impairment and would not be able to understand them. I think that most people have
The Mayor of Miami, Philip Levine, spends some time experiencing what it’s like to be blind in his city.
a great fear of blindness. On many occasions I have had strangers say to me that if they were blind they would kill themselves. I feel as though I am a better person for it and have only realised my potential as a human being from having had this experience of losing my sight. Do you believe you would have ever realised your full potential with sight? It’s hard to say
but I have a proclivity toward no. It just seems that losing my sight forced me to focus on things that I wouldn’t have had the patience to concentrate on. Often times it is the thing that is hard that holds the most meaning and reaps the best rewards.
Did your friendships change after you nearly lost your life and through your recovery? I had
many friends who I hadn’t spoken to in years
who suddenly came to my bedside when I was at my worst. I also had lifelong friends who could not deal with my illness and disappeared when things started to get really bad. When I began to recover, the ones who ran away began to resurface. I learned the true meaning of the phrase, “fairweather friends”. What did you take away from that? Did these fairweather friends ever apologise or come around? I learned that everyone is different in
crisis situations. I kept them at bay for many years and then finally decided to let them back into the conversation. I will not count on them, though. It was the worst kind of betrayal and very hard to forgive. I tried to think what I would have done in that situation and I don’t know how I would have acted before >> DNA 55
/ FEATURE >> my trauma but now I wouldn’t hesitate to be there for a friend. Having gone blind later in life, do you consider having known sight at one point in your life more of a challenge or less? It is
definitely better to have seen and lost than to have never seen at all. I relish my memories and still have a very visual esthetic. People who are born blind are incapable of grasping certain concepts and I think this gives an advantage to people like myself who are adventitiously blind.
Do you know any congenitally blind gay men? I’m curious to know how they discovered they were gay? Usually we discover that visually, so I wonder how that sexual awakening happens. I know it’s not your experience, but can you share your understanding of it?
I do know gay men who were born blind. I honestly do not know how they came to terms with their sexuality but I know from my own experience that wanting to be with a man is not just a visual experience. It can be physical and tactile and is deeply rooted in one’s essence. It is a feeling and a desire and it is what you are comfortable with when you are true to yourself.
Do you consider blindness a disability? What is the preferred terminology? Without a
doubt, being blind presents me with challenges. Everyone has challenges and must find ways to work around them. The politically correct term now is “People With Disabilities”. We put the word ‘people’ first because we are talking about people, not disabilities. For example, you would say ‘a person who is blind’ or ‘a person who uses a wheelchair’.
You started the awareness campaign, Ability Explosion, where you get others walking in the shoes of a person with a disability. You even blinded the Mayor of South Beach and the Chief Of Police and led them around so they could experience what it’s like. What do you most hope people learn from this? I hope
people will come to understand that there is not the great divide between us that they think there is. If you close your eyes right now, you are having the same experience as me. How would you deal with it? Don’t be afraid to think about it.
It’s incredible how much we take for granted, for example, how difficult it was for the police chief to simply to find the button on the elevator. How is it getting around South Beach for you? South Beach is a great place
to live because it has more accessible features than most cities in South Florida. I think the language barrier and ignorance are more difficult challenges than anything else. You have a guide dog, right? Yes, but Charmichael is 13 and retired. She just had surgery for a paralysed larynx. She is doing well now and will be with me forever. Will you be getting a newly trained dog? I am in the process of applying for a new dog and it could take up to two years. 56 DNA
South Beach’s Police Chief, Dan Oates, also learns what it’s like to cross traffic in total darkness.
So you’re more action than distraction? I
An unexpected gift was a laser guided focus that was missing in my life when I could see. It seemed that every bare-bottomed boy or ab-rippling Adonis gave me whiplash… You’ve also been working with kids who are blind on various civic projects. What’s your biggest accomplishment? I have been the
Chair of the Miami Beach Disability Access Committee For The Mayor for the past six years. One of the most important projects I have introduced to the city has been the Audible Pedestrian Signal program. When they work, they can save your life. When they don’t work, politics are to blame and people can die. What is your overall purpose right now? My survival and what is essential for health and vitality, and new ideas that will allow for a greater reach into the global community. What’s the greatest gift you’ve received out of the challenge of being blind? What I
learned to do, and perhaps was an unexpected gift, was a laser guided focus that was missing in my life when I could see. It seemed that every bare-bottomed boy or ab-rippling Adonis gave me whiplash and my penis was my guide. It’s amazing what we are capable of when we don’t have that visual distraction.
probably get more action than most sighted fellas, “Excuse me, sir, do you mind if I hold onto your shoulder while you show me to the bench press? I’m sorry, that’s not your shoulder; whoops!” Fortunately they seem to like it as much as I do. Although this can happen, I’m a bit more restrained when meeting someone for the first time. How’s your imagination? I have an excellent imagination. It’s necessary to fill in the blanks when so many pieces of the puzzle are missing so much of the time. Have your other senses been heightened? What do you most find attractive in a man; what gives you whiplash now? I pay more
attention to sounds and smell and touch, however, I’m not sure I would say those senses have gotten better. A sexy voice turns me on. If you are a guy who is intelligent and thoughtful, I am eager to know you. H MORE: www.abilityexplosion.org
After losing his sight in 2001, David New became an advocate for the disabled. He is chairman of the Miami Beach Disability Access Committee and chief promoter of Ability Explosion. David also serves as president for the Miami Beach Council Of The Blind. As a successful entrepreneur, David owns and operates American Chair Exchange, an internet specialty furniture company, as well as Ballooniverse, which sells and delivers specialty balloons for parties and events. David is a resident of South Miami Beach, Florida. He can be reached on email at
[email protected].
BORN THAT WAY Stephen Bell was born with a rare condition that fused his fingers together, but that hasn’t stopped the event planner from holding on to positivity and raising the profile of those who look different. DNA: Hi Stephen, where are you from?
Stephen Bell: I am from London, England. Tell us about your hand? I was born with a condition called syndactyly. Four of the fingers on my right hand were fused together. After numerous skin grafts and plastic surgery operations, my index finger was separated. The other three fingers share one bone, so if they were to be separated, just one would be useable and three would be floppy. What kind of restrictions does that mean for you? I have full flexibility and I’m not in any
pain, but I cannot catch a ball or clench a fist and I sometimes struggle with gripping large or heavy items. How common is syndactyly? Syndactyly normally occurs in animals and is an extremely unusual condition in humans. It can be the fingers and/or the toes which are joined – fused – together. People are familiar with birth defects caused by Thalidomide. Is syndactyly caused by a drug or is it genetic? Syndactyly is caused by
the chromosomes not connecting fully.
PHOTO: KRISZTINA AMBRUS
You’re right-handed – have you ever tried to switch to be left-handed? I am right-handed,
and many people comment on my creative and artistic hand-writing! I have never yet tried to be left-handed. Have you ever tried to hide your hand? No. This would only cause unnecessary attention. Some people never even notice. I am normal and as unique, special and different as the next person. No one is one hundred percent perfect; some people have a visible difference, others have invisible differences. Beauty is about being comfortable in your own skin. How did your parents help or teach you to be comfortable in your own skin? My parents,
three brothers and two sisters helped me with the mantra, “Inhale positivity and exhale anxiety”. They have constantly supported and encouraged me to strive for the best.
Did you suffer much harassment growing up, or were you treated differently at school? I’ve
never suffered harassment, abuse or verbal attacks. I’ve been very lucky in that respect. In high school I was offered extra time in my exams because I can’t write very fast. I declined the offer, as I did not want to be different from my peers.
Why do you still see a plastic surgeon for checkups? My plastic surgeon, Mr Stewart
Watson, checks that the skin graft is not splitting or bleeding, that there is no webbing, or Carpal Tunnel syndrome. He also monitors my hand’s movement, grip and flexibility. Do you get asked about your hand a lot and what kind of reactions do you get? Yes,
probably once or twice a month. The reactions can be mixed. You learn coping strategies and mechanisms as you go through life, so if someone starts staring or glaring, I will politely ask them, “Have we met before?”
Has it ever stopped you from doing anything you really wanted to do? Yes, playing the
piano. For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to learn to play the piano. I opted for singing as a hobby instead and I’ve never looked back on the incredible experiences, challenges and opportunities I’ve
Stephen Bell out on the town in London. Left: Stephen’s three fingers are fused together on his right hand.
event that raised so much money for his Kids Of Bolton charity. The night was such a tremendous success. Do you have a boyfriend? No, but I would be so thrilled, pleased, delighted and excited to have a boyfriend when the time is right.
Do you have any difficulty dating because of your hand? Not really, it’s something different
to talk about on a date and sometimes a bit of an ice-breaker. I don’t blurt everything out straight away, but generally I’ve had positive
If someone starts staring or glaring, I will politely ask them, ‘Have we met before?’ had while singing in various choirs since 1991.
