Maurice, the book that helped me to understand my sexuality

How the book, following on from the film, changed the life of William Summers.

Maurice is not a great film. It is not even as great a book as Forster’s others. Yet at the age of sixteen I found it to be revolutionary.

Committed Christian who worked in a registry office sues!

Lillian Ladele, former registry office employee in the borough of Islington, and – gasp, horror – Mother of Child Outside Wedlock, claims she believes civil partnerships are wrong because she follows what the bible teaches. Apparently.

The portrayal of Ladele as an innocent victim who simply followed the rule of the Bible is a narrative device that is, in the end, irrelevant. The Daily Mail gets lost in it, failing to make any real analysis of the story to hand, but the issue is simple: a registrar is employed in a secular institution to enact the law of the land.

Clementine relives the 1960s

Clementine the Living Fashion Doll on fashions of the 1960s and the ‘Gore Bob’ … is that really what she means?

Why are you wearing such outrageous ogle riah fakes and such a dolly caxton?

Brian Robinson joined the Belfast Gay Liberation Society in 1975 and been a gay activist ever since.

The Senior Programmer at the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, and founder member of The House of Homosexual Culture, writes about how film can reveal a hidden gay past.

I think we need to reinvent the urgency and excitement of Gay Liberation to ensure that succeeding generations are exposed to their own heritage. Our national cultural institutions have paid no more than lip service to queer cultural achievement.

[rating=5]
US: 94 min • Miramax • DVD

The classic tale of boy meets girl set against the cut-throat world of ballroom dancing. It’s Baz Luhrmann untainted.

Everything about Strictly Ballroom is vibrant; the strong lighting and use of extreme close-ups, the mix of traditional and modern music, the heart pounding choreography, the vivid colours of the sets and costumes, and the energy of characters themselves, whooften flirt with caricature but are never so outlandish that they become unbelievable.

[rating=3]
US: 94 min • TLA Releasing • DVD

Teen angst, self-discovery and homosexuality with a love of Stevie Nicks thrown in.

Even though at times the film gets rather clumsy, jumping from one encounter to the next with often predictable results, it is an engaging film due to some very good performances from the central and supporting cast.

[rating=5] (ironically scattered stars)
US: 152 min • TLA Releasing • DVD (2 Disc)

If Sunset Beach was over-run with sex-crazed ineffectual vampires with a penchant for same sex proclivities, you would have The Lair. What’s not to like?

It’s a ‘Class A’ Guilty Pleasure which is incredibly addictive and has scene after scene of ‘wtf?’ moments such as the Sheriff’s reaction to the discovery of yet another dead body in the ongoing murder case. His deadpan assessment of the situation is, “We got a young John Doe. Naked… Dead… Makes a good looking corpse”.

[rating=5]
Released on January 26th, 2009

Franz Ferdinand on superb form and moving in a “slightly new” direction.

There is evidence in some of the new tracks of their moving in a slightly new direction – let’s say a slightly more experimental, slightly more mature, & slightly sexier Franz Ferdinand. Note the heavy use of the word ‘slightly’.

[rating=5]
Released on February 16th, 2009

This collection only serves to confirm how greatness of St Etienne.

While the term ‘perfect pop’ gets bandied around a little too often these days it really does apply here. See, what you get with ‘London Conversations’ are 35 of the most peerless pop moments from the last two decades.

[rating=4]
Released on March 16th, 1984

A ‘difficult’ third album that is both courageous and satisfying.

Putting aside its deliberately lo-fi sound – heck, some of it was even recorded in mono – what you had in your grubby little, nail-bitten hands was an exemplary set from a band who’d always taken a walk on the wild side.