You also spend your time advocating for changing perceptions and attitudes. Yes, as
well as raising both the profile and awareness of looking different with presentations at universities such as Oxford and Cambridge, and in collaborations with organisations like the Centre For Appearance Research, the Changing Faces charity and the Body Confidence Awards. I will continue to do this for as long as I am able, as I think it is vitally important to give a voice to looking different. What is FEDS? Fairness, Equality, Diversity And Social Inclusion. This is my main objective – inclusion, not separation.
and interesting reactions. I can’t recall any negative behaviour or nightmares on this front. Attitudes from other gay men have been fabulous. They are very open, accepting and respectful. It’s part of me and my personality. Many people are amazed I'm right-handed.
What about a message for a young person learning to live with a physical deformity or difference? Coco Chanel said, “In order to be
old Event Management and Planning business, Epitome Celebrations.
irreplaceable, one must always be different.” I agree two hundred percent! Never hide away. Do research on organisations that can support or assist you, and ask for help, if you need it. Try not to complain. Be happy, enjoy life, and be you. Positivity is key. How do you keep so positive? Staying positive has always been a driving force for me. Life is not a dress rehearsal! I only get one shot like everyone else out there.
Working for footballer Kevin Davies on an
MORE: Find Stephen on Twitter @StephenBell4
This is all done in your spare time. What do you do for a career? I run my own six-year
What’s been a favourite event to plan?
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/ FEATURE
SUPERPOWERED He’s an expert in the art of listening, fluent in body language and master of the non-verbal cue. William Le is hearing impaired, but he’s also extra-sensory. DNA: Hi William. Were you born with a hearing impairment or was it the result of an illness or injury? William Le: I was born with profound hearing
loss. My mum contracted rubella when she was pregnant with me, which sealed my fate. When my parents realised that I wasn’t responding to verbal cues, they took me to a doctor and his diagnosis confirmed their fears.
When did you get your first hearing aid?
I received my first cochlear implant (CI) at 8 years of age and underwent various upgrades before settling on ESPrit 3G on my left ear. I received Nucleus 5 on my right ear at the age of 25. Can you explain what it does? Its function is to filter, prioritise, transmit and convert sound picked up by a microphone into electronic signals that would then be received by a coiled magnet embedded in the brain above my ear. Beginning as a body-worn form of a speech processor
strapped to my neck, scientific and technological leaps have shrunk the device to something that could easily and wirelessly fit on my ear; with higher hearing frequencies, waterproofing, recharging and Bluetooth capabilities!
Wow, that sounds bionic! So what do you actually hear? The CI is meant to artificially
replicate the effects of standard hearing. With each iteration and regular visits to my speech pathologist, my hearing improves – marginally – but you can’t miss what you don’t have. I simply have pangs. I refer to myself as deaf or hearing impaired. Are those terms interchangeable? I used to think so, until a friend with hearing aids pointed out that I should technically be hearing impaired rather than deaf. The former falls into a spectrum from mild to profound, which is what I have. What do you think of the words “disability” or “handicapped”? The PC-ness of those words
seem to swell and fall, like a trend. Other than those, let’s run the gamut: “handicapable”, “special needs”, “differently abled”, “invalid”, “dwarf”, “little people”, “gifted” and of course that magic word, “retard”. You can see the various degrees of likely offense, some more subtly aggressive than others. I think we coin or supplant these phrases out of good intent or in medical terms, but a rule of thumb is that any word that’s been carelessly bandied about or can appear as patronisingly polite – avoid at all costs. So what are some of the safer terms?
Terms like “intellectually disabled”, “hearing impaired” and “short statured” have proven to be stalwarts because they are safe, speak to a specific condition and don’t define the person on the whole.
Should people acknowledge someone’s disability? They might worry about causing offence. The biggest offence that I have ever
received was reluctance to refer to my cochlear implant for fear of drawing attention to the elephant in the room. But I always reassure people that I’m happy to talk about it, and I understand that they mean well. In other words, there’s nothing that they shouldn’t do except to keep common sense and good manners, which I find to be the case 99 percent of the time. How do you primarily socialise? Because I can still hear and was raised on speech therapy, I tend to socialise with the hearing world and speech is the main mode of communication. The deaf member, on the other hand, tends to stick with his own kind, and is more at home using Auslan [Australian Sign Language]. Finally, there’s a third type where individuals can move between these two worlds, a subculture within a subculture – a deaf world submerged within a hearing impaired world if you like, or a bit of both. William (left) and Michael at home in Sydney.
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What’s one thing hearing people could learn from all these factions of the non-hearing population? There has been much lament on
unwanted noise in modern society, so any time people bemoan that they’d like to get out of the city, commune with nature and find a silence so startling that they can hear themselves think, I’d smile to myself and think, I can do that any time. I can be in the middle of a crowd, turn my ear off and fall into that world of silence. That is meditation in motion, in my opinion. The trick is that inner silence probably takes more skill to achieve but it’s something that the hearing population can certainly learn from. Is the difference between hearing and listening highly distinct for you? Just because
you have two functional ears doesn’t mean you are always capable of hearing wisely and productively. Listening is when you consider, support and understand the total weight of the speaker’s words as well as non-verbal cues. Over your lifetime have you seen a change in attitudes towards people with disabilities?
Having always been aware of my hearing loss, I felt as normal as can be, thanks in large part to the nurturing environment of St Gabriel’s [school for deaf and hearing
I can be in the middle of a crowd, turn my ear off and fall into that world of silence. That is meditation in motion, in my opinion. impaired children]. Because of my lack of personal experience in facing prejudice, I felt that presumptuous attitudes such as speaking more loudly or more slowly than usual, or condescending treatment tended to be assigned to older generations. I had neither notion nor qualm of society’s foibles. Did you ever struggle with learning? I was the product of a very specific time, a Bob Hawkeera [Australian Prime Minister, 1983-91] which mantled policies of youth skills training and school retention rates, so I was lucky to be recognised by wonderful teachers for my talents rather than for my disability, which was simply something to be accommodated in a different way. For instance, I received notetaking services in some classes and I would also explain to teachers to wear a microphone amplifier that connected through to my speech processor, functioning a little bit like a one-way walkie-talkie, on a private wavelength. That is an incredible credit to those policies.
Just as importantly, it really comes down to
Michael and William at a friend’s wedding in Balmoral.
how our parents have handled us and equipped us for life. In earlier times, there was a sense that we had to be protected and shielded from the real world, thus probably translating into an over-arching disconnect with life. What about attitudes within the gay community, do you find them more or less inclusive? Do you face rejection because you are hearing impaired? The attitudes of the
gay community have had no bearing on my personal identity or of my hearing disability, but there has been no rejection, preconceived judgment or anything of the sort. I have no qualms coming up to someone in a gay venue and mentioning that I am deaf. Reactions have always been one of piqued interest, or they simply don’t care. I like to think it’s my charm that ropes them in instead [laughs].
Have you ever dated another man who is deaf? I have always dated men who can hear – I
don’t discriminate, after all! I’ve never actually thought at great length as to what it would be
like to date a deaf man, but for some reason I imagine twice the frustrations, twice the mixed signals, twice the silence, twice everything! It would probably be like trying to talk to a mirror. With hearing men, at least they can compensate for what I lack – if that makes sense.
You’ve said that being so different has given you superpowers. Can you elaborate? If
they haven’t given me flight, invulnerability and elemental control (yet), I’ll have to settle for insight and empathy. I like to think that I perceive things that other people don’t, mainly in terms of psychoanalysis and debate. I can read between the lines – for example, what you say is not necessarily what you mean. I also think these go hand-in-hand with lip-reading ability, as you spend a lot of time watching people talk and how they relate to each other. You might say, “I burnt my hand on the stove this morning and got really upset with myself for being so clumsy” across a crowded room and I’ll be able to grab all that. I might also >> DNA 59
/ FEATURE >> laugh at “I love you” because it can be mistaken for “colourful”– it’s a trick that hearing people fall for. Go on, try it! Or how about “vacuum” – try sounding it out silently and see the reaction!
What is the biggest misconception people have about people who are deaf? This answer
may be surprising, but in my view, it is that people actually forget that I’m deaf. This can be a minor gripe in a noisy environment, like a nightclub, when they keep leaning into my ear to talk, and I keep having to pull back to lip-read.
That must make you want to say “vacuum”! So is your hearing impairment ever something you do try to cover up? I like
the fact that it makes for an excellent talking point, much like having a pet snake in the living room. Other times people may realise that I am deaf even before I inform them. This is usually because they may either know someone who suffers from a similar condition: a mother with gradual hearing loss due to age, a cousin with a cochlear implant, or a colleague who is an Auslan signer. This also creates another excellent talking point for us, particularly upon introduction. How did you meet your fiancé, Michael? We met through the social networking app, Scruff. I was coming off an emotional breakup so I wasn’t looking for anything in particular. But I think having no expectations helped so that I could be pleasantly surprised. Are there any specific challenges to being in a relationship with a hearing man? There have
been few. I had always been self-assured, but I had a huge crisis of revelation in Cambodia last year. We were at a landmark outside of Phnom Penh and a tour guide was explaining the history of the stupas, temples and statues. All afternoon, Michael was interpreting for me what the tour guide was relaying. All was going well until we got back to the hotel and he had a minimeltdown. He said that he was finding it too difficult to deal with me simply because I needed to understand what the tour guide was saying. It was then I realised that he, too, struggled with my deafness, because it impacted on his ability to communicate with me as fluidly. While I understood his perspective, I said, “It might be hard for you, but it’s harder for me. I have to deal with this every day. I don’t exist to make life harder for you. Would a carer or a nurse be telling a paraplegic the same thing?” For the first time ever, I lamented my hearing loss wishing that I controlled the accidents of my birth so that I could be “born like everybody else”, which of course is the most absurd thing ever to say.
Would you have rather he’d just not told you at all how he felt? He was the only person ever
in my life to admit that he had a problem with my deafness; neither my family nor ex-partners said such things, because they probably knew that it would make me feel bad and that it was not my fault. Michael realised his error 60 DNA
and admitted that it was his problem to work through, not mine. He felt awful! That was the only time I felt such a knock to my pride for being different as a deaf individual. Does he continue to act as your translator?
Or hearing dog, as I like to call him [laughs]. Michael, bless him, keeps trying to understand my limitations and be considerate of my needs. He has made very sweet progress. You are of Vietnamese background, gay and deaf – do you identify with one of these three minorities more than the others? I like to think that I have a finger
in each slice of the same pie, or three in this case. But it is safe to say that I’ve put a lot more emphasis in gay identity insofar as belonging to that community. I grew up near Vietnamese communities in both Bankstown and Cabramatta. I had the option to learn Vietnamese alongside my sister and cousins at Sunday School but I preferred English! Similarly, I grew up on my mother’s cooking, but I never truly connected with my heritage until I went to Vietnam. The first time I went, in mid-2005, I felt reverent when I stepped into my father’s childhood home, almost like
I might laugh at ‘I love you’ because it can be mistaken for ‘colourful’ – it’s a trick that hearing people fall for! retracing his footprints because I realised that if he hadn’t come to Australia, or had died in the war – well, I wouldn’t have existed, full stop. The second time was with Michael, and it was so good to return to my homeland. It was both a process of rediscovery and introducing my fiancé to all the places that represented my heritage, in a sense.
You’re a writer and Michael is an actor. Do you ever clash creatively? I don’t think we will
ever clash. I find we complement each other in strangely interesting ways. A deaf person matched with a hearing person who made a living out of singing, how about that?
Does he sing for you? Can you tell if he’s any good? When he’s sung for me, it’s more
about the emotion, projection and storytelling etched on his face than vocal quality. For minutes he gets caught up in the passion and the drama of the lyrics – and then resumes his old self. I am gripped and fascinated by such intimacy. I may not be able to hear the lyrics, but I can tell that it means something to the
singer, and they do it extraordinarily well.
You and Michael founded interCulture Casting and Management (iCCAM). How is your agency unique? We represent clients with a
very specific minority focus. Everyone loves to see a piece of their own culture reflected on screen, “There’s me up there! That is exactly like my life!” Our business addresses the gaps in access, opportunity and reality between predominantly white casting professionals and a pool of ethnically diverse actors, singers, dancers and performers who just simply want a chance to stand on the same platform. There is also a disability offshoot, right? Yes, which was perfect as my deaf identity would be reflected on a larger scale. And that goes for everyone else, whether they’re autistic, have cerebral palsy or suffer from Asperger’s. Recently, we have acknowledged the LBGTIQ sector as vital to the minority message. Of course some of our clients already swim in more than one world anyway. Tell us about the “Don’t Dis My Ability” campaign. How did you become an ambassador. I had understood duty to
myself, but it is absolutely vital to learn to turn it outwards. I never really understood the meaning of duty to one’s people until somebody was foolish enough to believe in and nominate me – and that somebody happened to be my fiancé, Michael.
What are your priorities as an ambassador?
To bring about large-scale awareness and, in a practical sense, contribute to the evolution of the Disability Inclusion Plan draft. I would at first concern myself with overseeing the nationwide development, rollout and maintenance of closed-captioned access in all cinemas and theatres, uniformly, at no cost to the user. This is my dream, for deaf individuals to be able to contribute to the cultural dialogue as equally as everybody else – at the same time. What would you like to tell young people learning to live with a disability? Understand
that the world is a far bigger place than our own backyard and the key is an open mind and honesty. If you hide your disability or don’t talk about it straightforwardly, it sends a mixed message and people pick up on your possible projected embarrassment or shame. As a result, they may not know how to respond accordingly. What is the single most important message you would like to give to those who are not disabled? Empathic intelligence. That’s
it! Even something as simple as, “I may not understand what you’re going through, but you can tell me what it’s like” is the first step towards awareness. H
MORE: Celebrating diversity and ability: Dontdismyability.com.au. For William and Michael’s talent agency, visit www.iccamoz.com.
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Hot In The City Much to his own surprise, Melbourne classical composer and busker Gareth Wiecko won a competition to find Australia’s hottest redhead. Here's how it happened…
PHOTOGRAPHY THOMAS KNIGHTS PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANT THIBAULT LA DROITTE
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Gareth wears Teamm8 underwear. DNA 63
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RED HOT DOWN UNDER was part of a campaign during World AIDS Day last year sponsored by DNA, Same Same, ACON and NSW Health. Brit photographer Thomas Knights travelled Down Under to help find the ginger winner and shoot him for his Red Hot 100 project and this DNA fashion story. The Welsh-born musician reluctantly entered at the urging of friends and on grand final night at Sydney’s Slide nightclub was named the winner. “Yes,” admits the humble Gareth, “It came as a bit of a shock!”
DNA: Judging by the look on your face when the announcement was made, we suspect you didn’t expect to win the Red Hot Down Under Model Search competition.
Gareth Wiecko: [Laughs] Yeah, my face definitely came across like that. I wasn’t exactly sure what the judges were looking for and each of the guys had something to give. I’ve never won a competition based on my aesthetics so, yeah, I guess it did come as a bit of a shock when I was told that I’d won. What prompted you to enter the competition?
A friend asked me to take part in a photoshoot for a gay night in Melbourne
had to do the DNA photoshoot. Was that like being dropped in the deep end? You fall into
the swing of it quite quickly. Thomas Knights, the photographer, was great. The minute we started shooting he put me at ease. He’s very natural and lovely to get along with. I’d never done modelling before so was unsure what to expect. The same for the DNA guys. Everyone involved made it feel like a very organic process. I had a lot of fun.
You are a musician and a busker so you must feel relatively relaxed performing in front of people. Is modelling in an underwear photoshoot much the same? The two don’t
really go hand-in-hand, hah! Being an entertainer I’ve learned to feel comfortable in most situations; you don’t have time to be insecure when you’re presenting yourself as an artist. I’d done the Trough shoot a month or so before the competition and I’m pretty comfortable as I am.
The Red Hot competition was about countering discrimination. Have you ever been bullied for being a redhead? I think most
redheaded children encounter a decent share of bullying at a young age. But from personal experience and from talking to other redheads it all seems to die down before you hit your
I’ll still have people wailing ‘ranga’ at me from car windows but it doesn’t bother me anymore. I’m the hottest redhead in Australia! called Trough. The video came out and a few people started to get in contact quoting the Red Hot Down Under competition and that I should compete. Initially I thought nothing of it but then my friends started getting on board saying that I should compete. I entered with a profile photo and next thing I knew I was being flown to Sydney to compete against eight other guys. Had you ever done anything like that before?
Being a musician I’ve had the opportunity to compete, but to compete against other redheads for the title of the “most attractive redhead in Australia”? No, can’t say I’ve done anything like that before. Definitely one for the bucket list. The very next day after the competition you 64 DNA
early teens. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll still have people wailing “ranga” at me from car windows but it doesn’t bother me anymore. I’m the hottest redhead in Australia!
Do you think people fetishise you as a redhead?
I’d say more so in Australia than back in the United Kingdom. There are a higher percentage of us per capita in the UK. We’re saturated over there! But in regards to fetishising, I’d say no more than any other common fetish that’s out there. It does make the job easier though, half the work is already done! One of the other messages around the Red Hot events was ending HIV. Is that something you expect to see in the near future, distant future or ever? The advances in medicine >>
Gareth wears vintage rugby shorts. DNA 65
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Gareth wears ES Collection swimwear and Adidas trainers. DNA 67
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Gareth wears Teamm8 underwear.
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Gareth wears Teamm8 beach towel. DNA 69
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Gareth wears Teamm8 underwear. 70 DNA
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/ FEATURE >> over the past thirty years in regard to ending HIV are incredible. If medicine has come this far, what’s not to say that there is a potential for a cure. There’s strong advocacy toward the fight to end HIV now and awareness is more prominent than ever. Though not having a direct impact, I was proud to be involved in the process of aiding the fight. You are a pianist who busks. How does that work? Music is my life, I play every day. Be that
busking, gigging, composing or just having a jam. I ran out of money when up at Cairns a few years back and sold my vehicle in order to buy a “stage piano”. I started hitchhiking down
Discrimination stems from a lack of understanding… we could all do with a little more love in the world. the east coast of Australia, playing music as I went. By the time I got to Melbourne I had it all figured out and fell in love with it. I now play regularly in Bourke Street Mall in Melbourne. There’s a huge influx of people coming and going and I get a real sense of accomplishment from creating an organic process on the streets. No two gigs are the same and the public are really responsive. It feels good being able to bring art to the streets and change people’s day.
The music you compose is classical/electronic/ ambient and you cite your influences diversely from Rufus Wainwright to Ludovico Einaudi. Yes, I’ve been writing music since I
can remember and also had the opportunity to release my album, Notes To Self, back in 2011. It’s a solo piano album and has gone on to sell a decent amount. I’m in the process of producing my second album at the moment. I also attend University in Melbourne, studying Composition and Digital Production. My aspiration is to compose professionally for media, be that film or video games and so on.
In the digital age, there’s no money in selling albums, right? Musicians really have to perform live to make a living. That may be the
case for some musicians but I make most of my money through album sales. My album can be found online through a variety of mediums but also via myself when I busk on the streets. On Bourke Street we have half hour sets every hour to showcase ourselves and most people hang around for that half hour. By the end of the set they’ve decided whether they appreciate my art or not. Plus people really enjoy taking something physical home with them as part of the experience. Where can DNA readers hear your music?
You can listen to my album and hear work related to my upcoming album at www. garethwiecko.com. I’m also found busking around Melbourne, mainly in Bourke Street Mall, roughly three days a week.
Has winning the competition changed the way you perceive yourself? Not really. I’m happy
with who I am and where I am today is due to dilligent effort and hard work. The competition was a great experience and lots of fun. I got to meet some great people and I’d definitely do something like it again.
How did it feel when Thomas Knights revealed the huge portrait of you at the gallery opening? I honestly didn’t expect it
to come out as well as it did. It’s a beautiful photograph and I’m really proud of it. My eyes are my favourite part; he’s really made them striking. I’m now part of the Red Hot Exhibition which will be over in the UK at some point so I’m trying to get my parents to make the drive to London to see my mug in a gallery! As a performer you must value your freedom of speech, but as a gay man and redhead you may have experienced bullying or discrimination – is there a fine line between what people should and shouldn’t be allowed to say? I think everybody should be allowed
to have a joke. The world would be pretty dull if that wasn’t the case. But it’s when the context and tonality have a negative impact that’s directed toward a person or group of people that I have a problem. More often than not, bullying and discrimination stem from a lack of understanding and are often difficult problems to tackle. We could all do with a little more love in the world. Finally, how should we pronounce Wiecko?
That’s an easy one: Vi-en-sco. H
MORE: Find Gareth at garethwiecko.com. For more on Red Hot, go to thomasknights. com, redhot100.com and facebook.com/ redhotexhibition.
SEE MORE
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Gareth wears Teamm8 underwear. DNA 73
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Twink Twink,
Little Star Youth is highly prized on the scene. Like celebrity, it opens A-list doors, brings adulation and advantage – but beware, there are ruthless predators lying in wait for their prey. Samuel Leighton-Dore tells his story. Twink (noun, adj.) 1. A homosexual or effeminate. 2. A young man regarded as an object of homosexual desire. I’M FIRST CALLED A TWINK when I’m eighteen
years old. With my shiny blond mop of Jesse McCartney hair, virgin arsehole and the body of a Ukrainian gymnast, I’m considered hot property amongst the tired rotation of Oxford Street queens and grizzly middle-aged bears. I watch their eyes grow hungry as I pass by, all fawn-like with my skinny-jean swagger. I’m new, I’m untouched, I’m fresh meat. I’m a twink. Named after the American phallic-shaped snack-cake (Twinkies), twinks are commonly regarded as having little nutritional value, sweet to the taste, and full of crème. Eternally euphemistic, they’re enjoyed for their packaging, not their substance – and tend to be treated as such. Only ever as desirable as they are disposable, one always interchangeable with the next. I’m relishing my new-found title; wearing the badge (in one case literally) with pride. The wind’s in my hair and I’m soaring from the bottom of the social food chain (high-school) 74 DNA
to somewhere near the top. I’m somebody now, and I like it. The acceptance, the camaraderie, the glitter, the undying sense of community. The nicknames, the arse-grabs. The open minds and open hearts. This all abruptly changes, however, late one Saturday night in 2010, as I discover the cruel degradation to my apparent orientational royalty. You see, there’s a perverse underbelly to the raucous laughter and seductive neon lights of Sydney’s gay night life. And I stumbled right into it. Local queer folklore tells of a penthouse somewhere above the throngs of Sydney’s Darlinghurst where parties are held on weeknights, queen-size beds come rent-free, and top-shelf alcohol is poured in unlimited supply. The flash, split-level abode is owned by a scrawny and obnoxiously wealthy man whose name I’ve chosen not to publish. For the sake of narrative, let’s call him Andrew. Andrew started a well-known Australian fashion label with his then-wife and mother of his children. Now, however, he busies himself housing an eclectic rotation of twinks – both initiating and feeding their drug addictions under a sexually paternal pretence. I know this because, for one night, I’m one of them. A friend and I have been drunkenly invited to what could only be described as
“a penthouse party with free booze”. Now, as anyone who’s ever been an unemployed eighteen-year-old will surely attest, a penthouse party with free booze is the absolute holy grail of unplanned Saturday night adventures. So we tag along; moths drawn to the flame. We buzz the the apartment number, pat down our button-ups and take the mirror-clad elevator all the way to the top floor. Ding! Before long I’m sipping vodka between tempered puffs of foreign cigarettes on the wrap-around balcony, feeling like the misguided protagonist in some homoerotic F Scott Fitzgerald nightmare. I’ve been granted exclusive access to the good life, the rich life. The life you might occasionally read about in magazines or catch glimpses of on the television. Drunk middle-classers shout from the stagnant nightclub lines below. It suddenly seems dirty down there. I don’t belong with them, I belong up here; where high school drop-outs wear leather fisherman shoes and dramatically fling taupe sweaters across their bony shoulders. Andrew commands the room as a cult leader would his church. Nothing about him is physically attractive, but it doesn’t seem to matter. His lifestyle is seductive enough. He spots me from across the room, eyes dancing salaciously along the lines of my body. My stomach drops. Does he like what he sees? Am I welcome here? Why do I even care? It soon hits midnight, and here that seems to mean something. Designer make-up is being applied hurriedly in full-length mirrors; bronzer over cheekbones, a cloud of hairspray, fringes adjusted meticulously – one final row of tequila shots. We’re ready – though for what, I’m not sure.
I think we’re underground. It’s hot and dark and the bass-line makes my teeth jitter. The drinks at Arq are expensive, more than I can afford, but my hand’s never empty. I’m not sure where my friend is, but I don’t really mind. People are smiling at me, dancing with me, grinding on me. Andrew moves in close, folding the palm of his hand over mine. I swallow the pills like they’re tic tacs, washing them down with a sloppy mouthful of vodka-lime-and-something. And now we wait;
Limping unceremoniously to the station, I decide that I hate being a twink. The silent objectification. The permission so readily assumed by others to touch, grab, feel, fuck my body. I hate that it seems to connote both physical weakness and emotional dependability. I hate that young gay men can be targeted at their most vulnerable, emerging from their tumultuous teenage years and desperate for connection. They way they’re too often broken down, when they so need to be empowered. But most of all, I hate myself. I hate that I let it happen. I hate that I didn’t say, “no”. H
This story is in no way indicative of the author’s relationships with older gay men. He has since been fortunate enough to find supportive mentors whose guidance has helped him channel his experiences creatively. He directed a short film, Showboy, which competed in the Sydney Film Festival last year, and will soon release a children’s book, I Think I’m A Poof. Visit him at www. SamuelLeightonDore.com
PHOTO: BRIANNA ELTON
I mutter, but nobody’s listening. My heart starts to race. Time drips slowly, like the melting clock in that Salvador Dali painting.
I mutter, but nobody’s listening. My heart starts to race. Time drips slowly, like the melting clock in that Salvador Dali painting. I come-to in the shower, my limped body resting naked in Andrew’s arms. His calloused hands wash me down with soap that smells of rosemary. I’m not sure whether it’s in preparation, or clean-up – but the harder he scrubs, the dirtier I feel. Is this sex? Is this what it means to be an adult? Now we’re in bed, and we’re not alone. “This is what you want, isn’t it?” he asks, but it doesn’t feel like a question. He’s already inside me, rocking back and forth without hesitation. Others are watching, too. Stroking my face as I take it. Kissing the nape of my neck, as if they know my name. I close my eyes and escape to some half-state of consciousness. The kind you get when anticipating a punch or fall. I’m scared, I’m hurting, but I cope. I don’t remember falling asleep, but the next morning I wake, flush-cheeked and swolleneyed; chest pounding, aching with regret. I’m sleepily tossed $3.50 in silver coins for the train ride home. Andrew says that I’m welcome back anytime. But I never go back. I’ve already endured my inauguration.
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LE O WITH A SCANDALOUSLY SEXY body, deep green eyes and a great big smile, Leo Rico is as tasty as his name suggests –Rico is Spanish for “yummy”. A Barcelona resident, 180cm tall [5’10”] and 36-years-old Leo is also – wait for it – a real fireman. “I love my work as a fireman,” he says. “It’s amazing to be able to help people when they need you the most. Many lives depend on you. It’s not easy, but it is always worth the effort.” When not saving lifes and fighting fires, Leo loves mountains – climbing up them and skiing down them. “Skiing and climbing are my passions. I also love ultra-distance competitions like Ironmans. I love hard work! From time to time I do some work in fashion but I don’t take 76 DNA
it very seriously. People tell me I should do more but I don’t want to be famous. I’d prefer to keep being a fireman, and helping people.” Modelling can definitely be fun though, especially when being shot by a world-renowned photographer like JP Santamaria. “When JP contacted me and said he wanted to shoot me for the cover of DNA I was so happy,” he says. Leo was brought up by his mum, two sisters and his gay uncle so, he says, he’s “very well educated in tolerance and freedom… I always have a very good feeling when I’m around gay people.” “The shoot was amazing. We had so much fun, and I hope DNA readers enjoy it so that we can repeat it soon!”
PHOTOGRAPHY JP SANTAMARIA (JUANPABLOSANTAMARIA.COM AND FACEBOOK.COM/JPSANTAMARIA. PHOTODESIGN) MODEL LEO RICO ASSISTANTS LUCCA ROCCI AND GASPAR GARRE
Leo wears Torchpack swimwear. DNA 77
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Leo wears Teamm8 swimwear. 78 DNA
Leo wears Gabriel Croissier swimwear. DNA 79
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Leo wears Zara swimwear.
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Leo wears Addicted swimwear. DNA 81
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Leo wears aussieBum swimwear.
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Leo wears Gabriel Croissier swimwear.
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Leo wears Addicted swimwear.
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Hakan suffers pattern hair loss due to immense stress. His “crop circles” are visible in this picture.
“MY PARENTS WANT TO KILL ME” 86 DNA
Hakan is young, gay and Turkish. His mother wants Allah to beat the gay out of him, his father wants to kill him. Greg Page presents this shocking story; a prescient reminder that gay rights are still a matter of life and death in many parts of the world. OVER THE YEARS I have found myself, quite by accident, becoming a mentor to numerous young gay men that I meet out and about. These are usually men who have thrown themselves headfirst into the quickie sex and party lifestyle that is so readily available in the
PHOTO: PAOLO CANEVESI.
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gay world. After a while, these same young men begin to get jaded with what the scene has to offer and want something more. Often what they really need is just a cuddle and some parental-like guidance. My partner and I met Hakan* in Brussels in 2013 at the annual La Demence circuit party. At 22 years of age, broodingly handsome and
When the purchase of lube and condoms found its way onto his parents’ credit card bill, they threatened to kill him. with large, almond-shaped brown eyes it was hard not to notice him from across the dance floor. He also had some intriguing “crop circles” on the back of his head where it looked as if he had shaved shapes into his dark thatch of hair. On the Eurostar trip back to London he came into our carriage, sat down and talked to us for the whole two hours. He was smart, quickwitted and spoke excellent English. It became apparent he was looking for more than sex, or even friendship. He needed family. We kept in touch back in the UK through Facebook (he was studying graphic design at a university up in Manchester). We made plans to meet up a few months later after arranging with some of our other pals to converge on Amsterdam for the Rapido party. We spent the weekend there together, all taking or sharing rooms at a so-uncool-it’s-cool Dutch hotel styled to look as though it was still functioning in medieval times. It was during this weekend that we got to know Hakan better and finally got to hear his whole hard-to-believe-in-this-day-and-age story. He had been studying engineering at Oxford because that was what his wealthy, well-connected parents in Istanbul wanted him to do. After two years, however, he realised he was never going to be an engineer and that his true calling was in graphic design. He swapped courses and universities, boldly setting a new path for himself. At the same time he knew he was gay and happily met guys for dates and fun along the way. When his parents found out he had switched courses they threatened to cut off his money supply. When they found out that he was gay (a purchase for lube and condoms at a gay store, Clone Zone, inadvertently found its way to his parents’ credit card bill) they threatened to kill him. Little wonder that those “crop
circles” at the back of his head were actually bald patches where his hair had fallen out due to stress. His father told him that if he came home to Turkey he would shoot him to restore the family honour. His mother, well connected with the authorities in this militantly Islamic-turning country, informed him she did not care about him in this life. “All I care about is you in the after life,” she announced without any hint of remorse, or a mother’s love for her child. While this may seem shocking, it should also be revealed at this point that Hakan’s mother, a relatively recent convert to radical Islam, heads a charity in Istanbul that raises money for jihadists. Having an openly gay son is something which not just makes her want to stop loving him, but also makes her want to have him killed. This is a lot for any 22-yearold to process. Gradually, we got to know Hakan, and his situation, a lot better. He would stay with us in our house outside of London, and each morning he would happily bound in from the guest bedroom to our bedroom. His “crop circles” even slowly started to show signs of regrowth. “You are my family now,” he declared emphatically. “You saved me!” His mother, however, was not about to leave things there. She travelled from Istanbul to Manchester, spending two days sitting outside
his student apartment waiting for her son. She said it was just to talk to him, but Hakan feared she had hired thugs who would bundle him into a car, drug him and take him back to Turkey. He went into hiding until he was sure she had left the country. Soon afterwards, his mother began sending Hakan messages insisting he come home so she could commit him to a special Madrasa (Islamic school) where Allah would assist him to leave his sinful life behind. What she didn’t mention was that this actually involves daily beatings, where Islamic fanatics bring their victims to the point of near death before getting them to repent. To save themselves they must fully renounce their former life and devote themselves, and their future life, to Allah and the cause of Islam. If this seems extreme, consider that Turkey in recent years has become viciously anti-gay. Mobile app Grindr has been blocked by the government, gays and lesbians regularly suffer violence and harrasment, legal protections against discrimination in employment, housing and health care have been shelved, and criminal courts give less jail time to the murderers of gay people due to what they term, “heavy provocation”. Gay men dare not reveal their sexuality as the country is on a path to turn the clock backwards on human rights. In 2008, 26-year-old Ahmet Yildiz was shot to >>
It became apparent he was looking for more than sex, or even friendship. He needed family.
Two men dare a kiss at Istanbul Pride.
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/ FEATURE >> death in Istanbul by his father, who had travelled almost 600 miles [965 km] to murder his gay son in what the media deemed fit to call an “honour killing”. His partner, Ibo, had tried to get protection from the authorities, after Ahmet had received death threats from his family, but to no avail. With the country trying its best to improve overall standards in order to join the European Union someday, Turkey’s appalling record on gay rights has often come under close scrutiny, but little progress appears to have been made. Istanbul’s Gay Pride
Left: A touching poster in Istanbul’s Beyoglu neighborhood honours Ahmet Yildiz, who was murdered by his father. Turkish authorities issued an arrest warrant for the father, but only after he had fled the country.
parade, touted as the largest GLBT celebration in the Muslim world, managed to bring people out into the streets last year, but they did so for fear of their lives. Turkey currently has the record for highest number of gay hate crimes in Europe, according to advocacy group figures. The Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has declared that being gay is a “sexual preference” which goes against the culture of Islam, while his Minister For State, Selma Aliye Kavaf blithely states that she considers homosexuality “a biological disorder; a disease.” Because Turkey is at the crossroads between Europe and Asia, it is of significant geopolitical strategic importance. In the fight against the emerging ISIS threat many countries in the West seem willing to turn a blind eye to Turkey’s barbaric views on homosexuality, women’s rights, use of torture, little to no free press (journalists are regularly jailed), and general human rights violations. Turkey’s government is still officially secular, but with the rise in religiosity [99.8 percent of its population is now registered as Muslim] over the last two decades, Islam heavily dictates
The Startlingly True Tale Of Turkey’s Transgender Diva Turkey’s national singing treasure, Bülent Ersoy, known to fans simply as “Diva”, has in her 62-years experienced many more things than your everyday male-tofemale celebrity. She is also the possessor of one of the finest voices in the former Ottoman Empire, one that makes even devoutly religious men weep when she breaks into a traditional Turkish tune. Bülent originally found fame as a man, singing classical Turkish music. She underwent gender reassignment surgery in London in 1981, but kept the name Bülent, despite it being avowedly masculine. The Turkish regime at the time forbade her from performing due to “social deviance” and after a failed suicide attempt she fled the country and moved to Germany and then Australia, briefly.
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When the government stance softened in 1988, Bülent was finally accepted back into Turkey as a woman. She returned to prominence and became more popular than she had ever been. Soon after, she was shot on stage five times after refusing to sing a song celebrating war, yet somehow she survived. A decade later she married a man twenty years her junior, though she divorced him quickly when she found out he was having sex with a prostitute on the side. In 2008, Bülent was charged with slander after declaring she would not let her children (if she could have them) go to war. After a prolonged court case she was eventually found not guilty (after she donated money to a military foundation), which also won her a new fan base from Turkey’s much-maligned
The changing face of “Diva” Bülent Ersoy.
Kurdish minority. In later years Bülent began dressing more conservatively, presenting herself as a Muslim nationalist, which may have been her way of trying to appease the fundamentalists in her country. Until recently Bülent continued releasing Arabesque albums and performing on stage and on TV (she was a judge on Turkish Idol – called Popstar Alaturka – and one of its contestants was the young man she married). She even performed a duet with the country’s biggest pop star, Tarkan, who has long been the subject of gay innuendo and speculation.
Of late, however, the ebullient Bülent appears to have all but disappeared from public view. This is most likely due to the hardline Islamic regime in power once again chiding her “low morals”. Type her name into YouTube to hear her sensational voice (and to witness her fondness for plastic surgery). There may yet be another iteration of Bülent Ersoy. This Diva is a revolutionary, icon and survivor. Even the man who shot her five times knows that. “Of course she didn’t die,” he said. “She stands for so much, she’s Turkish.”
education, doctrine and common law. Many consider the preservation of Turkey’s secular state to be only a façade, with growing concern that it will become the next Pakistan. Whereas drag queens and transsexuals, including Bülent Ersoy [see breakout], were among the country’s favoured entertainers in a less religious era of sexual liberation, now they are kept off TV screens and hidden away. Being gay in Turkey has become something to hide or deny, otherwise you will face intolerable harassment and the fear of death at every turn. This is what scares Hakan. He often dissolves into tears when he receives a message from his mother telling him that he should come home. He knows what she really wants. She either wants him to turn to Islam, or she wants him dead. In September 2014, Hakan was required to make a trip back to Turkey to show the authorities that he could not complete his compulsory military service because he was studying abroad. He flew to Istanbul. After landing, his lawyer there wisely called ahead to find out what the reception for him would be like when he presented himself at the appointed hour with his documents. After the lawyer bribed the right person, she was told that if Hakan showed up he would be immediately arrested and put in prison. He knew he had to leave the country immediately. Hakan was further warned by a friend that his mother had sent a car around to all the people she knew he associated with in Istanbul, employing strong-arm tactics to seek any information about his whereabouts. She knew Hakan had arrived in Turkey because his name was on a list of people the authorities needed to question as soon as he touched down at the airport. She had essentially put her son’s name on a ‘wanted’ list. Hakan raced to the airport to get the next flight back to London, his lawyer in tow. At the airport, in front of the boarding gate, he was stopped by a member of the Turkish Airlines staff. He was told his visa was not valid for travel and he could not board. Hakan’s lawyer, standing next to him, told the staff member that if her client was arrested then a full report would have to be made about the incident including that person’s name, rank and work history. With a quick bribe passed underhand as well, the staff member backed down and Hakan managed to get on the plane and get back to London. When he arrived back in the UK he came directly to us and cried for at least an hour. He was overwhelmed by it all – a mother who wants to hand him on a platter to Allah, a father who wants to shoot him and a country that wants to disown him. He handed over a few boxes of Turkish sweets that he had bought at the airport dutyfree while awaiting his flight. That’s the kind of person he is – in the midst of an intense life
In Turkey, criminal courts give less jail time to the murderers of gay people due to what they term “heavy provocation”. or death situation, he’s still thinking of others. We gorged ourselves on the sweets and held onto him that night not wanting to let him go. He had truly become like our adopted son. The next move is to find a way for him to remain in the UK, or at least not have him return to Turkey. While Turkey remains outside the EU, it is difficult for Hakan to reside anywhere in Europe. When his student visa runs out there are few options left. One is to apply for political asylum. Yet if this is rejected (remember that the UK government is now a conservative one, with the ultra right-
wing UKIP party nipping at its heels) then all hope is lost. If you lose a claim for political asylum, no country will allow you entry. No country except one: Turkey, from which you may never escape alive. Hakan knows that and so do we. He has a long battle ahead, but we’re prepared to fight alongside him, as his proud gay family. We live in hope, but the crop circles at the back of his head still have not fully regrown. H *Hakan’s name and some identifying details have been changed for his security.
“Not An Illness, Nor A Crime!” IN ITS MOST RECENT report, Amnesty International declared that in Turkey “the rights
of LGBT people remain insecure in law” and activists continue to face harassment by authorities. During 2011 Amnesty quoted LGBT rights groups recorded eight murders allegedly on the grounds of the victims’ sexual orientation or gender identity, but the actual unreported figure is likely significantly higher. The org’s website also features a disturbing downloadable report about gay life today in Turkey called Not An Illness, Nor A Crime. Meanwhile, ORAM, the gay Organization for Refuge, Asylum And Migration, has made a worrying statement about the current global climate for gay people. It gravely declares that LGBTI people “are among the most persecuted individuals in the world today. Seventyeight nations criminalise same-sex relations. Seven of these apply the death penalty for consensual same-sex conduct.”
MORE: Visit oraminternational.org and amnesty.org to find out how you can make a difference.
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/ WHAT WE DID ON OUR HOLIDAYS, PART 1
FRESH FRUITS! Camping, all-night dancing, parades, cabaret and costumes galore, Jesse Archer greeted 2015 at Tropical Fruits – where Mardi Gras meets the State Fair! PHOTOGRAPHY BRAD MUSTOW (WWW.BRADMUSTOW.COM) ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY SIMON BARWICK
MORE: www.tropicalfruits.org.au With this year’s high-concept theme, Art Deco Kiss, Lismore’s legendary new year festival inspired revellers to repeal prohibition, get their Gatsby glamour on, dabble in dapper and flaunt their flapper… The fireworks display had so many mindblowing climaxes the grateful crowd left spent.
A practical hat under the tropical sun.
Henry and Josh and their caravan Lucille.
The Tramps – just a handful of the eighteen Charlie Chaplins. 90 DNA
An understated parade entry from drag legend, Maude Boate.
There are only a few showers, but there’s no shortage of festive frills. DNA 91
/ WHAT WE DID ON OUR HOLIDAYS, PART 1
Flamingoes – the true spirit of camping.
Athena Pineapple takes home the Miss Tropical Fruits title and sash. 92 DNA
After not much sleep, the Lismore Memorial Baths play host to one giant gay pool party on January 1st.
DJ Kitty Glitter has the room pumping.
A final touch up backstage.
Crooners, clowns and queens took to the cabaret stage all night long.
King of Boylesque, Prince Enigma. DNA 93
/ WHAT WE DID ON OUR HOLIDAYS, PART 2
THE DNA POOL PARTY PHOTOGRAPHY JEFFREY FENG
The weather, the boys, the Santas and the presents were all hot. The drinks, the DJs and the guest were cool… See more on the DNA Facebook page.
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GROOMING /with Lee Kynaston
Take a minute to think of those hardworking paws, says grooming guru Lee Kynaston, and follow this handy advice…
OKAY, I KNOW YOU’RE PROBABLY disappointed to discover that this is actually an article about looking after your hands rather than having some fun with them, but in my book the two are inexorably linked. After all, men make love with their hands and, being a part of the body that’s constantly on display, few parts of us come under quite such scrutiny. We’ve all heard about how much a man is judged by his shoes, he’s most certainly judged by the state of his hands – and, in particular, his nails. This is why a manicure (probably the simplest and quickest of all male grooming treatments) is one worth investing in. Taking as little as 20 minutes, they’re inexpensive, can be squeezed into a lunch hour and, best of all, you don’t need to slip into those scary disposable pants you get in spas to have one. But if you’re the kind of guy who baulks at the idea of paying for a hand job, how about giving yourself one at home? Here’s how… 96 DNA
THE PERFECT Hand Job 1. SCRUB UP NICELY. Hands take quite a pounding – especially if you work outdoors or are lifting weights down at the gym every other day – so it’s little wonder unsightly calluses can form. To minimise them, exfoliate once or twice a week with L’Occitane One Minute Hand Scrub or simply use a blob of your favourite face scrub and wring between your hands with a little warm water. 2. CUT SQUARELY. Whether you use clippers or scissors, always cut fingernails straight across the top. Avoid trimming down the sides as this can lead to painful hangnails. Instead, you can smooth down the edges with a file (see next step). If your nails are as hard
First things first: L’Occitane One-Minute Hand Scrub.
as hooves, soften them by soaking them in warm water for a few minutes or by cutting immediately following a bath or shower. 3. GET FILING. Filing is a good way to give nails a professional finish, as well as the perfect way to smooth the edges so rough bits don’t rip your sheets to shreds! To prevent nail damage, though, avoid metal files (they’re too harsh) and use crystal files, working from the corners to the centre using continuous stokes. Don’t go back and forth like a madman as this can also damage the nail.
4. CREAM YOURSELF. Given that men’s hands are so susceptible to damage, a hand cream should be an essential part of your home manicure kit. Clarins Men Active Hand Care is worth having in your grooming armoury as it’s quickly absorbed and non-greasy. Or try Vitaman’s Paw Paw Skin Repair Crème (which contains healing allantoin and anti-bacterial tea tree oil) or Sukin’s Hand & Nail Cream. Apply twice a day, wring hands together and ensure every part, including the nails and nail beds are covered.
If you’re the kind of guy who baulks at paying for a hand job, how about giving yourself one at home?
5. FACTOR UP. Hands are constantly exposed to sunlight so it’s little wonder they’re a prime location for uneven pigmentation and unsightly age spots. To help fade any you have and to prevent further ones developing use a hand cream like Clinique’s Even Better Dark Sport Correcting Hand Cream SPF15 which reduces pigmentation and, thanks to a built-in sunscreen, protects against UV damage too. 6. STAY BUFF. Although there are clear nail polishes aimed specifically at men, nails that are too shiny tend to look a little too considered and obvious. Instead, give your nails a natural-looking shine with the help of a nail buffer. Last stop, get buff.
MORE: Award-winning journalist Lee Kynaston is one of the UK’s best-known male grooming experts. He writes for numerous papers, magazines and websites. He blogs at groomingguru.co.uk.
Cream yourself with Clarins Mains Active Hand Care. Top-right: Make discolouration blanche with Clinique’s targeted treatment.
File for a professional finish. DNA 97
DNA PT /with Arron Ryan
BRINGING SEXY BACK Put your back into it and master the chin-up.
WHETHER YOU CALL it a chin-up or a pull-up, being able to lift your own body weight off the ground is a challenging feat for most, but when you conquer the pull-up it’s a hugely satisfying exercise that will help build muscle and tone the shoulders and back, creating a strength that will bring your sexy back. Try some of these modifications and tips in your routine and boost the workload of your back and more:
Arron gets a grip: The overgrasp heave.
OVER-GRASP PULL-UP (AKA “THE HEAVE”)
With this, and all the modifications, you need to make sure you have a solid start. Ensure that when you suspend your body weight from the pull-up bar that you have “active” shoulders. By that I mean you have pulled your shoulder blades back and down and you can feel the muscles in your back activating ready to take the load. For strict heaves you need to begin with your knuckles facing the ceiling and hands outside the shoulders in width. Find the active shoulder position and then focus on squeezing your chest to the bar. You will have more success in achieving this move if you focus on lifting your chest rather than moving straight up and down. Try to get your chin above the height of the bar. If that is easy for you, then try to get your chest to touch the bar. Once complete, lower yourself to the starting position focusing on not >>
THE 1 TO 15 Jump up and do one pull-up then drop off and do 15 push-ups. Then do two pull-ups and 14 push-ups and so on until you finish with 15 pull-ups and one pushup. Get ready for the burn on this one!
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The challenging one-under / one-over grip: an excellent exercise for beginning to develop more advanced calisthenics. DNA 99
/ DNA PT
>> losing the active shoulders at the bottom. Strict heaves will enhance the lats, sub scaps (the subscapularis muscles that connect the shoulders and the chest), the rhomboids and teres major muscles to name just a few but also uses the pecs major and minor, deltoids, biceps and triceps to create shoulder stability and assist in the pulling motion.
UNDER-GRASP PULL-UPS (AKA “THE CHIN UP”)
Start by grasping the bar with your palms facing your face, activate your shoulders and, again, try and squeeze back and down on the shoulder blades popping the chest out. As with the heave, the idea is to get your chin over the bar. When that becomes easy, go for getting your chest to the bar. Really squeeze the back muscles as you touch the bar and you’ll find the extra range of motion will make your biceps and your lats work extra hard. This is a great way to build bigger arms without having to do a thousand bicep curls. For an extra challenge, try doing some holds at the top. Pull yourself up as high as you can go, hold for three to five seconds and then lower to the beginning. One to three reps is a good start, six to eight is strong, and above 10 is excellent. 100 DNA
ALTERNATE GRIP PULL-UPS
If you can already do the Over- and Undergrasps then challenge yourself by mixing it up – one hand over, and one hand under. It’s nasty to begin with but can become so much fun. As per before, take up the grip and create your active shoulders while hanging from the bar. Do as many reps as you need, then swap so that the opposite hands are over and under. This variation to the standard pull-up will make you move in a slightly altered pattern and make you adapt to varied stimulation. This is an excellent exercise for beginning to develop more advanced calisthenics. If all of these are just totally out of your league, don’t worry. I’ve seen guys go from zero to hero in a matter of months by using rubber-assistance bands or assisted pull-up machines in the gym. Keep to the point of trying and you will always be successful. So, the big question is, how do I incorporate this into my routine? Here are several challenging workouts you can do to improve your strength or endurance: Strength – Five sets of as many reps holding each rep for three to five seconds at the top. Endurance – Every minute on the minute complete 10 pull-ups for 10 minutes. Try and
aim for a quantity that will afford you 25 to 30 seconds rest. If resting isn’t for you then do sit ups or squats until the next minute. Volume – One to 15, 15 to one. Jump up and do one pull-up then drop off and do 15 pushups. Then do two pull-ups and 14 push-ups and so on until you finish with 15 pull-ups and one push-up. Get ready for the burn on this one!
PROTEIN, THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY
Not all sources of protein are created equal when it comes to absorption and supporting muscle growth and weight maintenance. Consider that half the dry weight of your body is protein, over 100,000 different proteins. The quality of your proteins determines both the quality and the quantity of their effects on the genome. Protein is made up of amino acids. There are 20 amino acids that we need; nine of which are labelled as “essential” because the body cannot make them and must be consumed through our diets. These are called “complete” proteins and include dairy, chicken, beef, fish, and eggs. Foods that don’t have all nine essential amino acids are “incomplete” proteins – grains, beans, nuts and seeds.
For building muscle, whey protein reigns supreme not only because it’s a complete protein, but also because it has a high concentration of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) such as leucine, isoleucine and valine. These can be absorbed readily to stimulate muscle growth, especially when consumed after exercise. When considering whey proteins there are two types: Casein and Whey. Casein represents about 80 per cent of milk protein. Casein has poor results in producing lean mass in athletes. Whey represents about 20 per cent of milk protein. It has superior results to other proteins such as eggs, meats, fish, soy, nut, pea, rice and other plant proteins in producing lean muscle mass. To call a product whey protein concentrate it can have anywhere from 29 per cent to 89 per cent whey protein. At the bottom end of that scale, 29 to 49 per cent protein with the other 50 to 70 per cent almost all fat and lactose you will see a lot of this cheap whey for sale in bulk stores and markets. Leave it on the shelf. The new shirt you buy with the money saved will not look good on a pumpkin. Near the top end of the whey scale, 70 to 89 per cent protein with only 10 to 25 per cent of the mix being fat and lactose is where you want your whey to be. At the high end is Whey protein isolate, 90 to 95 per cent protein. The higher price of whey isolate, however, could be money wasted as both high-end concentrate and isolate are fast proteins, that is, they are very rapidly absorbed compared to Casein or meat or fish proteins. H
ARRON’S PICK: SHORTS THAT MAKE YOU GO HMMM! There are some pretty sexy looking shorts out there from your favourite brands and even the run of the mill footy short, but many aren’t designed to be worn in any sort of functional training routine. As a coach, I’ve witnessed everything from butt seams splitting open, balls popping, and even being told, “I can’t squat in these shorts!” Stop the nonsense. Get comfortable, functional and fashionable shorts like the Smesh Gear shorts. Shown here in classic dark grey, they have a four-way stretch fabric that is super light and sit just above the knee, which is great for squats, running or even swimming. With two pockets you can have your phone in one and membership card in the other without it interfering with your workout. Available online at smeshgear.com
ABOUT ARRON RYAN Also known as Coach Az, Arron is an elite personal trainer and CrossFit instructor. He has recently relocated from Sydney to Brisbane. Specializing in advanced strength and conditioning for athletic performance, weight loss and fitness, functional fitness and rehabilitation, he designs packages unique to every client. Contact him at
[email protected] or visit www.multi-fit.com.au
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Nicely Does It It all began with a test shoot in 2010. The collaboration between photographer Ethan James and model Carson Nicely has since spanned years and resulted in a lasting friendship and hundreds of stunning images. Here is their Best Of… so far! PHOTOGRAPHY: ETHANJAMESPHOTOGRAPHY.COM
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“I’ve been able to watch Carson grow as a model and actor, and now he has even picked up photography. We became good friends and try to catch up in person with food and photography whenever we’re in the same place at the same time. I’m terribly proud of him.” – Ethan James
ABOUT CARSON: Carson Nicely grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee before heading to Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, where he obtained a degree in Psychology and was a champion swimmer (he still holds 4 NCAA swimming records there). Carson later moved to Nashville, and then to Dallas, Texas, to pursue modeling and acting. It was in Dallas that he added photography to his résumé, and now he does all the above in Los Angeles, California, with his girlfriend Miranda. Find him at www.nicelymademedia.com. DNA 105
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AGE-DEFYING FOR THE PROGRESSIVE MAN. FACE TODAY – LEADING ADVANCED COSMETIC CLINICS SPECIALISING IN MALE REJUVENATION Cairns 146 Anderson St Manunda QLD 4870
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1300 668 573 www.facetoday.com.au facebook.com/facetodaymediclinic
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/ THE BACK PASSAGE
A Seminal History ›› Fitting snugly into the Back Passage this month, the humble condom. Alexander Lowe offers a slick – and surprising – summary.
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DRAWINGS DISCOVERED in Stone Age caves in
France show us that condoms may have been used as many as 15,000 years ago. According to legend, King Minos of Crete used condoms made of goat bladders circa 1500BC. Their use was also recorded in Ancient Egypt, where linen condoms were among the treasures found in King Tut’s tomb. For millennia, the most popular material was animal and fish intestines; however, in Ancient China, condoms were made of silk paper and lubricated with oils. In Japan, leather condoms were used, as well as condoms made of tortoise
shells and animal horns that covered the penis glans only. Roman warriors were said to have made condoms from the muscle tissue of the enemy warriors they slaughtered. Curiously, condoms were mostly intended to protect men from sexually transmittable infections, rather than as birth control (which was the prerogative of women). Legendary womaniser Casanova, who was, in fact, bisexual, was an early ambassador of safe sex, describing in his memoirs how he used to blow up linen condoms as balloons before intercourse to entertain his partners – and to
“The first rubber condoms were as thick as bicycle tires, uncomfortable, and smelt of sulphur.” check his condom’s integrity. Those condoms were secured with a pink ribbon and Casanova called them French Letters, in reference to the “French disease”, syphilis. It was the French soldiers of King Charles VIII who contracted syphilis from Spanish missionaries during the siege of Naples and spread it across Europe. It was recorded as being specifically transmitted through anal sex. In Britain, the oldest condoms found were in a toilet in Dudley Castle and have been traced to the soldiers of Charles I who, reportedly, used them on each other also to protect against syphilis. The first rubber condoms were made around 1860 and had to be custom-fit to cover the head of the penis only. They were as thick as bicycle tires, uncomfortable, and smelt of sulphur. However, being reusable, they became a popular alternative to ‘skinny’ condoms (those made of animal intestines) which came at the price of a week’s salary. Then Germans started the ‘cement dipping’ process which allowed for making rubbers thinner and, since the 1920s, condoms have been primarily made from latex, suspended in water rubber. In WWI, German soldiers were supplied with condoms, but not the Allied forces, where STD rates skyrocketed with nearly 417,000 cases recorded among British and Dominion troops and over 300,000 cases among Americans (nearly 15 percent of US troops). New Zealand
nurse Ettie Rout became concerned with high numbers of venereal diseases among ANZAC soldiers and developed her own prophylactic kit with condoms that she distributed to servicemen. She published an article in The New Zealand Times advocating for condom use, which caused an outrage but managed to persuade authorities to start distributing free condoms to troops in Europe. Conflicting morals, particularly stemming from religious bias, have often been the leading opposition to condom usage, with restrictions on manufacture and sale in Ireland and the USA existing for nearly 100 years. The last TV advertising ban was only lifted in America in 1979, right before the start of the AIDS epidemic. Condom history continues these days with new designs, such as anal condoms for the receptive partner and prototype spray-on condoms. Another development is a cap condom to cover
Clockwise from top-left: The Egyptian choice for love glove? Linen. Condoms were marketed to soldiers in wartime to ward off catching the clap! Antique condoms were made from the gut of pig, sheep or fish – and reusable. Penis Cop, 1993, Art Chantry.
the tip of the penis only. In Canada, the “invisible condom” is in its trial stage: it’s a special gel that hardens up as a thin film in the rectum or vagina and then dissolves after several hours. Pre-exposure drugs like Truvada have sparked suggestions that the days of the condom might be numbered for gay men wanting to protect themselves from HIV. But Truvada offers no protection from other sexually transmitted nasties like syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia and herpes so, it would seem, there’s still a place for the rubber in the wallet of gay men yet! H DNA 113
If ever the media should need emergency information about me I really hope they don’t reach out to @merry_widow. AKA my mother. And by emergency information I mean in the case that I may somehow be entangled in some “Breaking News”: Aeroplane that’s evaporated into thin air. Hostage situation. Nightclubbers fleeing bootleg venue during drug raid. All communication lost with far-flung exotic holiday destination. Bushwalker lost in Ku-ring-gai National Park for 14 days. Survives on nothing but Nicorette and sheer determination. Actually this last scenario is the least likely. But you know where I’m going with this. Apart from the comments I imagine @ merry_widow would make: “I always knew his bad temper would get him in trouble.” “I told him that no matter how good a tan he would get, he is just too gay to travel to a country ruled by military dictatorship.” “Did he try and pick up a pilot again? Midflight?” She could also be relied upon to supply them with really bad photos of me. In fact, the worst. Ever. As was evidenced by a recent visit to her house where I saw my picture. Magnetised to the fridge. Along with those of all my siblings. And their various offspring. Theirs all showed them in the best light posible – no mean feat, let me assure you. Many from special events, professionally photographed in some cases. Mine, however, was an iPhone snap. Taken from below. During a particularly porky phase. By one of the above-mentioned siblings. Who was pissed. At the end of a three week holiday, spent entirely on a boat, with nothing to do but eat, drink, and be brown as a berry. I was also, sadly, as round as a berry. And wearing only speedos. And somehow @merry_widow thought that that picture was not only fine. But worthy of display. As I was leaving, I slinked past the fridge, grabbed the offending image, tore it into several pieces and shoved them in my pocket. She called me once she’d noticed. Disappointed that I’d destroyed her ‘property’ which, yes, technically the photo was. Adding that I’m “terribly vain; it’s a lovely photo.” 114 DNA
At that point I decided she was clinically insane. So said to her. Loudly. And clearly. “Should anybody from any news outlet ever contact you, please DO NOT GIVE THEM A PICTURE OF ME. EVER. Not even one. No matter the reason. No matter how much money they offer.” Also remembering a hideous photo of a runaway on Australia’s Most Wanted, to which @merry_widow’s comment had been: “What a shame, such a pretty girl.” Which further confirmed my decision. And just so we’re clear, it’s not that it would have been okay for the girl to have disappeared had she been ugly. It’s just that @merry_widow sees the beauty in everyone. And is therefore ill-equipped to make essential judgements. How I am her son baffles me. So anyway I have nominated @fab_flatmate to step forward and manage the imagereleasing process should any of these situations arise. She, thank goodness, showed the requisite empathy, and is clearly qualified for the task. And just to ensure this task is easy for her, and also that I maintain the control I always find so difficult to relinquish, I have created an album. More of a library, really. Of suitable imagery. Nothing too recent. But of course nothing too old. A balance of serious pics. And happy snaps. Some solo. Some with friends. Some with family. All making me appear much more handsome than I am. And when viewed together, designed to show a good looking, fun, stylish, popular and well travelled person, with a variety of interests. Much like my old Grindr profile actually. Although of course without the cock pics. But unlike the pics on my Grindr profile, I took the time and made the investment to have the images professionally retouched. I’m taller, thinner, more tanned, less wrinkled, and with whiter teeth. And you know what, that’s okay, because if I did emerge from Ku-ring-gai National Park after 14 days, while I would indeed appear much more dishevelled than any of those images, I would also be much thinner. I’ve often fantasised about such a scenario. Running from captors.
Swimming ashore after being lost at sea for weeks. Being trapped down a mine for days on end. (And not just for the butch miners I’d be trapped there with.) But for the moment of release, when the cameras are at the ready. And the eyes of world are on me. As I emerge a hero. Who’s conquered adversity. Defied the odds. And am 12 kilos lighter. Although of course you can’t control those images, so I’ll not worry about them now. They may provide a future project. The current project, however, is almost done. Each album is on my iphone, my ipad, and my laptop. As they are on all of @fab_flatmate’s devices. We each also have them all on a USB. And for extra caution, there’s also an emergency USB with @former_model, who is a vocal supporter. Each image has been labeled with a date more recent than the time at which it was actually taken. And they have been sorted so that they can be searched via event, date, location or outfit. Plus, they’re online. Every single one. For the (God forbid) lazy (or time-poor) journo, who decides just to google my name and see what images appear. They will find access to this library across Facebook, and especially created Twitter and Instagram profiles. I’ve also made a website. And even applied to an ad to research and write for Wikipedia. Just so I could insert a listing for myself. Linking to all the images. As well as vastly embellished facts about my life. To make my tragic involvement in imagined activities all the more material-worthy for the media, and all the more sympathyinducing for the reader, this information is also stored on those USBs. I’m just putting the finishing touches to a draft for my obituary, which, like the photos, I plan to update annually. And then I’ll be done. Which is a very good thing. As those photos might be aired sooner than I’d thought. Because I’ve just been implicated in a shoplifting scandal involving a Mardi Gras outfit, a dildo, and two bottles of amyl.
URBAN HOMO IS A WORK OF FICTION. ANY RESEMBLANCE TO ACTUAL PEOPLE OR EVENTS IS PURELY COINCIDENTAL. DNA DOES NOT ENDORSE DRUG USE.
#curatinganimage
Famous Last Words: Kodak founder George Eastman (suicide note) – “My work is done, why wait?”
/ URBAN_HOMOSEXUAL
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